Marketing news

• Google Says Sorry, MEC Finds The Face of AWE & The Drum Arms Opens | Advertising Week Europe 2017

  20-03-2017 23:56
  
  Missed day one of Ad Week? Catch up on the biggest news in our first roundup video from the week.
  Watch the film above to find out…
  What happened when Google’s Matt Brittin took to the stage with Unilever's Keith Weed following the backlash against the search empire
  What IPG’s Michael Roth thinks about the ad misplacement debacle
  How MEC is highlighting the industry’s diversity problem through photography
  And what happened at The Drum Arms' first day in operation 
  
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• Angel Soft surprises single parents with rent checks and school tuition in latest ad

  20-03-2017 22:56
  
  Despite the fact that there are millions of single moms and dads raising children across the country, National Single Parent’s Day isn’t a day that’s widely celebrated or even known about. In fact, in Angel Soft’s latest ad, a group of single parents admit that even they’ve never heard of the March 21 holiday.
  To try and change that, the Georgia-Pacific toilet paper brand has rolled out a short film that features single parents talking about both the hardships and j
  
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• CEOs move towards more engagement on social media resulting in raised brand awareness

  20-03-2017 22:49
  
  The majority of leading US public (92%) and private (76%) company CEOs, as well as the top CEOs in Silicon Valley (86%) have enhanced their companies profile through online sociability - engaging with customers or thought leaders. In doing so, they have raised their visibility through social media channels with open dialogue and engagement, a report by Weber Shandwick suggests.  
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  The report defines engagement as any open dialogue between the CEO and site visitor, such as res
  
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• CBI, Warner Bros, Candy Crush and IPG on diversity and talent

  20-03-2017 22:31
  
  The issue of talent and how to access it in a post-Brexit world came under the spotlight today (20 March) at Advertising Week Europe.
  
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• ISBA calls for Google to cease selling inventory on YouTube where it cannot guarantee advertisers' safety

  20-03-2017 22:10
  
  On a day which Google's European chief Matt Brittin issued an apology to advertisers following the controversy over brand ads running alongside inappropriate content on YouTube, the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers (ISBA) has called for the company to take further measures to improve its ad placement. 
  On the same day that Marks & Spencer announced that it was to pause it advertising on YouTube, and following a session in which Brittin spoke to U
  
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• French tech seeks to become more visible

  20-03-2017 21:29
  
  As one walks the floor of SXSW, an island of international representation emerges. Great Britain, Germany, Brazil and others dot the landscape both in and outside the exhibit halls (Great Britain always shows well with the Great Britain House activation in Austin).
  Like their global counterparts, France is continuing to make a push into the world’s tech – and this year La French Tech’s home base was there to get the market top of mind, to show investors that there are places be
  
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• Nudging millennials towards thinking about retirement sparks humorous campaign

  20-03-2017 19:36
  
  The nation’s second largest retirement plan record keeper, Empower Retirement, needed to get millennials to start thinking about retirement.
  They sought out Boston-based Sleek Machine, who knew that speaking to a generation saddled with present and past financial obligations to plan for the distant future would be a challenge. Fortunately, during its first team meeting, a younger team member shrugged and said, “what’s the point in starting my 401K when I could st
  
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• How Foursquare is quietly positioning itself as a location data powerhouse

  20-03-2017 19:04
  
  When you think of Foursquare, you may think of check-ins, swarms or even founder Dennis Crowley.
  However, since it launched in 2009, Foursquare has repositioned itself as less of a social platform and more of a location intelligence company as it seeks to bridge on- and offline consumer behavior and is increasingly considered a source of alternate data about where consumers go in the real world.
  To wit: Foursquare announced it is launching Foursquare Analytics, a dashboard that analyzes anonymiz
  
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• Just Eat: ‘Marketing is the biggest spend in the business’

  20-03-2017 18:58
  
  Just Eat’s marketing budget is a “whopping figure”, according to chief marketing officer Barnaby Dawe, who believes it has to be that way for a high growth business.
  Speaking today (20 March) at Advertising Week Europe, he said it is absolutely right that marketing should be one of the biggest spends for the business, and that the brand spends more on marketing than technology.
  Dawe said he is “trying to drive efficiencies” so the “ratio of
  
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• Paddy Power creates head of Trump betting role to keep up with US president's 'general idiocy' betting surge

  20-03-2017 18:46
  
  Paddy Power has created the position of ‘head of Trump betting’, a role which will task the successful candidate with managing the brand’s newly launched ‘hub’ of specials around the US President while also keeping up with his press conferences, statements, tweets and “general idiocy”.
  The three-month contract is based in Dublin and involves monitoring and managing existing Trump markets while devising new specials to launch. The advertisement for the ro
  
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• Careers doctor: Tips and tricks on team management, mentoring and flexibility

  20-03-2017 18:17
  
  In the latest of our monthly careers podcasts, Microsoft’s Helen Tupper and Sainsbury’s Sarah Ellis discuss leadership, mentoring and the need for flexibility in today’s workplace.
  They are joined by scholars from the Marketing Academy who all have their say on behalf of the marketers of the future.
  Ellis says flexibility should be down to the individual and that the leader, individual and organisation need to work together to make sure this happens effectively.
  “Flexibil
  
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• Stressed out senior marketers spend more time ‘playing catch up’ instead of thinking about strategic issues, finds survey

  20-03-2017 18:15
  
  Senior marketers are feeling more stress than ever and are battling to cope with changing demands in the industry while getting their day job done, a recent survey by marketing agency Octopus Group finds. But while marketers are aware they must become more strategic to tackle competitors in the market, they are increasingly doing tasks they should be delegating to others.
  The survey was conducted by Octopus Group’s research division, Loudhouse, and comprised 200 senior B2B marketing execut
  
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• Life Beyond Marketing: Why marketers are perfectly placed to become business founders

  20-03-2017 18:12
  
  Jamling Tenzing with Huib van Bockel, the founder of Tenzing Natural EnergyFor marketers considering life after the profession, starting a business is the ultimate gamble. Often it involves giving up a prestigious, well-paid role in favour of the uncertainty and challenges that come with setting up a brand from scratch. The pay-off is the opportunity to build something, over which you have complete control and guide it through its early days of growth, ultimately with the aim of creating a succ
  
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• Media planning is suffering a shortage of storytellers

  20-03-2017 17:59
  
  The way media agencies have changed their hiring patterns to bring in more tech- and data-focused people means planning is suffering a shortage of storytellers, Advertising Week Europe heard yesterday.
  
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• This PSA for World Down Syndrome Day humorously redefines what ‘special needs’ are

  20-03-2017 17:20
  
  Ahead of World Down Syndrome Day on March 21, Italian nonprofit CoorDown has released a PSA that humorously explains why the expression “special needs” doesn’t make much sense.
  The two-minute PSA, which already has nearly five million views on Facebook, stars “Glee” actress Lauren Potter. In the video, Potter uses humor to illustrate the point that the needs of people with Down syndome aren’t particularly special - for example, they don’t “need&rdq
  
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• Unilever CMO Keith Weed warns industry not to get tunnel vision on Google brand safety boycott

  20-03-2017 17:00
  
  Unilever’s top marketer has warned against getting tunnel vision on the Google’s brand safety issue that has galvanised headlines over the past week, insisting that there is a bigger conversation to be had if the industry wants to “clean up across the board".
  Sitting on stage with Google’s European boss Matt Brittin at Advertising Week Europe, Unilever's chief marketing officer Keith Weed acknowledged that ad misplacement was a pertinent topic but implied advertisers
  
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• ‘Buy George’ - the scoop on Lebedev and Osborne's mad move

  20-03-2017 16:59
  
  Could there be marketing method in Evgeny Lebedev’s madness?
  On the face of it, appointing George Osborne editor of the London Evening Standard is rather bizarre. He has barely any journalism experience. He’s also a sitting MP with a string of lucrative side lines. It all begs the question, would he even have the time to do a job that most people regard as all-consuming?
  We’re not talking a one day a week consulting job here, like the one he’s just taken with BlackRo
  
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• Boutique gets arty with Leeds student commission

  20-03-2017 16:34
  
  Students at Leeds College of Art were recently given the opportunity to pitch to a Leeds agency for a professional commission.
  Having recently relocated to new offices, Leeds-based media communications agency We Are Boutique wanted to create a talking point in their conference room – ‘The Fell’ – that showcased the city’s creative culture and young talent. They teamed up with the Leeds College of Art to give local students the opportunity to secure the work, wi
  
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• Vox Pop: Brand marketing stunts to remember (Part 2)

  20-03-2017 16:06
  
  Beer giant Budweiser has just launched its new campaign at SXSW which involves a push to be the first human product to be consumed when man eventually steps foot on Mars.
  As scientists search for life on Mars and plot a way for people to live there in the future, Budweiser is hard at work figuring out how to make life in space a little more fun by developing a beer made just for the Red Planet.
  We asked our Drum Network members what their favourite brand marketing stunts have been
  
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• Movers and shakers: DigitasLBi, London Evening Standard, Isobar, Trinity Mirror

  20-03-2017 16:04
  
  Welcome to Campaign's weekly round-up of the hires, departures and promotions across the industry.
  
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• HBO licenses out Game of Thrones wine for the Lannister, Stark and Targaryen houses

  20-03-2017 16:04
  
  As Game of Thrones enters into its final season, HBO is upping the merchandising around its top property, by rolling out wines that could be straight from the show.
  The broadcaster has released a Chardonnay, a red blend and a Cabernet Sauvignon via a partnership with Vintage Wine Estates.
  Winemaker Bob Cabral said: “I’m a huge Game of Thrones fan, and these wines capture the complexity of the drama. But the wines also have great pedigree. We source grapes from premier viney
  
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• Digital brands have ‘succumbed to magpie syndrome’, says Shop Direct

  20-03-2017 16:01
  
  Digital businesses are overly preoccupied with the online user experience at the expense of back end systems that support customer service, according to a senior executive at Shop Direct.
  Kenyatte Nelson, group marketing director at the online retailer, said during a panel discussion at Advertising Week Europe today (20 March) that many brands had succumbed to “magpie syndrome” whereby they would “chase the shiny stuff” and neglect to develop practical services that genui
  
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• Can banks rebuild consumer trust with digital services?

  20-03-2017 15:59
  
  The banking industry today is fighting to reclaim customers trust and build loyalty while adapting to the digital economy. Since the financial crisis, banks have been keen to tell us how they’ve changed, from Santander repatriating their call centres to Lloyds bank re-branding to emphasise its trusted heritage. But to be useful and relevant, especially to the next generation of high net worth customers, banks will need to show they deliver new services that work for customers whose faith i
  
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• Mobile marketers know value of mobile but lack confidence in its ability to help them find new profitable customers.

  20-03-2017 15:57
  
  With the rise of mobile and its revenue potential, two-thirds of marketers still struggle with identifying the signals of engagement in their customers' journey. While 61% of marketers surveyed see untapped opportunities in mobile advertising, they agree that they lack the information  to find new, profitable customers.
  While 80% of those surveyed by Radium One and the Mobile Marketing Association agree that consumers use of mobile devices enables them to access more data, the survey s
  
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• Google apologises and promises to accelerate review after ad controversy

  20-03-2017 15:38
  
  Google will focus on improving its policies, simplifying controls for advertisers and beefing up its enforcement as it accelerates its review into brand safety concerns.
  Speaking today (20 March) at Advertising Week Europe, president of Google EMEA Matt Brittin said the search giant wants to “raise the bar” for safe advertising by improving three key aspects of the service.
  “Within YouTube and the Google display network we need to consider, what do we categorise as being safe f
  
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• Unilever 'not affected' by YouTube terror ad issues, says Keith Weed

  20-03-2017 14:54
  
  Unilever has not pulled ads from YouTube content in the UK but is tracking the issue, according to its chief marketing and communications officer Keith Weed, who helped Google's Matt Brittin negotiate tough questioning from the national media at Advertising Week Europe.
  
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• Govt meets with Google over 'totally unacceptable' YouTube issues

  20-03-2017 14:44
  
  Google bosses have apologised and promised improvements after being hauled into the Cabinet Office following a Times investigation that found government campaigns had appeared alongside extremist videos on YouTube.
  
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• Animals cast judging eyes on frisky young couple in funny VW ad

  20-03-2017 14:18
  
  VW has rolled out a spot for its new seven-seat Atlas that shows a young couple who can’t seem to keep their hands off of each other. 
  Set to Dean Martin’s “The Birds and the Bees,” the spot opens with the couple getting busy in a VW Beetle. After upgrading to a Jetta to accommodate their newborn baby, the pair then steams up some windows in their new car while an owl disapprovingly looks on — a romp that ultimately leads to a second child and the purchase of a
  
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• Hear what's on The Drum Arms Jukebox with playlists from Karen Blackett, Nils Leonard, Media Lad & more

  20-03-2017 13:48
  
  The Drum's dream of opening its very own pub became a reality this morning as we threw open the doors to The Drum Arms in London.
  Our pop-up boozer at 15 Denman Street has everything you need to keep you refreshed during Advertising Week Europe, but it is missing one thing – a jukebox.
  So we've asked some of the industry's top talents, including Twitter's Bruce Daisley, MediaCom's Karen Blackett and even the mysterious Media Lad, to curate the pub's soundtrack for the w
  
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• Michael Roth: IPG will not 'do a Havas' and pull Google spend

  20-03-2017 13:41
  
  Interpublic chairman and chief executive Michael Roth lamented the duopoly of Google and Facebook at an Advertising Week Europe session today but said IPG would "not do a Havas" and freeze advertising on Google.
  
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• Refining your distribution strategy: Why you need to do this now

  20-03-2017 13:35
  
  More than 85% of marketers publish branded content, but only 36% feel they're doing it effectively. When it comes to content marketing, it’s easy to fall into the trap of overproduction and struggling to prove ROI.
  A lot of marketing leaders are throwing masses of content into the ether and hoping for the best - and not only is this ignoring the precious opportunities in content for learning about your audience, it’s also dangerous for the business in the long term. Ten percent of th
  
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• Banks & biometrics: a profitable partnership

  20-03-2017 13:11
  
  According to Goode Research, biometrics is forecast to become big business: an $11bn industry by 2020. David Skerrett, managing partner at Nimbletank, discusses how biometrics is transforming the way we bank.
  This growth will be fueled by the fact the human body is the best password known to man, or woman, and financial services businesses are very conscious of security. Furthermore, time is the new oil, a scarce commodity, and as biometrics has the power to save users time and ma
  
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• Interpublic Group boss: ‘If Google doesn’t act, we will pull spend’

  20-03-2017 13:05
  
  Interpublic Group’s (IPG) chief executive Michael Roth has said that it will give Google the benefit of the doubt and give it time to fix the problem of ad misplacement and brand safety. But if it fails to act quickly then the advertising group will pull client spend.
  IPG remained silent last week while its peers publicly rebuked the online behemoth after fresh reports revealed ads were still being misplaced against inappropriate content on YouTube just weeks after its pledge to do all it
  
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• Google claims its third-party verification is ‘best in class’ as it launches new ad features

  20-03-2017 13:00
  
  Google has launched two new ad features in a bid to give its advertisers more clarity on whether their campaigns are resonating with consumers.
  The ‘Unique Reach’ feature in AdWords will allow advertisers to see the number of unique users and average impressions-per-user across devices, screens and platforms.
  It is also adding an option that allows advertisers to understand in real-time whether their ads are holding the attention of their audience and the ones most likely to make an
  
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• Is technology transforming the art form of storytelling?

  20-03-2017 12:53
  
  The art form of storytelling has been around since the dawn of human history and has survived each wave of technological evolution experienced since. New technologies don’t tend to replace an art form but rather the augment it to empower creative people and artists to innovate and explore.
  In the creative advertising world, we are at a point where user data, AI, automation and creative talent are converging to build a perfect storm of new storytelling for marketers where human talent is as
  
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• Google's Matt Brittin apologises to industry over ad placement

  20-03-2017 12:50
  
  Matt Brittin, EMEA chief of Google, has issued an apology to the advertising industry for brands finding their ads placed next to controversial content on YouTube.
  
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• Step inside The Drum Arms, our London pub takeover at Advertising Week Europe

  20-03-2017 12:48
  
  The Drum in the past has become known for its use of transportation devices such as taxis and buses for running small sessions in recent years during Advertising Week Europe, however this year it has chosen to remain motionless (if also a little legless) as it takes over a London boozer for the festival.
  From 20-23 March, The Drum Arms will be operational to serve the media and marketing industry with insights and entertainment across a number of activities as well as pouring a few pints an
  
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• Nike unveils new England away kit with Marcus Rashford

  20-03-2017 12:26
  
  Nike has unveiled England’s new away kit ahead of this week’s friendly with Germany.
  The new blue kit is the first jersey launch since Nike extended its partnership with the Football Association (FA) at the end of 2016 in a deal which will run until 2030 and worth a reported £400m.
  It was first unveiled by Manchester United forward and England international, Marcus Rashford, on his own Instagram and Twitter accounts.
  The social media posts included a link to an article Ras
  
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• Creative Work of the Week: Cast and crew of diabetes sufferers and their carers create 'Made by Diabetics' film to raise awareness

  20-03-2017 12:17
  
  Russian independent creative agency Voskhod has won this week’s European Creative Work of the Week title for its ‘Made by Diabetics’ film for Accu-Check.
  Approximately 422 million people worldwide – and 7% of Russians – live with Diabetes. For some people this diagnosis is a huge impulse to keep fighting for their lives, but others feel helpless. As a result, one in three diabetics don’t follow medical advice, putting their lives at risk.
  In a bid to encourage
  
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• Coty appoints Adam & Eve/DDB for Max Factor global creative account

  20-03-2017 12:09
  
  Coty has appointed Adam & Eve/DDB to be its lead global creative agency for Max Factor, ending Leo Burnett's 20-year relationship with the make-up brand.
  
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• Coty tags adam&eveDDB as Max Factor lead creative agency

  20-03-2017 11:48
  
  Adam&EveDDB is to be the lead creative agency for cosmetics brand Max Factor, owner company Coty has announced.
  Karen Owen, vice president of Max Factor at Coty said that it is an important step for the brand as the agency has “creative capability, drive and passion to bring a modern expression to the brand and deliver on our vision”.
  She added that the agency has “demonstrated a smart strategic approach to this work”.
  Tammy Einav, chief executive of Adam&EveDDB,
  
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• Guardian chief David Pemsel reveals venture arm investments

  20-03-2017 11:43
  
  Guardian Media Group has invested in a mobile video advertising start-up called Vidsy, as well as a fund led by venture capital figure Saul Klein.
  
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• Amaze names Alex Comyn as incoming chief strategy officer

  20-03-2017 11:40
  
  Amaze, the digital marketing, technology and commerce specialists, have confirmed Alex Comynin the post of chief strategy officer, helping to marry data intelligence and experience design within the company.
  Comyn joined Amaze seven years ago, rising through the ranks to become strategic director with responsibility for leading the digital direction of brands such as Toyota, Hiscox, Unilever and Lexus.
  Reporting directly to chief executive Tony Murphy, Comyn will be tasked with fosteri
  
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• Ad safety revelations should be a wake-up call for brands, not just Google

  20-03-2017 11:33
  
  Well, that all escalated very quickly. What had been simmering since a February investigation by The Times found Waitrose and Mercedes among the brands sharing a screen with pornographers, white supremacists and other undesirables has boiled over in the past 10 days.
  First, Sir Martin Sorrell called out Google UK boss Ronan Harris on stage in front of the ad industry at an IPA event for not fronting up and taking responsibility for the content published on its platform. Then Harris came out in
  
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• The Boss Baby airs tailored parody trailer at Beauty and the Beast theatrical showings

  20-03-2017 11:29
  
  Studios often run movie trailers to as broad an audience as possible, however, the likes of Deadpool especially, opened up a world where they could tailor these teasers for specific audiences – the latest instance of this is an exclusive slot from Dreamworks that aired theatrically on screens showing Beauty and the Beast.
  The trailer, first spotted by Hollywood Reporter, runs before and pokes fun at Disney’s Beauty and the Beast – a movie that Fox also mocked with a dedicated L
  
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• Film, art, data, personalisation, tech, creative – it’s all meaningless unless you make people feel

  20-03-2017 11:17
  
  There’s been talk recently of a split in the advertising industry, between ‘traditional’ creative campaigns vs. content influenced and informed by data. However, whether the idea takes the form of film, art, web interfaces or technology such as AI, it’s all meaningless unless you make people feel something.
  Data in itself is inert. The ability to transform that data into work that is meaningful, emotive and immersive is where the alchemy takes place; with creative genius
  
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• The Financial Times is seeing more brands redefine success in programmatic amid transparency furore

  20-03-2017 11:01
  
  Premium publishers have urged brands to look at the value of their inventory rather than the cost for some time but it’s only now, amid a cacophony of concern for the way media is traded, that the Financial Times is seeing more advertisers consider the importance of context in media.
  It has resulted in more enquiries from more advertisers to the publisher’s commercial team, according to global advertising sales and strategy director Dom Good. Whereas cookie-chasing campaigns at low-c
  
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• A poem for the future - it's not virtual or augmented

  20-03-2017 11:01
  
  At SXSW this year I took part in the Tech Off, run by the ace guys over at TechDept. The theme was ‘The Future’, quite a big subject. Since getting on stage several people have asked me to publish my talk, mainly because it rhymed I think… so here it is, enjoy!
  My Job didn’t exist when I was at school,When I started coding my Dad thought I was fool.
  He thought I’d turn into a weird geeky hermit,In fact, he tried to make me study law and get a law permit.
  But t
  
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• Artist trolls Trump with dollar swastika billboard

  20-03-2017 10:58
  
  An inflammatory anti-President Donald Trump billboard is gaining international recognition for its bold Nazi iconography and the resolute stance of its owner who is intent on hosting the brutal takedown of the mogul as long as he remains Potus.
  Creative showing Trump flanked by dollar swastikas and nuclear clouds, complete with a Russian linchpin upon his poorly-tailored suit has, predictably, caused a storm in the US.
  The installment, based Phoenix Arizona, has been dedicated to protest by owne
  
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• Uber president Jeff Jones quits unexpectedly after just six months

  20-03-2017 09:41
  
  Uber president Jeff Jones has extended a run of departures at the troubled ride hailing app after throwing in the towel just six months into his tenure.
  It is unclear exactly why Jones chose this juncture to quit with reports from the BBC suggesting that he was left exasperated after being looked over for the role of chief operating officer after learning he was not amongst the candidates - although Recode believes that he was propelled out the exit door by an ongoing sexism storm.
  This would ha
  
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