Marketing news

• And the most patriotic brands in America are…

  03-07-2017 20:08
  
  As the US gears up to celebrate the 241st anniversary of its independence on July 4, research consultancy Brand Keys released its 15th annual survey of US brands and said it has seen a “dramatic shift in consumers’ perceptions of brand patriotism” this year.
  Jeep, Disney and Levi Strauss continue to top what Brand Keys called an otherwise dramatically re-drawn list, which now includes Fox News, Tesla, MSNBC and Twitter.
  The 2017 list also includes Coca-Cola, Ford, Hershey&rsquo
  
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• Marketing campaign hits a nerve amongst China's growing brands

  03-07-2017 19:51
  
  A marketing agency in Shenzhen has given marketers a glimpse of a possible new world order by distributing US dollars  imprinted with the faces of China's emperors and historic leaders to emphasize the importance of overseas competition to Chinese brands.
  Hundreds of US notes were mailed out to 500 top Shenzen, China companies in red envelopes – with the question: "Are you ready to take over America?" The envelopes were sent by Shenzen agencies ITTIZ and
  
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• Marketing campaign hits a nerve amongst China's business leaders

  03-07-2017 19:51
  
  A marketing agency in Shenzhen has given marketers a glimpse of a possible new world order by distributing US dollars  imprinted with the faces of China's emperors and historic leaders to emphasize the importance of overseas competition to Chinese brands.
  Hundreds of US notes were mailed out to 500 top Shenzen, China companies in red envelopes – with the question: "Are you ready to take over America?" The envelopes were sent by Shenzen agencies ITTIZ and
  
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• Phishers are tapping into Pied Piper and Hooli in new email scams

  03-07-2017 19:10
  
  If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, HBO should perhaps be blushing.
  That’s because scammers are using domains for the fictional tech companies Pied Piper and Hooli from HBO’s Silicon Valley to try to trick unsuspecting consumers.
  In a blog post, email authentication firm ValiMail said Pied Piper and Hooli “have become well-known and highly recognized tech brands” as a result of the series and the network has created real websites for these fictional
  
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• Disney sees shares jump almost 2% following Verizon takeover rumors

  03-07-2017 19:06
  
  Shares of The Walt Disney Company climbed 1.7% today (3 July) following reports that Verizon Communications is rumored to be considering purchasing the media company.
  The New York Post reported the rumored deal over the weekend, when a “well-placed” banker told the paper not to count Verizon out of a takeover bid.
  Verizon might be looking to take a lead from rival telco AT&T, which announced a takeover bid for Time Warner last year in order to swell its data and advertising capab
  
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• US Creative Works: Special Fourth of July edition

  03-07-2017 18:00
  
  While Independence Day may not be an advertiser's dream like Christmas or Halloween are, some agencies and retailers have gotten into the spirit of the season with campaigns to address our star spangled history.
  Here is a Creative Works sampling some Fourth of July campaigns just in time to celebrate US independence.
  Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners (BSSP) : Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners (BSSP) 'BSSP Celebrates Fourth of July'Agency: Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners (BSSP)
  
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• How to win Google’s game of hide and seek without suffering the angst of algorithmic alchemy

  03-07-2017 17:41
  
  It was another record breaking week for Google. In a landmark competition case Google was fined €2.4bn (c 3% of its turnover) for boosting its own online shopping service while relegating others. The previous record for a tech competition case was in 2009 when Intel was fined €1.09 bn for abusing its market dominance on central processing units (CPUs).
  Seek and ye shall find… but only what I want you to see…
  The statistics around search come as no surprise:
  81% of all pur
  
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• Pizza Express restaurants to host standup comedy in bid to arrest sales decline

  03-07-2017 17:32
  
  Pizza Express is on a mission to turn the business around after facing heavy losses, and is looking to standup comedy and celebrity talks to differentiate itself from newer competitors.
  The Telegraph revealed this morning (3 July) that losses at Pizza Express reached £17m in 2016, compared to a £10m loss in the previous year. Like-for-like sales in the UK and Ireland fell by 0.9% in 2016, despite the chain agreeing a new partnership with delivery giant Deliveroo.
  The brand’s CE
  
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• Ad of the Day: Judy Murray converts the Tartan Army to tennis in Tennents’ Wimbledon spot

  03-07-2017 16:52
  
  Scottish stalwart Tennent’s Lager has enlisted Judy Murray to front its latest campaign around Wimbledon, which sees the coach rally football fans to support her sons in the annual tournament.
  Created by Bright Signals and Wire, the ad blends imagery from both sports for some comedic results. The Tartan Army are seen watching Wimbledon while squirting cream onto a plate of strawberries, drinking a pint glass of Pimms with a straw and cracking open a can… of fresh tennis balls.
  Murra
  
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• Independent Influence: Space150 sparks constant change with "versions" project

  03-07-2017 16:37
  
  Ad agencies are always looking for ways to show that their creativity extends beyond the confines of client work. Whether it’s a food cart full of Donald Trump “baloney” sandwiches or a Cindy Gallop chat bot, there’s no shortage of agency “passion projects” that are sometimes just thinly veiled attempts at self-promotion.
  Which is why it’s easy to write off Space150’s long-running “versions” project, an endeavor that essentially involve
  
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• Weetabix picks Davies as top marketer

  03-07-2017 16:20 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Francesca Davies has been appointed as Weetabix's new marketing director to replace the brand's long-serving top marketer Sally Abbott.
  
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• Learning how to put your trust in data

  03-07-2017 16:15
  
  Businesses still don’t trust digital. It’s fair enough, when you consider all the undisclosed rebates, the deliberate complexity, the lack of transparency, the ongoing problems of viewability, ad fraud, brand safety.
  So when a brand is told by their partner that they should change their targeting strategy based on ‘what the data is saying’, it’s understandable why they might be reluctant. Especially if they aren’t able to view this data, or the agency can&rsqu
  
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• Baby Dove ads criticised over public breastfeeding portrayal

  03-07-2017 16:06 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  A Baby Dove campaign highlighting different parenting styles has drawn criticism for supporting those who are against breastfeeding in public.
  
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• Need extra time to apply for the Scottish Event Awards 2017? You can ask for an extension now

  03-07-2017 15:31
  
  Did you miss the deadline for The Drum Scottish Event Awards? Don’t worry, you can ask for an extension and still have the chance to show off and celebrate your success.
  There is still plenty of time for entrants to get their work in front of our esteemed panel of expert industry judges including: Geometry Global’s Andy Dougan, Undercurrent’s Damien Clarke and The Gloag Foundation’s Eilidh Muir.
  Commenting on the awards, Clarke said: “As our industry grows in statur
  
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• Baby Dove incurs backlash from breastfeeding groups over 'What's Your Way' ads

  03-07-2017 14:57
  
  A campaign from Baby Dove has been labeled as "seriously misguided" by a non-profit group for seemingly condoning the views of those who object to breastfeeding in public. 
  One poster in the Unilever-owned brand's 'What's Your Way' campaign depicts a baby being nursed alongside the text: '75% say breastfeeding in public is fine, 25% say put them away. What's your way?'. 
  The Advertising Standards Authority told The Drum that it has received 117 complaints about the campaign so far
  
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• The hidden key to truly effective customer marketing

  03-07-2017 14:55
  
  It’s hard for online marketers to go five minutes these days without reading or hearing the phrase ‘match rates’. Just like the ‘engagement rate’ craze that came before it (and still very much remains in the marketers’ vernacular), match rates — i.e. the percentage of customers that can be targeted across multiple devices accurately — have become a key indicator of marketing success.
  But there are those who adopt a more sceptical stance towards the
  
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• Google denies foul-play in search but admits it needs to give consumers more control over voice data

  03-07-2017 13:54
  
  As Google faces scrutiny for anti-competitive practices in written search, what does this mean for its big bet on voice? 
  News that the European Union has fined Google a record €2.4bn for allegedly fixing search results to favour its own products is the latest in a string of blows to the internet giant aimed at creating a fairer internet ecosystem. 
  Google’s response when faced with criticism was to contest that it is ‘consumer-first’. It claims to be&n
  
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• 10 Questions with...TBWA New York CEO Rob Schwartz

  03-07-2017 13:28
  
  What was your first ever job? 
  My first job ever was as a "towel boy" at a health club on 57th Street when I was 15 years old. 
   
  Why did you get into marketing?
  My Plan A crapped out: I failed in several attempts to write the next "great American novel." Then with my Plan B, law school, I literally walked out on question 62 of my LSAT, so that didn't work out so great either. Plan C? Advertising!
   
  Which industry event do you look forward to each year and why? 
  I dread
  
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• How Whole Foods can help Amazon sell more shoes

  03-07-2017 13:26
  
  Recently, online retail giant Amazon announced that they were buying Whole Foods, a business which is completely reliant on physical stores, for a whopping $13 billion. The news sent the stocks of other food chains plummeting, which was no surprise as competing against a business with a radical model like Amazon’s is terrifying…suicidal really.
  The scariest realisation for competitors is that Amazon probably do not have any interest in actually making a profit off avocados and whole
  
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• Channel 4 snaps up McDonald's to sponsor UEFA Women's Euro 2017 coverage

  03-07-2017 13:06 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Clare Balding will host Channel 4's coverage of Uefa Women's Euro 2017, in which both England and Scotland are bidding for glory.
  
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• Scandi noir or Conran for the 21st century? Whose online home and garden offer is winning over the UK?

  03-07-2017 13:00
  
  Since the turn of the century property porn on television and online has become ubiquitous. Not just content to offer us buying and selling programmes, schedulers offer us programmes on every aspect of ‘living’ at home, so much so that the BBC have twice run an interior design equivalent of ‘Bake Off’.
  One of the consequences is that we’ve seen an explosion of mid to low-cost retailers (multi-channel and pure play online) that bring ‘the look’ out of the
  
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• Radical transparency is not the answer to broken consumer trust

  03-07-2017 12:48
  
  Consumer trust is at an all-time low, so Edelman and other companies tell us – assuming we can trust their data of course.  
  A frequently touted panacea is some version of radical transparency. McDonalds’ recent ‘Our Food. Your Questions’ campaign being a good case in point.
  The problem is that transparency campaigns like this do not lead to trust. Or at least, not in the way it’s usually presented.  
  One idea behind the move towards radical transpare
  
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• Forget the hacks – create a real integrated marketing plan

  03-07-2017 12:08
  
  Too much direct response marketing and personal selling, and no one is watering the tree. Too much brand advertising and public relations, and no one is picking the fruit. All parts of the promotion mix are important for long-term success.
  You’ll see what I mean. But first, let’s do the time warp back to Sunnydale, California, in 1997.
  'Television marketing' is not a 'thing'
  Imagine that it is the 1990s and I want to reach the people who watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer. (The vastly un
  
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• Y&R stayed open post-WPP hack because ‘you don’t need computers to be creative’ says CEO David Sable

  03-07-2017 11:58
  
  Young & Rubicam chief executive David Sable said his staff continued to work in the aftermath of a significant cyber attack which affected some businesses in the WPP network last week because "you don't need computers to be creative".
  Speaking during a live-stream broadcast on financial news network Cheddar TV on Sunday evening (2 July), the boss said that the agency was "open for work" following the ransomware hack, adding: "Our people are very resilient and smart – they were on
  
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• Optimistic UK SME retailers bullish about future prospects

  03-07-2017 11:43
  
  Britain’s small and medium scale retailers are bucking the seemingly inexorable slide toward doom and gloom on the high street, with two-thirds of their number expressing bullish sentiments in relation to current trading conditions.
  Despite the march of international online retailers and declining sales among larger bricks and mortar stores, SMEs were found to be remarkably positive about their own prospects with two-thirds of 500 SME businesses contacted by Censuswide, on behalf of courie
  
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• Jicwebs goes full-time to deal with online ad fraud and brand safety

  03-07-2017 11:42 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Jicwebs has launched itself as a full-time operating limited company helmed by Richard Foan, who has left ABC after 33 years to focus on Jicwebs as its executive chairman.
  
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• Creative Work of the Week: MERó rethinks Code Computerlove’s visual identity

  03-07-2017 11:27
  
  MERó’s redesign of Code Computerlove’s digital and offline identity has beaten off the rest of the pack to take the crown of Creative Work of the Week.
  MERó brought digital agency Code Computerlove’s ‘never stops’ tagline to life in a new identity that can be applied across all digital and offline applications. MERó focused on Code’s positioning ‘brilliant never stops’ when shaping the new visual identity, drawing on the idea o
  
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• Only two weeks remain for applications to London Midland’s accelerator programme for tech startups

  03-07-2017 11:25
  
  Start-up firms interested in breaking into the rail sector have only two weeks remaining to apply for a unique accelerator programme organised by rail operator London Midland (LM) in collaboration with 383 Project.
  The LM Labs Accelerator programme aims to improve customer experience by providing a collaborative space where LM and innovative tech start-ups can diagnose customer problems and create new products and services in response. The first Lab took place earlier this year and LM are curren
  
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• Move over Madison Avenue – brands can find the best creative value in Argentina

  03-07-2017 11:20
  
  A week after those lucky enough to have been in the south of France have shaken off the rosé residue, the industry is taking stock of which countries were producing the better work this year.
  The usual countries were at the top, with a few outliers sweeping the boards on a few campaigns. Markets such as the UK and the US, with big budgets, a long creative history and considerable consumer spending, were obviously going to feature. But which countries give marketers the biggest bang f
  
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• YouTube offers $3 refunds over ads linked to extremism

  03-07-2017 11:14
  
  YouTube has rubbed salt into the wounds of advertisers by offering refunds of a mere $3 for having their ads displayed alongside extremist content.
  The goodwill gesture from the video streaming giant had been intended to lure ad agencies back to the fold, many of which have continued to shun the platform since the scandal first broke amid concern that their image could be compromised.
  An investigation by the Financial Times found that at least three unnamed advertising firms had been approached
  
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• Creative Works featuring McCann London, Collider, Brass, BETC London and more

  03-07-2017 11:00
  
  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 9 July.
  For projec
  
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• UK government launches £400m Digital Infrastructure Investment Fund

  03-07-2017 10:35
  
  The UK government has opened the taps for a £400m Digital Infrastructure Investment Fund, holding out the prospect of a long-awaited overhaul of Britain’s fibre network.
  The investment is being touted as a fast track ‘full-fibre’ diet for the nation to catch-up with international competitors by substantially increasing fibre broadband connections to the home. UK connections currently stand at just two per cent of all households, while in countries such as Spain the compar
  
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• Vevo takes swipe at YouTube as it pushes brand safety message

  03-07-2017 10:21
  
  Vevo is looking to capitalise on the YouTube scandal by pushing a message of “quality” to attract ad dollars.
  During a press lunch last week, Vevo’s CEO Erik Huggers explained that since joining the company two years ago, he has been on a mission to overhaul the business.
  This has primarily been focused “on getting the basics right” by relaunching its app, producing its own content and by bringing out new features such as ‘Watch Party’, which allows
  
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• Channel 4 vows to honour Bake Off ‘integrity’ with product placement ban

  03-07-2017 10:00
  
  Channel 4 producers have confirmed that the set of their Bake Off reimagining will be a product-placement-free zone after vowing to honour the ‘integrity’ of its BBC beginnings.
  As such viewers will be spared the sight of branded utensils and baking products when they watch veteran Paul Hollywood mingle with newcomers Noel Fielding, Sandi Toksvig and Prue Leith to coach a fresh batch of bakers in front of the cameras.
  This altruistic stance will cost money however something Channel 4
  
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• Arena Media taps Mediacom's Sarah Treliving for MD role

  03-07-2017 10:00
  
  Arena Media has named Sarah Treliving as managing director, with a remit to lead the agency's UK team with a focus on the commercial and new business divisions as well as talent management. 
  Treliving joins from Mediacom, replacing former Arena Media managing director Elliot Parkus who departed for Blackwood Seven in April. 
  The announcement from the Havas-owned firm comes after Emirates renewed its global contract with the group, which is handled by Arena
  
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• President Trump escalates bitter Twitter feud with CNN with violent tweet

  03-07-2017 09:28
  
  Donald Trump has ratcheted up the aggression in his latest tirade against broadcaster CNN by doctoring wrestling footage in a tweet to apparently show him body-slamming a man with a ‘CNN’ logo superimposed on his head to the floor, before letting loose a series of punches and calmly walking away.
  #FraudNewsCNN #FNN pic.twitter.com/WYUnHjjUjg
  — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 2, 2017The Twitter clip drew immediate outrage, predominantly from Democrats, with many decrying
  
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• Waitrose, Channel 4, Microsoft: Everything that matters this morning

  03-07-2017 08:52
  
  Waitrose returns to TV sponsorship on Channel 4
  4 Sales has announced a new partnership with Waitrose, whereby the supermarket will sponsor its Food on 4 programmes. This includes shows on Channel 4 such as Jamie and Jimmy’s Friday Night Feast, Fearless Chefs and My Kitchen Rules. It also includes shows on UKTV’s Good Food and W Channels.
  “The Food on 4 programmes are extremely popular with our customers, so this partnership gives us a new way of communicating to them abo
  
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• Volvo, Samsung, Nokia: Everything that matters this morning

  03-07-2017 08:52
  
  Volvo backs electric cars in a major way
  Carmaker Volvo says every one of its models launched beyond 2019 will have an electric motor. The move, which is being called an industry first, will mark the end of cars that only have an internal combustion engine.
  Volvo’s range of electrified cars will include all-electric, plug-in hybrid and mild hybrid models. Volvo will launch five fully electric cars between 2019 and 2021.
  “This is about the customer,” said its CEO Håkan Sam
  
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• ITV, Uber, Nike: Everything that matters this morning

  03-07-2017 08:52
  
  EasyJet CEO Carolyn McCall ‘favourite to take over at ITV’
  Carolyn McCall, the chief executive of easyJet, has emerged as the leading candidate to be the new chief executive of ITV.
  McCall, who is understood to have been interviewed for the role, is considered to be one of the strongest candidates on ITV’s shortlist and if she is successful she would become Britain’s most powerful female TV executive.
  The broadcaster is understood to have settled on its preferred candidat
  
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• Carlsberg, Subway, Dove: Everything that matters this morning

  03-07-2017 08:52
  
  Subway plans major UK expansion
  Subway plans to add 500 new restaurants to its UK and Ireland estate by 2020, creating 5,000 new jobs in the process.
  Today, the fast food retailer confirmed it will soon be opening its 2,500th outlet in Bristol, the first step on its goal to reach the 3,000 mark over the next three years.
  Its stores are all owned and operated by a network of small business owners. By 2020 it is predicted overall employee numbers will hit the 24,000 mark in the UK and Republi
  
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• Bake Off, Deliveroo, Pizza Express: Everything that matters this morning

  03-07-2017 08:52
  
  Great British Bake Off will be “product placement free”
  Channel 4 will not offer advertisers the chance to pay for product placement during the Great British Bake Off in order to maintain the “integrity” of the series.
  According to reports in the Guardian, Channel 4 is looking to generate £25m a year from a range of other commercial deals to cover the cost of poaching the show from the BBC last year. It is estimated the broadcaster will need to make at least £
  
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• Review recap: Honda, Audi, Starbucks

  03-07-2017 08:32 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Campaign's round-up of advertising and media accounts that have been put up for review
  
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• From iconic to punchline: Blockbuster’s CMO reflects on how things imploded

  03-07-2017 08:29
  
  At its peak, Blockbuster had over 50 million members worldwide. Nowadays, it’s nothing more than a punchline referenced alongside Kodak during cliché marketing presentations titled: ‘Innovate or die!’
  A number of factors contributed to Blockbuster going under. But the main reason it went out of business in 2013 was its failure to adapt to a changing retail environment where streaming movies made renting physical DVDs feel caveman-like. Of course, things could have been v
  
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• Arena Media picks Sarah Treliving as MD

  03-07-2017 08:07 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Arena Media has appointed Sarah Treliving, MediaCom's managing partner, head of digital, as the Havas media agency's managing director.
  
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• YouTube 'offers $3 refunds' to advertisers amid brand safety fears

  03-07-2017 07:51 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Companies are reportedly being offered as little as $3 (£2.31) in refunds by YouTube after they pulled ads earlier this year that appeared on extremists' websites.
  
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• Publicis launches its public relations agency MSL Herd in Australia

  03-07-2017 06:00
  
  Publicis has launched its public relations agency MSL in Australia, following the acquisition of local PR agency shop The Herd Agency.
  The new agency will be named Herd MSL and will be lead by Herd’s management team of founder Jamie Verco, CEO Vanessa Liell and agency heads Katarina Farrell, Stuart Wragg and Lewis Shields.
  Herd MSL provides Publicis Communications with its first fully integrated public relations service and will provide strategy, corporate affairs, earned media, stakeholde
  
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• Alibaba transforms ecommerce into entertainment as it repositions the company as an economy

  03-07-2017 04:23
  
  Ecommerce giant Alibaba is undertaking aggressive expansion plans as it powers ahead on its globalisation strategy, but can it really become a global economy?  
  For some time, Alibaba has been telling people not to think of the ecommerce giant as a company anymore, last week it finally explained why revealing its ambitions to become one the world’s biggest economy.
  The Alibaba economy is a huge ecosystem comprising of the company’s core commerce platforms (Tmall, Taobao, Ali Exp
  
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• Nissan's Hussein Dajani: digital will always be a challenge for traditional agencies

  03-07-2017 04:00
  
  Hussein M. Dajani recently joined Nissan as general manager, digital marketing for Africa, the Middle East and India. The Drum spoke with him about his marketing plans in the AMI region.
  You have moved on from a digital agency to working for a motors company i.e. Nissan. How do you plan to bring that knowledge into the company?
  I believe that the experiences I have gained from working in various companies, in various markets and on various brands, equipped me to tackle the new task at
  
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