Marketing news

• Air Canada celebrates Canadian spirit with Ryan Reynolds-voiced spot

  22-12-2017 20:20
  Air Canada is celebrating Canadian spirit with the launch of a new ad called ‘Our Home,’ with a narration by Canadian movie star Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool, Green Lantern).
  Running on television, online and in theaters throughout the holidays, the ad portrays the deeply personal connections we have to the place Canadians call home.
  “The feeling of home is about something much more than a place,” said Andy Shibata, managing director, brand at Air Canada. “We wanted to e
  
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• Absolut relief: brand enlists artists to help ravaged Mexico City community heal after earthquake

  22-12-2017 19:05
  Absolut brought together artists and commerce to reinvigorate a Mexican neighborhood affected by earthquake earlier this year in #ANightForChange.
  The vodka brand worked with Crane.tv and Cult to extend the out-of-home campaign to the hard-hit region of Mexico, and brought together local artist Meteoro, with support from BetaRok75 of Liverpool and Emily Gray of Vancouver. The three created a message of solidarity to the community, inspired by the beauty and strength that Mexicans showed after th
  
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• Critmas Tosser game urges established creatives to give a toss about aspiring talent

  22-12-2017 17:53
  Trunk Agency is continuing to hook upcoming creatives with established talent – this time by releasing a potty-mouthed game called Critmas Tosser.
  The work was coordinated by Nick Enwistle, a creative director at the agency and the founder of the One Minute Briefs. It helps publicise the Merry Critmas drive to pair industry newbies and those wanting a hand up with creative directors who are willing to donate their time to critique portfolios. This looks to encourage tho
  
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• Manchester City doubles down on eSports with signing of Marcus ‘ExpectSporting’ Jorgensen

  22-12-2017 17:23
  The blurry boundary between eSports and traditional sporting institutions has been acknowledged by English Premier League leaders Manchester City, who have signed their second EA Sports Fifa player. 
  Marcus ‘ExpectSporting’ Jorgensen will represent the club playing Fifa on the PlayStation 4 console, while established player Kieran 'Kez' Brown (who The Drum previously interviewed) will continue to represent the club at competition
  
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• Taxi, not tech: How the ECJ's ruling threatens Uber's reputation and the gig economy

  22-12-2017 15:55
  The European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg has ruled that Uber is a transport company rather than a digital service. The decision, which cannot be appealed, means that the app will be subject to the transport legislation of member states rather than an EU wide e-commerce directive.
  The landmark decision could pull the carpet from under other gig economy apps who have arguably benefited from a lack of legal precedent around their status. On the other hand, Uber immediately commen
  
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• The top five agency Christmas cards of 2017

  22-12-2017 15:24 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Thousands of you made your voices heard, and the results are in: it's the five best agency Christmas "cards" of 2017!
  
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• Amazon Alexa - 2018’s unlikely slave, stylist and parent

  22-12-2017 14:30
  A couple of weeks ago I was on a panel at the Future of TV event with OMD’s Jean-Paul Edwards who said "I took my family on holiday and my daughter was crying. I asked her why and she said 'I miss Alexa'" - I don’t know what this says about Jean-Paul’s parenting skills but he seemed like a decent bloke who wouldn’t let Amazon take care of rearing his kids.
  If the initial version of Amazon’s Echo can be a significant adult in a young child’s life despite its ve
  
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• Gravity Road hits the streets to crowdsource a thoroughly millennial Christmas | Christmas in Ad Land

  22-12-2017 14:28
  Roaring fires, roast dinners, frankincense and myrrh are out – Santa’s topknot, reindeers on Snapchat and festive cockapoos are in! That’s according to Gravity Road’s comprehensive ‘millennial’ street research, recorded as part of The Drum’s documentary series Christmas in Ad Land.
  Watch the agency’s Alice Pitt-Carter as she grills the consumers of Carnaby Street on her ideas for a thoroughly modern Christmas. The festive season’s t
  
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• The best of the Marketoonist from 2017

  22-12-2017 14:26
  The post The best of the Marketoonist from 2017 appeared first on Marketing Week.
  
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• The best of the Marketoonist for 2017

  22-12-2017 14:26
  The post The best of the Marketoonist for 2017 appeared first on Marketing Week.
  
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• Thomas Cook, First Choice, consumer confidence: 5 things that mattered this week and why

  22-12-2017 13:36
  Thomas Cook brings back famous strapline
  Thomas Cook is bringing back its famous ‘Don’t just book it, Thomas Cook it’ strapline as part of a new family-driven marketing campaign.
  It’s an interesting move by the travel brand, which can’t seem to make up its mind on whether to keep or scrap the strapline. The slogan was originally created in 1984 and was used in the company’s marketing until 1993, when it was dropped. It was then brought back in 2008 before bein
  
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• Heineken Go Places: an interactive online job interview

  22-12-2017 13:00
  The Heineken Company represents a worldwide network of more than 250 brands in 70+ countries. For potential employees this means opportunities all over the world: they can go places. Dutch agency, Superhero Cheesecake, developed a fun, interactive job interview, where applicants are put to the test, as part of a short online movie and website.
  Background
  The agency was asked to show potential employees that The Heineken Company is more than the famous beer brand. A company with a unique personal
  
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• Ad of the Day: NHTSA warns people not to drink and drive this holiday in English and Spanish

  22-12-2017 13:00
  A new campaign for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) uses visceral images of post-drunk driving crashes and pleading by family members in both English and Spanish to drive home the point that drunk driving during the holidays – or at any time – is a potentially fatal action.
  According to the NHTSA, 37,461 people were killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2016, and 28% (10,497) of those fatalities were in crashes during which a driver had a blood alcohol
  
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• Last minute pitches: eleventh hour holiday spots for late shoppers

  22-12-2017 12:45
  Plenty of people wait until the last minute to do their holiday shopping. Advertisers are often ready to speak to those people right before they hit the stores, and some hold their campaigns until the last minute.
  We've compiled a few Christmas odds and ends to get you in the mood for the season if you weren't already. There's also some travel advice and holiday tunes as well as messages of hope and sage warnings.
  Click through to each Creative Works box to see the full campaign and vo
  
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• Domino's to launch 24-hour pop-up TV channel on New Year's Day

  22-12-2017 12:39 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Domino's is offering therapy for New Year's Day hangovers with the Recovery Channel, a 24-hour TV station on satellite, cable and digital platforms.
  
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• Hack your Christmas: Switch off

  22-12-2017 12:30
  We know Marketing Week’s content is compelling, but it’s still a surprise to look at our analytics and learn that thousands of people checked our website last Christmas Day. A third of those did so on iPhones or iPads – perhaps while popping to the kitchen to check on the turkey. The busiest time was 8pm, so marketers clearly weren’t interested in watching Call the Midwife.
  For these dedicated individuals, we have an important Christmas message: take a break. While we app
  
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• AdVent: MindShare’s chief executive, Helen McRae, explains how she wants diversity to change

  22-12-2017 12:00
  As the end of 2017 approaches, The Drum has asked leaders in the industry what has put a bee in their bonnet this year via the medium of AdVent.
  In the video above, Helen McRae, chief executive officer at Mindshare, shared her thoughts on a range of things that have bothered her, including the importance of diversity in the industry beyond gender diversity. 
  Mindshare currently runs an internship programme to give those from different backgrounds an opportunity, reg
  
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• Who is the copywriter’s enemy (and no, it’s not the designers)?

  22-12-2017 11:57
  Copywriter Andrew Boulton writes about the fight to rescue our belief in words.
  If there’s one thing more appalling than someone who loves their job, it’s someone who thinks their job makes a positive difference to the world.
  Copywriters, you’ll be disgusted to learn, often fall into both of these camps, earning them the distinction of being one of the few professions that almost perfectly divides their immediate world into people who don’t understand what they
  
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• Public Health England launches £1m smoking cessation campaign

  22-12-2017 11:04 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Public Health England is again launching a major integrated smoking cessation campaign ahead of the New Year, led by a hard-hitting film showing the harm smoking does to the body.
  
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• Twinings distances itself from Poundland's lewd £25 Christmas social campaign

  22-12-2017 11:00
  Twinings has denied involvement in a controversial tweet from discount retailer Poundland in which an elf was pictured 'teabagging' a female doll.
  The post, which appeared on the retailer's Twitter account on Thursday (21 December), has sparked backlash from both social media users and Twinings, the tea brand which inadvertently found itself featuring in the ad.
  Twinings has accused Poundland of "misusing" its product.
  In a statement on Twitter it said: "We are aware of
  
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• Man rents billboard to propose to girlfriend

  22-12-2017 10:44 via campaignlive.co.uk
  A man in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, successfully asked his girlfriend to marry him through the medium of outdoor advertising.
  
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• Business on the Move: Paddy Power, Nokia, Asahi, and more

  22-12-2017 10:30
  Welcome to The Drum's Business on the Move section, where we collate agency account wins, reviews, agency launches, rebrands and acquisitions.
  Agency wins
  Paddy Power has ended its relationship with Lucky Generals after four years and moved its account to Chime-owned sports marketing agency CSM, which will handle the brand's strategy and creative.
  WCRS has been hired for a separate project. Lucky Generals will still work on the Betfair account, owned by Paddy Power.
  Asahi Sup
  
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• Eric Schmidt steps down as executive chairman of Alphabet

  22-12-2017 10:26 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Google-parent company, Alphabet, has announced that Eric Schmidt will be stepping down from his position as executive chairman of the board of directors in January 2018.
  
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• Bad taste or hilarious? Social media debates risqué Poundland Christmas campaign

  22-12-2017 10:13 via campaignlive.co.uk
  A Poundland social media campaign featuring a Christmas elf in a series of risqué poses, has been met with a mixture of mirth, intrigue and criticism for its sexual nature.
  
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• Sega to launch VR experiences in Japanese gaming centres

  22-12-2017 09:33 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Sega Entertainment, the gaming company, is introducing virtual reality arcade experiences to its game centres in Japan.
  
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• The World's Most Creative Women: Pansy Aung, Salt & Pepper Creative

  22-12-2017 09:00
  In a continuing drive for greater diversity and inclusion in marketing and advertising, a new feature by The Drum highlights conversations with top creative women in the industry. 
  All were nominated for The Drum’s global Woman of the Year award at The Drum Creative Awards, sponsored by Facebook, One Minute Briefs and in partnership with Creative Equals. The award is designed to push equality boundaries within the creative industry to spark discussion and action.
  From icons and p
  
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• Jigsaw’s ‘Love Immigration’ wins Marketing Week readers’ campaign of the year

  22-12-2017 08:35
  Marketing Week readers have voted Jigsaw’s ‘Love Immigration’ as the best marketing campaign of 2017.
  The socially conscious campaign won with 81% of the vote, with Nike’s ‘#Breaking2’ coming in second place with 19%.
  The competition took place over three rounds, starting with eight campaigns from our roundup of the best activity this year. Jigsaw beat other brands including Heineken, Ikea and Burger King to claim the prize.
  ‘Love Immigration’ was
  
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• Huawei strengthens its fight with Apple after forming AI alliance with Baidu

  22-12-2017 07:47
  Huawei has announced that it has entered into artificial intelligence (AI) alliance with Internet search provider giant Baidu.
  The goal of the partnership is to foster a new mobile and AI ecosystem by leveraging Huawei’s hiAI platform and Baidu Brain, a compendium of the company’s AI assets and services, and combine hardware and software to provide global consumers with new smart service experiences.
  According to Robin Li Yanhong, Baidu’s chairman and chief executive, the strat
  
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• Former Google exec Eric Schmidt to step down as Alphabet's executive chairman

  22-12-2017 06:16
  Alphabet has announced that Eric Schmidt will step down as executive chairman and will take on the role of technical adviser on the company’s board at the end of 2017.
  Schmidt served as Google’s chief executive in 2001 and became its executive chairman a decade later, retaining his position when the tech giant restructured to form Alphabet Inc.
  Alphabet’s board will now most likely appoint a new, non-executive chairman at its next meeting in January.
  "Larry, Sergey, Sundar and
  
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• BMW upgrades IoT in its cars in China with the help of Alibaba

  22-12-2017 04:30
  Alibaba has announced it has teamed up with BMW to develop a range of ‘digitalised experiences for the car and home’ for all new BMW models sold in China from the first half of 2018.
  As part of the collaboration, Alibaba will help the German automaker giant integrate smart speakers with BMW’s cloud-based infotainment platform and the sound-recognition and processing technology developed by Alibaba Cloud, the Chinese ecommerce giant’s cloud computing unit.
  This will allow
  
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• Papa gone: Pizza chain founder, CEO John Schnatter steps down

  22-12-2017 03:22
  Papa John's founder and chief executive officer John Schnatter announced that he will step down from his role in January 2018.
  The news comes two months after openly criticizing NFL players for protests against police brutality during the national anthem. The pizza chain, an NFL sponsor and advertiser, had seen its quarterly revenues fall since the football season started, with "significant decline" in TV ratings being blamed for the losses. 
  According to the Associated Press (AP), Sch
  
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• Thomas Cook brings back ‘Don’t just book it, Thomas Cook it’ strapline, again

  22-12-2017 01:01
  Thomas Cook is bringing back its ‘Don’t just book it, Thomas Cook it’ strapline as part of a new campaign that will see the tour operator move into native TV content for the first time.
  The campaign, created by agency KBS Albion and which launches tomorrow (23 December), features two TV ads filmed at its resorts. The first is a family-focused spot, called ‘The Man’, which shows a young girl strutting around the pool in a crazy outfit and without a care in the world.
  
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