Marketing news

• News Corp names new adtech chief ahead of programmatic launch, while Google continues damage control

  06-04-2017 23:41
  
  Ahead of the launch of its much anticipated programmatic advertising offering later this year, News Corp chief Robert Thomson has named Jesse Angelo as chief of digital advertising solutions, the same day as Google announced a content safety program for YouTube, plus a host of third-party measurement partners.
  In his new role, Angelo will help coordinate the platform’s development and launch, leading News Corp’s charm offensive on advertisers, in addition to his curren
  
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• US Creative Work of the Week: Nikon’s love letters to NYC dot the city’s N line

  06-04-2017 22:06
  
  From Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park, there is certainly no shortage of landmarks to snap pictures of in New York City, making it no surprise that the city routinely tops “most Instagrammed places” lists every year.
  In its latest campaign, Nikon is hoping to capitalize on this photo fervor with an effort called “Love Letters” that is currently running throughout New York City’s busy N subway line. The out-of-home effort features photos snapped on Nikon cameras that
  
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• JWT aids Venezuela's goods shortage crisis with Social Market

  06-04-2017 20:53
  
  Venezuela is in an economic crisis which has made for shortages on food and basic products that leaves Venezuelans scrambling for daily necessities. The black market and barter solutions popping up around the country are rife with fraud.
  J. Walter Thompson has worked with Baruta County in the capital city of Caracas to launch #MercadoSocial (#SocialMarket in English), using Twitter and designed to formalize a barter system where people can safely exchange essential goods in a secure zone.
  The co
  
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• The era of ‘sitting back and printing money’ is over for video advertising

  06-04-2017 20:30
  
  Ashley Swartz, Furious Corp, chief executive officer and columnist at The Drum, explains how with media consumption now flat that it is crucial for traditional TV, as well as publishers to get smarter  on how they monetize their inventory.  
  TV and digital video (which can collectively be termed as just video) advertising have known nothing other than year-over-year growth in revenue. For the first time, according to eMarketer, video consumption will be flat in 2018 (actually, the
  
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• Facebook plans to pay fact-checkers and posts educational ads tackling fake news on its news feed

  06-04-2017 19:03
  
   
  In a critical effort to tackle fake news on its platform, Facebook plans to pay fact-checkers to monitor news flowing through its feed, and is looking to educate its users how to identify untruths online as it faces mounting criticism for its current initiatives that rely on users flagging content.
  Facebook has formed partnerships with third parties such as Politifact, Snopes, AFP, BFMTV, L’Express, Le Monde and Berlin-based non-profit Correct
  
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• ‘Coca-Cola Life’s demise always felt inevitable’

  06-04-2017 18:34
  
  When I started working at Marketing Week in the summer of 2015, the Coke Life brand had been in the UK market for a year. At the time sugar was not yet public enemy number one and the UK Government’s sugar tax had yet to be announced.
  The big idea behind Coca-Cola Life was launched to was that it would offer a lower calorie option for more health conscious consumers. It was the brand’s first cola sweetened from a blend of sugar and stevia plant extract, and contained 45% less sugar a
  
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• Virgin Media to subsidise all Premier League away tickets to £20

  06-04-2017 18:13
  
  Virgin Media is attempting to deepen its ties with football fans by subsidising the cost of away tickets to £20.
  The Twenty’s Plenty campaign will ensure that fans of every club in the Premier League will be reimbursed for away tickets costing above £20 for a single away fixture held between 15-23 April.
  It is part of the wider Twenty’s Plenty initiative - a campaign led by the Football Supporters’ Federation (FSF) and supported by Virgin Media - and build
  
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• Leaving the cave to hunt: how marketers can create a culture of risk-taking and innovation

  06-04-2017 18:09
  
  They say you should live everyday like it's your last. Sorry, but that's complete BS.
  So after I've quit my job, blown all my money and woken up the following morning with the king of all hangovers, what am I going to do then?
  As humans we're programmed to be fearful. Self-preservation is our natural instinct. We need to plan for tomorrow and can't assume a constant 24-hour mortality clock.
  But we do have curiosity. It's why we rubbed rocks together to see what would happen and why we left
  
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• Unilever to halve its creative agencies as it doubles down on efficiency savings

  06-04-2017 17:39 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Unilever has said it will cut the number of agencies it uses by half as part of a new plan to make €2bn annual efficiency savings in its brand and marketing spend by 2019.
  
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• IPA helps agencies optimise apprenticeship levy

  06-04-2017 17:35 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  The IPA's one-stop-shop to help agencies make the most of the apprenticeship levy will offer advice, brand marketing, and school leaver recruitment.
  
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• Defining brand storytelling using the hero’s journey

  06-04-2017 17:15
  
  Storytelling is in vogue, a phrase which here means ‘brands and agencies are all talking about it without taking due time to appreciate what it means’. Done right, brand storytelling is indispensable as a framework for telling authentic messages in a way that resonates with the consumer.
  As it stands, it’s a nebulous catch-all term that lets anything said or written about you, be it on Twitter, a YouTube comments section, a local news feature – all be construed as a part
  
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• Watch: What makes a good brand film?

  06-04-2017 16:57 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Speakers and delegates at Europe's first Brand Film Festival told Campaign what makes a good brand film.
  
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• Carl’s Jr. rebrand gets destructive, tasking the Slow Mo Guys with melting ad relics on Twitch

  06-04-2017 16:39
  
  Fast food chains Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s are underlining their recent rebrand with a schedule to demolish its past ad items.
  To welcome new mascot Carl Hardee Sr to the company, 72andSunny set to “Purge’ ad items from its spotted past in advertising featuring scantily clad women.
  On 8 April, the activity will sit on social video platform Twitch’s homepage from 2 pm – 4 pm PDT. Adding an interactive element, viewers will be able to vote on how each piece i
  
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• Coke drops Coca-Cola Life brand

  06-04-2017 16:16
  
  Coca-Cola is to axe its Life brand in the UK from June as a result of continued falling sales.
  Coca-Cola Life, which accounts for just under 1% of the company’s trademark sales, has been dogged by poor performance since launching in 2014. The product is promoted as a more natural alternative to other Coke variants as it is partially sweetened with stevia extract.
  During the year to 18 March 2017, Coca-Cola Life’s volume sales fell 73.1% and dropped 74.6% in v
  
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• Coke axes Coca-Cola Life brand as sales tumble

  06-04-2017 16:16
  
  Coca-Cola is to axe its Life brand in the UK from June as sales continue to fall.
  Coca-Cola Life, which accounts for just under 1% of the company’s trademark sales, has been dogged by poor performance since launching in 2014. The product is marketed as a more natural alternative to other Coke variants as it is partially sweetened with stevia extract.
  During the year to 18 March 2017, Coca-Cola Life’s volume sales fell 73.1% and dropped 74.6% in value terms, accord
  
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• Ryanair: We’re nice but only nice enough

  06-04-2017 15:55
  
  Ryanair says it is “nice enough” to customers but that having the lowest prices is still paramount in the air travel market.
  “We’re nice but only nice enough. Having the lowest costs wins. What has benefited us is we are re-adding things rather than taking them away,” says Kenny Jacobs, chief marketing officer at Ryanair, referring to British Airways recently cutting legroom on its flights.
  Jacobs says it is much more difficult to take something good away than it is
  
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• Fifth of consumers have boycotted a brand, research finds

  06-04-2017 15:45 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Twenty-one per cent of consumers have boycotted a brand as a result of a scandal or negative press, a YouGov study has found - and the majority of these said they never went back.
  
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• Coca-Cola claims half of its sales come from no-sugar variants as it ditches Coke Life

  06-04-2017 15:30
  
  Coca-Cola is embarking on its biggest ever sampling push for its Zero Sugar drink this summer after seeing half of sales in the UK coming from no-sugar variants. As part of the drive, the drinks company will phase out the failing Coca-Cola Life brand in June.
  According to data from Nielsen, sales of Coke’s zero-sugar option in grocery and convenience stores are up 52%. For the first time ever, sales of Zero Sugar and Diet Coke are matching those of Coca-Cola Classic.
  Sales of Zero Sugar ha
  
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• Why brands shouldn't be looking to marketplaces to find micro-influencers

  06-04-2017 15:27
  
  This week it was announced that Tribe, the Australian micro-influencer marketplace, would be launching in the UK. This is the latest in a string of headlines around micro-influencers and signifies an increasing demand from brands to find new ways to communicate through influencers.
  Tribe’s ambition is to remove the friction in this process and make it easier for brands to connect with large volumes of influencers with small audiences. And it's definitely on the right track – the rise
  
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• Coke death: Coca-Cola to ditch mid-calorie version as Zero Sugar strategy pays off

  06-04-2017 14:56 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Coca-Cola is axing Coca-Cola Life, the version of its flagship product made with a mix of sugar and stevia, from June.
  
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• New York City FC sign the MLS’s first Fifa eSports player

  06-04-2017 14:39
  
  Major League Soccer has finally seen the value of eSports ambassadors with New York City FC becoming the first club to sign up a Fifa player.
  Joining sister club Manchester City in inking a deal with a Fifa video game representative, New York City are looking to tap into the popularity of the EA Sports title (which was the bestselling piece of media in the UK in 2016).
  Christopher Holly will represent the US side in Fifa tournaments and championships across the globe, where he may come face-to-f
  
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• Deliveroo rolls out an unspeakable Creme Egg pizza for Easter

  06-04-2017 14:13
  
  It can be argued that chocolate and pizza represent the zenith of human culinary achievement and to mark this feat a Deliveroo supplier has produced a chocolate egg pizza.
  The food ordering services supplier, Crust Bros, has rolled out a Cadbury Crème egg pizza, all in celebration of Easter.
  In the week starting 7 April, this monstrosity, a savoury desert with a strawberry base and melted Crème Eggs, will be available to those using the app – presumably more of a Snapcha
  
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• Brave Bison partners with YouTube star Calfreezy and Rio Ferdinand to launch Rebel FC football team

  06-04-2017 13:55
  
  Brave Bison, the independent digital media and social video broadcaster, has joined the foray of social influencers creating their own football clubs after partnering with YouTube star Callum Airey to launch Rebel FC, which will be managed by former Manchester United star Rio Ferdinand.
  The new YouTube-based football club joins the likes of the hugely popular Hashtag United FC and will be captained by Airey, better known as Calfreezy.
  Rebel FC, developed in partnership with Brave Bison, will ser
  
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• Ad of the Day: Free a Girl Movement takes underage girls out of India’s brothels and into law school in The School for Justice campaign

  06-04-2017 13:37
  
  J. Walter Thompson Amsterdam has gone beyond the traditional ad campaign for India’s burgeoning ‘Free a Girl Movement’ with its work to create a School for Justice where victims of child prostitution in India are taught law, enabling them to prosecute the criminals responsible.
  The School for Justice, which opens in India today (6 April) is both a school and an education programme for girls from all school levels that offers the support, tuition and mentoring that they need to
  
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• Domino’s chases ‘brand icon’ status to rival Apple and Google

  06-04-2017 13:26
  
  Will people put a pizza on the same pedestal they do an Apple iPhone or Google search? Domino’s seems to think so and has tasked its recently appointed creative agency VCCP to make it happen.
  Becoming a “brand icon” sits at the core of the new advertising strategy is has tasked the agency with building over the next few months. VCCP’s initial plan to generate that kind of equity chimed more closely with Domino’s own than those from the Brooklyn Brothers and St Luke&
  
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• ‘There’s no place for religion at work, apparently’

  06-04-2017 13:22
  
  A study by consultancy ComRes shows that British employers are struggling to manage expressions of faith in the workplace and suggests up to a million people in Britain may have experienced workplace harassment, discrimination or bullying because of their religion or belief.
  Our feature earlier this week looked at how employers can make space for religion at work and the ways faith can make a workforce more diverse.
  Yet Marketing Week readers seem to have a different opinion. A number of comment
  
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• YouTube star Alfie Deyes to give inside track on influencers at The Drum’s Future of Marketing event

  06-04-2017 13:08
  
  Social media star Alfie Deyes has joined the line-up for The Drum’s Future of Marketing event in London next month.
  The YouTube sensation, who has amassed millions of followers to his ‘PointlessBlog’ and is listed as one of Debrett’s 500 Most Influential People in Britain, will provide an insider’s perspective on what marketers need to know about influencers.
  He will share the secrets of how he likes to work with brands and tell the story behind a campaign he worked
  
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• Unilever plots big cuts to marketing but says effectiveness is not at risk

  06-04-2017 12:52
  
  Unilever is planning to double efficiency savings from its brand and marketing investment from €1bn by 2019 to €2bn after finding ways to make its marketing more efficient following a move to zero-based budgeting (ZBB).
  Speaking on an investor call this morning, Unilever’s CFO Graeme Pitkethly said ZBB has given Unilever “much greater visibility” on exactly where marketing and brand investment is going.
  “This has been a great process to challenge the status quo,
  
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• International bulletin: Airbnb calls for marriage equality, Nivea, YouTube

  06-04-2017 12:52
  
  Airbnb calls for marriage equality in new campaignAirbnb has entered the same-sex marriage debate in Australia with a new campaign.
  The video asks people to talk about the meaning of love they usually associate with rings. The ring at the heart of the campaign is broken, to symbolise the missing acceptance of marriage equality.
  The campaign calls on people to wear the “acceptance ring,” which is available for free on the Airbnb website until same-sex marriage is legalised in Austral
  
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• Sign up to our webinar on changing the world of digital content

  06-04-2017 12:49
  
  In a world of unlimited content, the challenge is to ensure that the digital experiences you and your organisation are creating and delivering, are more relevant, personalised and engaging. Sign up for this webinar to find out how Hubert Burda Media is changing the world of digital content.
  You will learn how the team identified the need to embrace the power of both digital technology and collaboration to meet the challenges of the ever-changing publishing industry. The result was Thunder, a Dr
  
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• Five young agency staffers will head to first-ever UN Ocean Conference to present awareness campaign idea

  06-04-2017 12:38
  
  They say “we need to talk” are the worst four words you can hear in a relationship, but for five young ad professionals, these words are the basis of a campaign that they hope will encourage millennials to think about how they can do their part to take better care of our planet’s oceans. 
  Momentum’s Kate Franks, LiveIntent’s Keisha Stephen-Gittens, Mindshare’s Kayla O’Leary, Edelman’s Chloe Sharfin and Weber Shandwick’s Michael Sullivan
  
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• Sarah Todd takes on global role at Geometry

  06-04-2017 12:30
  
  Sarah Todd, currently chief executive at the UK arm of shopper marketing agency Geometry Global UK, has been promoted into global role while the founder of M&C Saatchi Shop, Michelle Whelan, has joined to take on the top UK job.
  Todd has taken on the global responsibilities as global client leader where she has been tasked with driving strategic brand development and delivery for global clients across the network of 56 markets.
  In addition, she has also been named head of
  
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• Endemol Shine Group eyes content deals with telcos amid wider industry consolidation

  06-04-2017 12:30
  
  Endemol Shine Group seeks to capitalise on the push from telcos to offer more than just ‘dumb pipes’ by providing the wireless network providers with the thing they most crave to turn a fading service into a diverse business - content.
  The production powerhouse, jointly owned by Apollo and 21st Century Fox, is creating shows exclusively for telcos that have invested in TV divisions, a growing trend among the telecom giants.
  "In 2016 we produced for 267 platforms, not all of
  
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• Claire Sweeney fronts union spoof bashing 15-minute care home visits

  06-04-2017 12:29 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Claire Sweeney has reprised her 60 Minute Makeover presenting role in a hard-hitting satirical film for trade union Unison highlighting the indignity suffered by elderly people because of 15-minute care visits.
  
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• A date with Nestle’s Carnation Topping proves that influencers are here to stay

  06-04-2017 12:18
  
  ‘In space, no one can hear you blog’. That might have been a neat pastiche on the blogger breed back when they were nerdy, every PC had a tower the size of a garage and the word ‘influence’ was only associated with their older sportier siblings.
  But then YouTube came along. And when bloggers became vloggers and then in turn became influencers – suddenly blogger space became very loud! Oh and lots of people were watching and listening. There’s a lot of debate a
  
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• Barclaycard marketing chief Whitton to depart in restructure

  06-04-2017 11:30 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Katherine Whitton, chief marketing officer at Barclaycard, is leaving the brand this summer after eight years.
  
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• Samsung faces questions as biometric Galaxy S8 log-in raises security and constitutional challenges

  06-04-2017 11:20
  
  Samsung’s headline grabbing move to employ facial recognition tech in its flagship Galaxy S8 smartphone has raised concerns in some quarters that the world may not be quite ready for the futuristic tool.
  While security specialists have already pointed out that the phones scanner can be duped by a simple photograph to gain entry to someone else’s phone constitutional experts point out that while the US Fifth Amendment offers protections for passwords and codes no such protections are
  
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• 5 ways marketers can take action to improve diversity

  06-04-2017 11:20
  
  If there is one thing that became clear during the Diversity in Advertising and Marketing Summit this week, it’s that the time to talk about diversity is over. Brands now have to put their money where their mouth is and take action.
  The business case for diversity has already been widely discussed. Mars revealed that it grew its Maltesers brand by 8% after launching three ads focused around disability last year, with the brand claiming it has been the single m
  
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• Unilever to drill down on marketing ROI as it announces sale of ‘declining’ Flora and Stork brands

  06-04-2017 11:18
  
  Unilever will be putting pressure on its marketing divisions to improve return on investment (ROI) in the coming months as part of plans to improve its margins, while a sale of its spreads business is also on the cards.
  As a part of a business review, Unilever will restructure in a bid to increase the gains of its cost-savings programme – a move designed to placate shareholders following a tense, but ultimately failed, takeover bid from Kraft Heinz. The bid resulted in calls to d
  
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• UKTV hands over advertising to the stars of Taskmaster to launch new series on Dave

  06-04-2017 11:13
  
  UKTV has entrusted the stars of Taskmaster - including Noel Fielding, Lolly Adefope, Mel Giedroyc, Hugh Dennis and Joe Lycett - to design the show’s latest advertising campaign as part of the new series' launch on Dave.
  In line with the central premise of the show – to accept challenges by the Taskmaster, Greg Davies, and his assistant, Alex Horne – the stars of the series were handed a 48 sheet billboard and art supplies along with a note that read:
  “Dave has put yo
  
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• Content marketing could be the next best thing since EDMs in APAC

  06-04-2017 11:10
  
  Content marketing is making its way into Asia Pacific, completing the trek for any fad or trend from the west to east.
  As more B2B marketers start warming up to content marketing, platforms like LinkedIn believe that they are on that intersection to engage with both marketers and customers.
  Speaking to The Drum, Assaf Tarnopolsky, director, marketing solutions, Southeast Asia and North Asia, LinkedIn, stresses that content marketing is about engaging customers in an authentic way.
  “I think
  
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• Djaba commits to Fallon as it plots Cadbury-free future

  06-04-2017 10:38 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Magnus Djaba, chief executive of Saatchi & Saatchi Fallon Group UK, has dismissed suggestions Fallon London could close, as it prepares to part ways with long-time client Cadbury.
  
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• German government threatens Facebook, Twitter & Google with punitive £42.7m hate speech fines

  06-04-2017 10:30
  
  The German government has stepped up a war of words with social media giants over their perceived inaction in dealing with hate speech and fake news, by threatening to impose fines of up to £42.7m if they fail to block or remove such content within 24 hours.
  The switch from rhetoric to action came after ministers approved plans for the explicit use of financial penalties, although a tougher measure to punish Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter and Google over a solitary infraction failed to pass.
  
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• Power of youth: Chinese young adults influence how China consumes media and brands

  06-04-2017 10:08
  
  China’s young adults – more than 400 million strong – account for a third of China’s population and are equal to more than the whole working population of the US and Western Europe combined. Their spending power is a primary engine not just of China’s continued growth, but of global economic stability.
  Arguably, this is the generation that is the most different from any generation before. It is already exerting significant influence in modern culture and attitudes t
  
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• Jeff Bezos to sell $1bn of Amazon stock each year to fund space ambitions

  06-04-2017 09:55
  
  Amazon chief Jeff Bezos has confirmed his intention to sell $1bn of shares in his e-commerce empire each and every year in his pursuit of outer space.
  The beneficiary of this largesse will be Blue Origin, the aerospace firm established by Bezos with a view to growing humanity’s footprint in space, a lofty goal which carries a stratospheric price tag.
  Fortunately, with an estimated net worth of over $78bn, Bezos has the readies to fuel his dream for the foreseeable future, while ramping up
  
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• Geometry Global gives Todd global role and brings in M&C Saatchi's Whelan as UK CEO

  06-04-2017 09:30 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Geometry Global has promoted UK chief executive Sarah Todd to a global role and brought in M&C Saatchi's shopper marketing chief Michelle Whelan as her replacement.
  
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• Twitter Lite offered to users with poor data connections

  06-04-2017 09:18
  
  Micro-blogging platform Twitter is rolling out a quicker and lighter version of its main website today in a bid to draw more traffic from regions cursed with sporadic or patchy mobile data networks.
  Twitter Lite forms part of a drive to target growth in previously untapped emerging markets with the initiative and can be loaded on a standard web browser without the need for a dedicated app.
  Despite a pared down back-end the user experience remains well-nigh identical to the full fat version we&rs
  
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• Unilever confirms exit from margarine business

  06-04-2017 08:15 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Unilever has started taking steps to sell its margarine spreads business, which includes brands such as Flora and I Can't Believe It's Not Butter (which was renamed to I Can't Believe It's So Good With Everything).
  
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• This well-heeled UK publisher runs only long-form stories and gives them to other sites for free

  06-04-2017 08:00
  
  A media mogul with pockets twice as deep as Rupert Murdoch’s makes a public promise to “being open to the widest mix of ideas, expertise and thinking” and sets down a mission statement to “improve health for everyone by helping great ideas to thrive”. Imagine that!
  Sir Henry Wellcome died in 1936, when Murdoch was five years old, and he was a pharmaceutical giant not a press baron. But his posthumous influence on society is multi-faceted and it is now influencing th
  
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• Luma Partners' Terry Kawaja: 'Verticalized media is here to stay'

  06-04-2017 08:00
  
  Speaking about his outfit’s latest quarterly report, one of the foremost advisors in M&A for the adtech sector Terry Kawaja, chief executive of Luma Partners, speaks to The Drum about his assessment of the likely outcomes in the mid-to-long term future.
  This includes the potential impact of the shifting political tides across the globe, especially on either sides of the Pacific Ocean, as well as the likelihood of further adtech purchases by martech players as well as telcos.  
  Mer
  
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