Marketing news

• Bacardi preps for Halloween with zombie-themed spot that borrows from horror classics

  24-09-2018 22:34
  Halloween costume and party planning has already begun, and Bacardi is betting that people are ready for the frights and delights of the season.
  All summer, Bacardi celebrated its dance-filled campaign, ‘Do What Moves You,’ but come Halloween, the brand will make people move by jumping out of their seats with a spooky new Halloween cocktail film reminiscent of old-school horror flicks, by BBDO New York.
  More than just a recipe video, Bacardi’s Halloween cocktail film draws
  
  Read more

• Ogilvy turns 70: WPP shop shares how it's staying relevant

  24-09-2018 22:19
  CEO John Seifert and next generation leader Carina De Blois talk about Ogilvy's future and how it fits into the ever-morphing industry.
  
  Read more

• MLB and Majestic detail the ‘journey of a jersey’ for #PonleAcento Hispanic heritage push

  24-09-2018 22:01
  Major League Baseball (MLB) and its official uniform supplier Majestic have released a video for the baseball league’s annual #PonleAcento (Put an accent on it) campaign for Hispanic Heritage Month.
  The ad, created with the help of LA-based creative agency and production studio Little Ugly, details from start to finish the process of creating one of the authentic jerseys that the league’s fielders all wear.
  Last year, the MLB unveiled its league-wide initiative to add the accent mark
  
  Read more

• Old Spice gets weird with beards and Kelce brothers in Beard Collection campaign

  24-09-2018 21:26
  Old Spice continues its weirdness and gets down to “beardness” with the debut of new Old Spice Beard Collection, the brand’s first-ever beard care lineup to help guys achieve the soft, nourished and sculpted beards of their dreams, and the brand has enlisted famous bearded NFL brothers to promote the line.
  Old Spice has teamed up with Jason Kelce of Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs, to star in the brand’s advertising campa
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Wunderman grabs majority stake in Dutch Salesforce specialists Emark

  24-09-2018 20:53
  Wunderman has announced the acquisition of a majority stake in Emark, a marketing technology performance company that delivers marketing and advertising technology solutions for data-driven and personalized customer interaction.
  The martech company delivers Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud, Service Cloud, DMP, and advertising technology such as Facebook Advertising and Google Ads, as a single, integrated solution. Emark has also provided Salesforce multi-cloud strategy and solutions in
  
  Read more

• Apple closes $400m deal on Shazam, looks to remove ads from music recognition app

  24-09-2018 20:05
  Apple has officially closed its deal on music recognition app Shazam, which was first announced in December.
  The reported $400m deal has paired Shazam’s services, downloaded by over a billion people worldwide, with Apple’s suite of hardware and software, notably Apple Music. Techcrunch, which had first announced the financial details, confirmed.
  As part of the deal, Apple announced that it will be making the Shazam experience ad-free. The music identifier has worked with brands
  
  Read more

• The UN launches unsettling ‘Feed Our Future’ social and cinema campaign to help end hunger

  24-09-2018 19:28
  A global cinema and social campaign featuring leading names from the film, advertising and humanitarian worlds launched today (24 September), aimed at stirring global audiences into action to tackle global hunger.
  The campaign, which finds itself in theaters across the world and on Facebook and Instagram, coincides with the launch of the annual United Nations General Assembly session in New York.
  Sawa, the Global Cinema Advertising Association, in association with the United Nations World Food P
  
  Read more

• Global’s move into out-of-home makes sense, just look at Germany's Ströer

  24-09-2018 18:29
  Last week, radio firm Global acquired both Primesight and Outdoor Plus as it looks to become a major player in the out-of-home space. Media veteran Charlie Makin explains why the landmark deal was a no-brainer.
  Ströer are Germany’s third biggest domestic media owner. Historically, it used to be a poster company, but in the last few years, it’s made nearly a hundred acquisitions of other media owners, mainly buying digital assets. It also resells the digi
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• ‘Use Your Vote’ from Levi’s and FCB inspires people to get to the polls

  24-09-2018 18:16
  Many people in the US take their right to vote for granted, as is evidenced in low poll numbers in the last few elections. To inspire people to flex their voting muscles, FCB West, in partnership with Levi’s, has launched a multifaceted ‘Vote’ campaign developed to ensure that eligible voters can exercise their right to vote on November 6.
  This new movement reminds the world of the power a single vote can hold, and it encourages the public to get informed, get involved, get reg
  
  Read more

• Creative Works EMEA featuring Adam&Eve/DDB, Fold 7, Text100 and more

  24-09-2018 18:15
  Welcome to The Drum Creative Works, supported by Workfront.
  As always, this section is dedicated to showing the best creative work of the past week from Europe, the Middle East and Africa. We're using our five-star voting system, so to vote for your favourite, make sure you click on the stars.
  For project information, credits and more click on the project to expand to full screen. You can submit your own work via our online form.
  For voting updates and more follow The Drum Creativ
  
  Read more

• BBH lands global Western Union business

  24-09-2018 18:01
  UK and US activity was previously handled by Mcgarrybowen.
  
  Read more

• Mindshare taps Carat exec James Harris as global strategy chief

  24-09-2018 17:40
  Mindshare, under WPP's media arm GroupM has hired former Carat global digital and data chief James Harris as its global chief strategy officer
  During Harris' time at Carat, he oversaw the agency network's digital capabilities and drove digital strategy and solutions for its global roster.  Previously, he was AOL's international head of agencies, and IPG Mediabrands managing director of digital services. 
  Harris also either was a founder or co-founder a number of agencies, includin
  
  Read more

• Marketing lifehacks for engaging Generation Z

  24-09-2018 16:57
  For a long time, brand marketers have focused their efforts on attracting millennial consumers, a tech-savvy generation who tend to be driven by the entire experience of buying a product. Gen Z, motivated by purchases that stretch the value of money spent, hold the highest lifetime value of any consumer segment.
  Tech-native, they are the first generation to be raised with the iPhone, Netflix and Snapchat, which may lead you to believe that the best way to engage this notoriously finicky generati
  
  Read more

• How Alibaba’s ecosystem will ensure its artificial intelligence gets a real education

  24-09-2018 16:53
  Last week, I attended the Alibaba Cloud Computing Conference, an annual showcase of its latest tech and innovations.
  The theme was ‘Empower Digital China’ but also served as a reminder of how powerful Alibaba is. Its roots may lie in e-commerce, but through its machine learning systems and its cloud computing services, it has extended into almost every facet of Chinese life.
  Smart retail, hotels, driverless cars, robotics, logistics, payment systems all feed into its vast e
  
  Read more

• Saatchi & Saatchi hires 72andSunny New York's Guillermo Vega to fill CCO role

  24-09-2018 16:49
  Vega, who is also a founder of Wieden & Kennedy São Paulo, replaces Andy Jex.
  
  Read more

• Solving the omnichannel problem with 'Headless CMS'

  24-09-2018 16:26
  As marketers and advertisers, you may or may not have heard the term ‘headless’. Outside of technical and digital circles, the level of understanding of this term varies considerably.
  ‘Headless’ is often used broadly to describe a ‘microservices’ model of system architecture. Traditional architectures often consist of large systems, covering a wide range of functions (e.g. content management, ecommerce, email and digital marketing) all under one roof, e.g. Sit
  
  Read more

• Bringing programmatic buying to out-of-home

  24-09-2018 16:15
  The process of digital out-of-home (OOH) ad buying has been turned on its head. It used to be that “programmatic” meant one bid request equaled one ad, which equaled one impression. Now, as digital OOH has gone programmatic, that one bid request for that one ad to a mass scale medium could equal hundreds of impressions.
  Wade Rifkin, the senior vice president of programmatic for Clear Channel Outdoor Americas, announced last year that his company launched the nation’s first prog
  
  Read more

• Diageo's Bulleit Bourbon funds tattooed leather mural

  24-09-2018 15:36
  The piece will be unveiled in London before travelling to other European cities.
  
  Read more

• Diageo's Bulleit Bourbon funds tattooed leather billboard

  24-09-2018 15:36
  The piece will be unveiled in London before travelling to other European cities.
  
  Read more

• Ben Davis: The dream of voice commerce is fading

  24-09-2018 15:35
  There is something incredibly elegant about smart speakers. The concept is tantalising.
  Voice interfaces just make sense – we naturally assume they will be frictionless. Intuitive interfaces in computing have been regarded by some people as somewhat of a fallacy but smart speakers seem like they might change that. When Amazon’s Echo came along, many people were excited about its potential to improve the lives of people who were not yet computer-literate, such as some elderly users.
  
  Read more

• Powwownow rebrands as it expands from conference calling into web meetings

  24-09-2018 15:34
  Communications software company, Powwownow has rebranded to showcase its evolution from conference calling into web meetings.
  As part of the rebranding, a campaign, 'A new kind of web meeting', created by Truant London, has been launched to target individuals and companies. 
  Simon Prince, marketing director at Powwownow, said: “Over the last 10 years the Powwownow team has built a brand synonymous with best-in-class conference calling technology. However, as our product offering
  
  Read more

• Sue Ryder refreshes brand as it aims to provide more care to people by 2023

  24-09-2018 14:59
  National Healthcare provider Sue Ryder has launched a new look, website and messaging to raise awareness about the charity and the work it does.
  It aims to support the company's ambition to provide more care to people by 2023. 
  Heidi Travis, Sue Ryder’s chief executive officer explained: “In order for us to grow further, provide more care, further develop our services, and expand our influence, we need to be able to reach even more people. A strong brand is crucial to
  
  Read more

• Ad Council rebrands with new visual identity, campaign models and capabilities

  24-09-2018 14:31
  The Ad Council has announced its most significant rebrand in its 75-year history. This includes an evolution in how it works with corporate brands to address the country’s most pressing social issues, an expansion of its content creation model, leveraging technological innovations that advance communications for social causes, as well as a new brand platform and visual identity created by WPP branding agency Superunion.
  Since the organization's founding, the Ad Council – the US&rsquo
  
  Read more

• Weight Watchers sheds diet image to become WW – a 'wellness' brand

  24-09-2018 14:21
  55 years after it was first founded, Weight Watchers has changed its name to WW as part of a wholesale change in strategy that will see the company shift its focus from dieting to wellness. 
  Under a new strapline, 'Wellness that Works', the once diet membership company is rebranding its entire offering for a market where health and sustainability are taking precedence over size. 
  WW said it will now: focus on a new programme called WellnessWins which rewards members for "smal
  
  Read more

• Pandora to be acquired by SiriusXM for $3.5bn

  24-09-2018 14:10
  Music streaming service Pandora has agreed to be acquired by SiriusXM in a stock deal worth $3.5bn.
  The deal will see the satellite radio company take over control of Pandora during the first quarter of 2019 to aid its battle in competing with Spotify, Apple Music and Google Play Music to reach ears.
  Sirius XM chief executive Jim Meyer commented: "We have long respected Pandora and the team for its popular consumer offering that has attracted a massive audience, and have
  
  Read more

• Mindshare hires Carat's James Harris as global chief strategy officer

  24-09-2018 14:06
  Harris leaves Carat after three years.
  
  Read more

• Localised marketing, GDPR, digital skills: 5 killer stats to start your week

  24-09-2018 13:59
  1. Consumers have mixed views on location-based marketing
  Only 27% of UK smartphone users are comfortable with brands using their location data, with 48% stating they are even uncomfortable with their mobile storing data about their location.
  However, despite this 43% find location-based communications helpful if it comes from a store they’ve already used, compared to 24% if there is no existing relationship.
  Meanwhile, six-in-10 people (59%) believe big brands should be doing more to sup
  
  Read more

• MDC Partners to explore sale of the company

  24-09-2018 13:09
  Marketing network, MDC Partners has decided to explore a potential sale having released a statement around its strategic options. 
  It is uncertain whether the company will pursue any action or transaction and there is no timeline for completing the review process. The news comes amid the company's search to identify a new chief executive.
  MDC Partners chief Scott Kauffman recently announced exit after three years in the job. MDC Partners already sold 15% stake to Goldman Sachs in $95m deal
  
  Read more

• 'Parallel journeys' – why Comcast bid over the odds for Sky

  24-09-2018 13:00
  Sky shareholders have accepted a £30bn takeover bid from Comcast. With this deal, Comcast has snatched the European pay-TV and broadband firm from the clutches of rival Fox, while doubling its customer base and establishing a sizeable operation in Europe.
  The internet and media giant was keen to expand its global footprint and bolster its original content capabilities – much like AT&T is planning with HBO – to fortify against Netflix and stave a generation of
  
  Read more

• WFA chief Stephan Loerke on brand safety, GDPR and what makes a top marketer today

  24-09-2018 12:54
  The World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) and The Drum have partnered to find the next Global Marketer of the Year. As the 30 September deadline for entries nears, The Drum caught up with WFA chief executive Stephan Loerke to find out what’s leading the global marketing agenda and what he believes makes a top marketer today.
  What would you say is the biggest challenge facing global marketers today?
  People - the decreasing trust by people in digital marketing. It's the mother
  
  Read more

• Gory Habito animation juxtaposes mortgage hell with homeowner heaven

  24-09-2018 12:47
  Habito doesn’t hold back with arresting animation that, with the help of 100 evil dead hands, humorously illustrates that you ‘don’t have to go through hell to get a mortgage.’
  Juxtaposing the 'hellish' confusion, cost, time and stress generally associated with mortgage applications, with its 'heavenly' easier experience, the pioneering online mortgage broker wishes to capitalise on the general dread that engulfs consumers when they need to a
  
  Read more

• Eminem takes criticism in his stride with suicidal Kamikaze advertisement

  24-09-2018 11:31
  US rapper Eminem has proven there is no such thing as bad publicity after taking a series of scathing reviews to heart in a full-page advertisement for his latest album in the Hollywood Reporter.
  Kamikaze marks the tenth studio album to be produced by the star but threatened to be dead on arrival after a succession of reviewers dismissed the work as everything from a ‘…stale misfire…’ to ‘… the work of an ageing artist, trying and failing to remain relevant
  
  Read more

• Five times Nike pushed boundaries with its marketing

  24-09-2018 11:18
  Nike has been in the news recently for its latest ads backing controversial athletes Colin Kaepernick, Serena Williams and Caster Semenya, but it's far from the first time the brand has created provocative or ambitious work.
  
  Read more

• Zalora fills vacant CMO role after hiring former Red Bull head of digital

  24-09-2018 11:15
  Zalora has tapped former Red Bull head of digital Elias Pour as its new chief marketing officer, finally filling a position that has been vacant for the past five years since the departure of Bastian Purrer.
  Purrer was in the CMO position for only a year after taking over the role from Claudia Campos Hogan in 2013, who departed less than six months into the role.
  Pour will lead a team of over 150 people, overseeing the full marketing operations of for the fashion e-
  
  Read more

• M&C Saatchi Mobile repositions itself as M&C Saatchi Performance

  24-09-2018 11:00
  M&C Saatchi Mobile is dropping its mobile-focused name for M&C Saatchi Performance, in order to better reflect the fact that people are now device agnostic.
  The repositioning aims to particularly reflect the modern world's ‘hyperconnectivity’ as connected devices and 5G push the level of data and complexity in marketing.
  James Hilton remains global chief executive of the business, while the Asia business will also still be run by Asia Pacific managing director Chris Steedman.
  
  Read more

• Cadbury's Roses spends £2.8m on first TV campaign in 20 years

  24-09-2018 10:52
  Cadbury has invested£2.8m in its first TV campaign in two-decades as it looks to mark the 80 year anniversary of the Roses brand.
  The campaign, created by VCCP,  sees the return of Roses memorable slogan ‘Thank You Very Much,’ which was last seen on screens in 1998. 
  This homage to Roses past aims to not only evoke nostalgia for the brand, but according to Cadbury's marketing manager Michael Moore, also remind its customers that “thank yous are just as
  
  Read more

• Superdrug offers doughnut-dipping and ball pit experience to promote mobile network

  24-09-2018 10:45
  Activation is part of Westfield London's annual student event.
  
  Read more

• Double digit growth sees global digital marketing spend close in on $100bn

  24-09-2018 10:43
  The latest estimates for global digital marketing spend indicate that the sector could be worth as much as $100bn on the back of double-digit growth in the US and UK last year which saw the sector reach $52bn.
  Compiled by accountancy firm Moore Stephens, the survey was conducted in partnership with ad and media consultancy WARC, incorporating results from 800 firms across North America, Asia-Pacific and Europe.
  Overall, brands in the US and UK allocated 23% of their budgets to digital marketing
  
  Read more

• WPP digital consolidation drive set to draw Young & Rubicam into VML fold

  24-09-2018 10:10
  WPP is reportedly embarking upon a process of significant consolidation of its digital businesses as it seeks to remain fleet of foot in a rapidly evolving industry.
  That process is expected to see Young & Rubicam merge with digital ad firm VML according to a report in the Wall Street Journal, with VML CEO Jon Cook taking the reins of the combined entity once the dust has settled.
  The WSJ went on to suggest that the group’s direct-marketing company Wunderman has entered talks to work w
  
  Read more

• JD.com international expansion continues with South Korea launch

  24-09-2018 10:09
  JD.com, China’s largest retailer and second largest e-commerce player, has launched an office in South Korea as it continues its global expansion.
  JD will open an office in Seoul’s central business district in a bid to connect local brands with JD’s more than 300 million customers and increase the company’s procurement power in the region.
  South Korea’s skincare and cosmetics products are extremely popular with Chinese consumers, as are Korean baby and maternity, fo
  
  Read more

• Cadbury launches first TV ad for Roses in 20 years as it urges people to ‘get off social media’

  24-09-2018 10:00
  Cadbury Roses is launching its first major campaign in more than 20 years to celebrate the product’s 80th anniversary.
  The 30-second spot follows a young boy who thanks people by saying “Roses” instead of thank you, much to his father’s bemusement. From waitresses to drivers his father becomes increasingly baffled until it transpires he overheard two teachers discussing how the best way to say thank you is with Roses.
  Michael Moore, senior brand manager for Cadbury Roses
  
  Read more

• UK adspend growth forecast upgraded despite Brexit uncertainty

  24-09-2018 09:47
  Zenith report expects the UK to remain fourth in the list of top 10 ad markets in 2020.
  
  Read more

• Carabao targets Chinese men with quirky green energy burst campaigns

  24-09-2018 09:46
  Carabao, the energy drink brand, is promoting the “green energy” burst people experience after drinking the product in a campaign targeting Chinese men.
  The campaign, which was created by BBH China, showcases the benefits of the energy that drinkers experience from the product in a series of quirky executions. The ads depict young men in everyday situations, such as the office or in the crowd at a sports event, who capitalise on the extra energy from the drink.
  The integrated campaig
  
  Read more

• eBay sets up shop in Wolverhampton for PR push

  24-09-2018 09:36
  Online marketplace eBay is seeking to prove it can be a friend as well as foe of the High Street by embarking on a year-long partnership with the city of Wolverhampton to give smaller retailers a bigger online presence.
  The collaboration will see staff from the online firm set up shop in the city for 12 months, during which time they will provide support to retailers seeking to establish themselves online or grow their existing presence.
  To rectify this state of affairs eBay will provide one-on-
  
  Read more

• Farah Ramzan Golant returns with EMEA expansion brief for Sid Lee owner Kyu

  24-09-2018 09:26
  Ramzan Golant previously led All3Media and the Nike Foundation's Girl Effect.
  
  Read more

• Doctor's orders: how Ali Parsa plans to make digital health startup Babylon 'the Google of healthcare'

  24-09-2018 09:00
  For the latest installment of our Big Interview series where we catch up with some of the world’s most exciting business leaders, The Drum makes an appointment with Ali Parsa – founder and chief exec of digital health startup Babylon – to find out about his plans to become the Google of healthcare.
  “I was in Brussels for a speaking engagement when I got very ill, with a high temperature. As I got off the stage and made my way to the cab I made an appointment with a doctor
  
  Read more

• Management consultancies: 'The smart agencies are trying to work with us'

  24-09-2018 08:55
  Advertising agencies have nothing to fear from consultancies and should be trying to work with them, not against them, according to senior executives at Accenture, KPMG and PwC.
  The comments come as Australia’s management consultancies have stepped up their marketing services divisions, hiring new talent from brand and agency backgrounds and acquiring marketing businesses.
  In the last twelve months, the likes of Accenture, Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, have all ramped up their CMO and Marketing
  
  Read more

• Helen Tupper: Declutter your career to get back on track

  24-09-2018 08:33
  Our engagement at work is at a destructively low level, according to polling company Gallup’s most recent Annual State of the Global Workforce report, with only 11% of people in the UK identified as being actively involved and enthusiastic about their jobs (four percentage points lower than the global average of 15%).
  This low level of engagement is both destructive to the UK economy (costing over £80bn in lost productivity) and employees’ mental health, with 21% of people act
  
  Read more

• Tesla, RBS, Schweppes: Everything that matters this morning

  24-09-2018 08:30
  Tesla sued for fraud
  Elon Musk and Tesla have been sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for fraud.
  The US financial regulator says the claims Musk made in August about having “funding secured” to take Tesla private were “false and misleading”.
  “According to Musk, he calculated the $420 price per share based on a 20% premium over that day’s closing share price because he thought 20% was a ‘standard premium’ in going-private transact
  
  Read more

• Next, Instagram, Shazam: Everything that matters this morning

  24-09-2018 08:30
  Next sales up 4.5% after summer heatwave boost
  Next has seen a 4.5% boost to full price sales during the half year to 31 July compared to the same period last year. This figure exceeds the 1% growth advised in January and the 2.2% growth expected back in May.
  In a statement the brand explained it feared that there was a “high risk” any sales gained in July “would be offset by losses in August”. However, as the company did “not experience any material loss of sales
  
  Read more

Follow @marketing_UKnws on Twitter!