Marketing news

• ESPN's NBA Playoff campaign features Grammy Award-nominee J. Cole

  20-04-2018 22:37
  The NBA Playoffs are going full-bore, and ESPN has once again enlisted recording artist and Grammy Award-nominee J. Cole in a new playoffs campaign.
  The spot features the exclusive broadcast debut of J. Cole’s song 'ATM,' fresh from his new highly-anticipated album KOD, which is available now through Dreamville Records, Roc Nation and Interscope Records. 
  The spot starts with a text relay of someone asking "Yo, you seeing this?" which is followed up by a slow-motion dun
  
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• TV Ad Spend Weekly: An on-screen spot from the National Parks to drive us outdoors

  20-04-2018 22:18
  Brands continue to invest heavily in above-the-line content, and television is still seen as the place brands want 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.
  Spend on new national TV ads reached $117m during the week of April 9-15, falling by 39% compared to the previous week. Overall, national TV expenditures didn’t see as big of a dip, with total spend re
  
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• Ford's global creative review spells trouble for longtime partner WPP

  20-04-2018 21:49 via campaignlive.com
  The automaker is one of WPP's largest accounts.
  
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• Y&R creates exclusive ‘Feminist Letters’ font to call attention to women’s issues

  20-04-2018 20:59
  Feminism now has its own font, thanks to Y&R, which has introduced a new typeface to call attention to women’s issues with each letter design.
  The Feminist Letters is a typeface created to amplify the voices advocating for gender equality. Each letter is designed with a purpose, calling attention to issues like equal pay and reproductive rights. The Feminist Letters platform allows people to tweet at their representatives in the font and download it to create social posts, po
  
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• How brands can help Earth Day make it through midlife crisis

  20-04-2018 20:53
  Sunday, April 22, marks the 48th anniversary of Earth Day. In another two years Earth Day will be eligible for an AARP card. And that imminent milestone got me thinking: Is it time for the event to consider retirement?
  At its birth in 1970, Earth Day was full of social activism, a growing movement inspired by the energy of the anti-Vietnam war and Civil Rights movements. It was a fresh idea meant to redirect attention on increasingly apparent ecological challenges facing our planet.
  Earth Day&rs
  
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• Coty unveils AR mirror that's activated when shoppers pick up a lipstick

  20-04-2018 18:14
  Beauty giant Coty has unveiled a smart augmented reality ‘magic mirror’ in its Bourjois boutique in Paris which lets users try on products virtually when they physically pick them up.
  Coty is describing the tech as “blended reality”. It’s been designed to promote Bourjous' new ‘Velvet’ lipstick range and to activate it users stand in front of a giant selfie style camera which then changes their lip colour on-screen whenever they pick up a new lipstick fr
  
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• Nyiax and Rebel AI ink verification partnership

  20-04-2018 18:02
  Nyiax has today (20 April) announced a tie-up with startup Rebel AI which the pairing claims will help advertisers and publishers verify and marketplace contracts, meaning media buyers can be more safely assured they will get what they paid for.
  Under the terms of the agreement, the Rebel AI Passport product will be integrated into the Nyiax marketplace, meaning media buyers that choose it as the court of record for futures contracts can be better assured the terms of the contract will be delive
  
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• George Hamilton returns as Colonel Sanders in KFC’s latest ad push

  20-04-2018 17:49
  George Hamilton serenades cruise-goers with a song about chicken in KFC's latest campaign, which sees the actor reprise his role as the Extra Crispy Colonel Sanders.
  Hamilton first took on the role of KFC’s iconic founder in 2016, and he’s back again this year to promote a new item called the Crispy Colonel, which the brand describes as an Extra Crispy chicken sandwich topped with mayo and pickles.
  In a 30-second spot, Hamilton is seen aboard the ‘K.F.Sea,’ where he sings
  
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• Maltesers shines spotlight on misrepresented women in latest effort to diversify advertising

  20-04-2018 16:26 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Maltesers is telling stories of diverse women who are often invisible in advertising, in a follow-up to the brand's successful campaign that aimed to break taboos of people with disabilities.
  
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• Channel 4, ITV and Sky join forces to prove value of on-demand to marketers

  20-04-2018 16:17
  Channel 4, ITV and Sky, alongside television’s marketing body Thinkbox, have teamed up to put some numbers behind their on-demand platforms in a bid to boost their commercial value.
  Heralding a “year of collaboration”, the UK’s biggest commercial broadcasters stood side by side at an event in London this week to unveil what they are claiming is the biggest ever study into broadcaster video-on-demand viewing, aka BVOD.
  At a time when advertisers are growing increasingly ca
  
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• Under Armour pulls ads from YouTube as 300 brands' ads found on extremist content

  20-04-2018 15:54 via campaignlive.co.uk
  An investigation has found that YouTube still faces a brand safety problem with ads from more than 300 brands found running against extremist content.
  
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• The Body Coach creates café for Westfield food and wellness campaign

  20-04-2018 15:47 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Westfield is creating a series of food and wellness events at its London shopping centres as part of a campaign featuring The Body Coach and The Muppets.
  
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• Buxton aims to give London Marathon runners a deserving seat

  20-04-2018 15:39
  Mineral water brand Buxton, sponsor of the Virgin Money London Marathon, has created a 'Marathon Legs' badge to be handed out to all competitors at Sunday’s (22nd April) race.
  Created by Rapp UK, the baby-on-board type badges are aimed at celebrating the runners' achievement, encouraging commuters the day after the race to give up their seats to fellow weary travellers.
  Marie-Laure Danican, local brand lead at Buxton, said: “This campaign brings to life our ongoing support
  
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• How brands can fight the damage of unconscious bias

  20-04-2018 15:20 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Too often the punchline is a man in a dress. Sure it's funny. Unless you're transgender. Then, it isn't.
  
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• Lucozade takes things to biblical proportions in new spot

  20-04-2018 15:16 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Lucozade Energy is back with new TV ad "David & Goliath", which purports to tell the back-story to the iconic Old Testament confrontation.
  
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• IPM steps in to help agencies affected by MAA troubles

  20-04-2018 15:16 via campaignlive.co.uk
  The IPM is stepping in to support agencies that have been affected by the collapse of the Marketing Agencies Association.
  
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• Bigger is not necessarily better

  20-04-2018 15:01
  “No one ever got fired for choosing IBM.” Is that true for WPP today?
  It’s a proverb from the last century that meant choosing the biggest is a no brainer. But is the biggest always the best? Especially today in the world of marketing communications.
  When we look at the legacy of Martin Sorrell and the future of the ‘behemoth’ WPP,  people are asking asking a lot of questions:  is it the right model for today, does it service its clients in the b
  
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• Sport England reviews ad account

  20-04-2018 14:51 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Sport England has called a review of its creative account.
  
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• Digital industry is 'in the growing-up phase, needs direction, and it should collaborate': The Digital Trading Awards breakfast panel

  20-04-2018 14:45
  Collaboration, education, innovation and consumer first were the core themes discussed at The Drum Digital Trading Awards annual breakfast, moderated by Lara Izlan, director of advertising platforms and data solutions, Auto Trader UK.
  A panel of industry experts including Havas global head of programmatic solutions, Hossein Houssain; global head of agency partnerships, Adobe, Nick Reid; Jellyfish digital strategy director, Gawain Owen; and Time Inc digital director international, Barbara Ag
  
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• Digital media transparency has an immediate solution 
... and no, it’s not blockchain

  20-04-2018 14:30
  Andrew Altersohn, Adfin, chief executive officer, dissects one of 2018's most buzz phrases – 'blockchain' – and sets expectations straight on its immediate prospects for the advertising industry.  
  Did you hear? No matter the problem, blockchain is ready to solve it. Banking. Healthcare. Food Production. Government. Music ...
  Now it’s advertising’s turn. Once advertising implements blockchain, all those pesky problems from fraud, to arbitrage, to the black box w
  
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• M&S, Tenzing, WPP: 5 things that mattered this week and why

  20-04-2018 14:19
  Sorrell and the future of WPP
  It’s only six days since the ad world was rocked late on Saturday evening by the news that Sir Martin Sorrell was stepping down from WPP after 33 years at the helm of the company he founded and built up into the world’s biggest agency holding company.
  Much has been written about his career, his legacy and the future of WPP. Should it be broken to extract maximum value for shareholders? What is the future of the agency holding model in a world of digital?
  
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• Ministry of Sound Recordings appoints digital agency Influence Digital

  20-04-2018 13:59
  Ministry of Sound Recordings has appointed social and digital agency, Influence Digital, as its social agency of record to enhance the company on social media.
  The partnership looks to leverage Ministry of Sound Recording’s core base of 1.5m fans and followers on social media and builds on the label’s pre-eminence in both the dance music scene and broader music market. The scope of work includes playlists on Spotify and Apple Music (such as Dance Nation and Ibiza
  
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• Camden Town Brewery wants Brits to fall back in love with lager in first national campaign

  20-04-2018 13:36 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Lager has become "unloved", Camden Town Brewery founder Jasper Cuppaidge said, as the brand begins spreading the word about flagship product Camden Hells beyond London.
  
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• How to beat flagging reach on social media

  20-04-2018 13:21
  With the top networks cracking down on loathed or loved tactics, and time called on organic reach, is this really the end for social media content marketing?
  The end is nigh for content marketing on social media.
  Well, that’s how it could seem if you read the latest figures and predictions - not least, those published in BuzzSumo’s recent Content Trends Report 2018.
  Among the report’s many sobering findings was that social sharing has been cut in half since 2015 based on a samp
  
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• Art auction to support rare talent in the creative industries

  20-04-2018 13:12
  To support diversity within the creative industry, R-LDN, the creative leadership initiative for rare talent in the industry, backed by D&AD and Google, will host a star-studded art auction.
  The auction, to be held on April 23, 5.30-8pm, will sell work by some of the UK’s most well-known industry creators and makers, including Kate Moross, Dave Buonaguidi, Mr Bingo, Claire Asker, Kerry Roper, Tea Uglow and more – all auctioned off by Funny Women Award winner, Thany
  
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• YouTube Re:View: #Beychella, a magician’s spell & autocomplete interview

  20-04-2018 13:00
  Welcome to our YouTube Re:View. This week we celebrate Queen B’s spectacular performance at the annual Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California, sob uncontrollably thanks to a magician and take a trip to a hotel somewhere far into the future…
  Beyoncé reigns at Coachella
  Unless you have been living under a rock all week, you may have seen the hashtag #Beychella floating around. The Queen of R&B worked hard for that hashtag after performing 26 songs for t
  
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• A look inside NBCUniversal’s data-powered media offering

  20-04-2018 13:00
  NBCUniversal recently unveiled some key strategic maneuvering, including the launch of its cross-screen advertising offering plus joining the OpenAP consortium. Ahead of next month's Upfronts series, The Drum leans in on the TV conglomerate's attempts to digitize.  
  The US viewing public has never consumed more content than they do at present, but the shifting nature of this consumption is presenting advertisers, and more pertinently traditional TV networks, with a
  
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• We need straight-talking brands more than ever right now

  20-04-2018 12:40
  Fake news, data breaches, online propaganda. These days people are increasingly suspicious about the information they consume, and with good reason. Not a day seems to go by at the moment without some new piece of misinformation causing a scandal. The current ‘post-truth’ climate has materially undermined the public’s faith in the media, government and business.
  Interestingly, as a consequence, the latest Edelman Trust Barometer identifies a revival of faith in certified expert
  
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• KPN: Evert_45 campaign brings WW2 history to life on social media

  20-04-2018 12:31
  Background
  As many war veterans have died since the end of the second world war, there are fewer people to pass on memories and, therefore, an important part of Dutch history. KPN, the Royal Dutch Telecoms provider, have been connecting people since the late 19th century, and felt it their duty to help connect the past with the youth of today. In this latest case study from the Dutch Digital Design collective, we look at how N=5, together with creative digital production studio Superhero Ch
  
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• Facebook cuts off 1.5 billion users from stringent EU privacy laws

  20-04-2018 11:05
  Facebook has moved to repatriate 1.5bn Facebook members who were previously under the jurisdiction of Facebook Ireland by transferring them to the auspices of its US HQ, thus circumventing tightened European privacy laws.
  The administrative switch comes at a tumultuous time for the social media giant which finds itself embroiled in a privacy scandal with Cambridge Analytica involving its handling of personal data which has forced it to promise clearer rules on privacy.
  Europe is braced for
  
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• WPP approaches FCA to confirm compliance with insider information laws

  20-04-2018 10:33
  WPP has reached out to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in order to ascertain whether it is in breach of rules surrounding insider information, in a case relating to a sum of company money allegedly misused by Sir Martin Sorrell.
  Reports in the Guardian suggest that the regulatory body was contacted by the advertising giant to confirm it had acted in accordance with the law after it called a halt to its investigation as part of an agreement with Sorrell who went on to quit the company.
  
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• P&G: healthcare acquisition helps us stay on top of consumer 'megatrends'

  20-04-2018 10:32 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Procter & Gamble said its $4.2bn (£3.0bn) acquisition of German firm Merck's consumer health division was about allowing it to respond to the changing demands of an ageing world.
  
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• Private-equity funds dominate marcomms M&A

  20-04-2018 09:55 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Nearly a quarter (22%) of all marcomms M&A deals involved private-equity funds - double the 11% seen in the last two quarters of 2017.
  
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• Employees fret for their futures as AI marches on

  20-04-2018 09:32
  Humans are looking nervously over their shoulders at their computers in increasing numbers according to the latest research to be published by Kantar Insights, which found that 83% of Britons now believe artificial intelligence will make them redundant in the workplace.
  Robots, automation and machine learning are fast making inroads within factories and customer service, shrinking the exclusive domain which people have thus far enjoyed while sparking concern for what the future holds.
  The latest
  
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• NME launches second instalment of '#Lifehacks'

  20-04-2018 09:22 via campaignlive.co.uk
  NME, the Time Inc-owned music title, is hosting the next instalment of its "#Lifehacks" programme which helps young people break into the creative industries.
  
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• Publicis boss: ‘There will be a reconfiguration of our industry. It can’t stay as it is’

  20-04-2018 09:00
  Advertising is under pressure and holding companies must transform themselves drastically if they are to remain fit for purpose, according to Publicis Groupe boss Arthur Sadoun.
  His rival Sir Martin Sorrell’s shock exit from the helm of WPP has led some analysts to speculate that the once all-powerful agency conglomerates are now ripe for being broken up.
  But Sadoun told The Drum that his counterparts should have been rethinking their models long before the Sorrell saga stunned the in
  
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• OpenAP consortium bolstered as NBCUniversal joins its ranks

  20-04-2018 08:30
  Comcast-owned NBCUniversal yesterday (April 19) announced that it has joined TV providers Fox, Turner and Viacom in the OpenAP consortium, a partnership where participants pool resources to better aid advanced TV media buying.
  OpenAP helps advance audience targeting capabilities by collectively harnessing members combined data capabilities to improve automated media trading on new platforms, advanced formats, cross-platform measurement, and developing a new TV ad currency.
  Specifically, the late
  
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• AT&T CEO: ‘If you miss one technology cycle, it may not kill you, but it will make you sick for a very long time'

  20-04-2018 08:00
  In a spirited defense of his outfit’s attempted $85bn bid to buy Time Warner before a federal court, AT&T chief Randall Stephenson said the deal will help the telecoms operator compete in the media space, countering the dominance of players such as Amazon, Facebook, and Google.
  Detailing his rationale for the proposed merger, which has been opposed by the Department of Justice on antitrust grounds, Stephenson denied allegations that AT&T would use control of Time Warner to disadvan
  
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• Ad of the Day: Shazam tackles cyberbullying in Singapore with 'Unmute Daniel' campaign

  20-04-2018 06:00
  Shazam has unveiled a new campaign that addresses the issue of cyberbullying in Singapore.
  The campaign, called ‘Unmute Daniel’ and created by MullenLowe Singapore, makes use of media screens to project a sound with a frequency that is not picked by the human ear to display a message from Daniel, asking people to open the Shazam app to detect the sound.
  Once that has been done, users are directed to unmute.sg, which shares the story of Daniel, as a cyberbullying victim, as well
  
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• Does context really impact display ad effectiveness? Inskin Media, L’Oréal and Publicis Media discuss

  20-04-2018 04:37
  Research released last year by Inskin Media found that the publisher branding has more of a catalytic effect on display ad effectiveness than the editorial content around it, creating doubt as to whether high concern around some elements of brand safety is as black and white as the industry thinks.
  Brand sensitivity to being placed around any content that’s deemed controversial or negative is at an all time high, due to high profile issues, including YouTube placing ads on videos from reli
  
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• Unilever, Disney and Pernod Ricard pledge to go one step further than GDPR with WFA-backed data manifesto

  20-04-2018 01:00
  The World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) has called on marketers to go one step further than GDPR and actively reduce the amount of data they use and take greater control of their media supply chain. Those that have already agreed include Unilever, Mars, Pernod Ricard and Shell.
  WFA president, and RBS chief marketing officer, David Wheldon said the ‘Manifesto for Online Data Transparency’ has been two years in the making as marketers increasingly have to grapple with issues around h
  
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• IPA asks Electoral Commission to pause micro-targeted political ads amid Facebook crisis

  20-04-2018 01:00
  The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) has made an official call for the UK Electoral Commission and wider political community to pause micro-targeted political ads online, saying the practice is at times “opaque and unaccountable”.
  The trade body's call for a moratorium follows weeks of scrutiny around allegations that data firm Cambridge Analytica accessed the information of 87 million Facebook users in order to influence the US elections and the EU referendum.
  Th
  
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