Marketing news

• How blockchain is transforming industries for the better right under our noses

  09-03-2018 19:53 via campaignlive.com
  Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin spoke at SXSW about the new age of the internet he calls "Web 3.0."
  
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• Facebook and Major League Baseball partner on exclusive national weekly game package for 2018 season

  09-03-2018 19:12
  Major League Baseball (MLB) and Facebook today unveiled a newly expanded partnership for the 2018 MLB season, highlighted by what it calls is a “historic” agreement to produce and broadcast one game every week to a global audience on Facebook.
  In a unanimous vote from all 30 MLB teams, 25 games are to be broadcasted exclusively on Facebook Watch in the United States via the MLB’s Live show Facebook page – marking the sports league’s first digital-only national broad
  
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• Amnesty International UK puts families in glass box to highlight problems faced by refugees

  09-03-2018 18:29
  Amnesty International UK has launched a living installation highlighting the significance of spending time with your family, as it calls on MPs to attend a parliamentary debate and vote to reunite refugee families via the Refugee Family Reunion Bill.
  Based in London, the glass box includes a table, TV and sofa inside. It will host a number of families for an hour at a time over the course of the weekend (9-11 March) in the hope of raising awareness of the issue.
  Created by VCCP, the creativ
  
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• Are stories dead - or just the way we tell them? Five ways advertisers can tell new tales

  09-03-2018 17:55
  The past month of my life outside of work was spent judging branded entertainment award show entries. As I watched submissions, patterns began to emerge. The one glaring takeaway was this: The stories we tell are beginning to look the same.
  As marketers, we have been coached, preached to, pressured and prodded to tell stories. We have been told that everything needs to be a story for the idea to stick. Problem is, when everything becomes something, it risks becoming nothing.
  Worse, many believe
  
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• Duke refreshes leadership with 'equal gender, equal pay' line-up

  09-03-2018 17:31 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Duke has hired former MullenLowe global planning director Sandya Piyasena as strategy partner and promoted business director Kate Tweed to managing partner.
  
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• St Ives Group consolidates three agencies into Edit

  09-03-2018 17:00
  St Ives Group has merged three of the agencies under its umbrella, mirroring the current trend of consolidation at big agencies.
  Response One, Amaze One and Occam will, from 19 March, be known as Edit in an effort to unite the group's data science and marketing technology to power through-the-line CRM and media for its clients, such as Cosmos Travel, Azzurri Group, Pizza Hut as well as auto firms like Citroen, Fiat and JLR.
  In bringing the three businesses together and combining 200 staff across
  
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• If we want to empower mums on Mother’s Day, let’s start by supporting dads

  09-03-2018 16:30
  All credit to the advertising industry for taking steps to become more mum-friendly. But focusing on working mothers is only part of the picture. Many new mums can’t return to work, or can’t return in a meaningful way, unless their partners volunteer to share the parenting beyond taking the kids to playgrounds at weekends.
  With a shockingly tiny 1% of new parents taking advantage of the April 2015 introduced shared parental leave scheme, we still have a very long way to go when it co
  
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• Agency-startup relations: it’s time to stop the tech tourism and learn from the VCs

  09-03-2018 15:50
  Startup speed dating with no actionable output is rife, and innovation chiefs are under pressure to bring in a huge number of opportunities each month. Just last week a new company came in and told me they have been invited to visit a huge number of agencies with the promise of projects never to be heard of again.
  It’s clear to see why agencies adopt this approach. They meet lots of startups, hope to be inspired, and then pitch the ideas from the meetings to clients. But this is actually c
  
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• Argos to launch fitness pop-up with no 'sweaty locker room smells'

  09-03-2018 14:35 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Argos is creating a space to show that people they can get exercise at home rather than having to go to the gym.
  
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• It doesn't take a 'brand safety officer' to solve marketing's ills

  09-03-2018 14:25
  Just last week I noticed on Facebook that a friend had shared a Wired article on how pro-gun Russian bots had flooded Twitter following the Florida school shooting. Immediately beneath was an ad for a premium whisky extolling the values of a life well lived. A pair of deeply uncomfortable bedfellows.
  The oddity wasn’t that the ad was clearly misplaced, but that I wasn’t the slightest bit surprised. Similarly, when an ex-Google employee claimed that that Google moderators were approvi
  
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• Facebook and Google are cleaning up their own backyards, but UK marketers remain cautious

  09-03-2018 14:10
  Transparency and brand safety – just two of the issues Facebook and Google had the chance to address to rooms full of marketers at two of the industry’s biggest events in the UK this week.
  Here The Drum looks at how the duopoly’s dominance came under the spotlight once more this month at the annual conference held by the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers (Isba) and the Guardian Changing Media Summit. 
  While Facebook and Google outlined the steps they ha
  
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• WWF picks Uncommon after three-way ad contest

  09-03-2018 14:05 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Conservation charity WWF UK has appointed Uncommon to its advertising account after a competitive pitch.
  
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• DMS UK: Changes at Time Out are close to restoring profitability, says chief executive

  09-03-2018 13:51 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Time Out Group is going from making a £21m loss to an expected return to the black next year after an overhaul that stretched the business focus to commercial opportunities outside its print heritage.
  
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• DMS UK: Changes at Time Out are close to restoring profitability, analysts expect

  09-03-2018 13:51 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Time Out Group is going from making a £21m loss to an expected return to the black next year after an overhaul that stretched the business focus to commercial opportunities outside its print heritage.
  
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• YouTube Re:View: International Women’s Day, inclusion rider & Mary Poppins

  09-03-2018 13:30
  Welcome to YouTube Re:View. This week, we look at Google's inspiring search trends on gender equality, learn about actress Jennifer Lawrence's alter ego, and find out what the "inclusion rider" clause is really about... 
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  #MeToo: Searching for gender equality on International Women’s Day
  As you get your #MeToo and Time’s Up hashtags ready, this video by Google will fuel you up. To mark International Women’s Day 2018, Google has revealed its most searched tre
  
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• John Lewis, Ariel, Little Miss Inventor: 5 things that mattered this week and why

  09-03-2018 13:14
  Marketers’ perceptions of media divorced from reality
  A major piece of research dropped on our desks this week. Radiocentre enlisted the help of Ebiquity to try to work out the most important measures of success for marketers and how each media stacks up. The findings? Marketers are overestimating the effectiveness and value of digital media channels such as online video and social media and undervaluing more traditional formats such as TV, cinema and radio.
  It would be easy to dismis
  
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• Natrol melatonin taking over New York Times for daylight saving

  09-03-2018 13:05
  Melatonin brand Natrol is trying to take over daylight saving time, at least for the readers of The New York Times. Come this Sunday, when people set their clocks forward, every visitor to The New York Times website will be greeted by versions of a takeover ad for Natrol Melatonin.
  It’s part of an overall attempt by Natrol and agency Phelps to own events throughout the year that disrupt people’s sleep cycles.Natrol daylight saving banner
   
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  “Every brand want
  
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• DMS UK: Herd instinct is favouring the digital duopoly, claims Trinity Mirror's North

  09-03-2018 12:37 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Publishers' efforts to improve their products for advertisers may not be rewarded unless media agencies change their attitude towards spending money with Google and Facebook, according to Piers North, the digital director of Trinity Mirror (which is rebranding as Reach).
  
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• Why marketers have the toughest job in business today - and how agencies aren’t helping

  09-03-2018 12:17
  Following the recent commentary from senior marketers at Unilever and P&G, along with the continued slide of the WPP share price, I felt compelled to share my thoughts on why senior marketers have the toughest job in businesses today, and what agencies need to do to better partner them.
  Across all sectors, businesses are having to transform the experiences they provide customers in order to save themselves from being disrupted by competitors. The transformational forces of technology and dig
  
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• Nationwide consults police over 'death threats' to ad duo

  09-03-2018 12:01 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Building society brand Nationwide has stepped up efforts to work with police, and other brands, after becoming concerned about comments made online about the singing sisters who have appeared in its ads.
  
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• Reality bites for Oculus Rift as software update blanks VR headsets

  09-03-2018 11:18
  Oculus Rift has admitted that an embarrassing administrative error brought down virtual reality headsets for close to a day when a failure to renew a crucial security certificate meant crucial software could not be run.
  The mishap was soon corrected via a hasty software update, with affected customers being offered a £10 store credit to soothe irritation amongst those angered by the enforced downtime.
  Social media, led by Oculus Rift’s official Twitter feed, became a sounding board f
  
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• UK ad industry unties to tackle #MeToo with timeTo initiative

  09-03-2018 11:12 via campaignlive.co.uk
  The Advertising Association, Nabs and Wacl have joined forces to launch a new initiative called timeTo to address the problems of sexual harassment in the advertising industry.
  
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• UK ad industry unites to tackle #MeToo with timeTo initiative

  09-03-2018 11:12 via campaignlive.co.uk
  The Advertising Association, Nabs and Wacl have joined forces to launch a new initiative called timeTo to address the problems of sexual harassment in the advertising industry.
  
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• Skills minister Anne Milton on what apprenticeships mean for the creative industry

  09-03-2018 11:09
  Apprentices are a way for businesses to improve their skills base, attract diverse talent and encourage new ways of working, writes skills minister Anne Milton.
  Last April we introduced the Apprenticeship Levy so employers could plug skills gaps, recruit new talent and improve the abilities of their current and future staff through work-based learning.
  Under the levy, large employers – those with a pay bill of more than £3million – will pay 0.5% of their total wage bi
  
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• Betway reviews advertising after split with Above & Beyond

  09-03-2018 10:49 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Global betting site Betway has called a review of its advertising account as it ends its seven-year partnership with Above & Beyond.
  
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• Radio Audio Week planned for 14-19 May

  09-03-2018 10:46 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Radiocentre, the UK industry body for commercial radio, and The Radio Academy, the membership organisation dedicated to the promotion, celebration and development of the UK radio and audio sector, are joining forces to create Radio Audio Week.
  
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• KFC returns to former distributor in wake of chicken shortage fiasco

  09-03-2018 10:35
  KFC has restored ties with its former chicken distributor Bidvest in the wake of a disastrous switch of its logistics contract to DHL, which resulted in the temporary closure of hundreds of restaurants as stock ran out.
  The volte face comes just one month after the bungled switch from Bidvest to DHL began and sees Bidvest pledge a ‘seamless return’ to supply 350 of the chains 900 UK and Ireland restaurants.
  Prior to 13 February Bidvest served as sole supplier for the fast food chains
  
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• Absolut Vodka assesses Brits' reactions to its cheeky 'Nothing to Hide' campaign

  09-03-2018 10:01
  Havas Village has alighted on an unlikely marriage between Absolut Vodka and naked Swedes for its latest campaign work for Pernod Ricard, turning heads with middle aged moobs in the process.
  More than it first appears, the online campaign harnesses facial recognition technology to ‘test’ viewers' responsiveness to the wobbly bits of vodka enthusiasts in a light-hearted experiment to see whether you are conservative or open-minded.
  Havas explained “As part of an on-going custome
  
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• Nationwide calls in police as irate viewers bombard ad stars with ‘vile’ death threats

  09-03-2018 09:36
  Nationwide building society has rushed to defend a pair of singing sisters who star in its current advertising campaign after the duo were subjected to a tirade of abuse by disgruntled viewers – culminating in a series of death threats.
  Nicola and Rose Dempsey, aka comedy duet Flo and Joan, sparked mixed emotions after harnessing their songwriting talents to pen a number of catchy verses encouraging viewers to sign up for financial products.
  Rather than rush to sign up for a mortgage or IS
  
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• E.ON looks to challenge sector norms with an ‘un-utility’ marketing approach

  09-03-2018 08:05
  E.ON is trying to shift consumers typically negative perceptions of the utility sector by showing it is more than purely a gas and electricity provider and how it is working towards a more sustainable future.
  Belinda Moore, the company’s board-level marketing and communications director, says the brand is looking to adopt an “un-utility” approach to its campaigns as she marks her first anniversary in the role.
  Moore explains that ‘un-utility’ refers to not only chan
  
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• Dundee campaign to add $860m to Australian economy by 2020

  09-03-2018 07:16
  Tourism Australia’s Dundee: The Son of a Legend Returns campaign will contribute an extra $860m to the Australian economy by 2020, according to the tourism body’s chief marketing officer Lisa Ronson.
  The campaign, which kicked off in January with a teaser campaign and Super Bowl advert, this week rolled out a content series Why Australia, in a bid to continue to leverage the popularity and buzz around the activity.
  Ronson told The Drum, the campaign aimed to drive more high-value vis
  
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• Riding the Olympic wave in Asia: what is the value of sponsoring the Games?

  09-03-2018 06:15
  The recently concluded 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea marked the start of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba 10-year partnership with the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
  With the Olympics staying in Asia for the next four years - the 2020 and 2022 Olympics will be held in Tokyo and Beijing respectively - sports marketing experts tell The Drum that this represents more opportunities for other Asian companies to join Alibaba and build their international profile by associati
  
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• HBO builds Westworld town at SXSW to promote season 2

  09-03-2018 05:08
  HBO has set up a recreation of the Westworld fictional town of Sweet Water at SXSW in order to promote the second series of the hit science fiction drama. 
  With the return of the series set for the end of April, HBO enlisted Giant Spoon having seen the work the agency produced to produce the Blade Runner sequel last year at Comic Con. Work on the project began last yea, The Drum understands. 
  Co-founder of Giant Spoon, Trevor Guthrie told The Drum, while giving a tour of the town,
  
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• WeChat reaches one billion user milestone

  09-03-2018 03:57
  WeChat, China’s most popular social media platform, has passed the one billion monthly active user mark.  
  The milestone, which was achieved over the Chinese New Year holiday in February, was revealed by Tencent chief executive Pony Ma in China’s parliament this week.
  WeChat's global monthly active users reached 938 million in the first quarter of 2017, which was a 23% increase year-on-year.  In November last year, the app announced its daily active users had reac
  
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• McVitie’s launches £10m masterbrand campaign to showcase brand purpose

  09-03-2018 01:01
  McVitie’s is launching a £10m master brand campaign as part of the “next chapter” of its marketing strategy, which aims to modernise the brand and drive purpose.
  Launching today (9 March), the ‘Sweeter Together’ campaign will run throughout the year across TV, cinema and digital channels.
  Sarah Heynen, vice president of marketing at McVitie’s owner Pladis UK & Ireland, tells Marketing Week: “This really is the next chapter in our overarching br
  
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• Ad of the Day: MoneySuperMarket transforms Action Man into a flamboyant, gyrating desert dancer

  09-03-2018 01:01
  Just days after announcing their impending split, MoneySuperMarket and Mother have unveiled the latest character in their long-running ‘save money and feel epic’ campaign – Hasbro’s Action Man, who dances in the desert for a fabulously camp animated spot.
  The film begins with Action Man dressed in his signature camouflage, radioing in to HQ from the middle of a desert war zone. He announces to his control centre colleagues that he’s just saved on MoneySuperMarket, &
  
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• 'Sweeter together': inside McVities' bold £9.7m pivot from fuzzy kittens towards purpose

  09-03-2018 01:00
  McVitie’s is to ditch its longstanding, and popular, ‘Sweeet’ campaign, exchanging fuzzy kittens and puppies for a £9.7m purpose-driven push launching under the strapline ‘Sweeter Together’.
  Created by longstanding ad agency Grey, the snackmaker’s new UK proposition is pinned around the idea that in a society nose-down in smartphones, the simple act of sharing a biscuit has the power to bring people together.
  Since 2014, the emotional resonance afforded
  
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• 'Sweeter together': inside McVitie's bold £9.7m pivot from fuzzy kittens towards purpose

  09-03-2018 01:00
  McVitie’s is to ditch its longstanding, and popular, ‘Sweeet’ campaign, exchanging fuzzy kittens and puppies for a £9.7m purpose-driven push launching under the strapline ‘Sweeter Together’.
  Created by longstanding ad agency Grey, the snackmaker’s new UK proposition is pinned around the idea that in a society nose-down in smartphones, the simple act of sharing a biscuit has the power to bring people together.
  Since 2014, the emotional resonance afforded
  
  Read more

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