Marketing news

• Former MSLGroup China CEO files gender discrimination suit against Publicis

  18-01-2017 23:07 via campaignlive.com
  
  Faith Brewitt, former head of Greater China for MSLGroup, has filed a lawsuit saying she was denied the time and basic tools to do her job.
  
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• Hyundai ups the ante with a real-time Super Bowl spot

  18-01-2017 22:25
  
  In a move slightly reminiscent of GoDaddy’s last-minute 2015 spot, reigning USA Today Ad Meter winner Hyundai Motor America announced it is returning to Super Bowl 51 with what it calls “an even more ambitious and creative program that will mark several Super Bowl breakthroughs.”
  The breakthroughs? Shooting, editing and producing a 90-second documentary in real time during the game that will run in the “post-gun” slot, or the first commercial break followi
  
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• Hollywood, data and ‘not being like Amazon': Alibaba’s Jack Ma on his vision for the future

  18-01-2017 22:00
  
  Alibaba’s data rather than its sprawling e-commerce business is where founder Jack Ma believes its future lies, a future it hopes will see it become just as famous for making movies as it is making sales.
  “We are a data company,” declared the entrepreneur at the World Economic Forum today (17 January). While many make the claim, few have the breadth of data Alibaba owns to make it a reality. “Eight years ago we said Alibaba should not be an e-commerce company because we h
  
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• "The Pumpkin and the Pantsuit" helps explain election results to children

  18-01-2017 21:48
  
  Just before inauguration day in the US, advertising agency barrettSF has released a new book to explain the election results to children. The agency branched out into the book business just in time for the inauguration of Donald Trump with “The Pumpkin and the Pantsuit,” a children’s storybook available now on Amazon.
  The book is a cautionary tale of two big personalities who run against each other for the highest public office in the land (spoiler alert – the bullying Pu
  
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• RTL and cookie company Bahlsen release a branded virtual reality game

  18-01-2017 20:50
  
  On January 13th, reality game show "Ich bin ein Star - Holt mich hier raus!" (the German adaptation of "I'm A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!") returned to RTL for its 11th season. For the sixth consecutive year, cookie company Bahlsen and its brand PiCK UP! are also on board as the show's main brand partner. For the latest season, the brand integration extends to a new virtual reality (VR) game that launched on January 10th for iOS and Android. In the 'Dschungel VR-Game', users can take
  
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• American Apparel begins layoffs after Canadian company decides not to continue operations

  18-01-2017 20:33
  
  American Apparel is in trouble again. The embattled company has begun to lay off staff, according to a story by Reuters, and will soon let go roughly 2,400 workers in Southern California, where it is based.
  The news comes as Canadian apparel maker Gildan Activewear Inc withdrew its plan to acquire some of American Apparel’s manufacturing operations. Gildan had bought the rights to American Apparel’s brand and some of its equipment for $88m at a bankruptcy auction previously, but it d
  
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• $87 million down so far, but big spender plans new assault on Trump policies

  18-01-2017 20:31
  
  Tom Steyer, the billionaire environmental activist  spent at least $87 million on the 2016  presidential election. Now he says  he can’t begin to estimate how much of his fortune he’ll put toward fighting Donald Trump’s presidency.
  “If you ask me can I put a limit on how much I value the health, the safety, the employment and the civil liberties of Americans, there’s no limit to what I think that’s worth,” Steyer, a Democrat, , said in a B
  
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• Five weeks for his new hairdo: Trump stars at Madame Tussauds

  18-01-2017 19:59
  
  He doesn't take office until Friday, but President-elect Donald Trump is  already center-stage in Washington —taking his place among the wax figures at Madame Tussauds. 
  The wax museum revealed  the 45th president during an unveiling on Wednesday in the nation's capital.
  The waxy version of Trump is wearing  a red tie and American flag lapel pin, Trump joins the line-up at the museum's President's Gallery, which serves as home to wax figures of all the past command
  
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• Swear Him In mixes charity with profanity ahead of inauguration

  18-01-2017 19:58
  
  There are plenty of people who don’t want to see Donald Trump take the oath of office this Friday. Many Americans have strong feelings of denial, dread, and red-hot anger over the fact that he will be the next POTUS. 
  For those people, a team of creatives and developers - who do not claim an agency affiliation as part of this movement - have conjured up an initiative that aims to use inauguration day as time for action, and they’re using some pretty strong words.
  Swear Him In tu
  
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• Melissa McCarthy will star in Kia’s Super Bowl ad this year

  18-01-2017 19:29
  
  Move over, Christopher Walken: comedian Melissa McCarthy has taken the celeb spot in Kia’s Super Bowl ad this year to shill for the automaker’s all-new 2017 Niro.
  Kia has kicked off its Super Bowl 51 campaign with two teasers that feature McCarthy’s voice but not appearance. In the two teaser spots (below), created by Kia’s longtime agency David&Goliath, McCarthy gushes over the 2017 Niro using her usual quirky sense of humor.
  The two teasers, which will begin airing
  
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• Slack introduces threaded posts to make conversations easier to track

  18-01-2017 19:00
  
  Workplace messaging service Slack is set to roll out a new feature that will make it easier to track longer conversations.
  Currently, conversations are hosted in channels where all users are free to post comments in chronological order. This sometimes causes a disjointed conversation, making it harder to commence older conversations. As a result, it has unveiled ‘Threads’ as a solution.
  The company said: “Discussions can move quickly and cover a lot of ground. They evolve 
  
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• Four out of five smartphone users check their phones within 15-minutes of waking up, reports suggests

  18-01-2017 18:54
  
  While the trend in homes is to  increasingly spend more time talking to virtual assistant Alexa, a recent report suggests that we reach for our  smartphones within 15 minutes of waking up and our phones will likely remain with us  throughout the day long after we have said goodnight, Alexa.
  Various developments in mobile technology have helped foster such a dependent, SMS Global suggests, but our relationship to texting is a big reason we rely so much on our phones. With an estima
  
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• Lucozade highlights its head of marketing vacancy using creative from 'Find Your Flow' campaign

  18-01-2017 18:08
  
  Lucozade Ribena Suntory (LRS) is applying the creative from its largest ever marketing campaign to an eye-catching job ad above the M4 motorway highlighting its head of marketing vacancy.
  The soft drinks manufacturer used the imagery for its 'Find Your Flow campaign' on a digital billboard alongside the M4 in Brentford to highlight the unfilled role within the Lucozade Energy team.
  The ad features the brand's famous Lucozade Energy bottle against a backdrop of the colourful imagery used in the c
  
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• My favorite Super Bowl ad: Joan Creative's Jaime Robinson

  18-01-2017 18:03
  
  Ahead of Super Bowl 51, The Drum has asked some of the industry’s most influential people to reflect on their favorite Super Bowl ad of all time and discuss why it stands out to them.
  We’ve also asked them to give their thoughts on whether they think social media has helped or hurt the effectiveness of the coveted Super Bowl spot. Over the past few years, many brands have chosen to leverage the power of social media by teasing or releasing their Super Bowl spots online days before th
  
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• Lucozade thinks big in hunt for new senior marketer

  18-01-2017 17:51 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Soft drinks company Lucozade Ribena Suntory has taken an unusual approach to finding a new head of marketing by advertising the vacancy on a billboard on the side of the M4 in London.
  
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• FCB West strengthens its creative team with three new hires

  18-01-2017 17:43
  
  FCB West announced today that it has made three senior creative and account management hires to strengthen the FCB talent roster.
  Mike Long joins the agency from Goodby, Silverstein & Partners and previously Droga5 as group creative director. He will report to chief creative officer Karin Onsager-Birch. Long has nearly two decades of agency experience and at Goodby Silverstein & Partners he led the Comcast/XFINITY account as creative director. Prior to his role at Goodby, Long developed
  
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• Mozilla, sorry, Moz://a, unveils winning rebrand after hunt for new identity

  18-01-2017 17:38
  
  Mozilla has chosen to leverage the ‘://’ coding common in web browser URLS in its new logo, which has been selected in an extensive rebrand initiative.
  A long-winded public design consultation looked to source the visual quirks that would best underline its core values and the transparent process helped solidify Mozilla’s open source beliefs. Consultancy Johnson Banks and Mozilla co-created the logos, after whittling down the entries to a shortlist of seven entries ba
  
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• Clear Channel International debuts programmatic offering

  18-01-2017 17:30
  
  Clear Channel International has launched what it claims to be the first out-of-home programmatic buying tool now available in Europe, with brands including Deliveroo and Mercedez-Benz on board at launch.
  The solution is currently live in Belgium with advertisers including Mercedes-Benz, Beobank and Deliveroo and will be further rolled out to the UK in March, when advertisers will be able to buy ad space on Clear Channel UK’s digital out-of-home (DOOH) estate, Storm
  
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• The world's elite encouraged to catch ‘em all with Global Goals Pokestops at Davos

  18-01-2017 17:16
  
  Project Everyone is reviving 2016’s biggest flash in the pan, Pokemon Go, to draw attention to the United Nations’ Global Goals campaign at this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos.
  The Pokemon Company and Pokemon Go’s Niantic have partnered with Project Everyone – director Richard Curtis’ Global Goals-supporting not-for-profit – to launch 17 new Pokestops and a Gym throughout Davos.
  The new Pokemon pick-up points represent the 17 Global Goals
  
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• FCB hires Brandon Cooke as global chief communications officer

  18-01-2017 16:54
  
  Brandon Cooke is leaving his post as McGarryBowen’s global chief marketing officer to join FCB as its head of communications.
  Cooke replaces Stephen Martincic, who left FCB last year to join Ascential, the parent company of Cannes Lions, as chief brand and marketing officer. At FCB, Martincic served as EVP-global branding and corporate affairs. The role of global chief communications officer has been vacant since Karen Spiegel left FCB in mid-2014.
  Cooke has spent the last seven years at M
  
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• Creative team Dan Treichel and Dave Canning join Joan as co-ECDs

  18-01-2017 16:47
  
  Joan Creative announced today that Dan Treichel and Dave Canning have joined the agency as co-executive creative directors.
  The team, which joins from 180 Amsterdam, will be based out of the shop's headquarters in New York City and will report to co-founder and chief creative officer Jaime Robinson.
  In their roles as co-ECDs, Treichel and Canning will support Robinson in leading the creative department and will be involved in current partnerships and new business initiat
  
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• Brand Film Festival London: How to make an effective brand film

  18-01-2017 16:43 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Ahead of the inaugural Brand Film Festival London, Chris Daniels talks to the people behind brand films such as BMW's The Escape and Samsung's A Fighting Chance and identifies the secret sauce that lured then engaged viewers.
  
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• Mobile data startups scoop $68.7m in funding

  18-01-2017 16:30
  
  Separate funding rounds announced this week reveal investors are still hungry for companies that can help solve difficulties with cross-screen advertising, with AppsFlyer announcing a $56m investment, and Zeotap landing a $12.7m haul.  
  Israel-based AppsFlyer, an outfit that helps brands determine what drives their app downloads, announced the Series C raise this week, bringing its total funding to $84m. 
  The funding, which will be used to further its product development and bolst
  
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• Watch: how ad agencies are recruiting differently

  18-01-2017 16:28 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  More and more agencies are opening up their recruitment process and dropping CVs from application forms in a bid for a more diverse workforce. Campaign visited three WPP agencies to find out how they are doing it.
  
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• Shortlist Media poaches CNN’s Owen Wyatt to lead commercial team

  18-01-2017 16:28
  
  Free magazine publisher Shortlist Media has hired Owen Wyatt, CNN International’s head of UK ad sales, to lead its commercial team as managing director.
  Wyatt will lead on all commercial activities and digital operations. He will report directly to Ella Dolphin, chief executive at Shortlist Media, and join the Shortlist Media board of directors. He begins his new role in March.
  Wyatt joined CNN in 2014 as director of content and brand partnerships, EMEA, later taking on the role as head of
  
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• Brexit is making marketers cautious about hiring new staff

  18-01-2017 16:10
  
  Marketers are becoming more cautious when it comes to hiring new staff, the latest quarterly IPA Bellwether report has claimed.
  Given the uncertain economic impact of Britain leaving the European single market, the latest data suggests an impact on new hires. The net balance of marketers looking to hire new staff in the fourth quarter was 12.7%, down from a score of 16.4% in the third quarter.
  And when asked whether they expected overall employment to be higher, the same or lower at their compa
  
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• Sainsbury’s confirms departure of marketing director Sarah Warby

  18-01-2017 15:46
  
  After five year’s leading Sainsbury’s marketing division, Sarah Warby is set to quit the supermarket at the end of this month.
  Sainsbury’s CEO Mike Coupe thanked Warby, the former marketing director of Heineken UK, for her “great support over the years” and said she had “transformed” its approach to marketing. “In her time here she’s led the creation of some of our most memorable campaigns and I wish her all the best for the future,” h
  
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• Carat USA names Ruys SVP, managing director of LA office

  18-01-2017 15:35
  
  Carat USA is getting an international infusion with the appointment Anathea Ruys to SVP, managing director of its Los Angeles office. In her new role, Anathea will be responsible for the success of Carat’s client partnerships by fostering its current relationships as well as establishing new ones. She will report to Michael Epstein, president and chief client officer of Carat USA. 
  “As we continue to build and transform long-lasting partnerships with each of our clients on
  
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• The Real Adventure Unlimited...: Project Director (FTC)

  18-01-2017 15:04
  
  £40-45,000 pro rata, per annum + comprehensive benefits package:The Real Adventure Unlimited...:
  There’s no time like the present! The Real Adventure Unlimited is looking for talented individuals, like you, to help us deliver our vision.Bristol (City Centre), City of Bristol
  
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• New Balance kicks off 2017 with 'Letters to My Future Self' campaign to inspire athletes

  18-01-2017 15:02
  
  Boston-based shoemaker New Balance is inspiring people this year with a campaign that highlights several high-profile athletes, including Olympian Boris Berian, tennis champion Milos Raonic and X Games gold medalist (and MIT-educated architect) Alexis Sablone, writing “Letters to My Future Self".
   
  The campaign features videos and letters the athletes apparently penned to themselves highlighting the goals, the drive and the values that they embody to be the best.
   
  Berian wrote t
  
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• US Creative Works: Featuring Havas New York, Space150, Doner and more

  18-01-2017 15:00
  
  Welcome to The Drum's US Creative Works.
  As always, this section is dedicated to showing the best creative work in North & South America and gives you, the reader, the chance to decide which work we feature as our US 'Creative Work of the Week.'
  To vote for your favorite, make sure you click on the stars. The winner will be chosen based on the average rating and the number of votes cast. Voting closes on Wednesday, January 25.
  Commonwealth//McCann: Chevrolet 'All-New Lego Batmobile
  
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• From second screen to small screen: Shazam gets its own TV show

  18-01-2017 14:38
  
  Shazam, the ever-popular music recognition app, has been building out its TV partnerships over the past few years. Shazam’s core is its automatic content recognition (ACR) technology, and this can be applied to songs as well as other forms of audio (like TV dialogue).
  Now, though, Shazam is getting its own show, BEAT SHAZAM, which will be hosted by Jamie Foxx and is set to premiere in Summer 2017.
  The show will feature four teams of two players competing to identify popular songs. The winn
  
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• Is technology forcing marketing off-course?

  18-01-2017 14:30
  
  The Drum Network meets Professor Alan Tapp of Bristol Social Marketing Centre and Maxwell Painter, CEO of Unrival, to discuss whether the dizzying array of technological tools now available to marketers are actually improving anything…
   
  Do you feel the quality of content and targeting is better or worse today than it was 20 years ago?
  Alan Tapp (AT): In regards to targeting, I feel that segmentation used to be far more predominant in the 80s and 90s than it is today. This was back w
  
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• Amazon follows Walmart's lead with mobile shopping and food stamps.

  18-01-2017 13:43
  
  Online retailer, Amazon, continues to make headway into Walmart’s coveted consumer territories with mobile shopping and food stamps.
  The Business Insider cited a note published by investment firm Oppenheimer that Amazon has grown its lead in the mobile shopping space by a wider margin than before, tripling its US unique visitors to its mobile app over the last two years. It also noted that Amazon’s closest competitors, including eBay, Target and Walmart saw nearly stagnant growth dur
  
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• Quartz acquires AI research firm Intelligentsia.ai as it teases subscription service

  18-01-2017 13:40
  
  Quartz has acquired AI research firm Intelligentsia.ai in a move that could form part of its first paid-for service.
  The San Francisco startup provides research and analysis on artificial intelligence to business executives. 
  It’s Quartz’s first acquisition in its four year history and will be built out into a separate specialist product aimed at helping businesses better understand AI and its applications. The new offering is expected to be announced soon.
  Intelligentsia.ai fou
  
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• Virgin Active unveils new logo and reveals first ever global campaign encouraging customers to 'Go There'

  18-01-2017 13:35
  
  Gym and health club operator Virgin Active is kicking off 2017 by unveiling its new logo and first ever global marketing campaign. 
  The brand has released an international push dubbed 'Go There' which features real life imagery overlaid with fun animations to showcase the benefits of an active lifestyle. 
  The centerpiece of the campaign (above) is a video set to the thumping sound of an unreleased track from Tanzanian artist Tiggs da Author, and taps into the insight tha
  
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• Brass sharpens its focus on mobile with appointment of Sam Watson

  18-01-2017 12:51
  
  Brass, a Leeds-based integrated marketing agency, has expanded its mobile marketing offering, with the appointment of Sam Watson to the newly created role of head of mobile. 
  The introduction of the new position marks an increased investment by Brass into mobile as an integral part of its customer acquisition, content and UX strategy.
  Paul Mallett, managing partner at Brass, said: “In today’s omni-channel world, mobile has become the ‘go to’ technology for brands wan
  
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• The art vs science debate: Why can’t we fully embrace creative effectiveness?

  18-01-2017 12:45
  
  “Perhaps the single most important word in the lexicon of advertising is ‘test’... Testing new ideas, new headlines, new media combinations. Test, test, test. That’s why everyone should start his advertising career in direct response, because in direct response, you test all the time.” David Ogilvy. 
  Since the 1960s, the ‘father of advertising’ talked about new opportunities for creatives to understand what makes people tick, new creative iterations
  
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• Sky Sports continues to broaden its coverage of women's sport with Six Nations deal

  18-01-2017 12:45
  
  Sky Sports has expanded its coverage of women's sport after agreeing a new deal with Rugby Football Union (RFU) to show all of England's Six Nations matches.
  The partnership marks the first time that every England women's game will be broadcast in the series and builds on Sky Sports' recent moves to expand its coverage of women's sport through partnerships with England Netball, the LPGA tour and the Women’s Cricket World Cup.
  The broadcaster will show all five of the Red Roses’ match
  
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• Martech M&A deals rose while adtech deals fell in 2016

  18-01-2017 12:40 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  While the total number of deals in 2016 was only one deal more than 2015, the number of martech deals rose sharply while adtech deals went into decline.
  
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• Genius marketing director warns Brexit could hit growth of gluten-free brands

  18-01-2017 12:40 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  The economic strain expected to hit the UK in 2017 could pose problems for the ability of premium health-focused brands to stay in the shopping baskets of consumers, according to the marketing director of Genius Gluten Free.
  
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• WPP spent $90m on Snapchat ads in 2016 says Sir Martin Sorrell as he admits it's a 'threatening alternative' to Facebook

  18-01-2017 12:27
  
  WPP clients spent $90m on Snapchat last year according to the network's chief Sir Martin Sorrell — around $60m more than it predicted would be spent on the app at the start of 2016. 
  The advertising chief told CNBC that the world's largest network had tripled the $30m it forecast to spend on the platform over the past 12 months, and that based on this figure he anticipated Snap's own revenue to be higher than current market estimates. 
  Back in September eMarkter pr
  
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• Sir Peter Blake creates bespoke collage for the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in collaboration with London Advertising

  18-01-2017 12:25
  
  Sir Peter Blake, a leading figure in the art world, and often referred to as the ‘Godfather of British Pop Art’, has created a collage covering Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, which was revealed overnight on 17 January. 
  The artwork acting as a wrap for the hotel, currently undergoing a multi million pound renovation,  is the latest  instalment of the ongoing 'Our Fans' brand campaign that spans 18 years and is the brainchild of London Advertising's fo
  
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• Integral Ad Science tasks new MD Nick Morley with European expansion

  18-01-2017 12:14
  
  Integral Ad Science has appointed Nick Morley to the newly created role of managing director EMEA.
  From London he will be charged with driving the company’s growth and further expansion into key European markets.
  Morley has previously held senior management roles at companies including Adobe, Efficient Frontier, and most recently Intent Media.
  Bryan St. John, senior vice president international at Integral Ad Science, said: “Heading into 2017, we are well positioned to take advantage
  
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• Direct Line Group kicks off Green Flag ad review

  18-01-2017 12:09 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Green Flag, Direct Line Group's breakdown service, is reviewing its £5m ad account, putting CHI & Partners on alert.
  
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• Alison Hoad takes BBH chief strategy officer role

  18-01-2017 12:05 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Bartle Bogle Hegarty has appointed Alison Hoad, former vice-chairman at Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe/Y&R, as its UK chief strategy officer.
  
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• Lucky Generals promotes James Fox to new MD role

  18-01-2017 12:04 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Lucky Generals has promoted business director James Fox, who becomes the agency's first managing director since launching in 2013.
  
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• Brexit fears hurting business confidence

  18-01-2017 11:53 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Brands should not be thrown off course by uncertainty around Brexit, industry figures have said, after the latest IPA Bellwether Report found that while marketing budgets are likely to grow in the long term, marketers' confidence is falling.
  
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• Turkey of the week: Protein World "Khloé Kardashian 30-day challenge"

  18-01-2017 11:42 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Gurjit Degun despises Protein World's attempt to "empower women".
  
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• Telco firm Zeotap secures €12m investment from ex Xavis chief to turn data into dollars

  18-01-2017 11:41
  
  Ex Xavis chief operating officer Mark Grether has bet big on turning water into wine after investing €12m in German telecoms firm Zeotap which seeks to transform raw data into digital ad revenue.
  Grether commented: “What I saw was that there is a tremendous opportunity for the telco providers in becoming big rivals to the Googles and Facebooks. If there is room for someone else, that's definitely the Verizons and the AT&Ts," he added. "They have data on all of what we do onli
  
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