Month: January 2019

Chefs at Kimpton’s boutique hotels are happy to say goodbye to edible dirt, molecular food and activated charcoal. Deconstructed dishes? So 2018. And bartenders at the chain plan to bust out the celery root and tarragon to spice up this year’s cocktails. Those are a few of the findings from the brand’s 2019 trend forecasting…

The board’s decisions will be binding on the specific content brought for review, while those decisions will have the potential for setting policy. The goal is to convince critics that its platform
doesn’t discriminate against users based on their views, political affiliations or other unique characteristics.

The IAB’s Tech Lab “content taxonomy” includes the categories “infertility,” “cancer” and “diabetes,” among others, advocates tell EU authorities.

Two-thirds of consumers now use an ad blocker, but they are installed mostly on desktop/laptop computers, indicating that the probability of being blocked on mobile devices is much less likely.
That’s one of the top findings of the 2019 report on ad blockers released this week by Visual Objects.

The social engagement (likes, reactions, comments, shares, fan growth, conversation volume) of brands expanded in 2018, despite some negative changes at Facebook — especially modifications made to
its News Feed in the first quarter of the year. The difference came from higher brand engagement performance on Instagram and Twitter, according to a year in review report released today by social
media tracking and analytics firm ListenFirst.

Some 24 brands with 60 pieces of creative have aired on TV through January 27, totaling $2.9 million in TV spend. TV ad data is down from the same period in 2018, when 36 brands aired 86 creative
pieces ($38.8 million in TV spend).

Marketers are moving away from gender-based stereotypes with targeting strategies, but many are uncertain how to do it. Stereotypes remain strong in products for babies, laundry and household
cleaners. About 98% of marketers target these products to females, according to Kantar data released Monday.

Several months ago, I saw an interesting story on MSNBC. A new study had found that since 1994 the percentage of Democrats and Republicans who disapprove of the other party each rose from only about
15% to more than 50%. This is a staggering increase in polarization over the past 25 years. The anchor struggled to come up with a reason, seemingly oblivious to the obvious — MSNBC and Fox News both
debuted in 1996. In this week’s report, I examine the impact.

Casper may have started as a mattress company, but since then, it’s expanded into other areas of the sleep realm: bedding, bedroom furniture, pillows and even dog beds. But its latest product release is a new expedition for the brand as Casper’s first to incorporate technology. Casper Glow, which launches today, is something of a…

Planters has gotten plenty of mileage out of its Nutmobiles since 1935, when the company first put a peanut-shaped car on the road to drum up attention. The enormous motorized legumes have since crisscrossed the country, popping up everywhere from the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade to fans’ birthday parties. So it was probably just a…