Marketing news

• Honest Company kicks off baseball season with MLB-themed diaper line

  27-03-2017 23:28
  
  Honest Company, maker of eco-friendly household products, has rolled out a line of diapers stamped with Major League Baseball (MLB) logos to kick off the start of the season.
  Called “Born a Fan,” the diaper line marks the company’s first partnership with a professional sports organization.
  The diapers, which are currently only available at Target, feature the logos of six iconic baseball teams: the Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, San Francis
  
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• Blast Radius appoints Kevin Drew Davis CCO

  27-03-2017 22:26
  
  Global digital marketing agency Blast Radius has appointed Kevin Drew Davis as its chief creative officer, overseeing all creative operations, brand strategy and experience design in the Chicago and Canadian markets. Davis joins Blast Radius, a WPP company, from DDB San Francisco where he served in the same position, leading the agency’s creative product and staff. He will relocate to his native Chicago and begin his new role on March 30.
   
  For the past 25 years, Davis has provided cr
  
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• Tommy John, Kevin Hart and Preacher collaborate for ‘Morning Briefing’ on men’s underwear

  27-03-2017 22:15
  
  Premium men’s underwear company, Tommy John has begun releasing a 22-piece online content mini-series titled “Kevin Hart’s Morning Briefing” to highlight the problems men have with their underwear in an entertaining and engaging way.
  The series was made in complete collaboration with Tommy John’s agency of record, Austin, Texas-based Preacher, the in-house Tommy John creative team, and comedian Kevin Hart’s entertainment company HartBeat Productions.
  Each
  
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• After a bruising week, President Donald Trump has come up with the answer: son-in-law Jared Kushner moves into the innovation hot seat

  27-03-2017 20:26
  
   
  After a rough week President Donald Trump has decided to regain momentum by launching his 36-year-old son-in-law Jared Kushner into the fray, Bloomberg reports.
  Kushner, according to a Washington Post account, will oversee a new “SWAT team” to be unveiled on Monday.
  Its goal is to reinvent the federal government. The entire federal government, Bloomberg comments.
   Kushner’s new Office of American Innovation will reportedly showcase a number of corporate ti
  
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• Who's behind those bizarre Nike spoof ads? Surprise: It's Nike.

  27-03-2017 19:28
  
  To celebrate the anniversary of the Air Max 1, the brand recruited artists Ava Nirui and Alex Lee to produce some enigmatic creative.
  
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• Spotify furthers its programmatic offering with MightyTV purchase, brings adtech veteran Brian Adams into its ranks

  27-03-2017 18:35
  
  Spotify has today (March 27) announced its second purchase in under a month with the acquisition of MightyTV, a content-matching service that has been dubbed “Tinder for TV”. The move also brings its MightyTV chief executive and adtech veteran Brian Adams within its ranks, as the music-streaming service continues to rollout its data-led offering to advertisers. 
  Financial details of the deal were not disclosed publicly, with Spotify vice president of product Jason Richman claimi
  
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• Cancer Research UK encourages Twitter users to #FilterOutCancer

  27-03-2017 18:28
  
  Cancer Research UK has partnered with digital engagement agency Puzzle London and influencers to create a Twitter-focused campaign to #FilterOutCancer.
  The campaign aims to target young people and engage millennials in how they can support Cancer Research UK to help beat cancer sooner.
  Influencers Rob Beckett, DJ Fresh and Jack Maynard have created unique filters that Twitter users can use and share.
  Users should tweet @CR_UK with #FilterOutCancer and the name of the influencer whose filter
  
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• 120 Sports and MVPIndex rank MLB’s most socially valued teams, players and posts

  27-03-2017 18:26
  
  With Major League Baseball’s (MLB) opening day almost upon us (April 3), social measurement and valuation platform MVPindex and Chicago-based digital sports network 120 Sports have partnered to unveil a collection of data surrounding the social activity of Major League Baseball teams and players from the 2016 season and offseason.
   
  Unsurprisingly, reigning World Series Champions, the Chicago Cubs and Cubs player, NL MVP Kris Bryant topped all the charts, securing the top sp
  
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• The Richard E. Grant guide to marketing a perfume without paying for advertising

  27-03-2017 18:23
  
  It’s strange to hear a distinguished actor with 30 years of Hollywood paycheques say that he can’t afford something, but Richard E. Grant – both Withnail and the creator of Jack Perfume in equal measure – has “no budget for advertising” when it comes to marketing his unisex scent.
  “I’m a startup business and so I relied entirely on magazine editorial when [Jack Perfume] launched, and subsequently on social media – on Instagram and T
  
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• Death and rebirth on the high street: the banking transition

  27-03-2017 18:21
  
  Banking is undergoing a transition which has shaken up the British high street.
  The architecture of British high street banks is a fixture of our urban landscape. Details such as Roman columns have been used for centuries to signify stability and order. We are used to seeing the big retail banks such as HSBC, Santander, Lloyds TSB, Barclays and NatWest sporting one or two of these, but as major changes transform the retail banking sector, their presence, and their status as civic institutions, i
  
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• Tiger Beer brings art made from pollution-derived ink to smog-filled cities around the world

  27-03-2017 18:00
  
  After a 2016 pilot in Hong Kong, premium lager Tiger Beer is bringing art derived from Air-Ink, the ink created from air pollution, to venues around the world.
  According to a release, the tour will start in London and continue to Berlin, New York and Singapore. Along the way, resident artists in each city, including Buff Monster, KristopherH, Patrick Vale, Paul Davis and Die Dixons, will use Air-Ink to create artwork symbolizing “a bright future for our cities’ streets and inspi
  
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• Media as a flat circle: Predictions for the next frontier of TV

  27-03-2017 17:55
  
  Traditional media has taken a beating in the past few years. 
  In my house, there is no “TV” in the old sense of the word and anecdotally that’s the case for most of my peers. We’ve got streaming services for sure, but I never “channel-surf” and I rarely watch ads unless they’re forced upon me. 
  Data seems to support my experience, with Oscar viewership rates at a nine-year low and another report showing an overall TV viewership decline of more
  
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• Facebook execs Sheryl Sandberg, Mark D’Arcy and Nicola Mendelsohn to guest edit The Drum’s Cannes edition

  27-03-2017 17:39
  
  Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, Mark D’Arcy, chief creative officer of the Facebook Creative Shop and Nicola Mendelsohn, Facebook VP of EMEA, will be guest editors of The Drum’s global July issue, to debut at Cannes Lions.
  The intersection of creativity and technology will be the issue’s overall theme. Topics covered will include equality, brand social responsibility, talent, technology and the business at large.
  “Sheryl, Mark and I are thrille
  
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• The heat is on financial services according to Pearlfinders' Global Index

  27-03-2017 17:08
  
  Reducing spend on marketing and advertising is normally the first thing on the agenda for brands in times of global uncertainty. However, it’s not such a depressing outlook for financial services brands in 2017/18.
  During unstable economic times, cue Brexit and the American presidential fall out, more and more people are worried about their finances. Financial services brands will therefore be seen to spend more on engaging customers to ensure loyalty.
  If 2016 proved anything, it is that p
  
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• MPs call for advertising restrictions on unhealthy foods to tackle child obesity

  27-03-2017 16:56
  
  MPs are calling for the government to introduce new advertising restrictions which would stop supermarkets discounting unhealthy food and drinks as part of strict new measures intended to tackle child obesity.
  In a new report, published today (27 March), the Commons health select committee urged the government to review its legislation regarding promotions for unhealthy food and drinks aimed at children.
  The Committee of Advertising Practice, a sister organisation of the Advertising Standar
  
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• Amazon said to be exploring creation of VR and AR homeware stores

  27-03-2017 16:37
  
  Amazon is reportedly exploring the possibility of bringing augmented or virtual reality in-store to allow consumers to visualize what products will look like in their homes. 
  According to the New York Times the tech giant is looking to open brick-and-mortar stores to sell home appliances and furniture. Citing a "person briefed on the discussions" the Times claimed that the Seattle-based giant is considering using VR or AR to help customers picture what furniture will look like in
  
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• Roses Creative Awards 2017 finalists revealed: Have you been nominated?

  27-03-2017 16:04
  
  After two days holed up in a room, our esteemed judging panel for this year’s Roses Creative Awards have revealed who’s made the cut and could be taking home a trophy this May.
  Leith, Havas Lynx, RBH, bigdog and McCann Manchester lead the charge this year with a healthy number of nominations between them. And Taxi Studio, BJL, Specsavers and TBWA Manchester also boast a handful of nominations. 
  You can check out the full list here along with a small gallery of this year&rsq
  
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• Advertising aligned with news media '85% more likely to attract new customers'

  27-03-2017 15:55
  
  Advertising messages that are aligned to newsbrands are over a third (36%) more likely to deliver a "very large" profit for advertisers and 85% more likely to acquire new customers, according to consultant Peter Field and Newsworks.
  
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• Adidas, Apple and Ribena: The top 10 YouTube ads in February

  27-03-2017 15:45
  
  1. Adidas: Unleash your creativity
  The latest ad from Adidas focuses on female athletes and the creativity they use to switch up their workout routine. The ad, which was created by 72andSunny, features people hitting the bikes inside a disco and some jogging in torrential rain.
  2. Ribena: Introducing new Ribena MinisRibena’s new Minis range is targeted at small children, with this upbeat ad from JWT focusing on the bottle’s new cap and its so-called ‘less spill, less mess&rsquo
  
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• Snapchat to become more popular among advertisers than Twitter and AOL by 2020 says study

  27-03-2017 15:33
  
  Snapchat is set to become more popular among advertisers than Twitter, Yahoo and AOL within three years’ time, according to fresh research from Ampere Analysis.
  The study predicts that the ephemeral messaging service is poised to rake in more than $3bn (£2.4bn) in revenue per-year before the end of 2019.
  The prediction is based on Snapchat's hold on the youth market, with the data showing that 51% of Snapchat's video users are aged under 24, compared to Facebook&r
  
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• Fandango unveils new global brand strategy for Latin America

  27-03-2017 15:30
  
  Fandango, the leading digital network for moviegoers, is expanding its focus in Latin America, a fast-growing market for theatrical films.
  The company announced today (March 27) at CinemaCon, the annual convention for theater owners, that it is rolling out a new global brand strategy that includes the launch of new ticketing destinations at its subsidiaries Ingresso.com in Brazil and Fandango Latin America (formerly Cinepapaya), as well as seven key countries in Spanish-speaking Latin Ameri
  
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• Pizza Hut ties up with Ibiza Rocks for 'Taste Freedom' summer campaign

  27-03-2017 14:32
  
  Pizza Hut has hooked up with live music and hotel brand Ibiza Rocks this summer as part of its "Taste freedom" campaign aimed at music-obsessed millennials.
  
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• Warner Bros. taps VR firm Vive to push Steven Spielberg movie Ready Player One

  27-03-2017 14:24
  
  Warner Brothers has inked an exclusive partnership with HTC Vive to provide VR content for its movie Ready Player One, a highly anticipated Steven Spielberg picture slated for theatrical release next year. 
  Adapted from the book by Ernest Cline, Ready Player One is a sci-fi action thriller that unfolds within the virtual reality space, with the state-of-the-art film  slated for release on March 30, 2018, by Warner Bros. Pictures, Amblin Partners and Village Roa
  
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• Formula One commercial chief believes it's 're-imagined' digital assets will help plug the audience gap from more pay TV deals

  27-03-2017 14:06
  
  Formula One’s commercial chief Sean Bratches has hinted that the company will pursue more pay TV broadcast deals and will rely on its redeveloped digital assets to achieve the kind of audience reach which free-to-air partnerships would otherwise offer.
  New owner Liberty Media has vowed to overhaul Formula One’s dated commercial model with digital, sponsorship and broadcast revenues all being a major focus of the sport’s redevelopment.
  While growing Formula One’s mass
  
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• Johnston Press signs first TV sponsorship deal for flagship i newspaper

  27-03-2017 14:00
  
  The i newspaper, owned by regional news publisher Johnston Press, has signed its first TV partnership deal with UKTV’s Dave, as it looks to elevate the title’s position in the market during an ongoing debate about the value of premium news and advertising environments.
  The newspaper will sponsor a series of 'idents' across some of Dave’s key programming, kicking off today (27 March) with each of the 'idents' carrying the tagline, ‘i sponsors Characters on Dave.&
  
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• Online reviews impact purchasing decisions for over 93% of consumers, report suggests

  27-03-2017 13:51
  
  With 60% of consumers looking at online reviews at least weekly, a recent survey by Podium suggests that 93% say online reviews do impact their purchasing decisions. The way consumer engagement with B2B and B2C business has evolved illustrates that 82% of consumers do read reviews before making a purchase decision, and 60% look at reviews on a weekly basis. Further, the study suggests that two-thirds of consumers (68%) are willing to pay up to 15% more for the same product or service if they are
  
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• Evans Cycling taps independent agency CreativeRace for upcoming campaigns

  27-03-2017 13:16
  
  CreativeRace’s London office has been appointed by the UK's leading specialist bike shop, Evans Cycles, to handle all integrated marketing campaigns. Evans Cycles was first opened in central London by a London cyclist, Frederick Evans, who won an award from Britain's largest cycling club for the best cycling invention of 1925. 
  CreativeRace’s first campaign for Evans Cycles is planned to launch early April. This campaign will focus on the brand’s trade-in scheme, and will
  
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• Why agencies need to stop shirking responsibility in Google's ISIS debacle

  27-03-2017 13:09
  
  What's new?  Advertisers are funding terrorists and the industry is pointing the fingers again. The Google debacle in which it was found that advertisers were funding terror groups such as ISIS has led to a furious debate in which Google’s YouTube has taken the majority of the blame.
  Publishers, such as The Times and the Guardian, have been quick to pounce on Google. This is fair in principle, however publishers have also chosen to specifically attack Google because it suits
  
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• What traditional marketers need to know about SEO

  27-03-2017 13:05
  
  If you think SEO is a bag of tricks to rank first in Google, you are 10 years out of date.
  Just as many SEOs and digital marketers seem to be unaware that brand advertising and creative campaigns are very much alive and well, traditional marketers need to know that digital channels and tools are now necessary in integrated marketing communications.
  As a recent Searchmetrics study found, getting found in Google search results is more relevant than ever. Statista also projects the that SEO spendin
  
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• Brewdog U-turn over legal threat to 'Lone Wolf' pub

  27-03-2017 12:23
  
  The founder of Brewdog has responded to the social media storm surrounding its threat to force a Birmingham pub to drop the name 'Lone Wolf' - the moniker of the craft beer firm's vodka brand - and given his blessing for the pub to use the name.
  
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• Santander CMO Keith Moor on how marketers can get into the c-suite

  27-03-2017 12:17
  
  Santander has promoted its chief marketing officer Keith Moor onto its executive committee, with the financial brand’s top marketer set to have “more of a say” in corporate decisions.
  Moor, who has been with Santander since the mid-1990s, is Santander’s first ever CMO in the UK having been promoted from the position of director of brand and communications back in November 2013. And his promotion represents a wider trend of more marketers getting a seat at the top table.
  O
  
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• How automotive, financial and FMCG brands are set to navigate the road ahead as Article 50 is triggered

  27-03-2017 12:10
  
  So, let’s summarise the last fortnight: we now know Article 50 is to be triggered this Wednesday; the FBI is investigating Russian interference in the US election [unless it’s ‘fake news’ I’ve been reading]; Nicola Sturgeon (and possibly the Scottish people) want another referendum; unemployment is at a 32-year low (was it trying to get one up on the pound’s recent 31-year low against the dollar?); and both UK M&A and the FTSE are at an all-time high. Phew
  
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• Video: Highlights of Campaign's 'When the consultants met the creatives' breakfast

  27-03-2017 12:06
  
  Campaign hosted a breakfast briefing, called "When the consultants met the creatives", where Accenture Interactive and Karmarama spoke for the first time on stage about their deal together.
  
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• Thomas Barta: If CMOs don’t stand for growth, they stand for nothing

  27-03-2017 11:56
  
  Replacing the Coca-Cola CMO with a chief growth officer may make temporary sense for the company. But it’s deeply troubling news for marketing’s C-suite reputation.
  When the news broke that Coke’s incoming CEO, James Quincey, will ditch the global CMO position and install a chief growth officer (CGO) instead, I couldn’t quite believe my eyes. Why would a CEO replace a top marketer with a revenue officer? It’s like a club owner replacing the DJ with a dance floor-fil
  
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• Internet ad spend to surpass TV for the first time in 2017 despite brand safety crisis, report suggests

  27-03-2017 11:53
  
  Internet advertising spend is expected to surpass that of TV for the first time in 2017, highlighting the urgency with which Google must properly address advertisers concerns over brand safety to allow for secure sustainable growth.
  Zenith Media’s new Advertising Expenditure Forecasts report has predicted that global internet advertising expenditure will grow 13% to reach £163bn ($205bn) in 2017.
  The tipping of the scales from television to online comes as internet advertising is pre
  
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• Creative Work of the Week: CBBC's Titanium Joe - and his dog Travis - win this week's title for Brass

  27-03-2017 11:47
  
  Brass has won over The Drum readers with its series of illustrations and digital animation sequences for new CBBC show ‘My Dog Ears’ to win this week’s European Creative Work of the Week title.
  Produced as part of the ‘My Life’ documentary series, Brass was tasked with bringing to life the story of Joe, age 12, who became deaf following his battle with cancer.
  Focusing on Joe’s story and how cancer has affected his life through hospital appointments and operat
  
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• MPs accuse regulators and government of failure to curb junk food marketing

  27-03-2017 11:38
  
  Senior MPs have accused advertising regulators of not doing enough to curb the advertising of junk food and drink to children, while telling the government it must do more to slash the number of multi-buy discounts and price promotions.
  
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• Google phases out Gchat to focus firepower on Hangouts

  27-03-2017 11:26
  
  Google has announced it is to end support for Talk, its ageing communication tool for Gmail, in order to concentrate resources on the more feature-rich Hangouts service.
  Hangouts was first launched way back in 2013 but Google has kept Talk, colloquially referred to as Gchat, on as a legacy platform for people happy with a more basic level of service.
  That stance however, changes on 26 June when Google forcibly migrates stragglers to its new service.
  The brute force approach follows a four-year p
  
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• Creative Works: Featuring The Full Service, Mother London, Robot Food and more

  27-03-2017 11:15
  
  Welcome to The Drum Creative Works, in partnership with Workfront.
  As always this section is dedicated to showing the best creative work and gives you, the reader, the chance to decide which work we feature as our 'Creative Work of the Week'.
  We've now introduced our new five-star voting system. To vote for your favourite, make sure you click on the stars. The winner be chosen based on the average rating and the number of votes cast. Voting closes on Monday 3 April.
  For project in
  
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• What is programmatic? A beginner’s guide

  27-03-2017 11:00
  
  Programmatic is constantly evolving. From online ads and video to digital out-of-home, streaming, voice and TV, the sheer number of options can make it feel like an impenetrable process to understand.
  Finding your way through the jargon is the first step to understanding exactly what programmatic is. Defined by the Display Trading Council as the use of automation in buying and selling of media, programmatic can apply to anything from display to digital out-of-home and television.
  “Pro
  
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• The state of programmatic advertising

  27-03-2017 11:00
  
  Programmatic advertising is accounting for more and more ad dollars. Emarketer estimates it will account for three-quarters of the UK display ad market this year.
  Globally, programmatic ad spend grew from $5bn (£4bn) in 2012 to $39bn (£31.3bn) in 2016, at an average rate of 71% a year, according to Zenith’s programmatic marketing forecast. It predicts programmatic advertising will grow 31% in 2017, faster than all other digital channels including social media (25%) and online v
  
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• MIPTV 2017 Preview: Guy Bisson, Research Director, Ampere Analysis

  27-03-2017 11:00
  
  The below is written by Guy Bisson, Research Director, Ampere Analysis, and is part of Found Remote's MIPTV 2017 preview series. Found Remote will again be at MIPTV with Applicaster (come say hi at the booth: Palais R7.J15). 
  Collaboration, tech integration and localised globalisation: The future of content is here
  What can a camera company tell the content industry about the future of video entertainment? If it’s self-proclaimed ‘camera company’ Snapchat, t
  
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• $30bn of India’s fashion market to be digitally influenced by 2020, says BCG-Facebook report

  27-03-2017 10:43
  
  India, home to a fast growing e-commerce market, is set to see $30bn of the fashion market digitally influenced by 2020, according to a Boston Consulting Group and Facebook report, Fashion Forward 2020.
  Today $7bn to $9bn of the $70bn Indian fashion market is currently digitally influenced, with the numbers to quadruple by 2020. $30bn represents about 70% of the total branded apparel market.
  Mobile is also set to rise, as 85% of online fashion buyers prefer mobile over any other device, mir
  
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• BT hit with £42m fine for lowering compensation pay-outs to rival providers

  27-03-2017 10:24
  
  Communications giant BT has been landed with a mammoth £42m fine by Ofcom after it was found to have illegally lowered compensation pay-outs to other telecoms providers for delays in connecting high-speed business lines.
  Despite admitting its failure and agreeing to properly compensate the companies involved BT has now been slapped down with a multi-million-pound penalty as an example to others.
  Gaucho Rasmussen, Ofcom's investigations director, said: "We found BT broke our rules by failin
  
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• MIPTV 2017 Preview: Peter Cassidy, GM Europe, Applicaster

  27-03-2017 10:00
  
  The below is written by Peter Cassidy, GM Europe, Applicaster, and is part of Found Remote's MIPTV 2017 preview series. Found Remote will again be at MIPTV with Applicaster (come say hi at the booth: Palais R7.J15).
  Making Apps Easy 
   
  More is More
  Another MIP and another year of exploding TV programming supply and demand. Whether mass market hits or niche passion programming, traditional linear channels or new OTT players, ad-funded or paid-for business models, we viewe
  
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• How to win with personalisation: add value with data instead of ‘annoying’ consumers

  27-03-2017 10:00
  
  Getting personalisation right is the holy grail for brands. But brands need to stop ‘spamming’ consumers with irrelevant messaging and target them contextually within their environment if they want to add value to their customers, agreed panellists at The Drum’s personalisation event, in association with lifecycle engagement platform, Appboy. 
  Speaking at The Drum Arms pub in London last week, the panel, which consisted of speakers from News UK, mobile transformation
  
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• Haymarket invests £50m to launch car business Haymarket Automotive

  27-03-2017 09:58
  
  Haymarket Media Group is to invest £50m over the next three years and create more than 100 jobs in a new division, Haymarket Automotive.
  
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• Tommy Hilfiger and Hugo Boss launch timely Android Wear watches

  27-03-2017 09:53
  
  Tommy Hilfiger and Hugo Boss have become the latest fashion brands to embrace Android Wear smart watches after established tech companies such as Motorola, which this year has opted to skip a new release, have left a possible gap in the market.
  Of the two Hugo Boss have plumped for a more formal look with a leather strap and unfussy clockface for the Touch. Omitting some superfluous features such as a heart rate monitor it will nevertheless come with NFC built-in.
  Those looking to decorate
  
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• Advertisers calling for Google discounts amid extremist content row

  27-03-2017 09:48
  
  Brands and media agencies are demanding that Google offers them discounted rates for advertising space in the wake of their ads appearing alongside extremist content on YouTube.
  
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• Review recap: Sainsbury's, AB InBev, Barclays

  27-03-2017 09:44
  
  Campaign's weekly round-up of accounts up for review across advertising and media.
  
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