Marketing news

• US Creative Work of the Week: Radio Flyer creates whimsical pop-up travel agency for kids

  29-03-2017 23:14
  
  Radio Flyer recently created a pop-up travel agency for kids in Chicago to give them a chance to “plan” trips to destinations like Stinky Broccoli Forest, Cotton Candy Swamp and Dragon’s Butt Kingdom, all of which are places that can only be reached via imagination.
  Children who attended were greeted by travel agents who helped them plan their vacation and choose which Radio Flyer vehicle would be the best fit for their travels. Passports, itineraries and “travel essentia
  
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• BBDO San Francisco adds two creative directors

  29-03-2017 22:40
  
  BBDO San Francisco has added Kate Catalinac and Corinne Goode as its new creative directors, effective immediately. They will report to chief creative officer, Matt Miller, and partner to work across the agency’s expanding roster of clients.    
   
  “As an agency we are only as good as the people who work here. Which is why I’m so excited that Kate and Corinne decided to work at BBDO San Francisco,” said Miller. “As creatives they are intelligent,
  
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• Royal Caribbean seeks to crown four fame-hungry Millennials the ‘World’s Most Adventurous Squad’

  29-03-2017 21:31
  
  Appealing to a new generation of cruise-goers – and their vanity – the self-proclaimed world’s most adventurous cruise line, Royal Caribbean International, says it wants to crown four thrill-seeking millennials hungry for social stardom the “World’s Most Adventurous Squad.”
  The brand’s so-called #AdventureSquad social contest will therefore “challenge explorers and aspiring Instagram stars to act on their wanderlust and prove their adventurous
  
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• David Droga will be awarded Lion of St. Mark award at Cannes

  29-03-2017 20:15
  
  The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has announced that founder and creative chairman of Droga5 David Droga will be the recipient of this year’s Lion of St. Mark, an award that honors individuals who have made a significant contribution to creativity within the industry. 
  Droga is one of the most awarded creatives in the business. According to Cannes, he has won more than 70 Gold and 15 Grand Prix/Titanium Lions throughout his career. He won his first Lion at the age
  
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• BBC poised to discuss how it can help combat fake news at NewFronts

  29-03-2017 20:00
  
  The BBC will make its debut appearance at this year's Digital Content NewFronts in New York, with the UK-based international news site set to detail what role it can play in tackling the industry's fake news issue. 
  The media behemoth will tackle the issue with a panel event, and ad sales pitch, on May 8, where it will explore how its "editorial expertise and values" can enhance its commercial offerings at BBC Worldwide, as well as how news organizations like the BBC can "play an integ
  
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• Carl’s Jr. nixes sleaze to put focus back on food in rebrand campaign out of 72andSunny

  29-03-2017 19:06
  
  It looks like burger chains Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s have finally grown up. After years of airing ads that featured nearly nude models and other scantily clad women, the sibling fast-food joints have rolled out a massive rebrand campaign in hopes of convincing consumers that they care more about food than boobs. 
  The crux of the campaign is a cheeky three-minute film that stars Carl Hardee Sr., the fictional founder of Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s. Played by Nashville star
  
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• PR agency removes Smurfette from Smurf: The Lost Village marketing to appease ultra-Orthodox Israelis

  29-03-2017 18:11
  
  Marketing billboards for Smurfs: The Lost Village have a slight variation in Bnei Brak, Israel -  leading female character Smurfette has been removed from promotional material.
  Billboards and other promotional content in the Israeli city are regulated due to the Orthodox nature of its populace. Posters that "might incite the feelings of the city’s residents" are not allowed to promote women characters.
  The PR company behind the region's marketing of Sony Pictures Animation's 
  
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• Channel 4 on the ‘misinformation’ around advertising to young people

  29-03-2017 18:07
  
  Channel 4 says it’s time for brands to adjust their understanding of 16- to 24-year-olds, and “not believe the hype” when it comes to young people mainly spending their time watching YouTube videos or sending each other photos on Snapchat.
  Speaking at a Thinkbox event today (29 March), Georgina Harvey, research manager at Channel 4, discussed the broadcaster’s segmentation study into young people’s video preferences and claimed there is a lot of “misinformatio
  
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• Beanz Meanz Heinz copywriter revisits his slogan as it celebrates 50 years with pop-up cafe

  29-03-2017 18:04
  
  Heinz is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the iconic Beanz Meanz Heinz slogan, launching a pop-up café in London’s Selfridges, a run of limited edition cans and a small batch of collectable tins signed by the tagline’s original copywriter, Maurice Drake.
  Drake was working for Young & Rubicam when he penned Beanz Meanz Heinz in a north London pub in 1967. It was voted the UK’s favourite slogan back in 2012 in a Creative Review poll.
  Lucy Clark, marketing lead for H
  
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• Brand safety is actually improving online

  29-03-2017 18:01
  
  The likelihood of brand’s advertising appearing next to unsafe or unsavoury content online actually improved in the second half of 2016, despite mounting concern over brand safety following revelations that ads are appearing next to extreme content.
  According to research by Integral Ad Science, the volume of “brand safe infractions” on display advertising in the UK decreased from 7.8% in the first six months of 2016 to 6.8% in the second half. That decline was mirrored in video
  
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• Ad of the Day: Xfinity pranks couple with a really Fast and Furious joyride

  29-03-2017 17:50
  
  Comcast brand Xfinity has marked its partnership with Universal Pictures’ The Fate of the Furious with a stunt pranking fans of the series.
  Following up on partnerships with Castrol and Dodge, the studio has embraced Xfinity in a deal associating the franchise’s atypical speed with the broadband service.
  Jackass and Bad Grandpa director Jeff Tremaine created the two and a half minute slot called ‘Xfinity Drive-Out Cinema’ which sees a couple taken on a crazed stunt car ri
  
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• IMAX and Warner Bros suit up for three movie VR deal centred around the Justice League

  29-03-2017 17:11
  
  Imax and Warner Bros have broken out from the traditional silver screen and partnered up for a VR blockbuster content deal.
  They will develop and release three premium, interactive VR experiences based on upcoming blockbusters, Justice League, Aquaman and another yet-to-be-named film.
  Each experience will be released over the next three years, beginning with the Justice League in late 2017 and all will receive an exclusive window in Imax VR centres before being made available to other VR pl
  
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• In the wake of Brexit's Article 50, what does the future hold for UK advertisers?

  29-03-2017 17:00
  
  The triggering of Article 50 has set in motion a definitive countdown for the UK to exit the European Union. The race is now on for the country’s advertising industry to ensure it safeguards its status as a global leader by retaining talent and securing market access.
  Finally, the world has an outline of Britain’s negotiation position with EU chiefs. And while it is pretty much what prime minister Theresa May has said before, her tone was more conciliatory than her previous “Br
  
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• GroupM tackles YouTube brand safety as it partners with analytics firm OpenSlate

  29-03-2017 17:00
  
  Media investment agency GroupM is hoping to help its clients to move past the recent Google brand safety furore and is working with social video analytics company OpenSlate to enhance brand safety on YouTube media buys.
  GroupM will work with the company to take advantage of the data it holds about all ad-supported content on YouTube. OpenSlate’s data platform scores YouTube content for quality and brand safety, and provides advertisers with contextual insights.
  The deal comes after GroupM
  
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• Why you can expect to see more ‘Legs-it’ style stunts as the lines between the state and a free press blur

  29-03-2017 16:38
  
  As Britain stands on the bow waiting for its 300-year-old press freedoms ship to sink without trace, the media crew are starting to scream in panic.
  The Daily Mail’s headline on Tuesday's front cover splash of Theresa May and Nicola Sturgeon 'Never mind Brexit, who won Legs-it' was as crass as a fart cushion joke, with poor punctuation at that.
  Forget the important issue of whether May will thwart Sturgeon's attempts to wriggle free of the UK with Indyref 2. The Mail decided to take us dow
  
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• In politically divisive times should brands be picking a side?

  29-03-2017 16:38
  
  Recent political developments across Europe and the US have seen whole countries, states and continents polarised in a way we’ve never seen before.
  Millions of people have been asked to think in black and white terms and choose a side: yes or no, in or out, globalised or nationalised, progressive or traditional, liberal or conservative. 
  This has forced consumers to think even deeper about what their values are and what’s most important to them. In the process, consumers have be
  
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• New research from Epiphany reveals young consumers more willing to exchange personal data for improved customer experiences

  29-03-2017 16:26
  
  Founded as a specialist search agency in 2005, Epiphany today employs more than 180 people at its bases in Leeds and London, delivering SEO, PPC and display services to a diverse range of clients.
  Tom Salmon, managing director of Epiphany, which became part of Jaywing in 2014, believes the marketplace surrounding search-related digital services has become far more complex in recent years.
  He says: “Attributing value to different marketing activities, both on and offline, is important.
  &ldq
  
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• Lenovo: Millennials want interactive ads, not just a 30-second spot

  29-03-2017 16:09
  
  Lenovo is evolving its marketing strategy through a focus on interactive ads and community engagement as it looks to bring more millennials into the brand.
  China-based Lenovo is traditionally known as the world’s largest PC maker and an IT provider. However it is increasingly focusing on the consumer segment through its acquistiion of Motorola and by bringing its ‘ThinkPad’ tablet brand to consumers.
  With that in mind, it overhauled its brand in 2015 to include a new logo and h
  
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• LinkedIn’s CMO on being a marketing boss with ‘PR DNA’

  29-03-2017 15:43
  
  “I didn’t really want to do it at first as I wasn’t sure I was going to be good at it,” says LinkedIn’s Shannon Stubo, reflecting on her promotion to chief marketing officer from a corporate comms role two years ago.
  But the chief marketer now acknowledges that what makes someone a good leader is the ability to see something in someone in their team that they may not always see in themselves, and says she was “talked into” the role by the CEO.
  As the wor
  
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• Barrie Brien steps down as Creston CEO

  29-03-2017 15:40 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Barrie Brien, the group chief executive at Creston, is leaving to "seek new challenges".
  
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• Why one 22-year-old invested all his savings in Snap

  29-03-2017 15:34 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Timothy Armoo's faith in Snapchat is so great he's founded an agency to help marketers use it, and now he's spent his life-savings on their shares.
  
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• Tesco and Marmite are the most mentioned Brexit brands for Brits says Amobee

  29-03-2017 15:29
  
  Tesco and Marmite are the brands that have so far defined Brexit according analysis from martech company Amobee.
  The company measured social media mentions and digital media content volumes, to collate which brands were most intricately tied to the UK’s process of formally exiting the European Union, submitted today Wednesday (29 March).
  Supposed pricing wars between Tesco and Unilever brand Marmite were to thank for populating the top two in the list between 28 December 2016 and 28 M
  
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• PortAventura World appoints Media Agency Group ahead of Ferrari Land launch

  29-03-2017 15:23
  
  PortAventura World Parks & Resort has appointed Media Agency Group for the launch of Ferrari Land - Europe’s first ever Ferrari theme park.
  Following a competitive pitch, MAG has been selected to take responsibility for all UK and Ireland-based advertising spend for the brand new Spanish theme park, the first of its kind in Europe, which is due to open on 7 April.
  The activity was launched this week with a new TV ad, currently airing across ITV, Sky and RTE, and is due to be followed b
  
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• Ad industry welcomes pledge to retain close ties with Europe as Government triggers Article 50

  29-03-2017 15:17
  
  The ad industry has welcomed the pledge by Prime Minister Theresa May to maintain close relations with Europe even as she fired the starting gun on Brexit by triggering Article 50.
  In a statement in the Commons this afternoon (29 March), May claimed leaving the EU presents the UK with a “unique opportunity to build a better future”, with the UK aiming to emerge from negotiations as a “stronger, fairer and more outward-looking than ever before”.
  “We are leaving the E
  
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• The Secret Life of Brands: Google, McLaren and Ocado on strategy versus culture (Part one)

  29-03-2017 15:05
  
  We are a species that thrives on imagination. Having a dangerously deep conversation with friends or getting into a heated discussion on something we hadn’t previously considered of importance is vital for expanding our outlook and generating varied ideas. However, in the working world, we often shed these fantasies and get stuck into our job, discussing only top layer issues like margins, marketing strategies and creative campaigns. 
  Hitting targets is imperative in keeping
  
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• Video brand safety increases despite current YouTube crisis

  29-03-2017 14:47 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  The risk of ads being served next to content deemed inappropriate to brands has actually decreased globally from the first half of last year, from 11.2%, overall, to 8.9% in the second half of 2016.
  
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• Tesco brand 'most associated with Brexit'

  29-03-2017 14:47 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Tesco is the brand most associated with Brexit, research has revealed, with the supermarket winning the accolade on the day that Theresa May signed Article 50 and started divorce proceedings from the EU.
  
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• Article 50: AA urges govt to help ad industry retain global talent

  29-03-2017 14:34 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  The UK advertising industry must remain open to global talent in the wake of Article 50 being triggered today.
  
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• Johnston Press reports £300m loss as cost-cutting measures fail to offset declines in ad revenues

  29-03-2017 14:10
  
  Johnston Press has reported a £300m pre-tax loss in 2016, knocked by a 17.7% decline in statutory total advertising revenues across the group and a write-down in the value of its newspaper titles.
  The regional publisher, which owns 200 local UK papers, including the Scotsman and the Yorkshire Post, wrote down the value of its publishing and print assets by £344m.
  As such, it turned a £2.2m pre-tax profit in 2015 into a £300m loss last year.
  Revenue slid by 8% to £22
  
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• US Creative Works: Featuring JWT New York, Lapiz, Carmichael Lynch & more

  29-03-2017 14:00
  
  Welcome to The Drum's US Creative Works in partnership with Workfront.
  As always, this section is dedicated to showing the best creative work in North & South America and gives you, the reader, the chance to decide which work we feature as our US 'Creative Work of the Week.' 
  To vote for your favorite, make sure you click on the stars. The winner will be chosen based on the average rating and the number of votes cast. Voting closes on Wednesday, April 5.
  Lapiz: Mexico Tourism
  
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• Madras Brand Solutions names Mark Cerame head of strategy

  29-03-2017 13:50
  
  Global creative and content agency Madras Brand Solutions has named Mark Cerame as its head of strategy, rounding out its management team in New York City.
  Cerame will work out of the New York office, where he’ll team with Madras chief creative officers Bill Davaris and Andrew Ladden and collaborate with Madras offices in London and India.
  His appointment marks an important step for the agency, which was launched in January with existing offices on three continents and 1,100 people dedicat
  
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• The rise of the chief growth officer

  29-03-2017 13:48
  
  Coca-Cola is in the midst of a transformation. No longer can it rely on consumers simply buying more and more if its fizzy drinks as concerns around obesity and sugar continue to grow.
  Instead it needs to look to innovation, technology and sustainability to grow its business.
  Amid that backdrop, it has decided to get rid of the chief marketing officer role and replace it with a chief growth officer. It is a sign of a transformation at the brand as it moves from being a classic beverage company t
  
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• Coca-Cola and the rise of the chief growth officer

  29-03-2017 13:48
  
  Coca-Cola is in the midst of a transformation. No longer can it rely on consumers simply buying more and more if its fizzy drinks as concerns around obesity and sugar continue to grow.
  Instead it needs to look to innovation, technology and sustainability to grow its business.
  Amid that backdrop, it has decided to get rid of the chief marketing officer role and replace it with a chief growth officer. It is a sign of a transformation at the brand as it moves from being a classic beverage company t
  
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• Sunglasses brand Tens launches new range with elevating ad campaign

  29-03-2017 13:47
  
  Tens has launched its latest campaign with an uplifting ad showcasing its new line of custom filter sunglasses. 
  Following the success of its Indiegogo campaign in 2014, the Scottish brand has marked the release of five new styles with multiple editions and exclusive pre-orders via Kickstarter.
  Designed in Scotland, the frames are constructed with Mazzuchelli Italian acetate, Japanese wireframe and feature Tens signature lens tint.
  Shot in Mexico, the video, ti
  
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• Guardian Media Group contributes to £1.3m funding pot for Vidsy

  29-03-2017 13:45
  
  The Guardian Media Group (GMG) has contributed to a £1.3m funding round for London-based creator network Vidsy, a startup that helps brands like Unilever and Barclays connect with young talent to create mobile-first video campaigns.
  The publisher has invested an undisclosed sum in the tech startup. The move follows on from it lending its backing to incubator outfit Founders Factory in 2016, to which it is an exclusive media partner.
  As part of its accelerator deal with
  
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• Westminster and the government’s fear PR feeding frenzy

  29-03-2017 13:38
  
  It comes as no surprise to see Theresa May’s government using fear PR to tip the tables on the Snoopers’ Charter and bring us a giant’s stride closer to wiping out civil liberties in the UK.
  We didn’t have to wait long before the PR campaign truly kicked in with home secretary, Amber Rudd, appearing on The Andrew Marr Show to lambast WhatsApp for its encrypted service after the recent Westminster attack.
  The revelation that Westminster attacker Khalid Masood sent a messag
  
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• Blis launches location AI platform

  29-03-2017 12:30 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Location technology and intelligence agency Blis has unveiled mobile advertising platform Blis Futures.
  
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• Sony reveals Spider-Man: Homecoming trailer to market what could be its last Marvel crossover

  29-03-2017 12:16
  
  With the Justice League taking center stage in terms of flashy marketing last week, its Sony's turn to take to the spot light to reveal there is still room for a friendly, neighborhood Spider-Man to flaunt his spandex suit.
  Sony launched teased Tom Holland's first full feature-length movie's marketing campaign at the end of week via Twitter, with ‘Spidey’ hanging out in various New York locations on three new posters (pictured above).
  The trio of shots illustrate Peter
  
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• AB InBev to go 100% renewable by 2025

  29-03-2017 12:15 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Anheuser-Busch InBev has said it will source 100% of its energy from renewable sources by 2025, an announcement that comes as US president Donald Trump attempts to dismantle Barack Obama's environmental legislation.
  
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• Urban Vision launches air-cleaning billboards in London

  29-03-2017 12:08 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Italian out-home-home company, Urban Vision, has put up pollution-fighting billboards in London's Leicester Square and Shepherd's Bush.
  
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• Reebok enlists "hottest grandpa" as it reveals strategy to become China's best fitness brand

  29-03-2017 12:08
  
  Reebok has enlisted “China’s hottest grandpa” Wang Deshun as a brand ambassador as it announces plans to open 500 stores by 2020 and create China specific products in a bid to become China’s best fitness brand.  
  The 80-year old model, who made headlines globally after he walked the runway at Beijing Fashion Week in 2015, will front the fitness brand’s marketing activity across China.
  Deshun features alongside actress Yuan Shanshan and actor Wu Lei in
  
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• Channel 4 privatisation off the cards but broadcaster could be forced out of London

  29-03-2017 12:07
  
  Channel 4 will remain under public ownership after culture secretary Karen Bradley decided to rule out privatization following conclusion of a review – although with a sting in the tail for employees amidst suggestions the broadcaster could be relocated outside London.
  The government has long been keen for the network to move in whole or in part from its Horseferry Road headquarters in the capital to a regional base, with the station also operating a small office in Glasgow.
  
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• House of Fraser’s new marketing boss signals shift in ‘theoretical’ strategy he inherited as he mulls cutting TV from media plan

  29-03-2017 12:00
  
  House of Fraser’s marketing boss is bringing in a new marketing plan that will prioritise original content and “hyper-local” out-of-home over its previously preferred route of TV, as he aims to get the brand in front of a more clearly-defined shopper.
  David Walmsley joined the retailer as chief customer officer six months ago, inheriting what he described to The Drum as a “theoretical” strategy that tried to appeal to too many people. 
  “The definitio
  
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• Accenture and Fjord to move into Karmarama’s Farringdon offices

  29-03-2017 12:00
  
  Accenture Interactive and the design consultancy it bought four years ago, Fjord, will move into creative agency Karmarama’s Farringdon office block in the coming months. 
  The move comes after the management consultancy firm acquired Karmarama - one of the UK’s biggest independent agencies - last November. At the time, Accenture Interactive's managing director Joydeep Bhattacharya said that it intended to transform the creative shop's multi-floored space in North
  
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• FrieslandCampina and MEC join up for CSR initiative in Singapore

  29-03-2017 11:51
  
  MEC Singapore has brought on its client FrieslandCampina to take part in its involvement with local charity Bank Box (Food Bank Singapore).
  While many CSR initiatives tend to be confined to within one business, apart from when the industry gets together for The Drum’s Do It Day event, the agency and client have taken their relationship one step further to collaborate on projects that give back to the community.
  Specifically the brand is giving away packets of 1-litre UHT Dutch Lady milk to
  
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• Sony chairman comes out fighting with ‘Netflix, My Ass’ rallying cry

  29-03-2017 11:35
  
  Sony Pictures chairman Tom Rothman appears to have decided that the best form of defence is to go on the offensive, by declaring ‘Netflix, My Ass,’ brushing aside concern of being outmaneuvered by nimbler streaming rivals.
  Rothman’s own posterior has been on the line following a succession of turkeys and under-performing releases – most recently sci-fi/romance Passengers which disappointed with takings of just $300m on a $110m production budget.
  However looking ahead
  
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• Telegraph hires former News of the World editor Andy Coulson as PR adviser

  29-03-2017 11:22
  
  Telegraph Media Group has hired Andy Coulson, the former editor of the News of the World who was imprisoned for charges relating to the phone-hacking scandal, as a PR adviser to improve the publisher's reputation.
  Journalists working at the publisher are said to be angered by the decision from the group’s chief executive Murdoch MacLennan to hire such a controversial figure.
  It is understood Coulson’s main brief is to promote the Daily and Sunday Telegraph as truthful and authoritati
  
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• Swedish bus ad mocks the self-importance of self-driving cars

  29-03-2017 11:22
  
  Self-driving cars are the future of mobility – if you believe the hype that’s being generated by some automakers and disruptive companies like Google and Uber - however, a Swedish bus company has released an ad parodying the self-importance around these promotions.
  Västtrafik has launched a flashy ad purporting to be for one of the leading car companies. The vehicle obscured by darkness is built up with the following text inserts ‘eletricified, delegated driver, susta
  
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• Boardroom shake-up sees Arnold's global chief creative officer Jim Elliott quit with no successors

  29-03-2017 11:07
  
  Jim Elliott, global chief creative officer at Arnold, is to quit his role at the advertising agency having served two years in the post, which will remain unfilled once Elliott is gone.
  The shake-up at the top follows a volatile period at parent firm Havas, which is undergoing a global restructuring that will see it streamline management to four regional chairmen reporting directly to global CEO Yannick Bolloré.
  “During his two years at the agency, Jim made a tremendous impact to th
  
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• Johnston Press reports £300m pre-tax loss

  29-03-2017 10:37 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Johnston Press, the publisher of the i newspaper, has reported a £300m pre-tax loss after ad revenues plunged 18% last year.
  
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