Marketing news

• Pinterest reaches 200 million monthly active users

  14-09-2017 22:53
  Pinterest has revealed it now has 200 million monthly active users, up from the 150 million it had roughly a year ago.
  In a blog post, Pinterest co-founder Evan Sharp shared some other growth-related facts about the seven-year-old company, stating that the platform has grown 40% since last year and that 85% of searches are now on mobile devices.
  He also stated that “more than half of all Pinners live outside the US,” with 75% of signups coming from outside the country.
  In addition to
  
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• YouTube unveils more original content, boasts ad viewability rate of 95%

  14-09-2017 21:30
  YouTube has unveiled a James Corden-backed program called Training Days today (14 September) at Dmexco, as part of its bid to raise production values of content, and ease advertiser concerns over brand safety on the video sharing network.   
  Training Days will be produced by the British star along with Ben Winston, Gabe Turner as well as Leo Pearlman, and is slated for a 10-week run from spring next year when viewers will see real-life fans interact with bona fide soccer stars from Eur
  
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• Fragmentation & fake news: Why brands matter more than ever

  14-09-2017 20:01
  In the digital age, there are few business assets more valuable than a powerful brand. Brands are infused with meaning. They’re a signal amid the noise. The best represent a strong message and a promise. 
  And in today’s media and advertising landscape, brands – and all that they mean to consumers – matter more than ever. Our cultural affinity for meaningful brand relationships has exploded. People want brands. They even love them.
  But why? To capitalize on it, market
  
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• Nominations announced for inaugural The Digital Trading Awards APAC

  14-09-2017 19:18
  The judging process for The Drum Digital Trading Awards APAC has taken place and the nominations are now being revealed. 
  This will be the first year that these awards, which aim to rid the confusion surrounding the programmatic sector by highlighting the companies that are majoring on clarity and transparency, have been brought to APAC.
  Judge Dan Robins, head of programmatic and data at Spotify, said: "I think it's super important to recognise the amazing work happ
  
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• British adults consuming 9% more media than in 2016 – TV still dominates

  14-09-2017 19:18
  Great British adults are consuming a reported 7 hours and 56 minutes a day consuming media according to figures from the IPA TouchPoints 2017 report.
  Figures are up 9% from 2016 and 13% from 2005, showing a recent precipitous peak. Furthermore, 2005 saw 79% of adults consume two or more media in the same half hour once a week – this has now risen to 92% in 2017. In addition, more than 26% of all adults consume more than three different media in any half hour.
  For adults, TV and video
  
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• Wire to kick off SFA's William Hill Scottish Cup experiential tour

  14-09-2017 18:44
  The Scottish Football Association (SFA) has tapped creative comms agency Wire to assume control of the creation and execution of a Scottish Cup trophy tour.
  The William Hill Scottish Cup will touch down at six locations across Scotland where fans can get up close with the silverware, all part of an experiential campaign designed to create buzz around the tournament.
  The agency is tasked with spreading the "magic" of the tournament, with a theme that will communicate the diverse and exciting
  
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• Unilever's VP of marketing: ‘working with startups isn’t an optional extra, it’s a strategic imperative’

  14-09-2017 18:28
  Despite being in the midst of one of its biggest marketing efficiency drives, the global executive vice-president of marketing at Unilever has said that experimenting with startups remains a business imperative.
  The FMCG giant’s startup division, the Unilever Foundry, revealed a report into the state of innovation in the industry at the Dmexco trade show in Cologne. Among the key findings were that startups and corporates will work side by side in the same office by 2025.
  Fuelling this is
  
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• James Corden gets real life travel guides in latest campaign for Chase Sapphire

  14-09-2017 18:19
  James Corden is getting to tour the world, thanks to a handful of Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholders. The TV host leans on people going gorilla trekking in Africa, sandboarding in the Chilean desert and other adventure destinations to help plan his next vacation in a campaign from Droga5.
  After releasing it's 'Reserve What's Next' campaign last year, the travel brand has shifted its focus to the Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholders through immersive travel stories. Ensuring a natural response
  
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• AI can't replace the human mind says MRM Meteorite chief

  14-09-2017 18:00
  When it comes to creating innovative ideas, MRM Meteorite’s chairwoman and chief creative officer, Nicky Bullard says that artificial intelligence (AI) can’t substitute the originality of the human brain.
  Ahead of her judging post at The Drum Creative Awards, The Drum spoke to Bullard on the lack of humour in advertising, calling out bad creative work and the future of print and digital in the industry.
  How will print and digital play a larger part in the future of creatives?
  The oth
  
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• John Lewis invites customers to stay over to experience its products

  14-09-2017 17:44 via campaignlive.co.uk
  John Lewis is creating a fully-furnished in-store apartment where people can stay over or host a private dinner party for the "ultimate try before you buy" experience.
  
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• The drinking experience is no longer just taste, brands must satisfy every sense

  14-09-2017 17:12
  It comes as no surprise that London has strong appeal for brands looking to generate maximum impact from a brand experience. With London proving to be such a pull for brand experience activations, more consumers than ever before are catching on to the notion that experiences make you happier and are as valuable, or more so, than buying fancy things.
  People now expect every element of their night out to deliver a multi-sensory, immersive experience, including the food and drink they order. In Lon
  
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• WPP merges Brand Union, The Partners, Lambie-Nairn, Addison Group and VBAT to form one global agency

  14-09-2017 17:01
  WPP has consolidated five of its leading brand consultancies and design agencies into one entity. 
  Brand Union, The Partners, Lambie-Nairn, Addison Group and VBAT will become one global agency, the name of which has not been revealed, ahead of its lauch in early 2018. 
  It will be led by Jim Prior, head of The Partners and Lambie-Nairn, while Simon Bolton, chief executive of Brand Union, will become executive chairman.
  WPP cited a “client-centric plan for growth” a
  
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• Digital 'raising bee' tackles Manchester’s homelessness

  14-09-2017 16:46
  In true Manchester style, a ‘raising bee’ (a gathering of people to give assistance) in the North West digital community is helping tackle the ever-increasing issue of homelessness, not only in Manchester but other cities around the UK.    
  Led by the Street Support Network, more than 40 digital professionals from a range of businesses across the region kick started the inaugural gathering this week at an event held at digital agency Code Computerlove. They assembled to don
  
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• IPA Touchpoints: UK adults' media consumption up 9%

  14-09-2017 16:26 via campaignlive.co.uk
  UK adults are spending eight hours a day consuming media, a trend fuelled by the nation's obsessive smartphone use and the plethora of platforms available to peruse, according to the IPA's latest TouchPoints research.
  
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• International round-up: Facebook fined in Spain, L’Oréal uses AI to target Chinese shoppers

  14-09-2017 16:13
  Facebook fined by Spain for illegal data usage
  Facebook faces a fine of €1.2m for allegedly obtaining personal information from users in Spain that could then be used for advertising.
  The fine is the result of an investigation into the social network company by national data protection watchdog AEPD. It performed similar probes in Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands.
  It found three cases in which Facebook had collected personal details such as the gender, religious beliefs, persona
  
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• Bonin Bough: mobile has become society's crystal meth

  14-09-2017 16:13 via campaignlive.co.uk
  The "mobilisation" of society has had impacts much deeper and more profound than most marketers have so far realised, Mondelez's former chief media and ecommerce officer Bonin Bough told a Dmexco audience.
  
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• The Drum Scottish Creative Awards reveals 2017 shortlist

  14-09-2017 16:00
  Judges for The Drum Scottish Creative Awards have made their decisions, so the nominations for this year’s event can finally be revealed.
  What stood out for the panel were strong entries from the digital, TV/cinema and design categories. They were largely delighted about the fact humour appears to be creeping back into the advertising world, considering how serious the industry has become.
  Chairman of the judging panel, Lisa Nichols, executive creative director, TBWA\Manchester, said:
  
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• Lululemon explores the global themes of masculinity and strength in first men's campaign

  14-09-2017 16:00
  Lululemon is celebrating masculinity and strength in a series of short films as part of the brand’s first men’s campaign.
  The global campaign, Strength to Be, aims to celebrate the growing community of men who are representing their own definitions of masculinity and strength in positive ways.
  The campaign features a series of five short films, which explore how men are challenging stereotypes by juxtaposing traditional depictions of masculinity alongside more modern interpretations.
  
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• WPP combines five brand and design agencies amid company restructure

  14-09-2017 15:41 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Five WPP brand consultancies and design agencies, including Brand Union and The Partners, are being combined under a single brand.
  
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• South Park follows Burger King in screwing with digital assistants Alexa, Siri and Google Home

  14-09-2017 15:34
  Long-running animated comedy South Park likes to touch down on social issues in the most unusual of ways, its take on smart home devices saw it deliberately trigger Alexa, Siri and Google Home units – all to demonstrate a point about the real issues that could hamstring the future-looking tech.
  The Wednesday 13 September premiere of the Comedy Central show triggered the devices multiple times, taking point from Burger King’s Cannes Lions-winning work in which it  set off&nb
  
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• Something new: are your campaign ideas truly ‘original’ – and does it even matter?

  14-09-2017 14:51
  A few months ago I listened to a fascinating podcast featuring one of pop music’s most successful writers.  He was explaining what made a song into a massive hit record.
  There were some technical music bits about the structure of the chorus and the bridge, but what sticks in my mind is his assessment that a hit song perfectly balances sounding new and different with sounding quite familiar.  This comment took me aback but as I listened to new songs that have raced up the charts s
  
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• New Star Wars and Marvel content to feature as part of Disney Digital Network EMEA roll out

  14-09-2017 14:10
  IBM has developed a new Star Wars series with Disney, which is set to roll out its digital network across EMEA platforms, it has revealed. 
  The company said that Disney Digital Network already reached over 1 billion people globally and publishes thousands of pieces of content each month via Disney's owned sites and generates 400 million monetisable video views in EMEA too across 22 markets and in 18 different languages. 
  A number of short-form digital programmes were revealed
  
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• Creative Director's Choice: Dan Kelleher of Deutsch NY says Yes Good to Emerald Nuts campaign

  14-09-2017 14:02
  Creative Director’s Choice gives creative directors a chance to highlight the current work they think is the best out in the ad world – the ads and campaigns they think are making a difference. Each week The Drum is featuring the words of a creative director or other top creative on the work they find funny, powerful or otherwise engaging.
  This week, Deutsch New York’s chief creative officer, Dan Kelleher, sings the praises of Barton F. Graf’s simple, two-word, revie
  
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• Jaguar global PR director divulges the 'golden ticket' to staying ahead of the competition

  14-09-2017 13:58
  The automotive industry is rapidly changing and car brands are under pressure to get creative with designs, sales techniques and technology to keep consumers inspired by their products.
  For The Drum Network's Auto issue, Foxtrot Papa’s Matthew Franey spoke to Jaguar Land Rover's global PR director, Richard Agnew, to ask how the brand will keep up with the competition in the massively disrupted industry.​ 
  Matt Franey (MF): What’s the most exciting thing about working
  
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• Why BT Sport sees social media platforms as friends not foes

  14-09-2017 13:55
  With streaming services limbering up to compete for TV sports rights, BT Sport’s willingness to give away some of its most prized content on the very platforms mooted as emerging rivals appears counterintuitive.
  But the broadcaster's chief operating officer Jamie Hindhaugh tells The Drum that there’s more to be gained from treating the likes of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube as partners than fearing them as threats.
  The logic is that social platforms can introduce this still relativel
  
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• RPC BPI Protec selects Click Consult for web build and search marketing strategy

  14-09-2017 13:54
  Flexible packaging manufacturer RPC BPI Protec has chosen Cheshire search marketing agency Click Consult to develop its website and provide its organic search (SEO) strategy.
  The business manufactures and supplies flexible and environmentally sustainable packaging products to prominent global brands in the food, drink and specialist sectors. RPC BPI Protec is part of the global packaging giant RPC Group, which is headquartered in Northamptonshire and employs almost 25,000 people across 34 c
  
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• Flipkart and Amazon to lock horns in battle over Indian consumers during festive season

  14-09-2017 13:53
  Indian e-commerce brand Flipkart and Amazon are all set to lock horns again in an attempt to gain supremacy over Indian consumers with the announcement of their respective sales.
  Amazon India's flagship sale - 'Great Indian Festival' - will begin along  Flipkart’s Big Billion Days sale, i.e. from 20 September and will last till 24 September. Amazon will roll out the sale under their theme ‘Karo milke taiyyari, toh tyohaar tyohaar lagta hai’ (English: Do all the p
  
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• Are you the world's best marketer?

  14-09-2017 13:50 via campaignlive.co.uk
  The World Federation of Advertisers, in partnership with Campaign, is on the hunt for the world'stop marketer.
  
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• Old-style metrics begone: why marketers need a people-driven approach to audience measurement

  14-09-2017 13:27
  The way customers interact with brands has changed rapidly but have marketers really kept up? 80% of marketers are using the click-through rate (CTR) metric as a measurement tool despite CTR accounting for just 0.2% of sales and having no direct correlation to conversions.
  According to Simon Kvist Gaulshoj, global publisher director at Audience Project, the CTR is not a strong indicator of whether a campaign has been successful.  
  Speaking to The Drum at Dmexco, he said: “While these
  
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• Sam Jones appointed as CEO of joint venture between Bruin Sports Capital and WPP, OverTier

  14-09-2017 12:28
  Sam Jones has been named chief executive officer of OverTier, the joint venture between Bruin Sports Capital and WPP that runs the NFL’s OTT business throughout Europe, it was announced today. 
  Jones is a renowned executive who has built and successfully exited leading-edge, direct to consumer growth enterprises for world renowned enterprises such as Bauer Media Group, Perform Group, Warner Music and Silicon Valley-based Kyte, among others. 
  George Pyne, CEO of Bruin Sp
  
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• Oath: Forget being the third force... we want to be number one

  14-09-2017 12:13 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Three months after Verizon brought the AOL and Yahoo businesses together to form Oath, its chief revenue officer and president of ad platforms are bursting with confidence.
  
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• Cannes Lions teams up with UN to create sustainability awards category

  14-09-2017 12:08 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Cannes Lions has teamed up with the United Nations to launch a new category of 17 awards aimed at supporting and raising awareness of global sustainable development initiatives such as ending poverty and protecting the planet.
  
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• Samsung pumps $300m into autonomous driving fund

  14-09-2017 12:02
  Samsung is seeking to diversify into the nascent autonomous driving industry through establishment of a $300m fund to invest in start-up businesses specializing in self-driving cars.
  The Samsung Automotive Innovation Fund will be geared toward furthering the development of related technologies such as sensors, machine vision and safety features required to make the autonomous vehicle dream become a reality.
  Outlining its objectives Samsung said its goal was to foster technologies that "make cars
  
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• IPA 'open-minded' to accepting management consultancy members

  14-09-2017 11:45 via campaignlive.co.uk
  The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising would not be a "stick-in-the-mud" over the notion of management consultancy members if the advertising landscape to change dramatically.
  
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• Australian government will investigate Facebook and Google as part of media reform

  14-09-2017 11:19
  The media industry in Australia will undergo an upheaval after the government's proposal to reform media laws and remove restrictions on media ownership was approved.
  The reforms have abolished the "reach rule", which prevented a media owner reaching more than 75% of the population and the "two out of three" rule, which restricted media companies owning newspaper, radio and television stations in the same market.
  The government will also look into the impact of technology powerhouses Facebo
  
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• RAPP UK appoints Andy Rowe to lead marketing sciences

  14-09-2017 11:08
  RAPP UK has appointed Andy Rowe as its new head of marketing sciences. Tasked with developing and leading the data science and analytics team, Rowe will also be responsible for nurturing clients in the art of data decisioning to drive business transformation.
  Reporting into both Shiona McDougall, senior vice president (SVP) of strategy, and Carolyn Stebbings, SVP of data and technology, Rowe will lead a team responsible for optimizing the performance of omni-channel campaigns including
  
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• Twitter CEO promises overhaul of ‘clunky’ ad offering

  14-09-2017 11:06
  Twitter‘s CEO Jack Dorsey has promised to overhaul its ad offering to make it a more attractive proposition to advertisers after admitting it was previously too complicated, making it hard to see its point of difference.
  Speaking in a Q&A session with WPP boss Sir Martin Sorrell at the Dmexco ad tech conference in Cologne, Dorsey claimed that while it has a very strong differentiated business advantage, it hasn’t clearly communicated that with marketers and agencies. And that fai
  
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• Unilever Foundry: startups and corporates will work under same roof by 2025

  14-09-2017 11:04 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Startups and corporates will be working under the same roof in less than 10 years' time, according to a global study by Unilever Foundry released at Dmexco today.
  
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• E-commerce giant Alibaba partners with New York Fashion Week

  14-09-2017 11:02
  Alibaba has launched a partnership with New York Fashion Week (NYFW) to give US designers and brands access to more than half a billion Chinese consumers.
  The deal will see Alibaba’s Tmall showcase designers and brands from NYFW, such as Opening Ceremony and Robert Geller, for the first time.
  The designers' fashion shows will be featured on Tmall’s second-annual ‘See Now Buy Now’ fashion show, which Alibaba says “serves as a curtain raiser” for its annual Sing
  
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• Ofcom lashes out at ‘woeful’ UK broadcasters over diversity failings

  14-09-2017 11:01
  Ofcom has savaged Britain’s broadcasters for their singular failure to adequately represent women, the disabled and minority ethnic groups on the small screen.
  The telecoms regulator pulled no punches in its full-frontal assault with the BBC coming in for particular stick for having failed to lead by example on diversity to its competitors – ITV, Channel 4, Sky and Channel 5 owner Viacom.
  In consequence Ofcom warns that a growing ‘cultural disconnect’ is becoming embedded
  
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• Marc Pritchard: 2017 is the year the bloom came off the rose for digital media

  14-09-2017 10:36
  Procter & Gamble‘s chief brand officer Marc Pritchard believes 2017 has been a big wake-up call for the digital marketing industry but that it is rising to the challenge.
  Speaking at the Dmexco ad tech conference in Germany yesterday (13 November), he said the changes he demanded the industry should make in his seminal speech in January are now “60% done”. He is also impressed with the progress the likes of Google and Facebook have made, but emphasised the need to “st
  
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• John Lewis says Christmas offer must be ‘irresistible’ amid weaker consumer demand

  14-09-2017 10:34
  With less than three months to go until Christmas, the John Lewis Partnership isn’t in the best place after posting disappointing half-year numbers.
  Pre-tax profit at the group fell 53% to £26.6m in the first six months of the year. And even when redundancy and restructuring costs were stripped out, pre-tax profit was still down almost 5% at £83m as higher costs ate into margins.
  Gross sales were up 2.3% for both its brands [Waitrose and John Lewis] – with revenue hitting
  
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• John Lewis says Christmas ad must be ‘irresistible’ amid ‘weaker’ consumer demand

  14-09-2017 10:34
  With less than three months to go until Christmas, the John Lewis Partnership isn’t in the best place after posting disappointing half-year numbers.
  Pre-tax profit at the group fell 53% to £26.6m in the first six months of the year. And even when redundancy and restructuring costs were stripped out, pre-tax profit was still down almost 5% at £83m as higher costs ate into margins.
  Gross sales were up 2.3% for both its brands [Waitrose and John Lewis] – with revenue hitting
  
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• FTC quizzes Naomi Campbell, Lindsay Lohan and Vanessa Hudgens over paid Instagram product promotion

  14-09-2017 10:29
  A host of celebrity Instagram members have received inquisitive letters issued by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) as the consumer rights agency steps up efforts to establish whether the likes of supermodel Naomi Campbell are being paid to promote and endorse products on the Instagram photo-sharing network.
  It is understood that 21 individuals have been targeted in the crackdown; including actresses Lindsay Lohan and Vanessa Hudgens, amidst a rise in the number of famous individua
  
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• The Lad Bible is attempting to match its social media power with social responsibility

  14-09-2017 10:10
  Five years after starting out as a social media publisher, the Lad Bible has over 60 million active followers and has shown the scale of its ambition by setting up a “nation state” which already has a population greater than those of 17 countries officially recognised by the United Nations.
  More than 96,000 people have registered to become “honorary citizens” of the Trash Isles, the vast expanse of plastic waste that now pollutes the world’s oceans, including one de
  
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• Facebook invites Danes to huddle round its Bonfire group video chat app

  14-09-2017 09:51
  Facebook has begun trials of an intriguing new group video chat app in Denmark  which the social network has christened as ‘Bonfire’ and enables people to ‘instantly start video chatting with friends’.
  The low-key iOS app was quietly dropped onto the iTunes store and is solely accessible to residents of the Northern European nation with the promise of video chatting with up to eight friends simultaneously. It also allows users to "play with effects and take
  
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• Morrisons profit up 40% as supermarket 'steers own path'

  14-09-2017 09:38 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Morrisons' recovery continues to gather momentum, with the UK's fourth largest supermarket reporting a 40% boost in first-half pre-tax profit to £200m and a seventh consecutive quarter of sales growth.
  
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• Amazon opens fashion photography studio to strengthen ties with brands and creative talent in India

  14-09-2017 09:38
  Amazon has opened a fashion photography studio called 'Blink' as it looks to ramp up its fashion ambitions in India.
  This is Amazon's third faculty globally after having already launched in New York and London.
  Amazon India continues to combat its Indian rival, Flipkart which rolled out its private label fashion brand Divastri.  
  The studio will aim to aid Amazon's effort of creatively collaborating with fashion brands, such as Marks & Spencer, and partners to produce high quality
  
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• Kill the click: mobile is transforming cross-channel measurement and making traditional metrics obsolete

  14-09-2017 09:34
  As we push forward into a multi-screen world, path to purchase has grown increasingly complex and fragmented, spanning diverse channels, platforms and contexts.
  The consumer’s journey now plays as important a role as the point of conversation itself – especially given that 60% of Asia’s multi-device users now use at least three screens, with the number of users on four or more devices increasing from 22% in 2015 to 31% in 2016, according to a study by Appier.
  All these varied t
  
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• From VR car showrooms to an AR eclipse: Four top picks of tech innovation

  14-09-2017 08:56 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Technology editor Emily Tan shares her top picks of tech innovation in action.
  
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