Marketing news

• How Kit Kat managed to turn a viral tweet into a branded proposal

  10-07-2018 23:08
  In May, Haley Byrd teased her boyfriend on Twitter with a photo that served as proof he’d never eaten a Kit Kat bar before - or bothered to listen to the lyrics of the candy bar’s famous "Gimme a break" jingle.
  “I don’t think I’ve ever had a Kit Kat before,” my boyfriend remarks before doing THIS pic.twitter.com/UQbuD3Etpg
  — Haley Byrd (@byrdinator) June 1, 2018 
  Kit Kat quickly took notice as the tweet racked up thousands of likes, retweets and com
  
  Read more

• ANA says spend on sponsorship has increased despite poor measurement of it

  10-07-2018 22:24
  Marketers are spending more and more on sponsorship opportunities despite struggling to measure the impact they're having, according to a study recently conducted by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) and the Marketing Accountability Standards Board.
  The study states that total sponsorship spending in North America is estimated by WPP-owned ESP Properties to be $24.2bn in 2018, up 22% since 2013 and 41% since 2010. Even so, the report  - which included responses from 182 res
  
  Read more

• Ascential chief Duncan Painter: 'We want to be the world’s best information platform'

  10-07-2018 21:56
  Make no mistake, Ascential is a data-led media company on the march. Dripping with insights, the self-described ‘global information company’ has gone through a dramatic change in recent years, led for the last six, almost seven, years by chief executive Duncan Painter.
  Painter is a surprisingly more casual personality than might be expected considering the major decisions he has taken recently (to sell off the business’ profit-making exhibitions division) and having rebuilt a b
  
  Read more

• Planned Parenthood asks people to donate for the right to f*ck whomever they want

  10-07-2018 20:32
  New Yorkers are known for their colorful language, and according to a Skyn 2017 national survey and Trojan 2012 national survey, they have more sex than the rest of the country.
  Combining those two, Planned Parenthood wants to protect New Yorkers' rights to have sex with whomever they want with a 'Protect Our Freedom to F*ck' campaign.
  The campaign, by BBH NY, uses frank language and a diverse cast to rally a younger audience to donate and raise awareness for Planned Par
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Marketing through the ages: The 1980s saw FMCG and retail battle for dominance

  10-07-2018 19:35
  The 1980s were a period of power shifts across many aspects of marketing and advertising. One of the key shifts for marketers was the changing relationship between FMCG brand owners and grocery retailers.
  Once upon a time, FMCG marketers held all of the cards. They would announce that a brand was going to go onto TV, load stock into the welcoming arms of the retailers, and watch it be given prime position in store and then (everyone hoped) fly off the shelves. As the 1970s shape-shifted into the
  
  Read more

• Movers and shakers: Possible, Tesco, Boden, Wavemaker, Boiler Room, Viacom, Wunderman and more

  10-07-2018 19:29 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Welcome to Campaign's weekly round-up of the hires, departures and promotions across the industry.
  
  Read more

• Whole Foods unveils its first-ever Prime Day deals

  10-07-2018 18:40
  Whole Foods, which was acquired by Amazon last year in a $13.7bn deal, has rolled out a slew of discounts and deals ahead of this year’s Prime Day.
  Amazon recently announced that this year’s Prime Day - which annually offers members of its $119-per-year subscription service major savings - will last 36 hours, starting July 16 at 3 pm ET.
  This year, members who spend $10 at Whole Foods from July 11-17 can get $10 on Amazon for Prime Day in return. Shoppers can get the account credit b
  
  Read more

• MediaMath secures $225m in funding from Searchlight Capital Partners

  10-07-2018 18:30
  Adtech outfit MediaMath has secured $225m in private equity from investment firm SearchLight partners. 
  The funding will be used to accelerate MediaMath's demand-side platform (DSP) and data management platform via "organic and inorganic" growth initiatives according to a statement from the company. 
  SearchLight's cash injection brings the total amount raised by the company to $500m, with chief executive Joe Zawadzki telling the Wall Street Journal that the business would also use
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Tongal and Wattpad join with SyFy to develop pilot for viral hit powered by user input

  10-07-2018 18:13
  Online creator network Tongal has joined forces with Wattpad, a global multiplatform entertainment company for original stories, to launch ‘Story to Screen – A Digital Pilot Project’ with the SyFy network.
  The project aims to adapt Wattpad’s viral hit sci-fi thriller, 'Expiration Date' for the screen. The joint venture kicks off today (10 July) on the Tongal platform with a call for filmmakers to pitch how they would bring Expiration Dat
  
  Read more

• Havas Group names James Wright global chairman and CEO of Havas PR

  10-07-2018 17:58
  The Havas Group today (July 10) announced the appointment of James Wright as global chairman, Havas PR Collective, and chief executive officer of Havas PR North America.
  The Havas PR Collective is the PR and communications arm of the Havas Group, comprising over 40 agencies around the world and more than 1,500 professionals across multiple disciplines. In his new role, Wright will both drive the North America business, which has significant expansion plans, and spearhead more unified collaborati
  
  Read more

• Mark Ritson: The first rule of marketing is you are not the customer

  10-07-2018 17:29
  There is a great lowball question that you can use on anyone interviewing for a marketing role.
  Ask the candidate to imagine a leading tennis brand is looking for a new marketing manager. Two candidates make it to the final interview. The first is an ex-tennis pro who has spent the last 10 years in the lower reaches of the top 500 players and knows the game intimately. The second is a marketing manager from a soup company keen on a new challenge but with no experience of the game or prior inter
  
  Read more

• Is MediaMonks a sound first acquisition for Sir Martin Sorrell?

  10-07-2018 17:24 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Sir Martin Sorrell wasted little time in making his first acquisition since forming a new marketing services company. But is MediaMonks a sound purchase for the former WPP titan? Campaign asked industry observers to weigh in.
  
  Read more

• Is it fair game for Twitter to sell off a hashtag like #ItsComingHome?

  10-07-2018 17:24 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Twitter needs to offer commercial opportunities to brands in order to thrive, but forcing England fans to take part in mandatory gambling advertising has left a bad taste in mouths.
  
  Read more

• Toyota gets ‘serious’ about play with Avalon campaign lead by I Tonya director

  10-07-2018 17:18
  Toyota wants people to race and play in its new 2019 Avalon model, according to a new campaign, ‘Serious Play,’ that dares drivers to experience adventure, spontaneity and playfulness.
  The campaign looks to drive home the notion that the completely redesigned Avalon – designed, engineered and assembled in the US – has everything drivers need to get more out of life. The fully-integrated campaign was developed between two of Toyota’s agencies of record, inc
  
  Read more

• Amazon to host Take That gig to promote Prime membership

  10-07-2018 17:13 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Amazon is creating a series of experiences including a gig headlined by Take That to showcase the entertainment benefits of its Prime membership.
  
  Read more

• Google unveils a host of new ad formats powered by machine learning

  10-07-2018 17:07
  Ahead of today’s scheduled Google Marketing Live keynote, and just weeks after the rebrand of its advertising tool suite, the online advertising giant has unveiled a host of product updates.
  These include: responsive search ad formats powered by machine learning; YouTube tools which can better measure marketer’s branding KPIs; plus new campaign formats designed to drive tangible business results such as customer acquisition and store visits, etc.   
  The announcements were m
  
  Read more

• What World Cup? Why Wimbledon trumps its commercial rivals

  10-07-2018 16:57
  There’s a rather significant global sporting event drawing to a close this summer.  It features an array of amazing talent from top sporting nations such as England, Belgium, France and Croatia.
  You know the one – it takes place annually at a swanky tennis club in a small(ish) enclave of London’s SW19. 
  Wimbledon, so often the zenith of the British summer, has had the misfortune of drifting somewhat under the radar this year, mostly due to England’s improbable f
  
  Read more

• Smucker sells Pillsbury and other baking brands for $375m

  10-07-2018 16:53
  The J.M. Smucker Company is selling its US baking business to private equity firm Brynwood Partners for $375m in a bid to focus on other parts of the business.
  This means the company will be parting ways with brands including Pillsbury, Martha White, Hungry Jack, White Lily and Jim Dandy. According to Smucker, its baking business generated net sales of approximately $370m for the company's fiscal year that ended April 30.
  The move is part of Smucker's plan to focus on aspects of the busines
  
  Read more

• AnalogFolk appoints apparel vet Megan Murray as its NY strategy director

  10-07-2018 16:30
  Independent digital creative agency AnalogFolk has announced the appointment of Megan Murray as strategy director for the agency’s NY office.
  The newly created position comes at a time of rapid growth for AnalogFolk as it sees an increased need for strategic leadership across its roster of clients, which includes Blink Fitness, Guardian and Nike, among others.
  Murray, both a strategist and an experience designer by trade, joined AnalogFolk from Seattle-based athletic ap
  
  Read more

• Pick of the week: British Airways gives a masterclass on how to do tactical advertising

  10-07-2018 16:12 via campaignlive.co.uk
  British Airways, which has been quiet for far too long, runs an outstanding ad through Ogilvy UK, possibly winning the tournament.
  
  Read more

• Pepsi launches innovation hub to foster niche brands

  10-07-2018 15:55
  PepsiCo is launching an innovation hub in the US, dubbed ‘The Hive’, as it looks to fosters its smaller and niche brands and give them room to grow.
  In a results call for investors today (10 July), PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi revealed that the company is creating “a small entrepreneurial group” that will sit separate to the rest of the business.
  She explained: “It is a business within a business and will be taken out of the core headquarters. It’s going to be an e
  
  Read more

• Pepsi launches innovation hub ‘the hive’ to foster niche brands

  10-07-2018 15:55
  PepsiCo is launching an innovation hub in the US, dubbed ‘The Hive’, as it looks to fosters its smaller and niche brands and give them room to grow.
  In a results call for investors today (10 July), PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi revealed that the company is creating “a small entrepreneurial group” that will sit separate to the rest of the business.
  She explained: “It is a business within a business and will be taken out of the core headquarters. It’s going to be an e
  
  Read more

• Bacardi's CMO on the 'easy switch that can make a big difference' to the world

  10-07-2018 15:43 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Bacardi is doubling down on efforts to move beyond plastic drinking drinks by partnering with non-profit organisation Lonely Whale to launch campaign "The future doesn't suck".
  
  Read more

• Brewdog Pink IPA appealed to children, Portman Group rules

  10-07-2018 15:42 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Brewdog should not have used the phrase 'Beer for Girls' when it released a limited-edition beer to provoke discussion around International Women's Day, the self-regulatory drinks industry body Portman Group has ruled.
  
  Read more

• Ex-Dare creative Flo Heiss joins Wieden & Kennedy

  10-07-2018 15:31 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Wieden & Kennedy London has hired former Dare creative leader Flo Heiss as a creative director.
  
  Read more

• P&G on why diversity has to be about more than ‘showing up with a rainbow bottle’

  10-07-2018 14:58
  It’s not often that a company’s internal anniversary becomes an award-winning documentary, but in Procter & Gamble’s case that’s exactly what happened.
  In 1992 the world’s biggest advertiser became one of the first Fortune 500 companies to add sexual orientation to its equal employment opportunity (EEO) statement. This was almost entirely down to one man, Michael Chanak, the company’s first openly gay employee whose courageous and painful seven-year b
  
  Read more

• Hancock move to health secretary raises industry hopes of softer food ad restrictions

  10-07-2018 14:57 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Culture secretary Matt Hancock's move to head the Department of Health has raised hopes the government will be more receptive of industry concerns about restrictions on food advertising.
  
  Read more

• Marketoonist on innovation mindsets

  10-07-2018 14:44
  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 innovation mindsets appeared first on Marketing Week.
  
  Read more

• Sport England retains FCB Inferno but drops TV for 'This girl can'

  10-07-2018 11:59 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Sport England has retained FCB Inferno as its strategic creative agency to work on the next phase of the "This girl can" campaign which will focus on "less active groups", but not include a TV ad.
  
  Read more

• Future creative leaders on the ads that inspired them

  10-07-2018 11:09 via campaignlive.co.uk
  What inspires the industry's future creative leaders? Campaign asks some potential leaders to identify their favourite ads, and reveal where they find their inspiration now.
  
  Read more

• Pitch update: Barclaycard, Sport England, and more

  10-07-2018 11:01 via campaignlive.co.uk
  The final pitch for Barclaycard's ad account is up this week, while Alpha Century enters the new-business rankings in the top spot.
  
  Read more

• Marks & Spencer cashes in on Southgate waistcoat fever with newspaper and outdoor ads

  10-07-2018 10:37 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Marks & Spencer ran a full-page ad in today's Metro featuring England manager, Gareth "style icon" Southgate, in his trademark waistcoat and stripey tie.
  
  Read more

• Marks & Spencer cashes in on Southgate waistcoat fever with newspaper ad

  10-07-2018 10:37 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Marks & Spencer ran a full-page ad in today's Metro featuring England manager, Gareth "style icon" Southgate, in his trademark waistcoat and stripey tie.
  
  Read more

• House of Vans launches first UK festival experience at Bestival

  10-07-2018 09:34 via campaignlive.co.uk
  The London space based on sports brand Vans will showcase creativity at Bestival's 15th anniversary at Lulworth Estate, Devon.
  
  Read more

• Jeremy Wright named as fourth culture secretary in two years

  10-07-2018 09:32 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Brexit-led resignations from the Cabinet have brought the ad industry its fourth culture secretary within the space of two years, as unknown quantity Jeremy Wright takes over from Matt Hancock.
  
  Read more

• Entries open for digital out-of-home creative competition

  10-07-2018 08:46 via campaignlive.co.uk
  Entries open today (10 July) for the ninth digital out-of-home creative competition, run by Ocean in partnership with Campaign.
  
  Read more

• Ed Pilkington: Gin’s comeback proves it’s possible to revive a stagnant category

  10-07-2018 08:30
  I decided to stay close to home for this article and write about something that is close to my heart – and that’s gin.
  So, I could turn this into what would be an interesting treatise on distillation, botanicals and provenance but what I want to focus on is how an entire category that 10 years ago was stagnant, at best, is now vibrant
  There is rarely just one factor that makes a category vibrant. There may be a trigger, but normally it is down to a mix of things coming together. We&r
  
  Read more

• Understanding Pinterest: A social media ‘outsider’ or marketing gem?

  10-07-2018 08:00
  Think ‘Pinterest’ and your mind probably wanders to images of wedding venues, luxury couches and recipe ideas. Although it is a visually powerful platform, it does not traditionally scream ‘post your ad here’ and unlike other social networks it is often considered to be a bit of an outsider.
  However, with more than 200 million active ‘pinners’ worldwide using the site on a monthly basis perhaps it is not the social media introvert marketers might think it is.
  
  Read more

Follow @marketing_UKnws on Twitter!