Marketing news

• Burger King’s latest ads bizarrely tout the fact that its flame-grilling has led to actual restaurant fires

  27-02-2017 23:33
  
  Burger King’s special brand of off-the-wall advertising has reached a new level: in its latest print campaign, the fast food chain is featuring three photographs of actual restaurants that have caught on fire in recent years.
  The photos, which show Burger Kings aflame in Italy, Pennsylvania and Oregon, serve to (somewhat sadistically) remind people that the brand takes its flame-grilling seriously. A quick Google search of the incidences reveals that no one was seriously hurt in the aforem
  
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• Samsung Gear turns roller coasters at Six Flags into immersive mixed reality experiences

  27-02-2017 23:27
  
  After teaming up last year to launch North America’s first virtual reality (VR) roller coasters, regional theme park company Six Flags Entertainment Corporation and Samsung Electronics America announced a renewed collaboration that includes two mixed reality coasters with “complex gameplay, where riders make key decisions during the course of the ride that can affect their scoring at the end.”
  Dubbed the New Revolution Galactic Attack, the experience will be at both Six Fl
  
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• Pollutants become monsters in VR game that doubles as clean water educational tool

  27-02-2017 22:40
  
  Advertising, design and digital agency Deutsch NY, visual content studio Ntropic and VR company Tactic have launched an educational social good initiative, the Hidden Dangers Project, in conjunction with nonprofit WaterIsLife.
  According to a rep, this includes an interactive VR game in which a player floats in a boat while pollutants personified as monsters spring from the water and the player uses a purification device as a weapon against them – with the aim being to educate children abou
  
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• San Diego poised to become one of the world’s smartest cities

  27-02-2017 22:13
  
  Thanks to a partnership with Current, the GE startup that specializes in creating intelligent environments for commercial buildings and industrial facilities, the City of San Diego announced a $30m investment to deploy what it called the world's largest smart city IoT sensor platform.
  The program will in part transform streetlights into what Current called a connected digital infrastructure that will allow San Diego to collect real-time sensor data that can be used to develop applicati
  
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• The men of Oscar-winning ‘Moonlight’ are now the stars of Calvin Klein’s latest underwear campaign

  27-02-2017 21:46
  
  Hours after Moonlight was crowned “Best Picture” at the Oscars, Calvin Klein unveiled an underwear campaign that stars the cast of the film.
  The campaign features Mahershala Ali, who won “Best Supporting Actor” at the Oscars for his role as Juan in Moonlight, as well as Alex Hibbert, Ashton Sanders and Trevante Rhodes, the three of which play the movie’s main character Chiron at different stages of his life.
  Running under the tagline “Revelation,” the ca
  
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• Lucy Activewear will close stores and be folded into North Face brand

  27-02-2017 21:43
  
  Lucy Activewear, a women’s sports and lifestyle apparel company started by former Nike executives in the late 1990s, announced that it will be closing a majority of its stores over the next few months and merging the brand with North Face.
  The story was first reported by KGW news in Portland, Oregon, and said that one reason for the store closings is tougher competition in the activewear category, including by companies like Athleta, Lululemon and Fabletics.
  "Just in the last eight years,
  
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• Netflix doesn’t design content specifically for mobile – yet

  27-02-2017 20:02
  
  Netflix has hinted that it hasn’t ruled out creating ‘vertical’ content specifically designed for watching on a mobile screen, with the platform’s founder and chief executive Reed Hastings revealing that “people are talking about it” and “maybe one day” it will look into it.
  Snapchat really pushed content makers to consider the way they design for mobile, forcing brands and advertisers to think ‘vertical’ if they wanted people to watch
  
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• Telefonica's AI and 5G car, Olay's new tech for skincare and Nokia's best PR stunt yet: Monday at MWC 2017

  27-02-2017 19:33
  
  Monday at Mobile World Congress has come and gone, but catch up on everything you missed in Monday's video round up. 
  Find out... 
  The details of Telefonica's "brain" – the organisation's first digital personal assistant, Aura
  How Olay are asking customers to send in a selfie to identify skin types
  What happened when the Drum caught up with Rainbow's – formerly Shine's – chief revenue officer
  And what the trade show's attendees really thi
  
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• Twitch to start selling video games on its site

  27-02-2017 19:21
  
  Video game live streaming site Twitch has announced that it will begin selling games on the platform, a move which is likely to please developers who will benefit from the site’s social community and high levels of engagement.
  The Amazon-owned company has confirmed that games will go on sale this spring and has lined up an array of triple A developers and indie publishers. The launch includes the likes of Ubisoft, Telltale Games, Digital Extremes, Paradox Interactive, Hi-Rez Studios, Trion
  
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• Netflix boss Reed Hastings: 'We will adapt to virtual reality if it takes off'

  27-02-2017 19:16 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Netflix co-founder and chief executive Reed Hastings says the company is ready to adapt for virtual reality as part of its "learn and adapt" strategy.
  
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• The Drum at MWC – How mobile is fuelling the future of business

  27-02-2017 18:48
  
  The Drum has partnered with IBM iX to create a series of films during Mobile World Congress (MWC) exploring how mobile is driving disruption across businesses.
  On the first day of the show, The Drum talked to IBM iX, digital agency Aperto, and Panasonic to discuss how they are leveraging mobile technologies to digitally reinvent their business models for the future.
  At IBM iX, Matt Candy, vice president and European leader spoke about the massive disruption going on in industries and why no
  
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• Director Har’el releases short film for Fifth Sense inspired by Chanel No 5

  27-02-2017 18:28
  
  Director Alma Har’el, who launched the #FreeTheBid movement to get more women directors included on bids, has unveiled a vivid new short film exploring the emotion of scent.
  “JellyWolf” is an eight-minute film for the Fifth Sense, a digital platform from i-D and Chanel that explores the emotion of scent and the way it inspires female creativity. The film stars actresses Kiersey Clemons (known for her role in Dope, produced by Pharrell Williams, as well as her recurring role as
  
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• How to avoid an Oscars screw up and not end up in La La Land

  27-02-2017 18:10
  
  The 86th Academy Awards ended in calamity when Faye Dunaway mistakenly announced that 'La La Land' had won the Best Picture award. Gemma Cutting, head of client management at PromoVeritas, looks into the fiasco and how it could have been avoided.
  At last night’s Oscars, 80-year-old Warren Beatty pulled a white card from a red envelope before hesitantly announcing “And the Academy Award…for best picture…” He then halted before allowing co-presenter Faye Dunaway to
  
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• UK consumers opt for familiar with British Airways topping brand ranking

  27-02-2017 18:00 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  In a time of turbulence, British consumers seem to be opting for tried and true brands, with British Airways leading Superbrands' rankings for the fourth year running.
  
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• Virtual and augmented reality market expected to reach $100bn by 2020, report suggests

  27-02-2017 17:50
  
  Among the recent technological innovations, like smartglasses, that have the potential to penetrate to the mainstream in the consumer and commercial segments, currently augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) headsets are poised to reach  $117.40bn in sales by 2022 according to a research published by Markets and Markets.With factors contributing to the growth of the industry like higher adoption rates of smartphones enabled with AR devices and increasing interest from the retail an
  
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• Rebrand reflection: Mastercard CMO hints the brand could drop the name from its iconic logo

  27-02-2017 17:30
  
  Mastercard was playing with fire when it rebranded for the first time in decades almost six months ago, a move which saw it confidently trim back its logo in an attempt to modernise its appeal to reflect an increasingly digitised, cashless society.
  Following an appearance at  Mobile World Congress, Raja Rajamannar, chief marketing officer of Mastercard, reflected on the rebrand with The Drum, which rolled out back in June 2016.
  At the time, the company revealed a bold, minimalist design tha
  
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• Media is broken and 'needs a total reset'

  27-02-2017 17:28 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Advertisers and agencies both seem to agree that clients are failing to lead on key media decisions, while agencies lack neutrality and are unable to provide data-driven insight.
  
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• Why Waterstones is opening unbranded high-street stores

  27-02-2017 17:11
  
  Waterstones has begun “acting as an independent” with the recent opening of three new stores, none of which carry the book seller’s brand name.
  The stores in the towns of Rye, Southwold and Harpenden bear different names, such as ‘Southwold Books’ with the only hint that they are owned by the chain appearing in the form of handwritten notice. The move has caused disgruntlement among some locals who believe Waterstones is hiding behind the guise of being an inde
  
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• Lego closes in on UK Consumer Superbrands crown, moving into second behind British Airways

  27-02-2017 17:03
  
  Lego has climbed up the ranks of the annual Consumer Superbrands listing for the third year running, second only to British Airways which has retained the number one slot for four consecutive years.
  The 22nd annual Consumer Superbrands listing has been compiled following a poll of 2,500 UK consumers who voted on over 1,500 leading brands. The public were asked to consider each brand in relation to their perceived quality, reliability and distinction – the three factors inherent in a Superb
  
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• Vox Pop: How much creative freedom should brands give influencers? (Part 3)

  27-02-2017 16:46
  
  Since trading evolved into the art of business, companies have fashioned their history and ethos into a story that customers can follow. Yet, while the rise of influencer marketing proves itself as a great way to market a product in the technological era, brands' personality is getting left behind.
  We asked our Drum Network agency members,"as influencer marketing becomes a popular choice of promotion, the product becomes an accessory of the person in the spotlight. Should influencers be given cr
  
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• Future of mobile apps looking bleak

  27-02-2017 16:44
  
  Mobile app usage in Europe is beginning to plateau and is expected to follow the US in a downward trend, according to a new Adobe insights report.
  Despite smartphone traffic in Europe more than doubling between 2014-16 new and repeat use of mobile apps is starting to slow with app installs declining by 5% during the period and the number of apps opened increasing only marginally by 4%.
  Adobe Digital Insights has forecast that Western European markets such as the UK and France will soon begi
  
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• Johnson & Johnson pursues empathy in an age of 'anxiety and mistrust'

  27-02-2017 16:24 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Johnson & Johnson president of global marketing services Debra Bass says the brand is putting empathy at the forefront of its activity at a tumultuous time for the world.
  
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• Just Eat CTO rolls out the carpet on voice order tech and a startup accelerator

  27-02-2017 16:08
  
  Not content with being top of the food chain on the App Store, Just Eat is embracing tech and startups to revolutionise how its consumers order their favourite cuisine.
  Speaking at MWC, the company's chief technology officer, Fernando Fenton lifted the lid on its tech machinations, announcing a full push into voice interfaces that could help consumers casually submit an order without having to navigate menus or talk to another human being.
  It’s all part of the company’s push to &ldqu
  
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• Trinity Mirror achieves 14% pretax profit growth despite ad revenue decline

  27-02-2017 15:40 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  News publisher Trinity Mirror has reported a 14% increase in statutory pre-tax profits for 2016, although it saw like-for-like print advertising revenues drop by 18%.
  
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• Columbus Crew land biggest ever sponsorship deal with Acura shirt sponsorship

  27-02-2017 15:27
  
  Major League Soccer (MLS) side Columbus Crew have announced luxury carmaker Acura as their new shirt sponsor in what is reportedly the ‘the single largest annual business deal in the club’s history’.
  The deal will span the 2017, 2018 and 2019 MLS seasons and also sees Acura as Columbus Crews’ automotive partner.
  Acura will also have branding around the club’s Mapfre Stadium, including vehicle displays main scoreboard, exterior and pitch side advertising.
  "As the hom
  
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• Columbus Crew land biggest ever sponsorship deal with Acura partnership

  27-02-2017 15:27
  
  Major League Soccer (MLS) side Columbus Crew have announced luxury carmaker Acura as their new shirt sponsor in what is reportedly the ‘the single largest annual business deal in the club’s history’.
  The deal will span the 2017, 2018 and 2019 MLS seasons and also sees Acura as Columbus Crews’ automotive partner.
  Acura will also have branding around the club’s Mapfre Stadium, including vehicle displays main scoreboard, exterior and pitch side advertising.
  "As the hom
  
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• Things that rhyme with MailChimp: the most confusing ad campaign of 2017 so far

  27-02-2017 14:57
  
  The email marketing company has launched FailChips, SnailPrimp and NailChamps – and even persuaded Dev Hynes to release a song as VeilHymnName: MailChimp.Age: 16. Continue reading...
  
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• Allianz expands sports sponsorship strategy with Formula E partnership

  27-02-2017 14:47
  
  Allianz has partnered with Formula E in a sponsorship agreement which will see the financial services company take on the naming rights to the eVillage entertainment areas at each race event.
  The deal builds on Allianz’s growing sports sponsorship portfolio and follows on from its recent partnership with The Drone Racing League.
  Continuing the tech focused approach, the company will operate the Allianz eVillage with Formula E to offer fans in attendance at the events a “fully immersi
  
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• Snapchat isn't under the influencer spell yet but will this change as the company goes public?

  27-02-2017 14:29
  
  Snapchat’s charm offensive on advertisers isn’t slowing down, but despite this the app has remained uncluttered by influencer endorsements. As its parent company hurls toward an IPO will the platform become more populated with internet superstars or remain true to its ethos of authenticity?
  Influencers are used to getting special treatment from social networks, but if reports are to be believed then Snapchat isn’t playing ball.
  Murmurs of discontent in the influencer ranks firs
  
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• PwC expresses 'deep regret' and pledges investigation after Oscars envelope blunder

  27-02-2017 14:28 via campaignlive.com
  
  Professional services firm PwC, which is in charge of the Academy Awards ballot counting process, has issued an apology for its part in an embarrassing error at last night's ceremony.
  
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• Turner broadcasting executive says more transparency needed for Netflix advertisers

  27-02-2017 14:26
  
  With Netflix adding  another 1.93m US subscribers in the last quarter alone, and expected to hit around 50m in the States by the spring, Howard Shimmel, chief research officer at Turner Broadcasting told Beet.TV that Netflix should address its blind spot and shed more light on viewing patterns to  advertisers going forward.
  Because Netflix  famously keeps viewing data to itself but also uses it to customize its commissioning and procurement patterns for more shows, Shimm
  
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• PayPal next-gen commerce chief: Don't lose the empathy in our tech

  27-02-2017 13:59 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Companies must not let technology cut them off from the human beings that use their products and platforms, PayPal's entrepreneur-in-residence, next generation commerce.
  
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• Blockchain set to remove intermediary brands that 'add no value'

  27-02-2017 13:43 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Brands that act as intermediaries but add no value will be cut out of the process by the adoption of blockchain, according to a panel of experts at Mobile World Congress.
  
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• "Our society has evolved a lot less than we would like to think" Miriam Wright, senior marketing manager for Dolby Labs

  27-02-2017 13:36
  
  In the marketing sector there has been little escaping the growing need to create a diverse workforce that reflects society. As part of this drive, BAME 20/20: Meet the Changemakers was created in order to shine a light on those from ethnic minority backgrounds succeeding in business. 
  #BAME20/20 is a ground-breaking and inclusive social enterprise initiative co-founded by Amanda Fone (founder & CEO, f1 recruitment and f1 search) and Adrian Walcott (founder & MD of Brands with Value
  
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• Stella Artois on how its charity campaign has made it less of an old person’s brand

  27-02-2017 13:35
  
  Since partnering with Water.org on the ‘Buy A Lady a Drink’ (BALAD) programme nearly three years ago, Stella Artois says the partnership has succeeded in making its brand “more culturally relevant” among millennials.
  The BALAD programme was co-founded by Hollywood actor Matt Damon and aims to provide 3.5 million people, particularly women with families in the third world, with long-term access to clean water by 2020.
  Since Stella Artois first linked up with BALAD in 2015
  
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• Stella Artois on how its charity campaign has made it less of an ‘old man’s drink’

  27-02-2017 13:35
  
  Since partnering with Water.org on the ‘Buy A Lady a Drink’ (BALAD) programme nearly three years ago, Stella Artois says the partnership has succeeded in making its brand “more culturally relevant” among millennials.
  The BALAD programme was co-founded by Hollywood actor Matt Damon and aims to provide 3.5 million people, particularly women with families in the third world, with long-term access to clean water by 2020.
  Since Stella Artois first linked up with BALAD in 2015
  
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• How Columbia University unified a fragmented social marketing setup

  27-02-2017 13:34
  
  Columbia University is the oldest university in New York, and the fifth oldest institution for higher education in the United States. Its School of Professional Studies offers 14 master's degree programs across a range of disciplines, and social media is a big part of connecting with new students, nurturing the alumni network and keeping the various programs aligned in their communications strategy.
  But how can you bring social media to the forefront of communications in an institution that was
  
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• Just Eat: voice technology will make your phone as good as a human

  27-02-2017 13:23 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Voice input and artificial intelligence are close to being able to offer users an experience as seamless as visiting a restaurant, Just Eat's chief product and technology officer said.
  
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• Oscars Best Picture mishap sparked over 60,000 mentions across social in a single minute

  27-02-2017 13:21
  
  Last night’s mishap at the Oscars, which initially awarded the Best Picture to La La Land before revealing Moonlight as the winner, sparked over 60,000 social mentions in one minute and caused sentiment around the event’s conversation to shift in a negative direction.
  The mix up around the Best Picture announcement has emerged as defining moment for the 89th Academy Awards and across social the incident became the one extreme peak in a relatively even online discussion. 
  Loading
  
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• High-end editorial content deemed more 'memorable' and 'engaging' than news feeds, Teads study suggests

  27-02-2017 13:06
  
  Through a recent neuro- scientific study of the impact of editorial articles on memory, outstream video company Teads estimates that 16% of those surveyed found high-end editorial or premium content is more personally relevant, or engaging, than social news feeds.
  The study suggests that professionally written articles are 18% more memorable than social news feed, and 8% more impactful on memory. The study also found that video ads with relevant content perform better in eight out of ten online
  
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• Nokia 3310 revival ups brand value by 62% according to fresh research

  27-02-2017 12:53
  
  Nokia's modern spin on its classic 3310 model has helped up the brand's value by 62% according to a list of the most valuable telecoms brands compiled by Brand Finance. 
  The annual research values some of the biggest advertisers in the world by determining their power based on factors such as marketing investment, loyalty and corporate reputation.
  While AT&T has overtaken Verizon to become the world's most valuable telecoms brand, Nokia's brand value has climbed by almost two third
  
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• Campaign TV: Will 5G mean the death of Wi-Fi?

  27-02-2017 12:52 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Campaign spoke to Bank of America's Lou Paskalis about the rise of 5G and what it will mean for marketers.
  
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• Three-quarters of British population use a second screen while watching TV, study finds

  27-02-2017 12:51
  
  Three-quarters of the British population use a connected device while watching TV, a trend that rises to 93% in the under 25 age range, according to a new report from Google that highlights the rise of smartphone adoption.
  The Google Consumer Barometer Report, a five-year study that includes 625 thousand interviews with consumers around the world, finds that in the UK three in four people now use a smartphone, a number that has nearly doubled in five years. The average Briton uses 3.3 internet-c
  
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• Measuring the value of content marketing

  27-02-2017 12:50
  
  By far and away the most common conversation I had with clients in 2016 concerned measuring the value of content marketing. It’s early days for 2017, but I don’t see the topic going away any time soon.
  Solving this problem is challenging; it requires a mutual, and somewhat consistent, definition of what we mean by ‘content marketing’, and my experience suggests that there as many definitions for content marketing in the world as there are content marketers.
  At the risk of
  
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• Creative Equals urges agencies to nominate their future female leaders

  27-02-2017 12:39 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Creative Equals and Campaign are calling for female creatives to apply to become a future leader.
  
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• Will February 2017 go down as the month that destroyed adtech?

  27-02-2017 12:36
  
  February 2017 has been a bad month for adtech. This month’s news should shake the industry down to its very core – and rightfully so.
  Marc Pritchard rocks the ad world
  February began with the fallout from Procter & Gamble’s chief brand officer Marc Pritchard’s atomic bomb of a marketing address to the annual leadership meeting of the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) in Florida. His opening remarks set the stage for the news to come:
  “Before digital technology,
  
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• Creative Work of the Week: Step inside the mind of a child with Pebble Studios' VR experience

  27-02-2017 11:58
  
  Step inside the mind of a child with this week’s European Creative Work of the Week winner from Pebble Studios.
  Working with a group of seven and eight-year-olds from West London’s Grange Primary School, VR and production company Pebble Studios brought the imaginative worlds of children to life at the start of the year after asking pupils to draw some of the wondrous and inventive characters, lands and stories they come up with at playtime.
  Impressing the team with their de
  
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• Campaign TV: What's the biggest trend in mobile right now?

  27-02-2017 11:54 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Campaign spoke to Lisa Donohue of Starcom Worldwide at Mobile World Congress about AI, the Internet of Things and the power of brand storytelling.
  
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• So what is 'Digital PR' anyway?

  27-02-2017 11:43
  
  Digital PR. It’s one of those phrases that has been buzzing around the industry for some time and if you are unsure what this is exactly, then let me assure you, you're not alone.
  There are two main origins of today's ‘Digital PRs’. The former is the traditional publicist. Now let’s stray away from the Ab Fab stereotypes for one moment; these PRs are hardworking opportunists working the phones, pitching their client at every meal, submitting their self-written press relea
  
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• Is Bud Light’s brand power enough to win over craft enthusiast millennials?

  27-02-2017 11:42
  
  America’s most popular beer is set to re-enter the UK market 16 years after its first attempt, but as its target audience of 18 to 30 year-olds increasingly eschew bigger beer names for craft alternatives, does the Bud Light brand have enough clout to win them over?
  The AB InBev-owned brand will appear behind UK bars and on supermarket shelves from now ahead of a multimillion pound campaign set for a mid-march launch. One that the brewer is billing as ‘the biggest’ in a number
  
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