Marketing news

• Virgin Media celebrates Usain Bolt's final race virtually

  04-08-2017 21:36
  Record breaking Olympic athlete Usain Bolt is set to sign off in style with his final race at the World Athletics Championship today (5 August) and to mark the occasion Virgin Media has released a virtual victory lap featuring him.
  Titled #ARunningLegend, the film shows Bolt running across London's landmarks starting from Broxton recreation centre and culminating at City Hall.
  Virgin Media has worked with state-of-the-art projectionists on this initiative, havi
  
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• Finalists have been revealed for The Drum Search Awards USA 2017

  04-08-2017 21:00
  With judging having taken place last week, it is now time to announce the shortlist for The Drum Search Awards USA.
  The judging took place on Friday July28 and the panel were impressed with the line-up of entrants this year.
  One of the judges, Larry Kim, founder, Worldstream Inc said: “The Drum Search Awards are a great way to showcase some of the great work that has been done by product vendors and agencies in this exciting search marketing space.
  “What I’m looking to see is e
  
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• 'Ideas are important, but execution wins out': Beyond the Brief featuring Eric Mayville, Wondersauce

  04-08-2017 19:58
  I’m sure our parents have warned us growing up to never get into business with our friends. Eric Mayville, Wondersauce co-CEO and founding partner will tell you otherwise—actually, he already has.
  The Columbus, Ohio native and John Sampogna (who you recently heard a bit about) launched their human-centric agency over 5 years ago at the ripe old age of 27. The two-man operation is now a multi-city (and international) network with offices in his Mayville’s hometown, as well as in
  
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• Ryanair enables voice search for flights and hotels

  04-08-2017 18:49
  Budget airline Ryanair said it is enabling Alexa voice recognition, allowing customers to search for flights, hotels and flight status on Ryanair.com.
  In an email, a Ryanair rep said consumers access it through an Alexa-enabled device, which “links to a Skill (app) on your desktop.”
  “You call out the info you require through [your] MyRyanair [account], and Alexa finds it for you and responds. It’s a verbal response,” the rep added.
  The rep noted this is an &ldq
  
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• UK agencies name ‘branded content’ the number one marketing technique for retailers this Christmas

  04-08-2017 17:40
  A survey carried out by the Recommended Agencies Register (RAR) has revealed that UK agencies believe ‘branded content’ should be the top marketing priority of retail brands targeting Christmas shoppers this year.
  The sample, drawn from RAR’s members, was asked the question: ‘From a marketing perspective, if there is one thing a retailer should do this Christmas, what would it be?’
  42.9% of respondents named branded content as the preferred technique, making it by f
  
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• Marketing leaders see Brexit as an opportunity not a threat

  04-08-2017 17:04 via campaignlive.co.uk
  A survey of the leading UK marketers by the Chartered Institute of Marketing has revealed they are much more likely to see to Brexit as an opportunity than a threat, in spite of factors like rising inflation.
  
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• GroupM North America CEO Brian Lesser leaves agency for AT&T

  04-08-2017 16:22
  Brian Lesser is leaving his position as chief executive of GroupM North America to take on a role at AT&T.
  Kelly Clark, global chief executive of WPP’s GroupM, will take on his responsibilities while the company searches for a replacement.
  Lesser took on the role of GroupM North America chief executive two years ago. He’d previously served as global chief executive of Xaxis.
  “Brian has been a key contributor to 24/7, Xaxis and most recently GroupM, and we are sorry to see h
  
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• Sorrell: Snapchat is a 'flea on the elephant's backside'

  04-08-2017 16:07 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Despite WPP planning to double spend on Snapchat this year, Sir Martin Sorrell has described its commitment as a "flea on the elephant's backside."
  
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• Taylors of Harrogate focuses on 'extraordinary flavour' for rebrand

  04-08-2017 15:57 via campaignlive.co.uk
  The Yorkshire brand has evolved its logo and introduced vibrant new packaging designs across its tea and coffee range.
  
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• PHD wins Sainsbury's £115m media as account review drama ends

  04-08-2017 15:56 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Sainsbury's has confirmed that PHD has won its consolidated £115m media planning and buying account, ending the long-running drama over the account review.
  
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• PHD snatches back Sainsbury's £115m media as review drama ends

  04-08-2017 15:56 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Sainsbury's has confirmed that PHD has won its consolidated £115m media planning and buying account, ending the long-running drama over the account review.
  
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• Group M's North America CEO Lesser departs

  04-08-2017 15:46 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Group M's North America chief executive Brian Lesser is leaving for a new job at AT&T.
  
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• Snapchat targets performance marketers with advanced automation tools

  04-08-2017 15:16
  Snapchat is continuing to roll out new features ahead of its second quarter earnings update next week, announcing an advanced set of tools for marketers which allow them to build, manage, and scale their ad efforts at greater speed. 
  Fresh from unveiling its self-serve platform in May, the messaging app's ad manager - which will let clients purchase slots directly - has been updated with a new service called 'Advanced Mode'.
  The tool gives brands, agencies and buyers the power to setup auto
  
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• Neil Patrick Harris and Heineken want to swim in New York’s East River for latest Cities Project

  04-08-2017 15:00
  As Kramer on Seinfeld proved a couple decades ago, swimming in New York City’s rivers can be a bit, well, challenging. Heineken, through its Cities Project, has teamed with Tribeca Studios and +Pool to show that a floating pool project in the East River is actually a great idea.
  In a short documentary and 360-film project – Floating an Idea: The +Pool Story, voiced by actor and Heineken spokesman Neil Patrick Harris – the Cities Project lays out the argument that a floating poo
  
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• Blake Griffin celebrates the playground for Jordan Brand in new 360 campaign

  04-08-2017 15:00
  NBA player Blake Griffin is back on the playground in the newest campaign for the Jordan Brand, ‘Welcome to the Playground.’ He and rapper Fabolous are the stars of a 360 suite of marketing content from content agency of record Los York that represents a summertime ode to the magic of the community basketball court and surrounding culture.
  Anchored by a central two-minute film and supported by a range of in-store, digital and social storytelling, the campaign honors the meaningful mo
  
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• Havaianas is transporting New York riders to Brazil for 59 minutes in ferry takeover

  04-08-2017 14:51
  Brazilian sandal company Havaianas is taking over a New York ferry and bringing the vibrant spirit of a Rio summer to riders for the 59-minute ride.
  The flip-flop company has partnered with boutique convenience store chain New Stand to bring Brazil's beaches to NYC Ferry's Manhattan to Rockaway route. The transformed ferry sports a Rio-themed party vibe, complete with a rooftop bar, Brazilian themed décor, as well as a Havaianas pop-up shop.Credit: Aymann Ismail / New Stand
   
  Lo
  
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• Coke, Safeway and Sky: 5 things that mattered this week and why

  04-08-2017 14:32
  Coke’s first sustainability campaign
  There is growing environmental concern about the use of plastic bottles. According to figures obtained by the Guardian, a million bottles are bought around the world every minute and this will jump by another 20% by 2021, an environmental crisis some claim could be as serious as climate change. And unsurprisingly major drinks brands are the biggest culprits, with analysis by Greenpeace estimating that Coca-Cola produces more than 100 billion a year.
  Coc
  
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• Marketers should tackle short-termism with product thinking

  04-08-2017 14:13
  A major current challenge for marketers is how best to balance short-term demands versus long-term innovation and this became a key discussion point during a recent event hosted by Code Computerlove.
  The event was organized by Optimizely, Code and Tealium and was held at Code Computerlove’s offices at Sevendale House. There were around 80 attendees, 90 per cent of whom were from brands including The Co-Op, Footasylum, Beauty Bay, Sage, RBS, Spare Room and Sky Sports. The day’s d
  
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• An attempted exploration into the creative mind of Mr Bingo

  04-08-2017 13:47
  Mr Bingo is an illustrator-turned-artist who cut his teeth in animation, publishing and advertising.
  Since he consciously ditched the commercial work back in 2015 he has gone on to create his own brand of creativity. He launched a Kickstarter campaign to publish 156 out of his 928 Hate Mail postcard artworks in a book. He then filmed and produced his own rap video promoting said crowdfunding campaign and offered anyone who paid in £75 or more 'a one-off pornographic drawing on an enve
  
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• Asics in biggest brand shakeup in 25 years as it looks to broaden appeal

  04-08-2017 13:23
  Asics is overhauling its marketing strategy and plotting a big expansion of its store estate as part of its biggest brand shakeup in a quarter of a century.
  The Japanese sports brand is best known for its running gear, but wants to broaden its appeal amid wider growth in the market for fashionable sports and outdoor wear.
  The relaunch kicked off in London this week – timed to coincide to the start of the athletics World Championships that start this evening (4 August) – with the laun
  
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• Puma hints Usain Bolt could become head of Caribbean business following retirement

  04-08-2017 13:14
  Puma has revealed plans to hand its prized brand ambassador, Usain Bolt, a new role ahead of his impending retirement after confirming it could make the Jamaican sprinter the head of its Caribbean business.
  Tomorrow (5 August) the world of athletics will embark on a new dawn, an era defined by the absence of the fastest man the world has ever known and, to coincide with this transition, Puma is considering offering Bolt a new job description.
  The German brand has stressed Bolt’s absence fr
  
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• Marginal gains: it's not about the bike

  04-08-2017 13:14
  Sir Dave Brailsford from Team Sky once said: "The whole principle of marginal gains came from the idea that if you broke down everything that could impact on a cycling performance — absolutely everything you could think of — and then you improved everything little thing by 1%, when you clump it all together, you're going to get quite a significant increase in performance. So we set about looking at everything we could." 
  Team Sky famously went to extreme lengths to identify and
  
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• The Drum Digerati 2017: Who are the most impressive individuals working in UK digital?

  04-08-2017 13:05
  The Drum wants you to assemble 2017's Digerati - the UK's most exceptional individuals working in the digital space. 
  Now in it's fifth year, The Drum's Digerati is more pertinent than ever. This year's Tech Nation report revealed that the UK's digital economy is growing at twice the rate of the country's wider economy, bringing in a massive £97bn each year.
  We're calling on the marketing industry to nominate the top UK digital talent, to help us shine a light on those pione
  
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• Pearlfinders' half-year market update highlights emerging opportunities for agencies

  04-08-2017 12:54
  This week saw the publication of a ‘first half’ update to Pearlfinders’ annual Index report, aggregating sentiment from the first six months of 2017. And what a remarkable six months it’s been. As challenges and objectives shift dramatically among the top spending brands across Europe, snap supplier reviews are triggered and opportunities reveal themselves to those able to approach the marketplace with an entrepreneurial, objective and scientific eye.
  Having cross-referen
  
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• Droga5 London wins Peroni ad business

  04-08-2017 12:38 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Droga5 London has won the advertising account for Peroni Nastro Azzurro in a competitive pitch, following the beer brand's acquisition by Asahi Group.
  
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• Business on the Move: Uniqlo, Hobbycraft, Kingdom of Sweets and more

  04-08-2017 12:00
  Welcome to The Drum's Business on the Move section, where we collate agency account wins, reviews, agency launches, rebrands and acquisitions.
  Account wins
  Uniqlo has chosen Karmarama to work with the fashion retailer across Europe on seasonal campaigns and store launches.
  The agency has developed a summer campaign for its collection, which will run in European and US markets across advertising and in-store channels.
  Hobbycraft has selected digital marketing agency iCrossing 
  
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• ASA won't investigate KFC's 'The Whole Chicken' ad despite receiving almost 500 complaints

  04-08-2017 11:33
  Despite receiving close to 500 complaints from the public the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) will not investigate KFC's 'The Full Chicken' ad. 
  The Drum has learned that the watchdog received 480 complaints about the campaign, which shows a real chicken, sashaying around a barn to X Gon’ Give It To Ya by DMX in the style of a 90s rap music video. People objected to a variety of things including the way the spot depicted chickens despite the fact they are headed f
  
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• KFC’s ‘The Whole Chicken’ ad avoids investigation

  04-08-2017 11:30
  KFC’s ‘The Whole Chicken’ campaign will not face an investigation by the ad regulator despite hundreds of complains about the ad.
  The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) says it received 480 complaints about the ad, which showed confident chickens strutting around to a popular rap song by DMX.
  The complainants had a range of issues with the ad, with some arguing that the depiction of chickens was “disrespectful, “offensive” and “distressing”, whi
  
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• Publicis' production arm Prodigious acquires Translate Plus to tailor global marketing campaigns

  04-08-2017 11:19
  Publicis Communications’ cross-media production house, Prodigious, has acquired Translate Plus in a move intended to accelerate the localisation of Prodigious’ global business.
  The acquisition will allow Prodigious to more efficiently tailor its campaign and marketing assets through access to Translate Plus’ in-house translation and transcreation services.
  With an increasing part of Prodigious business requiring localising content across different markets, the need arose f
  
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• Why social media matters more than ever to hospitality marketing

  04-08-2017 11:09
  Mobile technology has revolutionised the way people travel. Now, more than ever before, people are using mobile devices to plan every aspect of their trip, creating an incredibly flexible and powerful marketing platform for the hospitality sector.
  A survey by eMarketer found 51.8% are using their devices to complete travel bookings - a figure expected to rise to 86.4% by 2019 while ThinkWithGoogle reports 49% of all hotel searches take place through mobile phones.
  Working hand in hand with
  
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• KFC 'whole chicken' ad will not be investigated by ASA

  04-08-2017 11:05 via campaignlive.co.uk
  The ad watchdog will not formally investigate KFC's latest campaign, despite receiving nearly 500 complaints about it.
  
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• Ofcom lifts the lid on ‘Box-set Britain’ in latest consumer report

  04-08-2017 10:54
  Ofcom has published its latest snapshot of British viewing habits, charting the rise of ‘binge’ watching which now sees 40 million people regularly watch multiple series episodes one after the other rather than sit patiently for weekly installments.
  The Communications Market Report 2017 labels the country as ‘Box Set Britain’ with 79% of UK adults taking advantage of catch-up services to get their television fix, with 35% making a habit of this every week and 55% doing so
  
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• How can women's football attract brand sponsors to keep the ball rolling

  04-08-2017 10:45
  "The game of football is quite unsuitable for females and ought not to be encouraged,” said the FA, when it banned women from playing on FA-affiliated pitches in 1921. Another 76 years passed before women were allowed to play professionally again in England.
  Now, driven by #WePlayStrong, UEFA’s first pan-European campaign for women’s football, the 2017 Women’s Championship, is proving to be another major turning point for the sport.
  Channel 4 is currently showcasing the t
  
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• Ad of the Day: Mysterious ‘Moonicow’ is the subject of Cravendale's first milk mockumentary

  04-08-2017 10:14
  Milk brand Arla Cravendale is investigating the strange and unconfirmed sightings of the ‘Moonicow’ in a new mockumentary directed by Brass Eye’s Michael Cumming and devised by Wieden+Kennedy London.
  The 60-second film amalgamates interviews with earnest Moonicow spotters in the fictional country village of Cravendale, who claim the “unique freshness” of their milk could only come from a mythical bovine creature. The ad also explores the legend through newspaper cli
  
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• CBS outlines multiplatform vision with trio of advertising and digital appointments

  04-08-2017 10:05
  US broadcaster CBS has signaled its shift toward a future multi-platform world with a trio of advertising and digital sales appointments designed to reposition its leadership team for the task in hand.
  This new approach has seen CBS ad sales chief Jo Ann Ross named as president and chief advertising officer, dovetailing with the arrival of David Lawenda from Facebook as executive vice president of digital sales and sales strategy.
  Rounding out the rush of new faces at the top table is Dave Morri
  
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• Asics' launches flagship store around global 'I move me' campaign

  04-08-2017 10:00 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Asics looks to appeal to a broader audience with the launch of their largest flagship store and experiential events.
  
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• Conor McNicholas exits The & Partnership as content arm moves in with CHI

  04-08-2017 09:38 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Conor McNicholas has left The & Partnership, as its content agency AllTogetherNow moves into its ad shop CHI & Partners.
  
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• Facebook to increase use of third-party fact checkers in fake news fight

  04-08-2017 09:30
  Facebook is to double down on its practice of forwarding suspect news item to third-party fact checkers, who will be able to display their own take on events below the dubious article, as it ramps up efforts to tackle ‘fake news’.
  The social network will make use of a new and improved machine learning algorithm as its first line of defence, capable of flagging up articles which bear all the hallmarks of being agenda driven to be reviewed further by human fact checkers.
  Facebook has b
  
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• Alibaba partners Macau government to drive digital transformation in the city-state

  04-08-2017 09:29
  Alibaba announced today that they have entered into a strategic partnership framework agreement with the government of Macau Special Administrative Region.
  The initial phase of the four-year agreement will see the ecommerce company support the city’s digital transformation using its cloud technologies like smart transportation, smart tourism, smart healthcare and smart city governance, as well as developing talent in the city.
  “After setting the goal to turn Macau into a smart city,
  
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• BT's CMO says it wants to harness emotion of 'Good to Talk' era in brand overhaul

  04-08-2017 09:00
  BT’s Bob Hoskins-fronted ‘It’s Good to Talk’ campaign first hit screens in 1995. Now, more than two decades on, the brand is unifying its business divisions under a similar proposition that’s been realigned for the digital age to champion the role the brand plays in bringing people closer together.
  BT is unifying its consumer-facing and B2B brands, including its sport and entertainment offerings, under a singular strapline ‘Be There’, whic
  
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• Will other brands follow P&G’s lead and cut digital ad spend?

  04-08-2017 08:30
  Procter & Gamble (P&G) last week became one of the first advertisers to admit to a significant reduction in digital ad spend in the wake of the brand safety scandal.
  On a results call, the FMCG giant’s CFO Jon Moeller said it had cut between $100m and $140m from its digital ad budget last quarter because of brand safety concerns and “ineffective” ads. In a statement, P&G said the move was temporary as the brand looked to ensure its ads were not being placed in digit
  
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• Green & Black's launches first non-Fairtrade chocolate bar

  04-08-2017 07:46 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Green & Black's, the Mondelez-owned chocolate brand, is launching its first UK product without a Fairtrade or organic label later this month.
  
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• India's digital travel sales to reach $22.52bn in 2017

  04-08-2017 07:00
  With the rise of a digital economy, digital travel sales in India are set to touch the $22.52bn mark in 2017, according to eMarketer.
  Post-demonetisation Indians have taken to transacting by digital payments, which affected India's ecommerce sector adversely. Digital travel sales in India will continue to grow and by 2021 are expected to reach $39.09 billion, according to the data.
  Jaimie Chung, forecasting analyst  said that there is great opportunity in India for
  
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• Amazon asks people to slow down and #DeliverTheLove in Raksha Bandhan campaign

  04-08-2017 06:00
  India is a land of cultures and festivals. Amazon.in has started a campaign #DeliverTheLove to mark the occasion of Raksha Bandhan (an Indian festival where sisters tie a string on their brother's hand for them to protect them). The ad has been conceptualized by Ogilvy Bangalore.
  Ravi Arun Desai, director, mass  and brand marketing at Amazon India, said: "Our current lifestyle keeps us on our toes 24x7, and sometimes also ends up eating into the time we ought to be spending with probab
  
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• Shiny object syndrome: process is the power that drives business to being data-ready

  04-08-2017 05:16
  All this week Daniel Henriksen, technology and operations director, programmatic at OmnicomMediaGroup in Asia Pacific, is helping marketers diagnose whether they have shiny object syndrome, when it comes to data and analytics. The four aspects brands need to consider are reality, organization, people and process. 
  Process
  If we believe that people is the most important piece of the puzzle to solve for successfully changing an organization to become more data-driven and integrate data a
  
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• Tencent pulls chatbots in China after it turns on Communist Party

  04-08-2017 05:14
  Tencent has pulled two chatbots from its QQ instant messaging app after the bots starting providing answers that criticised the ruling Communist Party in China.
  Baby Q and Little Bing, a penguin and a little girl developed by Turing Robot and Microsoft respectively, were introduced in March and were meant to answer general conversation questions like horoscopes and the weather.
  However, social media users started sharing screenshots of the bots answering questions like "Is democracy good or not?
  
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