Month: February 2018

The lack of transparency in the world of online media–which has led some to describe today’s content landscape as the “Wild Wild West”–has long been an elephant in the room. But for brand marketers, 2018 is the year that it becomes the focal point of conversation. At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, I had the…

Snap Inc. is ramping up its strategy of offering smaller advertisers free ad credits and discounts on creative services in the hopes that some of those brands will continue advertising on Snapchat. Snap introduced its Snap Accelerate program last October as a way of providing venture-capital-backed startups, incubators and accelerator programs with access to benefits…

In our world of liquid expectations, how can marketers continually evolve strategy to keep pace? Ever since Mad Men days, the chief marketing officer has been in charge of the brand and has been the person who knows the customer best–that hasn’t changed. What has changed is that instead of marketing to the customer, the…

While Amazon Go–a sans-checkout shopping experience in Seattle, Wash.–has already been making waves, Amazon Stores has been flying under the radar. The free self-service offering from Amazon Marketing Services allows brands to create pages at Amazon.com/brandname and, theoretically, own more of a branded experience on Amazon–if shoppers can find them. The option became available in…

BARCELONA–CNN President Jeff Zucker suggested U.S. regulators should consider looking into Facebook and Google to determine whether the two companies have a monopoly or duopoloy on the monetization of internet content. The remarks came during an on-stage interview on Monday at the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona, where Zucker was asked about the…

Upfront season is already here, as Disney kicks things off later today with its kids upfront at Disney World. It’s also the first of several upfront events involving companies that will be affected by Disney’s pending $52.4 billion acquisition of 21st Century Fox. But because that deal will take 12 to 18 months to close,…

Soccer can bring people together despite their differences, says a new campaign from Mastercard starring 22 fans from around the globe, as well as Brazilian great Pel?. The three-minute ad, created by McCann New York and McCann Worldgroup Europe, opens by interviewing men from different countries who share two common traits–a love of football, and…

J. Walter Thompson today announced it’s shaking up its U.S. and global leadership team with several C-suite level appointments, including that of Simon Pearce to CEO of North America. Pearce previously served as mcgarrybowen’s U.S. CEO. “Simon joined the agency in 2015 and has been a significant player in the resurgence and growth of mcgarrybowen…

Google will release the Brand Leaderboard infographic at Mobile World Congress Monday to illustrate the leaders in mobile speed from Forbes’ Most Valuable Brands list. ESPN.com leads with a 1.4-second
load time, followed by Apple with 1.5 seconds. Starbucks, Lexus, and Zara round out the top three with 1.6 seconds, 1.8 seconds and 1.8 seconds, respectively.

Agency CEOs have a distinct challenge in politically fraught times — do they take clear positions on the key issues of the day? Or do they avoid alienating clients or potential clients with specific
political stances?