Marketing news

• Droga5 CCO Ted Royer placed on leave, outside firm hired to investigate

  30-01-2018 22:57
  Ted Royer, chief creative officer at Droga5, has been placed on leave. An outside firm has been contacted to conduct an investigation.
  According to Adweek, details of the investigation were not disclosed, but Droga5 held departmental meetings last week to discuss the matter. 
  “As a follow up to the departmental meetings,"Droga chief executive Sarah Thompson wrote in an email to the agency,  "I recent held and further Q&A sessions, we want to assure you all
  
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• Group M's Rob Norman joins Playbuzz's board of directors

  30-01-2018 20:51 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Group M senior advisor Rob Norman has joined the board of directors of storytelling platform Playbuzz.
  
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• McDonald’s sees brand perception boost as customer experience focus pays off

  30-01-2018 19:03
  McDonald’s says improvements in consumer perceptions of the brand have helped it post its best sales figures in six years. Sales were up 5.5% year on year in the fourth quarter, marking its 10th consecutive quarter of growth. And full-year sales were up 0.3% – the company’s best performance in six years.Speaking on an investor call, CEO Steve Easterbrook said customer satisfaction scores were up across the board as it saw improvements in service, taste and quality. He adde
  
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• Brand perception boost drives McDonald’s to best sales figures in six years

  30-01-2018 19:03
  McDonald’s says improvements in consumer perceptions of the brand have helped it post its best sales figures in six years. Sales were up 5.5% year on year in the fourth quarter, marking its 10th consecutive quarter of growth. And full-year sales were up 0.3% – the company’s best performance in six years.Speaking on an investor call, CEO Steve Easterbrook said customer satisfaction scores were up across the board as it saw improvements in service, taste and quality. He adde
  
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• BBC review finds ‘no evidence’ of gender pay bias but unveils reliance on top talent

  30-01-2018 18:13
  The BBC has rolled out a plan to ensure more transparency around the pay of its on-air talent after the broadcaster was hit with accusations that it had a gender bias and was overpaying male staff.
  Days after six male presenters, Jeremy Vine, John Humphrys, Huw Edwards, Nick Robinson, Nicky Campbell and Jon Sopel all agreed to cuts to their pay packages to address any imbalance, PwC released an independent gender pay report of 800 on-air roles at the BBC.
  The report found no evidence o
  
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• Doritos and Mountain Dew go head to head via Peter Dinklage and Morgan Freeman in Super Bowl ad

  30-01-2018 18:08
  After a few teasers featuring actor Peter Dinklage backing Doritos Blaze and Morgan Freeman standing behind Mtn Dew Ice, the two PepsiCo products finally released their upcoming joint Super Bowl ad.
  The 60-second spot pairs Freeman and Missy Elliott for Mtn Dew Ice to take on Dinklage and Busta Rhymes for Doritos Blaze in a high-powered lip-sync rap battle.
  The commercial, created by Goodby Silverstein & Partners, features Dinklage bringing the heat with a scorching lip-sync rendition o
  
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• UK adspend hits new high in 2017 and set to grow further in 2018

  30-01-2018 17:53 via campaignlive.co.uk
  UK advertising spend in the third quarter of 2017 rose 3.5% year-on-year to reach £5.4bn - the 17th consecutive of market growth, according to figures from the Advertising Association and Warc.
  
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• Opus Energy hands brand campaign brief to Gyro Manchester

  30-01-2018 17:46
  Independent energy supplier Opus Energy has tasked the Manchester arm of Gyro UK with the creation of its latest brand campaign.
  The appointment will see a brand campaign developed that will aim to showcase Opus Energy’s expertise when it comes to partnering with businesses.
  The company, founded in 2002, has seen significant growth in recent years to lead it to challenge ‘the big six’ energy companies.
  “The campaign will highlight the benefits businesses can expect in cho
  
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• Brand evolution and the future of value for agencies

  30-01-2018 17:46
  At the beginning of 2018, Rawnet unveiled a new proposition and brand promise. It’s the result of a great deal of reflection, both internally, at who we are, and externally, at the world around us.
  Evolution is a funny thing, as there isn’t a defined end goal. There’s no final design to evolve into. And much like natural evolution, brand evolution over a long enough time period is nothing more than a series of changes, each independently taken without any master plan of where t
  
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• UK Top Shazamed Ads: Volvo takes in third place while Ford parks up at sixth

  30-01-2018 17:30
  The Drum's Shazam chart is based on the number of times each ad has been Shazamed over the past week using the music identification app.
  Volvo has the answer to your transport needs for a trip to Sweden with it's XC60 ad, showcasing the various "human-made features" with a backdrop of the Scandinavian country-side to Klara's 'These Woods'.
  Parking in at sixth place is Ford Ecosport who, this week follow people on their different paths of life to Elvis Costello &
  
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• Rosemary Water hit with ASA ban for slew of 'misleading' health claims

  30-01-2018 17:09 via campaignlive.co.uk
  No1 Rosemary Water, a drink made with extracts from the herb, has had nine of its executions banned by the Advertising Standards Authority over a wide range of disallowed health claims.
  
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• Campaign Diary: Geoff Russell in alligator near-miss; WPP's links to key Presidents Club figure uncovered

  30-01-2018 17:08 via campaignlive.co.uk
  The IPA's former director of media has close shave when he should have been putting his feet up learning more about Richard Huntington's dog, while WPP's links to the Presidents Club have perhaps been explained.
  
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• Behind the campaign: Isobar India’s creative director discusses #ItsOnYou for Adidas

  30-01-2018 17:04
  The Drum Network recently caught up with Anish Varghese, national creative director of Isobar India, to discuss the agency’s work on the innovative and counter-intuitive digital campaign #ItsOnYou for Adidas.
  Isobar recently launched #ItsOnYou for Adidas – can you tell us a bit more about the concept?
  Adidas was looking to expand its community of runners, targeting women non-runners. To do this, we identified the external motivation that women search for to run, and make th
  
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• BurgerFi demands 'Burgers for Every 1' in quirky new campaign by Partners + Napier

  30-01-2018 16:44
  Fast-growing burger chain BurgerFi is introducing a new campaign that touts ‘Burgers for Every 1.'
  The Florida-based chain worked with Rochester, NY-based Partners + Napier to develop the quirky campaign. The concept of ‘Burgers for Every 1’ was inspired by the fact that BurgerFi states that it is committed to serving the top one percent of certified, American Black Angus beef, completely free of hormones, steroids or antibiotics, from the top ranches across the count
  
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• Movers and shakers: Nissan, W&K, Airbnb, Ogilvy, Spotify, Stink, Blink and more

  30-01-2018 16:34 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Welcome to Campaign's weekly round-up of the hires, departures and promotions across the industry.
  
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• Should ad agencies reappraise their approach to corporate entertainment?

  30-01-2018 16:06 via campaignlive.co.uk
  From the excesses of the Cannes Lions Festival to frequenting strip clubs under the guise of "corporate entertaining", should the scandal surrounding the Presidents Club dinner act as a wake-up call to the advertising industry?
  
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• Govt electric car initiative seeks agency to handle ad business

  30-01-2018 16:03 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Go Ultra Low, the joint government and motoring industry initiative to promote sales of electric vehicles, is looking for an agency to handle its advertising account.
  
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• Australian startup Airtasker to take on Taskrabbit in London after raising £19m

  30-01-2018 15:59 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Sydney-based Airtasker, a gig-economy platform, is launching mid-march in the UK after raising AU$33m (£19m) from investors.
  
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• Alibaba kicks off Olympics sponsorship with first global brand campaign

  30-01-2018 15:56
  Alibaba has kicked off its eleven-year Olympic sponsorship deal with the launch of its first ever brand campaign, as the multi-billion pound Chinese e-commerce business looks to not only “digitally transform” the Games, but also expand its international footprint and secure itself as a long-term global player.
  Marking the arrival of the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games next month, the campaign ‘To the greatness of small’ will run across five major global markets. It
  
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• Volkswagen’s media boss suspended after exposé into diesel fume tests on monkeys

  30-01-2018 15:39
  Volkswagen’s head of external relations has been suspended after it emerged the car maker had experimented on monkeys in an attempt to prove the effectiveness of its engine cleaning technology.
  The tests took place in May 2015 and saw 10 monkeys locked in airtight containers for four hour periods. They were then left to watch cartoons as the container was pumped with diesel exhaust fumes from a VW Beetle.
  To compare results, the animals were then also forced to breathe in the fumes of a Fo
  
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• Belvedere to serve espresso martinis over London Fashion Week

  30-01-2018 15:39 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Belvedere, the LVMH-owned vodka brand, is opening a café serving espresso martinis.
  
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• Why Google's new built-in Chrome ad blocker is actually beneficial for advertisers & publishers

  30-01-2018 15:24
  Publishers and advertisers faced a shock last year when Google announced a built-in ad blocker was coming to its popular Chrome browser.
  The feature, developed with the Coalition for Better Ads and set to roll out on 15 February, will automatically block desktop and mobile advertising that’s considered intrusive to user experience. This includes auto-play videos with sound, full-page ads, pop-ups, ads that force you to sit through a countdown before viewing the content, and&
  
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• Pornhub's 'F Your Period' encourages its female users to be self-centered

  30-01-2018 14:54 via campaignlive.com
  Coming off a year of growth for women's content, the porn leader makes a campaign about "the dirty deed."
  
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• Marketoonist on Facebook news feed

  30-01-2018 14:52
  Tom Fishburne is founder of Marketoon Studios. Follow his work at marketoonist.com or on Twitter @tomfishburne
  See more of the Marketoonist here
  The post Marketoonist on Facebook news feed appeared first on Marketing Week.
  
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• Grant Thornton commissions Media Bounty to deliver brand identity workshops for businesses growth

  30-01-2018 14:51
  Grant Thornton, one of the world's largest professional services networks of independent accounting and consulting firms, has commissioned Media Bounty to deliver a series of Brand Identity workshops through the brand’s G Growth Programme for leaders of small businesses.
  The G Growth Programme works with dynamic business leaders to support them in achieving rapid but sustainable growth, as well as driving results and creating space for them to share and connect.
  Brand identity is a key cha
  
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• Alibaba pays tribute to underdogs in major Olympics campaign

  30-01-2018 14:18 via campaignlive.co.uk
  The giant alludes to its support of small businesses in its first Olympics-themed campaign
  
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• Pitch update: Starbucks, JD Williams, TV Licensing, AzkoNobel and more

  30-01-2018 14:04 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Two WPP agencies are fighting over whisky, while TV Licence payers can rest easy in the knowledge that Proximity's hold over the direct business is set to be extended.
  
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• Pitch update: Betfair, Starbucks, JD Williams, TV Licensing, and more

  30-01-2018 14:04 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Two WPP agencies are fighting over whisky, while TV Licence payers can rest easy in the knowledge that Proximity's hold over the direct business is set to be extended.
  
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• Coronation Street signs product placement deals with Co-op and Costa

  30-01-2018 14:02
  Part of ITV’s new Weatherfield set, branding will be on bags, cups, posters and storefrontsCoronation Street viewers will soon see familiar chain-store brands on the soap after ITV announced partnerships with Costa Coffee and the Co-op.The changes, part of a new, extended Weatherfield set, will come in this spring, with storefronts, posters, bags and cups being integrated into the show. Related: Baby swaps and incestuous siblings: the most hated soap storylines everContinue reading...
  
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• Nissan's Saillard departs after nine months as Europe CMO

  30-01-2018 13:38 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Nissan Europe marketing chief Philippe Saillard has exited the business after only nine months in the role.
  
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• NFL UK: 'the BBC is the biggest asset we have in this market'

  30-01-2018 12:58
  The BBC is vital to the NFL's British brand building efforts, the sport's ‎head of marketing UK has told The Drum.
  Sarah Swanson, who has been with the NFL for more than half a decade and headed up UK marketing since 2015, has helped drive the brand towards mainstream appeal. 
  The BBC brought the NFL to free-to-air British TV in 2016, with Mark Chapman hosting a weekly digest package occupying the vital post-Match of the Day slot on a Saturday. While educating a wider audience on the nu
  
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• Match.com’s AI bot Lara is helping users find love, and Amazon's Alexa could soon be 'her' wingwoman

  30-01-2018 12:54
  One year on from the launch of its virtual dating coach, Lara, Match.com is doubling down on its AI efforts in a bid to better connect singletons and make online dating a bit more “human”, even mulling adding Amazon’s Alexa into the mix.
  While the idea of letting a machine-learning powered chatbot tag team with Amazon’s personal assistant to aid you in your search for a soulmate might feel like something straight out of a Black Mirror episode, Lara has been popular among
  
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• Mashable and eBay team up for launch of shoppable images pilot

  30-01-2018 12:33
  Online auction house eBay is ushering in a shoppable images revolution after launching a collaboration with Mashable to deliver an ‘easy-click’ solution across its US and UK editorial content.
  The partnership will see Mashable bring to bear its product recommendations influence with eBay’s own commerce platform to streamline the process of enticing its readership to shop, browse and purchase matching goods without the need to ever leave Mashable.
  Dan Burdett, head of eBay EMEA
  
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• LCD Soundsystem: the Dance Tonite VR music experience

  30-01-2018 12:33
  Studio Puckey and Moniker, two Dutch interactive design studios, created, developed and directed the WebVR music video Dance Tonite for the electro-punk band LCD Soundsystem.
  The project was created in collaboration with Google’s Data Arts team, who provide artists with the chance to explore new and innovative technologies.
  Background
  Jonathan Puckey (Studio Puckey) and Roel Wouters (Moniker) were asked by the Data Arts team to develop a mind-blowing WebVR concept that would involve creati
  
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• eBay pairs with Mashable for launch of shoppable images pilot

  30-01-2018 12:33
  Online auction house eBay is ushering in a shoppable images revolution after launching a collaboration with Mashable to deliver an ‘easy-click’ solution across its US and UK editorial content.
  The partnership will see Mashable bring to bear its product recommendations influence with eBay’s own commerce platform to streamline the process of enticing its readership to shop, browse and purchase matching goods without the need to ever leave Mashable.
  Dan Burdett, head of eBay EMEA
  
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• Innocent creates 'world's littlest juice bar'

  30-01-2018 12:16 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Innocent Drinks, the smoothies and juice brand, has created what it's calling the "world's littlest juice bar" in Dublin.
  
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• Time's up for Fake News from both traditional and social media

  30-01-2018 11:49
  Let’s face facts – the truth behind fake news is that it’s very much old hat.
  What’s new is that the public is waking up to it, and turning their backs on news in general as a trusted source of information.
  People are losing faith in the media, period. And that could see PR retreating even further into the shadows as the industry’s reputation slips ever lower.
  It’s highly likely that false stories delivered through social media via ‘pizza delivery boy&rs
  
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• Philippe Saillard quits Nissan Europe CMO role after just 10 months

  30-01-2018 11:35
  Nissan Europe’s short-lived chief marketing officer Philippe Saillard has confirmed his departure from the post after just 10 months in the job, making room for Ken Ramirez who will take up the post of senior vice president for sales and marketing from 1 February.
  Having built his career at Nissan over the past 12 years, Saillard was elevated to the chief marketing officer role in April of last year. He is now set to depart in order to pursue ‘other professio
  
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• Co-op and Costa come to Coronation Street in ITV's biggest product placement deal

  30-01-2018 11:25 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Both Co-op and Costa Coffee will open storefronts on the famous cobbles of Coronation Street, after ITV signed what it said was its biggest product placement deal to date.
  
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• Facebook launches campaign championing small British businesses

  30-01-2018 11:16 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Facebook has launched an integrated advertising campaign with Wieden & Kennedy Amsterdam aimed at championing Britain's small businesses.
  
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• Twitter is handing out prizes for top brand Super Bowl tweets

  30-01-2018 10:48 via campaignlive.co.uk
  The social media platform is also ensuring consumers don't miss any commercials during the big game.
  
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• Graham Fink to depart Ogilvy China

  30-01-2018 10:48 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Ogilvy China will not be refilling Fink's chief creative officer position.
  
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• Google maintains shopping search monopoly despite EU move to foster greater competition

  30-01-2018 10:47
  Google's ‘shopping’ search ads still hold sway over virtually all other competitors with a 99.6% market share in the UK, despite a European ruling designed to force the search giant to make room for its rivals, according to The Times.
  Changes introduced last year sought to whittle down Google’s near monopoly by leveling the playing field for advertisers but thus far the measures have had a negligible impact with Google’s own shopping platform still overwhelmingly pop
  
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• Mozoo courts mobile publishers with new ad platform in wake of AdinCube acquisition

  30-01-2018 10:14
  Mobile monetization specialist Mozoo is going all out to court mobile publishers in the wake of its acquisition of AdinCube, specialists in ad mediation for mobile apps, with the promise of a new ad platform for publishers.
  Mozoo reportedly paid $20m for its acquisition, sourced from a combination of borrowing, shares and cash. It heralds its acquisition as opening the door to grow its in-app monetization specialism by giving publishers unprecedented control and detail over their ad revenue
  
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• Five tips for creating effective video marketing

  30-01-2018 10:00
  In all of its glory, the internet has become almost as vital as breathing, and video is next in line for the throne. With a third of online activity spent watching videos currently, its essential usage, not only for commercials or entertainment, is without a doubt. Likewise, marketers have started to use video more and more.
  Simply using video, however, is not sufficient and unlikely to produce the wanted outcome. Nevertheless, with these five strategies at hand, videos can easily be used
  
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• Haymarket's operating profit rises to £16m

  30-01-2018 09:38 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Haymarket Media Group increased operating profit to £16m from £4.3m a year earlier after slashing net debt to almost zero and selling several brands.
  
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• Diet Coke issues colourful Super Bowl taster in push for Millennials market

  30-01-2018 09:27
  Diet Coke is returning to the Super Bowl fray in colourful fashion after Coca-Cola unleashed Gillian Jacobs on the sporting event of the year to promote its all new flavours.
  A series of films depict the actress popping into her nearest corner shop to sample one of the colourful cans, which contain a variety of exotic flavours such as mango and twisted cherry.
  Each can and flavour is showcased across a series of ads, culminating in as 30 second spot shot exclusively for the 4 February face-off,
  
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• Why CHI&Partners is dropping its name and rebranding as The&Partnership London

  30-01-2018 09:00
  CHI&Partners is no more. As of today, the advertising agency is adopting the name of its own holding company and will be known as The&Partnership London.
  Opened in 2001 as CHI (the initials of founders Simon Clemmow, Johnny Hornby and Charles Inge), the agency set up The&Partnership in 2013 as a mini-network to house its own business and its affiliate companies. Today it is one of 15 agencies in the group, all sharing a single P&L, and its new name will better articulate its plac
  
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• Hotel Chocolat on its mission to ‘democratise chocolate’

  30-01-2018 08:23
  The Hotel Chocolat story is based on a simple mission – to create a new model of aspirational luxury that democratises access to premium chocolate by rejecting the notion of “choco-snob elitism”.
  Starting out as an online chocolate seller in 1993, Hotel Chocolat has evolved to become a market leading £105m business with 100 stores across the UK. In 2017 alone the company’s revenue rose 12% year on year, with pre-tax profit doubling to £11.2m.
  Crucially Hotel C
  
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• TOC becomes the first website in Singapore forced to return its ad revenue

  30-01-2018 07:41
  The Opinion Collaborative (TOC), former owner of a Singapore socio-political website, The Online Citizen, has returned the SGD $5,000 of advertising revenue it received from UK-based Monsoons Book Club (MBC), after it was ordered to do so by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA).
  This is the first time a registered website in Singapore has been asked to return its advertising revenue.
  IMDA, a statutory board under the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI), accused TOC of goi
  
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