Marketing news

• Swiss consultancy Luxoft acquires Seattle-based design firm Smashing Ideas

  20-06-2018 23:39
  Luxoft Holding, a Swiss-based a global IT service provider, today (June 20) announced the acquisition of Smashing Ideas, a Seattle-based design and innovation agency.  
  Smashing Ideas, owned by book publisher Penguin Random House, has consulted brands across product design and development. Penguin Random House had owned the firm since 2011.
  Luxoft said in a statement that the acquisition bolsters Luxoft’s digital research, strategy and design capabilities. Luxoft’s lines of
  
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• Instagram celebrates its 1 billion user mark with launch of YouTube rival IGTV

  20-06-2018 23:10
  Instagram today marked reaching one billion users with the launch of a recently rumored long-form video service called IGTV.
  Users can access IGTV via the original Instagram app, but also through a standalone app starting next week. Content on IGTV has a time-limit of an hour, and during a conference on Instagram Live, the Facebook-owned platform has already piloted the new service with influencers and creators.
  Another unique feature of this app: it has been formatted so that all vide
  
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• HBO debuts Westworld Alexa gaming voice skill for fans of the show

  20-06-2018 20:52
  HBO is debuting its first full-scale voice skill with 'Westworld: The Maze,' an immersive gaming skill for fans of the show, leading up to the season finale.
  Available on Alexa-enabled devices starting today (June 20) 'Westworld: The Maze' brings Westworld’s layered story mapping to voice, where users are led on a three-tiered quest for consciousness. 
  In the game, users play an unnamed Westworld host and are guided through three 'choose-your-own-adventure' style levels with over
  
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• US Creative Work of the Week: spokes-mermaid pushes algae-based supplements

  20-06-2018 19:23
  New wellness brand, iWi, recently introduced its omega-3 supplements with its first-ever national advertising campaign, ‘Healthy Me, Healthy We’, and the accompanying TV spot features a spokes-mermaid whose dedication to sea-based plant nutrition is as strong as her tail.
  The campaign, from creative agency Something Massive, works to highlight iWi’s aim to produce high-value nutrition that improves individual health without harming the environment. The company uses the qui
  
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• How AB InBev is using blockchain to save up to 30% on media spend

  20-06-2018 19:21
  The Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity kicked off this week with ‘blockchain’ a frequently recurring term in the multitude of press releases emanating from Le Palais. Notable among them was a tie-up between drinks behemoth Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) and adtech outfit Kiip, The Drum probes further.
  AB InBev and Kiip announced on Monday (June 18) that they have launched the “first-ever blockchain mobile ad campaign” with the world’s largest brewer clai
  
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• Burger King Russia cuts promo rewarding women impregnated by World Cup stars with Whoppers

  20-06-2018 18:51
  The Russian corporate account for Burger King has backtracked after running a social media campaign offering free Whoppers and a monetary reward to women who managed to get impregnated by footballers. Despite Russia currently tallying the most goals at the World Cup so far, the campaign was built to increase the footballing "genes" of the nation.
  The Guardian reports that the promotion offered women 3m Russian roubles (£35k) and all the whoppers they can handle in a lifetime if they c
  
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• Singaporean influencer sparks brand safety concerns after being exposed for editing stock photos

  20-06-2018 18:34
  Two days after FMCG giant Unilever called for more improvement in the integrity, transparency and measurement of influencer marketing, a Singaporean influencer has sparked brand safety concerns after being called out for misusing stock photos.
  An exposé by local website Mothership.SG after a tip-off, found that well-known local photographer Daryl Aiden Yow had lifted photos off stock iamges from websites and claimed them as his own on his Instagram page. He was found to have use
  
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• Alibaba’s CMO on why it’s ramping up its pitch to brands with a Kantar-powered insights tool

  20-06-2018 18:17
  E-commerce giant Alibaba upping its charm offensive on advertisers through a partnership with Kantar that will see it pool its own behavioural and brand insights with the research firm’s data.
  Speaking to The Drum, chief marketing officer Chris Tung said the partnership came amid a “clear demand” from advertisers to “quantify and qualify” progress and effectiveness.
  The collaboration was announced on Wednesday (20 June) at Cannes Lions. Tung said it will bring toget
  
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• For one week only, Brasso is the official sponsor of the British Creative Industries

  20-06-2018 18:12
  The British Creative Industry has landed its first ever sponsor in Brasso as the brand eyes the coveted title of polish of choice for the many Cannes Lions awards that will be making their way back to offices in the British Isles.
  The playful tie-up with the Department for International Trade (DIT) saw it launch a campaign in the South of France, playfully nodding to the haul of silverware the UK is expected to bring home again this year.
  The partnership is brief, lasting only this wee
  
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• Unilever CMO Weed defends Facebook and Google's ad-funded model in heated debate

  20-06-2018 17:28 via campaignlive.co.uk
  The Economist's Big Debate around the power of the big tech players which involved Facebook, Unilever, and UM grew heated over the proposal that users should be paid for their data.
  
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• Condom brand Jontex creates an edible candy wrapper to promote safe sex

  20-06-2018 17:28
  Educating the population about condom usage in Brazil takes persistence and overcoming preconceived notions. To wit, there's a common saying that “sex with a condom is like eating candy with the wrapper on” – an old perception that slows the STD prevention investments made by brands and government. 
  To counteract this common saying, as well as highlighting the benefits of the new Jontex Real Feel – a latex free condom
  
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• News UK, Telegraph and Guardian tie-up is a ‘stepping stone’ to higher standards across digital advertising

  20-06-2018 16:46
  Three of the UK’s biggest newspaper publishers have joined forces to create an advertising platform that has the potential to shake up the publishing status quo – and that could finally see them square up to the digital duopoly of Facebook and Google and reclaim revenue.
  The Ozone Project – a collaboration between Guardian News & Media, The Telegraph and News UK – marks the first-time advertisers and agencies will have a single sales point to multiple independent
  
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• How to make the most of YouTube on a tight budget

  20-06-2018 16:29
  Pretty much every brand we work with understands the effectiveness of YouTube in driving awareness, but there’s definitely a common view among smaller businesses that it’s expensive and time-consuming to do effectively. They are mistaken.
  At my own agency, Return, our campaign for Robinsons Brewery, for example, recently won YouTube Works for Brands award for Best Use of YouTube on a Small Budget. The campaign was delivered on a four-figure budget - including ad spend - was turned ar
  
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• Apple's Homepod campaign and Jay-Z share Music Grand Prix at Cannes

  20-06-2018 16:26 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Apple's marketing campaign for its Homepod speaker has won the Grand Prix at Cannes for Entertainment in Music, sharing the award with a music video by Jay-Z.
  
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• Google promises to ‘listen more’ as it rolls out new ad controls on YouTube

  20-06-2018 16:25
  Google has promised it will get better at listening to the concerns of the advertising industry following a difficult 18 months for the company as the fallout from the brand safety scandal continues.
  Speaking at a press briefing at Cannes Lions this morning (20 June), EMEA boss Matt Brittin said that while it has listened hard to partners such as publishers, it now needs to pay more attention to advertisers.
  “It’s true we have to pay attention more and get better at listening. We&rsq
  
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• Pride in London remakes 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' in moving portrait of defiance

  20-06-2018 16:15 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Pride in London's ad campaign tackles complacency through a remake of the classic song Somewhere Over the Rainbow.
  
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• Apple's instore experience bags Brand Experience Grand Prix at Cannes

  20-06-2018 16:02 via campaignlive.co.uk
  The 'Today at Apple' retail project delivered by the US inhouse team across Apple stores has won the Brand Experience and Activation Grand Prix at Cannes Lions.
  
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• Foot Locker begins pan-Euro creative agency search

  20-06-2018 15:39 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Foot Locker has kicked off a search for an agency to handle its pan-European creative duties.
  
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• BBC's Christmas ad wins gold Cannes Lion in Film Craft

  20-06-2018 15:32 via campaignlive.co.uk
  The BBC took home a gold Lion in Film Craft at Cannes for its 2017 Christmas campaign.
  
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• Apple’s Angela Ahrendts: Retail is not dying, but it has to evolve

  20-06-2018 15:28
  The retail sector is not dying, but it does have to evolve and serve a bigger purpose than selling, according to Apple’s Angela Ahrendts.
  Describing stores as Apple’s “biggest product”, the senior vice-president for retail outlined a clear and compelling business case for physical retail during her session  the Cannes Lions Festival today (20 June).
  “Experts say digital is going to grow at three times the rate of physical. In the next five years McKinsey s
  
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• The Mouse Strikes Back: Disney counters Comcast’s offer for Fox with $71bn cash-stock bid

  20-06-2018 15:23
  Disney today (June 20) announced a counter-offer to acquire 21st Century Fox totaling $71bn in cash and stocks.
  This bid came as a response to a bid made by Comcast weeks before to purchase the media group in a $65bn, all cash. Disney had initially made the first call for the Murdoch-owned company at a bid of $58.7bn back in December 2017.
  Disney stated in an amended merger agreement: “Disney would acquire those businesses on substantially the same terms, except that, among other things, D
  
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• Adam & Eve/DDB nabs Cannes Lions gold and bronze in Entertainment for FIFA 18

  20-06-2018 15:10 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Adam & Eve/DDB was one of just a handful of UK outfits to make a mark in the Entertainment category at Cannes.
  
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• Story behind Muhammad Ali's shoes wins Ogilvy the Industry Craft Grand Prix at Cannes

  20-06-2018 14:29 via campaignlive.co.uk
  A shoe polish brand that tracked down the footwear of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali has won the Grand Prix for Cannes Lions' first Industry Craft award.
  
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• Unilever: 'Gone are the days when a product succeeds because it is superior'

  20-06-2018 14:28 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Keith Weed has reaffirmed Unilever's commitment to purpose-driven marketing at a Cannes Lions session featuring founders of three of the company's brands.
  
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• Ikea finds practical use for its cardboard box waste in helping kids create toys

  20-06-2018 14:23
  Furniture retailer Ikea uses a good amount of cardboard in packaging its make-it-at-home goods. With a new movement and app, Ikea is putting those boxes to use – as toys for kids.
  Finding new and human ways to connect and empower the next generation to play is one of the ways that Ikea says it hopes to change the world, and bringing extra life to cardboard that would otherwise end up in the recycling bins is part of that push. It’s an idea that came about quickly, and was revealed at
  
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• US Creative Works: featuring Apple, McGarryBowen, Onion Labs and more

  20-06-2018 14:00
  Welcome to The Drum's US Creative Works, supported by Workfront. Dedicated to showing the best creative work in North and South America, we give our readers the chance to decide which work features as our 'Creative Work of the Week'.
  Scroll through the latest work, then click through to the Creative Works site and see what stands out. For project information, creative credits and more, click on the project to expand to full screen and click on the stars to vote.
  To submit work for our
  
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• Snickers calls people 'jerks' then apologizes in introduction of new flavors

  20-06-2018 13:51
  Snickers is taking its 'You're Not You When You're Hungry' platform to a new level, with a surly print ad that calls its customers 'jerks'. The resulting 'apology' then promotes the candy bar maker's new flavors.
  The campaign, created by BBDO New York, is being rolled out in two installments. The first, which debuted last week, is a print ad that includes a message that was clearly delivered while someone was hungry – "Try New Espresso Snickers, Jerk!"
  Phase two, which runs
  
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• Unilever now wants to purge the music industry of stereotypes

  20-06-2018 13:48
  Unilever’s ‘Unstereotype’ initiative has already has seen it vow to stamp out gender stereotypes in its own advertising and work with the likes of Cartoon Network to purge them from what kids watch on TV. Now it wants to do the same to the music industry with the help of Simon Fuller – the pop mastermind behind the Spice Girls.
  The FMGC giant unveiled the latest element of its ‘Unstereotyping’ initiative at the Cannes Lions festival today (20 Ju
  
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• VR experience for Billy Corgan single wins Digital Craft Grand Prix

  20-06-2018 13:30 via campaignlive.co.uk
  A VR music video created for "The Aeronaut", a track by Smashing Pumpkins singer Billy Corgan, has won the Grand Prix in the Digital Craft Lions for entrants Isobar and Viacom.
  
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• The United Nations is courting Cannes rosé drinkers for cash, creatives and an integrated ad campaign

  20-06-2018 13:23
  The United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) has debuted a teaser for its upcoming cinema ad – a study from Sir John Hegarty on the repercussions of early death. But the decision to launch at Cannes Lions wasn’t wholly based on creativity: the organisation is systematically targeting those splashing the cash at the Carlton in order to establish serious partnerships.
  The ad, from Hegarty’s The Garage, is dubbed ‘Feed our Future’ and is poised to launch i
  
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• Ebiquity claims marketers can generate $45bn in profit through better media optimization

  20-06-2018 13:15
  A study published today (June 20) asserts that better allocation of marketing spend could result in approximately $45bn more profit globally for brands each year.
  Ebiquity came to the conclusion after analyzing the “profit impact” of 2,500 ad campaigns (representing $375bn in media spend) over three years in a bid to better understand how marketers can optimize their ad campaigns, plus demonstrate how their ad spend helps their organization generate revenue.
  The findings of the study
  
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• Guardian, News UK and Telegraph create shared ad network The Ozone Project

  20-06-2018 12:49
  Three of the UK's biggest media titles have pooled their resources to create a digital ad network that they think will avoid the pitfalls of current offerings while better funding their journalism. 
  News UK, The Guardian News and Media and The Telegraph have developed the The Ozone Project, a platform they say will offer brands and advertisers large scale buys across brand safe areas. They are also promising "fraud-free" environments to appeal to marketers keen to ensure their adv
  
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• McCann London lands Grand Prix in Creative eCommerce Lions

  20-06-2018 12:36 via campaignlive.co.uk
  McCann London has scooped the Creative eCommerce Lions Grand Prix at Cannes for its campaign for Microsoft encouraging gamers to design and share their own controllers.
  
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• McCann London leads UK pack in Direct, Media and Social Lions

  20-06-2018 12:24 via campaignlive.co.uk
  McCann London has picked up 11 nominations across the Reach track of Cannes Lions - all for its work for Xbox.
  
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• Optus streaming woes continue as it hands more exclusive games to SBS

  20-06-2018 12:22
  Besieged telecommunications giant Optus has extended its deal with SBS enabling the broadcaster to continue to simulcast World Cup matches until the end of the month.
  Optus, which holds exclusive screening rights to all World Cup matches, will allow the free-to-air broadcaster to air all games until the end of the Group Stage on 29 June, as it attempts to resolve its streaming issues.
  Michael Ebeid, chief executive and managing director of SBS said: “The Fifa World Cup is the absolute
  
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• HSBC calls social media pitch in the UK

  20-06-2018 12:19 via campaignlive.co.uk
  HSBC is reviewing its social media account in the UK.
  
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• The Drum @ Cannes Lions 2018: six second ads are the future but only as part of the bigger media mix

  20-06-2018 12:00
  Six second ads are the future of advertising but only as part of the bigger picture. A panel of industry experts on ‘The 6 Second Impact’ panel at Cannes Lions 2018, in association with Taboola, all agree that while this format is certainly a big part of advertising in the years to come, it’s only a small part of the media mix everyone should be considering.
  GSK vice president of Family Nutrition Sara Bland, Taboola CEO Adam Singolda and FCB Brasil chief cre
  
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• JD.com takes record $24.7bn in sales during annual 6.18 shopping festival

  20-06-2018 11:51
  JD.com, China’s second largest e-commerce company, made $24.7bn in sales during its annual 6.18 shopping festival, a record high for the company.
  The sales figure puts it just behind the $25.3 bn in gross merchandise volume that e-commerce rival Alibaba collected in its annual 11.11 Singles Day sales.
  The 18-day shopping event was the first to feature JD’s ‘boundaryless retail’ experience which combines online, offline and virtual shopping.
  The event incorporated pop-up s
  
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• Google launches its own Android podcast app to cash in on medium's growth

  20-06-2018 11:50
  Google is muscling in on the podcast market with the launch of its own Android podcast app, Google Podcasts.
  After a false start with a standalone service, “podcatcher” for Android, which was axed in 2012, users have had to access podcasts either through Google Play Music or third-party apps. 
  Now, Google has boldly predicted that with the release of a native first-party Android app it  “could as much as double worldwide listenership of podcasts overall."
  Accordi
  
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• BBH work for Audi and Barclays shortlisted for Film Lions despite Publicis Groupe boycott

  20-06-2018 11:47 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Audi's "Clowns" film has been shortlisted in the Film Lions at Cannes, after the Volkswagen-owned car brand entered it itself.
  
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• Sign up to our webinar on supercharging your digital intelligence to power customer experiences

  20-06-2018 11:34
  Customer journeys are becoming more complex and many organisations struggle to capture and harness the information gathered through digital channels. In this webinar, Tiffany Carpenter, head of customer intelligence at SAS UK & Ireland, will discuss the three main challenges that organisations face when capitalising on digital information and how they can be overcome to exceed your customers’ expectations.
  Join us on Thursday 28 June at 3pm GMT to find out more.
  Register below.Th
  
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• BMW marketer Roberts named most influential woman in automotive marketing

  20-06-2018 11:30 via campaignlive.co.uk
  BMW UK's newly-appointed marketing director Michelle Roberts has been named as the most influential and inspirational British woman working in marketing at a car manufacturer by motoring title Autocar.
  
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• How Nike, Samsung and ITV triumphed at the Campaign Event Awards

  20-06-2018 11:17 via campaignlive.co.uk
  The deadline for entering this year's Campaign Event Awards is 27 June. Campaign rounds up some of the winners from the 2017 Awards.
  
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• How Glamour, Just Eat and Shell are tackling the gender gap

  20-06-2018 11:16
  The explosion of the #MeToo movement in late 2017 has forced many brands to shake up their thinking around workplace inclusion and address how they can create equal opportunities and experiences for men and women.
  US Glamour editor-in-chief Samantha Barry has been seeking to redress the balance of women working in the fashion industry. Speaking at an Accenture Interactive panel at Cannes Lions yesterday (19 June), Barry pointed out that while there is no shortage of women wanting to work in fash
  
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• Cannes Lions 2018: the winners so far

  20-06-2018 11:00 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Welcome to Campaign's rolling round-up of this year's winners at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity.
  
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• Cannes Lions 2018: all the UK winners

  20-06-2018 11:00 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Welcome to Campaign's rolling round-up of this year's UK winners at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity.
  
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• YouTube launches tools for advertisers to experiment, mark key brand moments and remix ads in real-time

  20-06-2018 10:52 via campaignlive.co.uk
  YouTube has rolled out a set of creative and analytical tools for advertisers so they can test ads before a formal launch, target better and remix ads in real-time.
  
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• Fortnum & Mason to host tea-themed installation

  20-06-2018 10:32 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Fortnum & Mason is inviting visitors to take part in a tea party ritual at its flagship store in Piccadilly, London.
  
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• Brands missing out on potential $45bn in profit by failing to optimise media budgets

  20-06-2018 10:30
  Source: EbiquityBrands are missing out on a potential $45bn in profit because they are failing to optimise media allocation, investing too much in digital display and not enough in more traditional formats, according to new research.
  The study, undertaken by Ebiquity, used data from 2,500 campaigns over three years and was regionally weighted in order to build a global number. It includes only channels where Ebiquity could study profit impact at different spend levels, so search, influencer and
  
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• How Tetley aims to change the public's perception on vitamins

  20-06-2018 10:00 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Tea brand Tetley is encouraging people to boost their daily vitamin intake ahead of the summer, with a pop-up combining vitamins tips and tastings with fitness and food sessions.
  
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