Marketing news

• The national advertising model is on life support: it’s time to pull the plug

  18-01-2018 21:48
  A fast food chain called Sonic is known for running national television campaigns, despite the fact that many of the people who see the ads don’t live anywhere near a Sonic location.
  It’s not a mistake; Sonic’s chief executive insists that it’s cheaper and more efficient to buy television ads nationally. I have my doubts about that strategy—geo-targeting to the neighborhood-level makes a lot more sense for a brick-and-mortar restaurant—but hey, kudos to Sonic
  
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• 'Trophy' filmmakers on what makes a great story

  18-01-2018 21:32
  What’s the Story? is a storytelling video series dedicated to learning what truly makes a great story, told through the lens of the world’s talent and practitioners of the craft in entertainment, marketing and beyond.
  ‘Trophy’ is a film from CNN Films that explores big game hunting and wildlife conservation. During a conversation at SXSW, the film’s directors, Christina Clusiau and Shaul Schwarz, saw the subject as an opportunity to weigh both sides of the very
  
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• Pringles and Bill Hader introduce fans to ‘Flavor Stacking’ during chip maker’s first Super Bowl ad

  18-01-2018 21:04
  Pringles is debuting its first-ever television advertisement during the Super Bowl, which will star Saturday Night Live alum Bill Hader. Pringles and Hader will be showcasing a new chip concept called ‘Flavor Stacking,’ which requires layering different flavors of the chips.
  Hader will star in the ad, which the brand hopes with bring laughs as it shows fans ‘Flavor Stacking’ can be a tasty wave of the future. While the ad hasn’t been released yet, a behind-the-
  
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• M&S creates food marketing director role in shakeup of marketing leadership team

  18-01-2018 19:27 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Marks & Spencer has appointed former Tesco marketer Sharry Cramond as marketing director, food and hospitality, as the retailer responds to falling sales across the board.
  
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• Twitch secures exclusive content from Disney Digital Network’s top creators as YouTube payment furore endures

  18-01-2018 19:24
  Social video site Twitch has sealed a landmark deal with Disney that will see four of its largest creators comes to the platform to create exclusive content.
  Jacksepticeye, LuzuGames, Markiplier (all gaming channels), and Strawburry17 (general interest and music videos) will set up and manage channels on the site, broadcast live and create exclusive video-on-demand content as part of a multi-year partnership.
  The news will come as a blow to rival YouTube that his stirred up low-level creato
  
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• Reebok champions its classics in edgy ads starring Ariana Grande, Gigi Hadid and Lil Yachty

  18-01-2018 19:05
  Reebok has enlisted Ariana Grande, Gigi Hadid, Lil Yachty and more to promote a campaign pushing its Classics range. 
  The 'Always Classic' campaign is focused on Reebok's vintage silhouettes, including the 'freestyle hi' and the 'classic leather'. The hero film sees a series of high-profile pop-culture creatives responding to the question: 'What makes a classic?'
  Hip-hop duo Rae Sremmurd feature in the glossy, but edgy, promo alongside Hadid and Yachty, as do model Sharina Gu
  
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• Eurosport secures StubHub as first ecommerce partner to sell sports tickets direct to fans

  18-01-2018 18:12
  Eurosport has partnered with eBay company StubHub to sell sports tickets directly through its website.
  The Discovery-owned sports broadcaster hosts audiences on site via its VOD player and its sports news. From here, the company can funnel fans of select sports to purchase tickets to contextually relevant events.
  Currently set up are the football and boxing hubs. There will also be tickets for Wimbledon, the ATP Tour Finals and rugby events including the Six Nations Championship. Further lo
  
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• TV Ad Spend Weekly: TurboTax and tailgating as football playoff season nears the end zone

  18-01-2018 17:43
  Brands continue to invest heavily in above-the-line content, and television is still seen as the place to be. Each week, in partnership with Kantar Media, The Drum looks at which brands have been investing the most on newly-launched creative on US national broadcast and cable TV.
  After starting 2018 off with surge in weekly advertising expenditures, spend on new national TV placements returned to typical levels the week of January 8. National TV spend for the week reached a total of $1.3bn, with
  
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• Haitians are fundraising 'Shithole Island' tourism billboards in Washington DC to get back at Trump

  18-01-2018 17:37
  Haitians are taking action after their island nation was one of the areas described as a “shithole” by the president of the United States. In response parody tourism billboards for Washington DC are being crowdfunded to fight this perception.
  Last week Donald Trump said he was going to ban immigrants from “shithole countries” from entering the United States – the exact wording of the exclamation is still be debated to this day. The fallout of the statement, amo
  
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• Snapchat 'doubling down' on app install tech to drive ad sales

  18-01-2018 17:30
  Snapchat is investing further in its app install technology, with new tools that will help advertisers better evaluate their spend on the platform, as it looks to take a bigger slice of the $5bn a year market.
  Amid growing competition from the likes of Instagram to sell vertical video ad slots within its Stories section, the Venice Beach-based firm is building out its capabilities in app install the space. 
  This comes in the form of fresh tools that will let brands and agenci
  
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• M&S overhauls marketing structure to fight falling sales

  18-01-2018 17:30
  Marks & Spencer has restructured its marketing team to help combat weakening sales and support a “changing M&S”, as part of its five-year transformation plan.
  The move sees the appointment of former Tesco marketer Sharry Crammond as marketing director, food and hospitality.
  Crammond, who joins from Southeastern Grocers in the US, did two stints at Tesco before exiting in 2015 as part of CEO Dave Lewis’s management shake-up. She has also held senior marketing r
  
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• How Lucozade aims to 'cut through' fitness market with Anthony Joshua

  18-01-2018 17:07 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Lucozade Sport is using its partnerships with sports stars such as Anthony Joshua to raise awareness of the brand in the fitness market.
  
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• WCRS promotes Gallimore to MD

  18-01-2018 17:06 via campaignlive.co.uk
  WCRS has promoted head of account management Annie Gallimore to managing director.
  
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• Bud Light releases latest ‘Dilly Dilly’ ad ahead of NFL championship games

  18-01-2018 16:40
  In Bud Light’s latest ad, a medieval king’s lackluster wartime speech fails to rouse his subjects ahead of battle.
  Seeing that the enemy is equipped with horses that are “faster and more intelligent” and “arrows with fire,” the king struggles to convince his troops that they have what it takes to win. But when he reveals that the competition is harboring cases of Bud Light, his subjects feverishly cry out ‘Dilly Dilly!” before rushing onto the batt
  
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• Ad of the Day: Ogilvy Italy showcases that ‘every person matters’ in spot for Emergency NGO

  18-01-2018 14:41
  It’s easy to look past people whose lives don’t seem to matter, especially in a crowded city. But first appearances may not tell the whole story. That’s the concept behind Ogilvy Italy’s new spot for NGO Emergency.
  In ‘Every Person Matters,’ the spotlight is on one of those people that get overlooked and dismissed. It is the story of Jalal, an Indian man who blends into the crowd of city peddlers in Milan. He is trying to sell roses to people gathered on the s
  
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• DDB keeps its Skittles Super Bowl spot under wraps, permanently

  18-01-2018 14:33 via campaignlive.com
  During this year's Big Game, only one person will get to taste the rainbow.
  
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• Nestlé launches pink KitKat and Lidl slows US plans: International round-up

  18-01-2018 14:32
  Nestlé launches naturally pink KitKat in Japan to appeal to millennials
  Nestlé is launching a pink KitKat variant made from ruby cocoa beans, in a bid to appeal to a younger audience. The new bars will be launched in Japan and South Korea before being rolled out to other countries including the UK.
  The newly developed chocolate is naturally pink in colour and Nestlé claims to be the first company in the world to commercialise it.
  Sandra Martinez, head of confectionery strate
  
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• HuffPost US closes blogs, UK starts paying for higher quality contributions

  18-01-2018 14:14
  The Huffington Post has made far-reaching changes to its blogging policies, with contrasting rules being put in place at each side of the Atlantic.
  Since 2005, the news site has accepted blogger submissions, helping grow its community with it serving as a platform for debate. As Polly Curtis, editor-in-chief of HuffPost UK said on the blog: “HuffPost UK’s blogging platform is at the heart of our mission to amplify people’s voices and stir debate about the issues we most care ab
  
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• Budweiser capitalises on 'dry January' by dishing out cans of alcohol-free Prohibition brew

  18-01-2018 14:14
  With many Brits abstaining from alcohol as part of 'dry January' Budweiser has spotted an opportunity to promote its alcohol free beer, Prohibition, via a fleet of beer floats which will dispense free cans to drinkers throughout the UK. 
  The brand has enlisted Gabby Allen, of ITV Love Island fame, to launch the national campaign which will be running across OOH, social and print.
  As part of the push, a series of trucks will dishing out the beer at no cost to consumers, who may be looking to
  
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• Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall launches Peas Please initiative to create Veg Ad Fund

  18-01-2018 14:12
  The Peas Please initiative, led by the Food Foundation, WWF, Food Cardiff and Nourish Scotland, has launched a ground-breaking campaign to supercharge the marketing of fruit and vegetables through the creation of a Veg Ad Fund, made up of contributions from the Government, retailers and producers.
  Of the estimated £296.6 million spent on confectionary, snacks, fruit, veg and soft drink marketing in the UK each year only 5% of that total is allocated to fruit and veg.  To address this
  
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• Huawei, Shell, Amazon: The top 10 YouTube ads in December

  18-01-2018 14:03
  1. Huawei & Save the Children UK – Santa RebootedLast month’s most popular ad was, rather fittingly, Christmas themed. Chinese technology giant Huawei partnered with charity Save the Children UK to show off a “rebooted” and upgraded Santa. He’s had a total overhaul, including a new hipster look, a fancy workshop and sleigh. And apparently he’s also into clean eating and yoga. The ad ends by encouraging viewers to donate to its charity partner Save the Chi
  
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• The power of creativity and purpose: Predictions for what's in store for 2018

  18-01-2018 14:00
  It’s that time of year when predictions and trends come out in full force. Personally, I’ve never been a fan of playing fortune-teller, because no one has a crystal ball that really works.
  Remember when everyone was predicting that Second Life was going to revolutionize the world, and marketers would be dead if they didn’t move substantial portions of their budgets there? Or, do you remember when the 2008 World Economic Forum in Davos took place, just weeks before the &ldq
  
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• Manchester United signs Science in Sport as official nutrition partner until May, 2021

  18-01-2018 13:30
  Manchester United Football Club has added another partnership to its kitty, this time with Science in Sport (SiS) as its official sports nutrition partner until May, 2021.
  SiS fuel stations will be installed across team's training complex where players and staff will have access to the company’s products on a daily basis. In addition, SiS will provide the club with a dedicated performance nutritionist to advise on nutritional strategies.
  The partnership further gives&nb
  
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• Creative Director’s Choice: Droga5’s Shannon Washington on Johnnie Walker’s ‘Citizenship’

  18-01-2018 13:25
  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 believe are making a difference.
  This week, Droga5 creative director Shannon Washington discusses Johnnie Walker’s ‘Citizenship’ spot by Anomaly.
  One of the reasons I love our industry is how we can inform the masses with a perspective that many may know of but few actually experience, especially
  
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• Tomorrow’s supermarkets need to get truly, madly, deeply obsessed with customers (but not in a creepy way)

  18-01-2018 13:24
  In 2018, we want brands to be obsessed with us. As such, nowadays, it often seems like some brands know what we want before we do – we’ve actually come to expect it.
  Take, for example, the remarkable changes we’ve seen in grocery shopping. We’ve seen the decline of big supermarkets, a surge of convenient ‘express’ stores, and quick, healthy services such as Hello Fresh are becoming more popular with consumers valuing quality and convenience over price.
  But how
  
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• Telegraph boss Nick Hugh: 'We are still the number one selling quality newspaper'

  18-01-2018 13:05
  Defiant Telegraph boss Nick Hugh predicts 3 million registered users by the end of year as he makes historic decision to scrap bulk sales of the broadsheet – allowing the Times to overhaul it in overall circulation.
  A quarter of a century ago Rupert Murdoch shocked his UK news publishing rivals by slashing the price of the Times to 30p and initiating a brutal price war.
  Murdoch’s intention was to fatally wound the newly-launched Independent and to undercut the lead title in the secto
  
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• Budweiser uses beer floats and Love Island's Gabby Allen to help people stay on the wagon

  18-01-2018 13:04 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Budweiser Prohibition, the alcohol-free lager brand owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev, is helping people stay on the wagon with a number of "beer floats".
  
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• Recommended reading: How to lead in times of crisis and the ‘troublemakers’ of Silicon Valley

  18-01-2018 12:37
  Tribe of Mentors
  Timothy Ferriss
  Trying to find a mentor can be difficult but Tim Ferriss has done the hard work by rounding up 100 of the world’s leading thinkers to offer advice on everything from careers to wellbeing. Contributors include Arianna Huffington who says “burnout is not the price you have to pay for success”, while TED curator Chris Anderson believes “pursue your passion” is bad advice. There are also lessons from top athletes such as Maria Sharapova
  
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• The industry’s first Voice Search Ranking Report is produced by Roast

  18-01-2018 12:27
  2018 sees an evolution of the digital landscape, with further developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI), the introduction of GDPR and even image search – all of which have their own challenges and nuances to grasp.
  But even for an experienced online marketer, the current voice search landscape can be a little complex, with so many assistants, devices, actions, skills, software development kits (SDKs) and a range of hardware providers.
  One major problem SEO teams have faced is reporting
  
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• The Times overtakes Telegraph's print circulation in watershed moment

  18-01-2018 12:16 via campaignlive.co.uk
  The print circulation of The Times has overtaken The Daily Telegraph in a watershed moment in Britain's newspaper wars.
  
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• Taboola CEO Adam Singolda: ‘If Google is search and Facebook is social, we want to be about discovery’

  18-01-2018 12:07
  Taboola co-founder and chief executive Adam Singolda speaks with The Drum on a potential new direction for his company’s advertising offering, posing an alternative offering to ‘walled gardens’, plus his take on the impact of Facebook’s recent algorithm change.
  A little over 12 months since its self-service advertising offering was introduced to the market, Taboola’s chief executive officer Adam Singolda is keen to trumpet how the service has hit a run-rate of over
  
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• Business on the Move: Unilever, Starbucks, Asics, and more

  18-01-2018 12:00
  Welcome to The Drum's Business on the Move section, where we collate agency account wins, reviews, agency launches, rebrands and acquisitions.
  Agency wins
  Unilever has appointed AnalogFolk as its digital agency of record for its UK food portfolio. The portfolio includes a range of well-known brands, such as Marmite, Knorr and Colman's. The independent shop is due to deliver campaigns for individual brands and at category level.
  Asics has selected Inamoto & Co as its innovation partner.
  
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• The AA appoints 383 Project as its retained experience design agency

  18-01-2018 11:39
  The AA has appointed digital studio 383 Project as a retained agency to deliver its experience strategy, managing the design and build of all of its digital platforms, products and services.
  The AA is the leading vehicle breakdown company in the UK, with a 40% market share. Today it operates in several markets, including insurance, financial services and B2B and has over 3 million paid personal members.
  Following a competitive pitch, Birmingham and London based 383 will start work with The AA on
  
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• Evian commits to 100% recycled plastic in all bottles by 2025

  18-01-2018 11:25
  Mineral water brand Evian has become the latest brand to respond to growing public awareness of the global plastics scourge by pledging to overhaul its manufacturing processes to 100% recycled plastic by 2025.
  The switch will dovetail with a full redesign of its packaging to become less environmentally damaging combined with a renewed focus on recycling initiatives and a push for zero plastic bottle waste.
  To achieve its ambitious goal Evian and brand owner Danone are partnering with L
  
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• Cadbury will let you buy chocolate with personal trinkets like plastic rings

  18-01-2018 11:25 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Cadbury is launching a purple newsagent where people will be able to pay for the chocolate with a knick-knack, trinket, plastic ring, forgotten keyring or a button.
  
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• Cadbury to launch purple newsagent

  18-01-2018 11:25 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Cadbury is launching a purple newsagent where people will be able to pay for the chocolate with a knick-knack, trinket, plastic ring, forgotten keyring or a button.
  
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• TSB takes aim at UK's 'fat cat' big banks in latest campaign

  18-01-2018 11:23 via campaignlive.co.uk
  TSB is going on the offensive against the UK's big banks with a new campaign depicting the brands as lazy "fat cats" that take their customers for granted.
  
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• Marketers risk devaluing the potential of AR if rushed, finds new report

  18-01-2018 11:00
  Marketers that implement augmented reality (AR) in campaigns in order to get a quick hit run the danger of alienating customers and even risking the technology’s future as a powerful marketing tool, according to a new report.
  The report, Unlocking Augmented Reality For Business, in association with AR specialists AdsReality, explores how marketers can use AR to build brand engagement and drive sales. It offers insights on technologies and frameworks to use when designing AR campaigns, and
  
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• Facebook broadens scope of investigation into possible Russian Brexit propaganda

  18-01-2018 10:44
  Facebook is allocating additional resources to an investigation into whether the UK’s vote to leave the European Union might have been influenced by Russian propaganda propagated by the social network.
  The decision follows mounting pressure from the digital, culture, media and sport committee for Facebook to do more to establish whether any undue influence occurred amid widespread criticism that an initial inquiry was of only limited scope.
  That found that accounts connected with Russ
  
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• TUI's innovation chief Hickson joins AKQA as head of technology

  18-01-2018 10:29 via campaignlive.co.uk
  TUI's head of innovation, Jo Hickson, has moved to AKQA to take on the newly-created role of head of technology.
  
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• Pertemps awards media and creative duties to Craft Media and George & Dragon

  18-01-2018 10:27 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Pertemps has awarded media strategy and creative duties to Craft Media and George & Dragon in a double appointment for its £2m account.
  
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• Donald Trump provokes media ire with ‘Fake News Awards’ roll call

  18-01-2018 10:10
  Donald Trump is facing criticism from all sides after revealing a roll call of so-called ‘Fake News Award’ winners via the Republican National Committee’s own website.
  The move has apparently driven a deeper wedge between the president and the mainstream media and has provoked a wave of dissent from within his own party as many Republicans rail against what is being seen as a hypocritical act.
  Among the list of media errors and corrections presented by Trump as eviden
  
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• Winter Olympics: dangers and opportunities for brands

  18-01-2018 10:00 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Thinking of congratulating an athlete on social media? Beware the Olympic Committee's Rule 40.
  
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• 360 and virtual reality: Behind Scoot's attempt to change misconceptions of low-cost carriers

  18-01-2018 09:57
  When Scoot wanted to create a virtual reality experience that would engage consumers across the Asia Pacific and support the brand’s regional re-launch after merging with Tiger Air in 2017, it turned to experiential design studio, Untitled Project.
  The brief from the low-cost long-haul airline to the agency was to challenge people’s preconceptions of flying with a low-cost carrier and allow people to experience the unique product and service features found on board its flagship aircr
  
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• Google: slow mobile pages will hurt your ranking

  18-01-2018 09:40 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Advertisers have until July to get their mobile pages up to speed.
  
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• YouTube acts as ‘Tide Pod’ brand usurped by viral social media craze

  18-01-2018 09:30
  YouTube and Procter & Gamble owned detergent brand Tide have intervened to halt a growing spate of ‘Tide Pod’ challenge videos sprouting online, amidst concern that participants could be endangering their own life.
  The craze, which began life as a social media joke, sees teens competing to place toxic laundry gel pods in their mouths and consume as many as possible in an online game of one-upmanship conducted via YouTube.
  Fearing an inevitable hospitalization however YouTube has
  
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• How one veteran junk food marketer is recasting ad land’s role in the obesity crisis

  18-01-2018 08:45
  After decades promoting high-sugar, salt and fat foods, marketer Dan Parker is urging the industry to own up to its role in the rise of diseases such as obesity and diabetes – and asking them to donate their talents to promote nutritional remedies.  
  Parker, who co-founded mobile marketing agency Sponge in 2001, is now channeling his efforts into Living Loud, a ‘charitable coalition’ comprising professionals from health, nutrition, digital, PR and advertising. Its goa
  
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• Singapore’s Ministry of Finance taps influencers to promote Budget 2018

  18-01-2018 08:35
  Singapore’s Ministry of Finance (MOF) has engaged 50 social media influencers to raise awareness of the annual Budget 2018, where the city-state government announces its budgets for the year.
  The move is a bid to reach out to a younger audience about the importance of financial planning, through social media platforms like Instagram. MOF worked with influencer marketing company StarNgage for this campaign.
  The influencers, who have around 40,000 of followers combined on Instagram, post pho
  
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• Amazon wants to create job opportunities for deaf people with 'Silent Delivery Stations'

  18-01-2018 08:11
  Amazon has introduced a 'Silent Delivery Station' which will be entirely managed by deaf associates in order to create more job opportunities for them.
  The station launched in collaboration with Mirakle Couriers has trained its deaf associates to deliver packages by bus or on foot to the radius of 2-3 kms. The associates are also trained in sign language.
  Akhil Saxena, vice president, India Customer Fulfilment, Amazon India, said: “Our vision is to create opportuni
  
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• Duracell’s CMO on the 7Ps that are redefining the brand

  18-01-2018 08:00
  Batteries are admittedly not the most exciting product category. Consumers buy them to power other products, so the buying decision is often largely based on price and value. Standing out in such a commoditised market is therefore crucial, and one of the reasons Duracell places such huge importance on the power of its marketing.
  Being part of the Procter & Gamble stable helped the brand build a solid grounding in marketing. But its sale to Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway at th
  
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