Marketing news

• News Corp revenues dip 2.1% as digital transition still proves challenging

  09-02-2017 23:06
  
  Despite continued significant increases in digital, News Corp’s revenues overall dropped by $400m, or 2.1%, to hit $2.12bn during the last quarter equating to a loss of $219m for the period, compared to a $106m loss 12 months earlier.
  The results are further evidence that tier-one publisher of multiple bestselling newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal, The Times among many others, is continuing to struggle to offset declines in its traditional print advertising reven
  
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• BBDO’s 'Put Her on the Map' encourages naming streets and buildings after influential women

  09-02-2017 22:06
  
  As learned following the recent Presidential election, girls looking for inspiration these days don’t have nearly as many publicly acknowledged role models as they should. Considering women’s voices grow stronger every year, now is the time to help inspire the next generation and if a new new campaign from BBDO New York called 'Put Her on the Map' is a success, girls might get that spark they need to do great things.
   
  The new public awareness campaign encourages cities and corp
  
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• Brand safety online: Can it ever be guaranteed?

  09-02-2017 20:51
  
  Adverts from some of the world’s biggest brands are appearing next to content by pornographers, extremists and white supremacists, helping to fund their causes, according to a report in The Times.
  The newspaper’s investigation found that brands including Waitrose, Marie Curie and Mercedes-Benz were unwittingly appearing on hate sites and next to YouTube videos created by supporters of terrorist groups, including so-called Islamic State. It estimates this could be generating thousand
  
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• Boots moves £80m UK creative to Ogilvy & Mather as it eyes integrated approach following global WPP deal

  09-02-2017 20:48
  
  Boots has tasked Ogilvy & Mather with creative duties in the UK a week after owner Walgreen Boots Alliance pulled all its global its marketing and media responsibilities into WPP.
  The appointment signals the end of the UK retailer’s 13-year relationship with Mother as Boots’ former senior marketer and current managing director Elizabeth Fagan puts integration front and centre of her plan for the business.
  She became the first woman to head the retailer's UK operation when she too
  
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• Retale acquires popular shopping list app Out of Milk

  09-02-2017 19:57
  
  Location-based advertising company Retale has acquired Out of Milk, the most popular shopping list app in North America on the Android platform, with close to 10m downloads.
  Retale, a Bonial.com company, is the leading US location-based mobile and digital company that conveniently connects shoppers with their favorite retailers and brands locally and essentially serves as an electronic circular without the hassle of print. By acquiring Out of Milk, Retale gets a top-rated app with a co
  
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• Stephen Curry speaks out against Under Armour CEO's support for Trump

  09-02-2017 19:24
  
  Golden State Warriors star and Under Armour athlete Stephen Curry has taken issue with the brand’s chief executive describing president Donald Trump as an “asset” to the United States.
  During an interview with CNBC on Tuesday, Under Armour chief executive, Kevin Plank, expressed support for Trump when he said: "To have such a pro-business president is something that is a real asset for the country."
  Plank’s remarks caused a stir on social media, with the hashtag
  
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• Contend expands offerings, introduces Contend Immersive and opens Moscow office

  09-02-2017 18:47
  
  LA-based content agency Contend is opening a new office in Moscow and is also expanding its offerings with the announcement of an experiential multimedia division called Contend Immersive.
  The content agency, whose clients include Bud Light, Chrysler, Microsoft, Verizon and Netflix, will co-run the Immersive offering out of Contend’s Los Angeles headquarters and its new international office in Moscow. Contend Immersive specializes in Inverted Reality that blurs the lines between human
  
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• Costa calls global ad review

  09-02-2017 18:18
  
  Costa, the coffee shop chain owned by Whitbread, is searching for a new agency for its global ad account.
  
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• Mercedes-Benz asks agencies to 'review' safe media lists as brands respond to 'programmatic terror' dilemma

  09-02-2017 18:15
  
  A report that some of the world's biggest brands are inadvertently funding extremism and pornography through programmatic ads has prompted Mercedes-Benz to review the platforms and channels it considers safe. 
  Along with the likes of Marie Curie, Thomson Reuters and Halifax, the car giant was named as one of a number of brands to have been unwittingly opening up revenue streams for terrorists and white supremacists by advertising on their sites and next to their videos o
  
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• Mecedes-Benz asks agencies to 'review' safe media lists as brands respond to 'programmatic terror' dilemma

  09-02-2017 18:15
  
  A report that some of the world's biggest brands are inadvertently funding extremism and pornography through programmatic ads has prompted Mercedes-Benz to review the platforms and channels it considers safe. 
  Along with the likes of Marie Curie, Thomson Reuters and Halifax, the car giant was named as one of a number of brands to have been unwittingly opening up revenue streams for terrorists and white supremacists by advertising on their sites and next to their videos o
  
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• Coca-Cola's incoming CEO outlines 2017 plan as low sugar drive fails to offset wider challenges

  09-02-2017 18:00
  
  Coca-Cola has sped full throttle on its course to reduce the amount of sugar in its fizzy drinks and while it is seeing some positive results, the drinks company’s health kick is not yet enough to offset some of the wider challenges it faces in emerging markets.
  Coke’s marketing strategy over the past few years has focussed on pushing low calorie, low sugar versions of its fizzy drinks, as well as smaller pack sizes and water. It’s one that has delivered promising return, parti
  
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• BBDO video rewind finds need for better mobile optimization

  09-02-2017 17:57
  
  Video is everywhere lately, and multiple screens are now the norm. With more and more people viewing video on the go, on mobile and through social channels, brands are poised to reach people at an unprecedented level. But many sill aren’t optimizing their video output to reach their target markets in the right way.
   
  BBDO is helping change that through its new approach to video, which it has compiled in a report, Video Rewind Report: A Recap of Learnings for the Future of Video. As th
  
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• Tremors Video CEO to exit as adtech outfit beats expectations

  09-02-2017 17:54
  
  Tremor Video chief executive Bill Day is to exit the company, with Paul Caine now acting as interim CEO. The company revealed the news in its Q4 2016 results, when revenue rose 4% year-over-year to hit $53.8m, beating analyst expectations, although revenue for the full year was down by the same percentage points totaling $166.8m for 2016. 
  Day has resigned, effective immediately, and will serve as a special adviser to Tremor Video until June, with its chairman of the board Caine acting as C
  
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• What will the marketing team of the future look like?

  09-02-2017 17:28
  
  As part of Marketing Week Live, which returns to Olympia Central on 8 and 9 March, Marketing Week will be hosting a lively debate exploring how marketing teams will be structured in years to come.
  Marketing Week editor Russell Parson will be joined by Zoe Harris, group marketing director at Trinity Mirror; Mark Evans, marketing director at Direct Line; Annabel Venner, global brand director at Hiscox; and Emma Woods, group marketing and digital director at Merlin Entertainments.
  Together they wi
  
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• Halo Wars 2 tackles everyday conflict with ‘War of Wits’ real-world strategy ad

  09-02-2017 17:28
  
  Halo Wars 2, the latest entry in the iconic Halo series, is being promoted in a quirky, real-life campaign called ‘War of Wits’, launching with two ads.
  The campaign for the first time lands Halo characters, General Atriox and Captain Cutter, in the real world in a wonderfully monotonous scene, a used car sale and an airline battle for an armrest.
  The creative for Xbox and 343 Industries was delivered by 215MCCANN and director Randy Krallman.
  The films will air across the globe on ow
  
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• FCB brings on Fred Levron as worldwide creative partner

  09-02-2017 17:07
  
  FCB has announced that Fred Levron will be joining the agency as its first-ever worldwide creative partner.
  His appointment comes nearly a year after FCB won global creative duties for Clorox’s cleaning brands. In this newly created role, Levron will be tasked with partnering with FCB management teams around the world to help them deliver “best-in-class creative” for their clients. He will report to global chief creative officer Susan Credle.
  Levron officially joined FCB at the
  
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• Brands 'funding' terrorism is a wake-up call to stop buying audiences

  09-02-2017 16:59
  
  The Times’ front page today slated advertising, crying out that ‘big brands fund terror’ through programmatic. And they unwittingly do; ads from the likes of Mercedes-Benz, Waitrose and Argos sit next to content by Islamic extremists, white supremacists and pornographers on their sites and YouTube channels.
  This is not the first time we have heard about the issues surrounding programmatic advertising. The FT revealed last year that Citi Group, IBM and Microsoft advertised on Ji
  
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• Brands 'funding' terroism is a wake-up call to stop buying audiences

  09-02-2017 16:59
  
  The Times’ front page today slated advertising, crying out that ‘big brands fund terror’ through programmatic. And they unwittingly do; ads from the likes of Mercedes-Benz, Waitrose and Argos sit next to content by Islamic extremists, white supremacists and pornographers on their sites and YouTube channels.
  This is not the first time we have heard about the issues surrounding programmatic advertising. The FT revealed last year that Citi Group, IBM and Microsoft advertised on Ji
  
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• ITV embeds Somethin’ Else for Saturday Night Takeaway social media content

  09-02-2017 16:51
  
  ITV has tapped into content agency Somethin’ Else to develop social media content for the next season of Saturday Night Takeaway.
  The team will work alongside ITV’s in-house team, building upon the work the two sides brought to the table for the latest season of I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here.
  Somethin’ Else’s team will be embedded with ITV during the full production process, with the new season filming 25 February.
  Chris Younie, senior entertainment producer at
  
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• Spotify's UK marketing director Karen Staughton departs after 6 months

  09-02-2017 16:44
  
  The head of consumer marketing at Spotify UK, Karen Staughton is set to depart the business later this month, The Drum understands. 
  Staughton joined the business just six months ago from Cornerstone Agency where she held the position of digital and communications director. Prior to that she was head of digital marketing at Columbia Records and was also digital manager at V2 records. 
  It is understood she has left the business to take up a job overseas. 
  Staughton h
  
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• Boots hands £80m UK creative account to Ogilvy

  09-02-2017 16:44
  
  Boots has appointed Ogilvy to handle its estimated £80m UK creative account, ending a 13-year relationship with Mother.
  
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• A letter to brands who use music: Put the band first and reap the rewards

  09-02-2017 16:30
  
  MullenLowe president and former Converse chief marketer Geoff Cottrill pens a letter to brands looking to work with musicians.
  The brand and advertising worlds have long played key roles in helping to promote musicians and their music. We use their songs in our commercials, we use artists in our content, we sponsor concert tours and venues, we show up in Austin each year with our banners, our activation spaces, our sampling teams and our own marketing teams. We ‘use’ music.
  We are sp
  
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• Twitter: 'Trump tweets are good for business'

  09-02-2017 16:23
  
  Donald Trump’s explosive tweets on everything from globalisation to immigration may spark outrage and topple the share prices of the world’s biggest companies but they are also good for Twitter, claimed the social network's chief financial officer Antony Noto. 
  The social network reported its slowest quarterly revenue since going public today (9 February) and said it only attracted two million new users in the fourth quarter of 2016. Twitter conceded this increase was partl
  
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• Pepsi partners with Copa90 and Bleacher Report for Champions League content sharing partnership

  09-02-2017 16:23
  
  Pepsi has partnered with Copa90 and Bleacher Report for a new content sharing partnership for its Uefa Champions League ‘Super Fandom’ campaign, which will also feature Arsenal striker Alexis Sanchez and Manchester City duo Vincent Kompany and Sergio Agüero.
  The campaign will celebrate fans' passion and will consist of over 150 pieces of content created and distributed across Copa90 and Bleacher Report’s platforms including Facebook, Instagram Stories, Snapchat, Team
  
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• Lévy on 2017, Razorfish, succession and his last call

  09-02-2017 16:09
  
  During a full-year 2016 earnings call dripping with nostalgia this morning, outgoing Publicis Groupe chairman and chief executive Maurice Lévy predicted a slow first half, followed by a strong second half of 2017.
  
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• PizzaExpress moves beyond gamification with reservation chatbot launch

  09-02-2017 16:05
  
  PizzaExpress has launched a Facebook Messenger bot allowing people to book a table upfront, in a bid to move away from gamification and make a “real” impact on how customers interact with the brand.
  The bot allows consumers to choose a local restaurant and book a table within 90 seconds and uses live data to analyse timings and table availability.
  The bot follows on from the restaurant brand’s Christmas activity, which allowed diners to scan a code using their smartphones to g
  
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• Viacom reorganization to focus on six priority flagship brands in Q1 earnings announcement

  09-02-2017 15:54
  
  Viacom Inc. announced its Q1 fiscal 2017 results and gave an update on its strategic priorities in its go-forward strategy, which finds the cable giant concentrating its efforts on its six priority flagship brands – Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., MTV, Comedy Central, BET and Spike.
  In a release of the Q1 numbers, Viacom president and chief executive officer Bob Bakish noted a 5% increase driven by domestic affiliate performance, continued international strength and theatrical revenue gains, an ope
  
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• Fox promotes X-Men drama Legion with VIP Mutant Lounge

  09-02-2017 15:48
  
  Fox is tapping into the ever popular Marvel super heroes with its new TV show Legion, and to generate buzz around the launch, the broadcaster hosted a London Mutant Lounge where the bar staff demonstrate super human feats.
  Telekinetic and pyrokinetic superpowers were exhibited by unique bar staff looking to recreate some of the powers on display in Legion which features characters inspired by Marvel’s X-Men comic strips.
  Attending the launch event was a line of celebs including Jonath
  
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• Life Beyond Marketing: How to master portfolio management

  09-02-2017 15:46
  
  From mentoring online startups to sitting on the board of a multinational publicly listed company (plc), a slew of high-profile marketers have swapped brand-side roles for the freedom of portfolio management over the past year.
  Notable among them is Roisin Donnelly, who after 31 years at Procter & Gamble resigned as brand director for Northern Europe last July to explore portfolio management. Alongside being an Advertising Standards Authority council member, Donnelly is now a non-
  
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• Private Eye overtakes Economist as UK's top current affairs magazine

  09-02-2017 15:33
  
  Current affairs magazines held their own in the second half of 2016, with combined circulation across all titles up 1.43% year-on-year to 1.24 million copies.
  
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• Budweiser's Super Bowl spot sends a clear message about immigration

  09-02-2017 15:19
  
  Social video experts at Unruly review "Born the hard way", the latest viral by Budweiser.
  
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• Netflix and Amazon Prime accounts to be accessible anywhere in the EU following removal of digital cross-border barriers

  09-02-2017 14:32
  
  EU citizens will soon be able to use their Netflix, Amazon Prime and other online subscription services outside their country of residence after European Union negotiators agreed on a deal to remove cross-border barriers to the Digital Single Market strategy.
  The European Parliament, Council and the Commission created the new rules to allow consumers to access online content services "the same way they access them at home" when they are in another country within the EU.
  The agreem
  
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• Gyro appoints Kash Sree at its New York creative chief

  09-02-2017 14:30
  
  Global B2B creative agency Gyro, has appointed Kash Sree as group creative director for its New York office. Sree has worked at many of the top agencies including SS&K, where he was chief creative officer. While at SS&K he was responsible for the total creative output for Chevy, Kraft, Pfizer, and Subway. Sree also held executive creative director roles at Perreira & O’Dell and JWT, in addition to vital roles at BBH New York, Leo Burnett Chicago, and Wieden+Kenne
  
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• Condé Nast suffers biggest audience decline as magazine market drops 6%

  09-02-2017 14:05
  
  Condé Nast saw the biggest circulation falls out of the major magazine publishers, reporting its titles down 8.9% year on year.
  
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• Hulu and Amazon make the biggest push OTT advertising as February begins

  09-02-2017 14:00
  
  Found Remote's partnership with MediaRadar, a leading ad-sales intelligence platform, looks at how the major OTT platforms are diversifying their marketing efforts.
  For the beginning of February, Hulu and Amazon were in the lead. Here's the chart and full insights.MediaRadar chart for Found Remote
   
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  KEY FINDINGS: 
  Advertising is down across the board, with Go90 and SeeSo not advertising at all, and MotorTrend On Demand only advertising one show on one network.
  
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• International growth fails to offset US ad revenue decline at Twitter

  09-02-2017 13:52
  
  Twitter's advertising revenue declined slightly in the fourth quarter of 2016 after international growth failed to offset an 11% fall in the US.
  
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• Twitter reports slowest quarterly revenue since going public as user growth falls flat

  09-02-2017 13:47
  
  Twitter has missed Wall Street estimates, posting 2016 fourth quarter earnings of $717m and noting a 14% overall revenue increase since 2015.
  The social network also reported extremely sluggish user growth, upping the number of daily active users of the site from 317 million in quarter three to 319 million in Q4.
  The figures mark Twitter's slowest ever quarterly revenue growth since going public, with analysts originally predicting that Twitter's revenue would rise to $740m in the final qua
  
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• Mary Keane-Dawson departs Neo@Ogilvy to focus on new projects

  09-02-2017 13:45
  
  Mary Keane-Dawson is stepping down from her role as Neo@Ogilvy UK managing director to focus on other projects. 
  The industry luminary joined Ogilvy's global media agency last year, tasked with driving growth and leading key client business but the company has confirmed to The Drum that she has now departed. 
  "Mary Keane-Dawson has left to focus on new projects and her consulting business," an Ogilvy spokesperson said. 
  The Drum has reached out to Keane-Dawson for further com
  
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• Government set to appoint chief data officer as it promises to open up data

  09-02-2017 13:40
  
  The UK government will appoint a new chief data officer and data advisory board as part of its drive to develop a more efficient public service by ridding old systems and sharing data between departments, while promising a more “open government”, according to its Transformation Strategy.
  The new chief data officer, which will likely be the first since Mike Bracken's departure in September, will oversee the implementation of the government's new data strategy that includes greater dat
  
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• ‘Generally unreliable’ Daily Mail culled from Wikipedia news sources

  09-02-2017 13:15
  
  The Daily Mail, founded in 1896, has been seemingly discredited by online information database Wikipedia as an ‘unreliable’ source of news in a move that calls into question the publciation’s position as a purveyor of factual information.
  Both the paper and, more prominently, the Mail Online – which boasted 14.7m unique daily users in January 2016 according to the ABC (more than any other UK publication and almost double the Guardian’s output), have been called into
  
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• Transport for London unveils 'Master Improvements' campaign to keep commuters in the loop

  09-02-2017 13:10
  
  Transport for London (TfL) has today unveiled its first major campaign following the appointment of VCCP as its creative agency. 
  The transport body has unveiled a series of graphic posters that aim to inform commuters in the capital of ongoing improvements that TfL is making to the city's transport network. 
  From the Night Tube to step-free-stations, the illustrations were penned by local artists and seek to bring to life the changes happening across London bus and train system. 
  
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• OK! and Glamour biggest fallers in women's magazines

  09-02-2017 12:49
  
  OK! magazine's circulation had the biggest year on year fall among women's titles in the second half of 2016, dropping 31.4% to 189,270.
  
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• Robinsons launches home delivery service

  09-02-2017 12:42
  
  Britvic's squash brand, Robinsons, is piloting home delivery service "Fruit Drop" in a bid to encourage UK consumers to drink more water.
  
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• As Facebook tunes in to TV, will advertisers flip the switch or stick with the channel?

  09-02-2017 12:30
  
  Over the past few years Facebook has been working hard to prove to publishers and broadcasters that it wants to amplify media rather than own it. Just last year, the company's vice-president for EMEA, Nicola Mendelsohn, likened its relationship with broadcasters to “really happy bedfellows”.
  But the arrival of CollegeHumour founder Ricky Van Veen as head of global creative strategy in June last year marked a turning point in Facebook's ambitions to commission, as well as distribute,
  
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• Why Super Bowl LI was a breakthrough year for B2B brands

  09-02-2017 12:28
  
  There have been great Super Bowl ads from B2B brands before (who can forget the EDS cat herders?). However, never before have B2B brands taken such a dominant role in the ad breaks during the game – and, just as importantly, the conversations around it.
  If there were a contest between B2C and B2B as to who owns the Super Bowl, then this year was B2B’s big moment – the equivalent of the Patriots’ fourth-quarter comeback.
  That’s not to say there weren’t ple
  
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• Eurosport increases its Olympics sports portfolio with modern pentathlon broadcast deal

  09-02-2017 12:20
  
  Eurosport has agreed a broadcast partnership with the modern pentathlon governing body as part of its wider strategy to provide a more comprehensive story of the Olympics with detailed coverage of the sports in the lead up to the Games.
  The broadcaster has partnered with the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM) to broadcast some of the sport’s most popular events on its platforms throughout 2017.
  The one-year Pan-European agreement will include blue-ribbon events such as the 2
  
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• Ex-Tesco marketing boss Robin Terrell on what it takes to be non-exec director

  09-02-2017 12:07
  
  Robin Terrell has made portfolio management a key aspect of his 26-year career, which includes high profile roles at Amazon UK where he was vice-president and managing director from the late 1990s through to his most recent role as Tesco chief customer officer.
  Accustomed to balancing portfolio commitments with corporate life since his first directorship in 2008, Terrell took on non-executive roles full time after leaving Tesco last October. His current list of projects spans hom
  
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• Kinetic invests in startups to 'shape the future' of out-of-home

  09-02-2017 12:00
  
  Out of home is in the midst of a digital transformation, and WPP-owned out-of-home agency Kinetic is trying to stay ahead of the curve by investing in startups to help influence the future of data-driven OOH.
  The agency has launched a startup incubator, KineticX, that will provide around six startups specialising in contextual marketing and digital screen technology access to its resources in exchange for exclusivity of those new technologies.
  The agency will not commit money to t
  
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• Netflix hopes to convert bingewatchers into bingebuyers in merchandising marketing push

  09-02-2017 11:58
  
  Video streaming company Netflix is looking to diversify its income beyond its subscription-based model with a move into merchandising recognising that many loved franchise call the service home.
  To reinforce its ambition, the company is on the hunt for an exec to oversee the sale of Netflix branded merchandise, revealed by a  job listing for ‘Senior Manager, Licensing, Merchandising and Promotion' in Beverly Hills, California.
  The company is hoping for an individual capable of “
  
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• Why marketers require empathy to make data meaningful

  09-02-2017 11:56
  
  This is a story about data so big that you can see it from space.
  It is also an uplifting story about a lack of imagination and empathy.
  The lack is ours.
  We the sophisticated. We the educated. We the connected. We the informed. We the insightful.
  We the ignorant.
  My daughter is traveling in Australia and is reading Bill Bryson’s Down Under. She sent me a photograph of this passage and I have highlighted the most pertinent section in bold type.
  “They seemed not to perceive the world
  
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