Twitter's Elon Musk to court advertisers in rare ad world appearance

Elon Musk is making a new appeal to the ad world with a sit-down interview planned with NBCUniversal's Linda Yaccarino in Miami next month. The Twitter owner also is expected to hold private meetings with major marketers at the event, according to a person familiar with the plans.

Yaccarino, NBCUniversal’s chairman of global advertising and partnerships, announced today that she would take the stage with Musk on April 18 at Possible, a marketing trade conference taking place at Fontainebleau Miami Beach. This will mark Musk’s first major ad industry event since taking over Twitter, which he bought for $44 billion in October. Twitter skipped CES in January and SXSW earlier this month.

Possible is an event hosted by MMA global, the mobile marketing association. Top representatives from brands such as AT&T, Colgate-Palmolive, Walmart, e.l.f. Beauty and others are expected to be in attendance. Some celebrities slated to attend include LL Cool J and Alex Rodriguez.

Musk’s attendance could be a sign that he is taking a greater role in Twitter’s advertising strategy, according to a person familiar with the situation.

The Twitter ad team has undergone a reorganization in recent weeks, this person said, and all the sales reps, who handle deals with each major industry vertical, now report directly to Musk. Musk is being more hands-on in the negotiating process, this person said. Meanwhile, Chris Riedy, who has been the head of ad sales and other operational roles since November, is still at Twitter, despite reports that he had been cut in a recent round of layoffs, according to people familiar with the situation. 

Twitter declined to comment for this story.

Also read: How Linda Yaccarino is TV's partnership power broker

The new approach suggests Musk is coming around to the fact that Twitter needs advertisers, after some resistance. In November, after many brands distanced themselves from Twitter, Musk threatened to “name and shame” the advertisers that went against the platform. That opened the prospect that Musk could use his powerful Twitter pulpit to out offending marketers. Brands also bumped heads with Musk in his first weeks on the job, when he initially rolled out paid blue checkmarks for verification. The ill-conceived plan opened brands to impersonators, allowing anyone to buy a blue badge of authenticity. Musk has since overhauled the program and issued gold checkmarks to official brands.

Musk still has plenty of friends in advertising, and Yaccarino is among them. In November, Yaccarino, speaking at Ad Age's Next: Streaming conference, said that she was “obsessed” with Twitter and was optimistic about Musk. “He can learn advertising,” Yaccarino said at the time. “Give me a break, I think we can teach him.”

Twitter has been bleeding advertising dollars since Musk took over. In November, Musk’s first full month in charge, U.S. advertising revenue dropped 46% year over year, according to Standard Media Index. In December, there was a 73% drop in Twitter’s U.S. ad sales year over year, according to Standard Media Index.

Advertisers have been wary of Twitter because they were uncertain that Musk would maintain the same safety and moderation measures. Brands worried about hate speech and the divisive tenor of the platform.

In February, Mark Read, CEO of WPP, said publicly that it could be time for brands to consider returning to Twitter. Holding companies, including WPP, had provided guidance to their clients to proceed with caution on Twitter after Musk bought the company.

Now, Musk is looking to get in front of the same brands and ad agencies that pulled out, starting with the Possible event. Musk is expected to host private talks with top marketers there, too, a person familiar with the event told Ad Age.

“It’s a smart play on Elon’s part,” this person said. “He knows that the audience will be on the level, people who are ultimately making the decisions about when they return to Twitter.”