The Hot College Gig: Online Brand Promoter Technology

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Natori Lingerie Celebrates Diversity

Natori Lingerie Celebrates Diversity

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Designer lingerie brand Natori is launching a nationwide campaign that aims to celebrate the diverse backgrounds, ages, body shapes and sizes of its customers.

#MyNatori is a departure from the brand’s traditional campaigns, which are generally geared toward generating awareness for new product styles or fashion colors. 

Instead, Natori chose to focus on the basic colors of its most popular bra styles: Feathers (originally released January 2009), Flora (February 2017), Pure Luxe (October 2014), and Bliss Perfection (May 2015). These bras are featured on women of all ages, shapes, ethnicities and sizes, and interspersed with testimonials from real Natori customers.

The #MyNatori campaign is a nod to the brand’s more than 40-year commitment to honoring its own international origins (it was founded by Josie Natori, a fashion designer from the Philippines) for its labels including Josie Natori, Natori, Josie, and N Natori, says Ken Natori, company president.

“We create fashion with the goal of making women feel special," Natori tells Marketing Daily. "As we conceived this campaign, we wanted to make sure everything from creative to distribution gave all women that same sense of importance and inclusion.

"From our product ideation to our charitable work, the latter of which is focused on organizations that empower and educate women around the world, we center our company around women. We wanted to make sure this campaign reflected that mission.”

The campaign launches Sept. 4 with four videos and still photo content from Cool Gray Station on social media and digital channels, and the phased unveiling of 14 influencer collaborations. The campaign extends outdoors on Sept. 17 to Taxi TV, digital bus shelters and taxi tops in New York City, San Francisco and Chicago. It will run through the end of October.    

Natori worked with The Shell to identify 14 social media influencers to represent the spirit of the campaign through social media content, such as Russian triple jumper Anna Krylova and style blogger Ashley Dorough.

Natori is working with Blue Line Media on all outdoor components. New York City communications firm Channel V Media has partnered with Natori on earned media awareness. 

Inspiration for the #MyNatori campaign came from insights provided by Natori’s on-the-ground store coordinators and artificial intelligence marketing partner Albert. The coordinators, who work directly with the brand’s brick-and-mortar retail partners, suggested that Natori use models that more closely represent the brand’s evolving audience. This sentiment was reiterated by Albert, which identified a number of high-value audience niches that would benefit from creative designed specifically to reflect their unique needs.

The Natori team committed to focusing on campaigns more reflective of the brand's diverse roots. The campaign slogan — “Your shade. Your size. Your fit. Your desire.” — translates the brand’s everyday philosophy into language that speaks directly to the consumer, according to the company.

Creating content that better represents customers was only step one, says Ken Natori. Making sure customers see it is step two.

Albert will enable Natori to scale its reach with precision audience segmentation and targeting on social media channels, while programmatic partner FuelX will extend the campaign’s presence on digital.channels. 

And when it comes to the brand's AI partner, "Albert doesn’t target a specific demographic or interest; instead, he discovers them," Mark Kirschner, CMO of Albert, tells Marketing Daily.

"His insights are far more granular than broad demographic ranges, however," adds Kirschner. "[Albert] detects highly nuanced patterns across online users and converts those into insights, such as 'women with college degrees who work in arts, entertainment and media, make more than $75,000/year and live on the west coast are likely to click on ads featuring purple.'"

Because Albert's working at machine speed, he’s always micro-testing new audiences, Kirschner adds.

"When he discovers a new audience that is performing really well, he lets his marketer colleagues know so they can take the discovery into account when planning strategy. It was just such insights that contributed to the genesis of this campaign," Kirschner says. 

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August 31, 2018 at 07:13PM

Finding A Balance On Social Channels

Finding A Balance On Social Channels

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Social touches every single department, relationships with other teams are crucial to push forward the vision and belief, says Sarah Neal Simpson, Global Social Lead, Uber. You're dealing with customer services questions, influencers, celebrities and that's where it becomes a much bigger undertaking. If you're social completely, it's much bigger than an Instagram post. Jennifer Mangold, Senior Manager, Global Social Media, HomeAway.com, agrees and says her company is working to take the customer service element out of social as it's such a big part of it. Listen to them discuss the ways in which DTC companies are finding a balance and building brands in social.



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August 31, 2018 at 03:44PM

5 Types of Content Attracting Paying Customers

5 Types of Content Attracting Paying Customers

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Google has long recognized the importance of content. Marketers for the most part agree that brands need a content strategy.

Content attracts visitors to your site and builds trust and a relationship with your audience as well as awareness and authority for your brand. It also helps marketers rank on Google and the search engines, and is highly cost-effective.

There's a reason that content is one of the most important Google search ranking factors. It's all about making users happy.

Content is how you deliver useful or helpful information to people who need to solve a problem or find an answer to a question.

Google's search results are the Google experience. The content (the search results) are links to other (usually) relevant content.

By providing high-quality search results to its billions of monthly users, Google attracts paying customers (advertisers) to its biggest revenue driver (Google Ads).

Your job is no different. You must deliver high-quality content in the most effective form possible to attract customers or clients and generate revenue.

According to research from Sprout Social, people want certain things from content discounts or sales, information about new products or services, or to be taught something, entertained, or inspired.

It's time to give consumers the content they want, but what types of content actually convince and persuade visitors to become paying customers?

Blogging? We're no longer living in 2008. It's time to get with the times. Infographics? Sure, you might get some social shares, but will anyone remember that your company designed it? Not likely.

Your content marketing efforts could be much better spent elsewhere. Here are five types of content that will actually attract paying customers.

1. Video

What better way to showcase your new or existing products or services than with a video?

You can also use video to teach people how to use your product. Some people learn much better by seeing something in action for a couple of minutes than reading hundreds or thousands of words about it.

YouTube has more than a billion users -- your target audience most likely spends some time there.

Although it has been around for more than a decade, there is still plenty of opportunity to be found via search on YouTube (and Google's video search results).

A little YouTube SEO will lead prospects further down the path to conversion -- and becoming a paying customer.

Important tip: make sure that you make it easy for people who discover you on YouTube by adding links to the most relevant pages on your website.

2. Webinars

Webinars help you build trust and your authority -- and you will also get the email addresses of every attendee.

In addition to teaching potential customers something new and of value, you can use webinars as a way to offer some type of discount or promotion for one of your products or services.

Bonus: companies can repurpose webinars into other forms of content that can increase your organic search visibility.

3. Lead Magnet

Giving away premium content for free in exchange for an email is another great way to engage potential customers, demonstrate your authority, and build trust.

What is a lead magnet? It might be an original research report, survey results, an ebook, a white paper or a useful/helpful guide. The key here is giving people something of quality in exchange for their email address. You can now begin the process of email nurturing.

4. Email Newsletters

Speaking of email, newsletters are another great piece of content to convert fans into customers or clients.

These are people who know you and like what you have to offer -– and they want to know all about your latest updates, deals, or products/services.

People who demonstrate loyalty by signing up for your email newsletters are more likely to become paying customers.

5. An Audit

An audit is the ultimate in personalized content.

Although you might not think of an audit as traditional "content" (because it won't ever be published on the web), this type of content has converted numerous leads into paying customers or clients.

But the return on your investment in time is much higher on an audit than on a blog post that gets little organic traffic and few shares/links.

For example, some SEO or digital marketing agencies offer a free SEO or content audit to reveal any technical issues that may reduce a website's rankings and overall visibility.

An audit works because it helps demonstrate your expertise and convinces the client that they have some serious issues and need your professional help to fix them.

Some of these may seem obvious. If that's the case, why are so many businesses and brands wasting time on writing blog posts that get so few views and don't rank or get shared?

Update your content marketing playbook. Add these five types of content into your strategy to attract more qualified traffic and leads.

 

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August 31, 2018 at 02:18PM

Marketers Spent 165% More On Amazon Sponsored Product Ads In Q2

Marketers Spent 165% More On Amazon Sponsored Product Ads In Q2

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Performance-marketing agency Merkle released its Q2 2018 Digital Marketing Report (DMR) on July 19, analyzing trends across paid and organic search, social media and display. The data provides insights into trends across Amazon, Bing, Google, Instagram, Facebook and Yahoo.

Some of the most interesting findings point to Amazon search ads, which continue to grow in popularity.

Marketers spent more on Sponsored Products ads -- up 165% -- during the second quarter of 2018. This ad group continues to account for the majority of Amazon search investment, taking 88% spend share in the second quarter.

They also drive the highest sales per click for advertisers among Amazon’s search formats.

While Sponsored Products took the majority of ad spend in the quarter, the amount spent on Headline Search Ads also rose, up 162% year-over-year (YoY).

Analyzing advertising bids on both formats, Sponsored Products and Headline Search Ads clicks convert at more than three times the rate of Google Shopping ad clicks, according to the report. The report also calls out many advertisers on Google Shopping that do not sell on Amazon and thus do not bid on Amazon’s ad formats, while some Amazon sellers don’t sell through Google Shopping.

It’s also important to note that the CTR for Amazon Sponsored Products comes out to less than half that of Google Shopping. Merkle attributes this largely to the presence of Headline Search Ads at the top of Amazon search results, which Sponsored Products also serves up.

Google Shopping ads compete with text ads for clicks, but typically serve above text ads when both formats appear. Headline Search Ads CTR was 42% higher than Google Shopping in the second quarter of 2018.

Spending on Google Shopping ads rose 31% in the quarter -- more than five times the rate of growth for Google text ads. While Google text ad spending growth improved by 6% -- up from 4% sequentially -- the rate remains well below the levels seen throughout 2017.

Impression growth for Shopping Ads has been healthy, likely cannibalizing impressions for text ads, according to the data.

It is clear from Merkle’s numbers that marketers are spending more on mobile. Spending on desktop Google search ads plummeted in the second quarter. Desktop grew a mere 12% YoY, its lowest rate of growth since the third quarter in 2016.

Search ads for mobile on Google rose 37% YoY in the quarter. Tablet spending declined 2%, up from an 11% decline a quarter earlier.

This column was previously published in the Search Insider on July 19, 2018.

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August 31, 2018 at 01:47PM

Carl's Jr., Hardee's Woos Young Adults With Froot Loops Donuts

Carl's Jr., Hardee's Woos Young Adults With Froot Loops Donuts

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Looking to draw more millennial and Gen Z patrons for breakfast, Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s are zeroing in on these younger generations’ well-known penchant for sweet, nostalgic cereals. 

The sibling QSR brands have teamed with Kellogg’s to offer Froot Loops Mini Donuts — an item that also plays on young adults’ tendency to consume their sweet cereals as snacks, sans milk. 

The selection of the colorful donuts, said to “exactly” replicate the taste of Froot Loops, are available for a limited time in a portable pack priced at $1.99. 

They’re being supported with a digital #NotMilk campaign, from the brands’ in-house agency, comprising 7- and 16-second videos that lightly parody the famed “Got Milk” campaign. 

One execution (below) specifically promotes the “not milk” theme, including a guy sporting a colorful (not white) mustache, while another shows Froot Loops in a cereal bowl turning into donuts when the bowl is flipped over. 

The restaurant brands have also teamed with celebrities, including 90’s heartthrob Mario Lopez and Catherine Giudici, winner of the 17^th season of “The Bachelor,” to use social to encourage fans to post photos of themselves with colorful mustaches, on Twitter and Instagram, using #NotMilk and #FrootLoopsMiniDonuts. Some submissions will be featured on the brands’ social channels. 

With sales of cold cereal brands other than the sweet throwback ones still lagging, the exposure for the Froot Loops brand (and presumably some remuneration from the donut sales) is also a no-lose for Kellogg’s. 

Last summer, the cereal maker launched a “Whatever Froots Your Loops” campaign specifically targeting millennials, by selling colorful merchandise co-branded with hip brands like Neff. It was Froot Loops’ first new campaign since its introduction in 1963. 

Millennials have been called “cereal killers” because they’ve depressed the category’s sales by mostly shunning the cold-cereal-with-milk breakfast scene. But a 2017 Mintel study found that 53% of them report having eaten cereal as a dry snack at home, versus just 32% of baby boomers. And Gen Z is the cohort most likely (21%) to eat cereal as an on-the-go snack.

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August 31, 2018 at 12:04PM

Penn State Shifts Focus Toward Students In New Campaign

Penn State Shifts Focus Toward Students In New Campaign

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This year's Penn State recruitment campaign is focusing more closely on students themselves rather than alumni, professors, or sports. 

The creative, from Decoded Advertising, shows real students to suggest how an idea progresses from its beginnings in a notebook to the broader community and world. 

"Rooted in this work is the shared belief in the importance of positive ideas, which helps re-instill a sense of pride in the University," says Matt Rednor, founder, Decoded Advertising. "Every university is focused on the things they do as an institution while the passions of the students come second." He adds, "It’s the 'why-we-do-things' that brings us together to make things happen." 

Decoded has shifted Penn State towards this "more authentic approach" since the two started working together in 2016, though Rednor denies this evolution has to do with any lingering fallout from the Sandusky scandal. "People choose and don't choose your university," says Rednor. "People are changing the world. It's the people that help make Penn State unique and their stories are what we want to connect with. When you ask someone why they love Penn State so much, they all have a story and it's not about the institution, it's about the ideas and experiences the university helped foster."

The TV spots will run during each of Penn State's football games on ABC/ESPN and BigTen Networks, while the digital/social component will be national.

 

 

 

 

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August 31, 2018 at 10:04AM

Set Your Dial: TV Won't Die, It Will Adjust

Set Your Dial: TV Won't Die, It Will Adjust

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To paraphrase Mark Twain, the reports of TV’s demise are greatly exaggerated.

In whatever form — broadcasting’s Big Four, Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, or Jeff Katzenberg’s NewTV — television is alive and well.

Yes, cord-cutting is a reality. The viewing habits of millennials and Gen Z differ from baby boomers. Still, Americans watch a lot of linear TV.  Even putting popular sitcoms or dramas aside, live sports draws millions of viewers.

The billion-dollar fight for eyeballs surpasses Google and Facebook. Per Nielsen, adults spent 45 minutes/day on social networks and 25 minutes watching video on mobile.

TV? That earned 4 hours and 46 minutes/day – up 21 minutes from February.

Also, for advertisers, linear TV remains a key source for pushing products. Netflix doesn’t have ads. Premium YouTube doesn’t, either.  To compete, rivals will have to devise a less expensive alternative to the 30-second spot. (Traditional TV is creating various options, as well.)

True, the medium, in content and ownership, is changing — all in a fight to survive.

Earlier this month, shareholders from Disney and 21st Century Fox approved Disney’s $71 billion purchase of Fox’s film and television assets.  Many analysts assumed the deal was to shore up Disney’s competition with powerhouse Netflix.

To keep subscribers, Netflix depends on engaging content. Disney wants to stop the supply on its end. By keeping Fox’s inventory, it will keep its cross-demo audiences. If Disney wants to stream Fox shows, it will do so on its own subscription VOD services.

Separately, movie-wise, Disney can proceed with Fox’s four “Avatar” sequels, which boast mass appeal.  And which will, inevitably, reappear on TV.

This is not to suggest there isn’t cause for concern. Experts forecast a 64% increase in cord-cutters in the next three years. But it’s also true television provides a certain kind of escapism. Viewers watch news, shows or sports without searching.

Conversely, one can spent 20 minutes just trying to decide what to watch on digital.

Video killed the radio star, but TV is harder to kill than print.

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August 31, 2018 at 09:46AM

Too Many Chinese Children Need Glasses. Beijing Blames Video Games. Technology

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San Francisco Grants 2 Scooter Permits (but Not to the Early Disrupters) Technology

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Here’s the Conversation We Really Need to Have About Bias at Google Technology

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Twitter Revises Political Ads, Gives News Orgs Exceptions

Twitter Revises Political Ads, Gives News Orgs Exceptions

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Trying to appease news organizations, Twitter is offering them exemptions from its newly revised political and legislative ad policy.

For everyone else, Twitter’s new Issue Ads Policy and certification process will impact ads that refer to an election or a clearly identified candidate, along with ads that advocate for legislative issues of national importance.

So long as they meet certain criteria, however, news outlets can now apply for exemption from Twitter’s new policy.

Examples of legislative issues of national importance include topics such as abortion, civil rights, climate change, guns, healthcare, immigration, national security, social security, taxes and trade.

“These are the top-level issues we are considering under this policy, and we expect this list to evolve over time,” Del Harvey and Bruce Falck, Twitter’s vice president, trust-safety and head of its revenue product team, note in a new blog post.

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Twitter has set up a certification process that verifies an advertiser’s identity and location within the United States in order to provide users with more information about individuals or organizations that promote particular issue ads.

Before promoting ads that fall under this policy, advertisers must apply for certification and meet specific eligibility requirements, according to Twitter. Similar to political campaign ads, issue ads will now be labeled as such within users’ timeline.

Twitter also plans to include issue ads within a new Ads Transparency Center, which is expected to provide a similar level of detail as political campaigning ads, including billing information, ad spend and targeting information.

Following Google’s lead, Twitter and Facebook recently announced significant changes to the way political and issue ads appear on their platforms.

Specifically, Twitter vowed to increase transparency for election-based ads with its new Political Campaigning Policy, and bar foreign nationals from targeting U.S. consumers with political ads.

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August 30, 2018 at 06:03PM

Ford Salutes America's Hardest Workers

Ford Salutes America's Hardest Workers

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Just in time for Labor Day, Ford Motor Co. is launching a campaign that celebrates the American worker.

The campaign, which includes a 90-second video and 30-second TV spot, runs this Labor Day weekend. It was created by Civic Entertainment Group and Bullitt. Civic, owned by Ryan Seacrest who has appeared in previous Ford efforts, is part of Ford’s communications and marketing team. Ford has worked with Bullitt in the past but they are not a regular agency partner.

The spot feature Americans describing the hardest working-person they know, such as a dairy farmer in Wisconsin, a police officer in Tuscaloosa and an auto worker in Ohio, says Joe Hinrichs, president, global operations, who started his Ford career as a plant manager in 2000.

“We at Ford understand the value of hard work,” Hinrichs says in a release. “That’s why for 115 years we’ve been dedicated to building quality vehicles that help Americans get jobs done in their communities.”

Henry Ford and the Ford Motor Company helped transform American life with the $5-a-day wage, according to the company. It has more U.S. hourly autoworkers than any other car company, it claims.

The campaign extends to social with the hashtag #HardestWorking, encouraging consumers to bring the conversation to their own lives and honor loved ones who have hustled and made a commitment to their work. The social campaign continues through the month of September.

Throughout September, Ford also is highlighting its hard-working employees at its historic Rouge manufacturing complex in Dearborn as part of that facility’s 100th anniversary. The facility, which once employed more than 100,000, remains a high-tech auto plant -- now producing F-150 pickups.

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August 30, 2018 at 04:48PM

Wire Transfer Fraud Tops BEC Attack List: Study

Wire Transfer Fraud Tops BEC Attack List: Study

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Wire transfer emails are the most common Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks, according to a report from Barracuda.

These schemes account for 46.9% of all BEC scams. For instance, one has the subject line “Vendor payment,” and says: "Hey Joe, I need to send a wire transfer ASAP to a vendor."

Another 40.1% fall into the click malicious link category.  These might say, “I tried to reach you by phone today but I couldn’t get through. Please get back to me with the status of the invoice below.”

In addition, 12.2% are designed to establish rapport. A sample subject line: “At desk?” Then it would say, “Joe, are you available for something urgent?”

Also, 12.2% to steal information. Finally, 0.8% of the attacks ask the recipient to send the attacker personal identifiable information (PII), typically in the form of W2 forms that contain social security numbers.   

Of the personalities impersonated, 42.9% are CEOs, and 2.2% CFOs.

However, only 2.2% of the BEC recipients are CEOs, and 16.9% are CFOs.

Barracuda also reports that 4.5% of those impersonated parties are C-level executives. And 48.1% fall into the “Other” category. 

Barracuda reviewed 3,000 BEC attacks that went through its Sentinel system. 

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August 30, 2018 at 04:48PM

Mercedes-Benz Celebrates 2M Insta Followers

Mercedes-Benz Celebrates 2M Insta Followers

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To celebrate reaching 2 million Instagram followers, Mercedes-Benz USA posted three special photo designs that feature the G-Class, CLS and GT models earlier this month.

Each “M(illion)osaic” mosaic design is comprised of fan photos that have tagged MBUSA throughout the years. Strategy and creative were handled by R/GA (Austin and New York). A team made up of a developer, writer, visual designer and producer transferred data and wrote code, then used a mosaic-generator tool to customize the photo design in less than a week. 

The agency wanted to celebrate the milestone by creating “something very much in and of that moment,” says Michael Stoopack, managing director client services, R/GA.

“Which meant identifying the most popular visual designs and using a priority process to pull data and develop the final mosaic artwork in just the few days leading up to 2 million,” Stoopack tells Marketing Daily. 

Twenty four hours after launch, the mosaic designs had already garnered upwards of half a million impressions and counting. To date, each mosaic photo post has garnered around 200,000 impressions, which is on par with other MBUSA Instagram posts.

“When the opportunity presented itself to do something special for this milestone, it seemed only fitting to recognize the loyal fans who got us here in the first place,” Mark Aikman, general manager of marketing and digital customer experience at Mercedes-Benz USA tells Marketing Daily. “The mosaics represent our three most successful posts over the years and were created using thousands of images we’ve been tagged in.” 

One post features the Mercedes-AMG GT 4-door Coupe while two others feature the 2019 G 550 and 2019 CLS.

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August 30, 2018 at 04:18PM

'Trump' Ranks Poorly On Fox News In Google Search Results

'Trump' Ranks Poorly On Fox News In Google Search Results

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CNN.com appears to have about twice the search engine optimization visibility of Foxnews.com. Backlinks in the articles and links and posts in social sites seem to contribute to that increase, according to data released Thursday.

Marketers can have a multitude of backlinks that don’t make a difference, because the links come from sites with low “authority.” One thing is certain: SEOs are in the business of using data to grade the quality of a backlink, which is determined by the authority of the site and how many links it gets.

“Having powerful backlinks from highly trusted sites means a lot to SEO visibility,” said Marty Weintraub, aimClear founder. “It’s almost like an echo system.”

SEO visibility -- an index created by Searchmetrics based on search volume and other triggers such as rank, position and monthly rate -- sits at 2.254 million for cnn.com, valued at about $37 million for about 4.24 million keywords analyzed on the site between September 4, 2016 and June 12, 2018. Per the data, the index jumped in June 2018.

“Fox News is getting its ass kicked by CNN as indicated by Searchmetrics visibility likely fueled by CNN’s backlink profile and superior site structure,” he said. 

The traffic index for the keyword “cnn” on cnn.com, for example, ranked in the No. 1 position with a traffic index of 4.6 million. Search volume came in at 23.6 million.

In the No. 4 position on the list, the traffic index for the keyword “trump” on cnn.com for a specific article had a traffic index of 368,148 million. Search volume came in at 10.8 million. If someone bought the traffic as a pay-per-click search ad, the keyword “Trump” would cost an estimated 97 cents per click -- the estimate if a search marketer bought the keyword “Trump” in Google Ads.

“Foxnews.com does not rank for ‘trump’ or ‘donald trump,’" said Marcus Tober, founder and CTO at Searchmetrics.

Tober created groups of different news pages to analyze CNN.com’s and FoxNew.com’s historical visibility in search. Some conservative pages clearly appear to have lost visibility.

Both cnn.com and foxnews.com were successful in specific circumstances, but overall, cnbc.com came out a clear winner. The publisher outperformed foxnews.com since the election, Tober said.

In terms of President Trump's accusation against Google, it's unclear whether the search engine technology does or doesn't want to rank certain pages. But it’s clear that "some pages like cnbc.com outperform many others,” Tober said.

Searchmetrics provides a software technology to analyze the visibility of individual domains. In the U.S., the company measures a couple hundred million search queries monthly. It does not typically measure any specific keywords, but rather publisher sites. The visibility of a site is influenced by Google search ranking factors. The higher the search volume for a keyword, the higher the visibility. Foxnews.com, for example, ranks for 1.4 million keywords.

Searchmetrics data shows that the keywords “Trump news” typically do not rank on foxnews.com in search results.

It also shows that Foxnews.com has a hub page for “Donald trump,” but even this page ranks very poorly, compared to competitors from politico, abcnews, nytimes, and cnbc.

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August 30, 2018 at 03:19PM

The Importance of Hispanic Audiences To The Entertainment Biz

The Importance of Hispanic Audiences To The Entertainment Biz

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When the Pixar animated film “Coco” was released last year, it garnered immediate praise for the way it was able to incorporate elements of Mexican culture — music, art, language — into a beautifully animated, emotionally resonant film.

As Benjamin Bratt, one of the stars of the film, said after the movie’s release, “The thing I am most proud of is that Latinos instantly developed a proprietary relationship with the film. They have claimed it as their own, visiting it in theaters on multiple occasions, like they would a close family member.”

As the hype over films like “Crazy Rich Asians” and “Black Panther” has shown, audiences crave movies that contain nuanced, complex representations of diversity, especially those that take the time to be authentic and relatable.

With regard to “Coco,” writer Carlos Aguilar says that his family in Mexico “was shocked and moved by how truthfully the film captured traditions and Mexican idiosyncrasies,” and how much it “felt like an authentically Mexican work of art” despite being made by an American studio.  

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On top of all of that, the movie was a huge commercial success, grossing over $800 million in theaters worldwide and becoming the highest-grossing film of all time in Mexico, according to  report in Hollywood Reporter.

Despite the fact that it was always intended to reach a wider audience, the film’s success shows the importance of taking a culture-first approach to creative — and it also shows the power that Hispanic audiences have.

According to the Motion Picture Association of America, Latinos have the highest movie-going rate of any demographic, watching an average of 4.5 films in theaters in 2017. On top of that, Hispanics account for 24% of those termed “frequent moviegoers”  — people who see films at least once a month. While comprising only 18%t of the general US population, Hispanics bought 23% of all movie tickets sold in 2017 — yet another indication of how popular the medium is among the demographic.  

PWC characterizes U.S. Hispanics as “a growing market of media-hungry social influencers with spending power that continues to multiply.” In addition to being highly engaged on digital platforms, they also use their mobile phones more than any other demographic.

PWC also reports that Hispanics “stream and download content more than consumers overall,” on multiple devices. Forty-three percent of U.S. Hispanics report using their phones to purchase movie or show tickets at least once a week, which is 12% higher than the proportion of non-Hispanics who do so.  

All of this is to say that U.S. Hispanics are highly engaged, highly active consumers of entertainment content, whether it’s on the silver screen or the tablet in front of them. According to Nielsen, Hispanics over-index on the consumption of digital video, and 67% have at least one subscription to a video-streaming service. The average Hispanic consumer also spends over 26 hours a month streaming video online or on their smartphone, which is seven hours higher than the national average.

Not only does this mean that those who create such content — films, television shows, YouTube videos, etc. — should be more aware of their Hispanic viewers, it’s also a good entry point for brands looking to raise awareness among the audience. While some streaming services currently do not allow advertising on their platforms, others, such as Hulu, do.

Alternatively, brands could team up with Hispanic YouTube influencers to drive greater awareness.  
Finally, brands should take a leaf out of Pixar’s playbook, which decided to have Spanish-language screenings of “Coco” available alongside English ones. This is yet another example of how the company was able to use language and culture to connect with Hispanic audiences.

At the end of the day, as the success of “Coco” shows, when it comes to creating content that will engage Hispanic audiences and hold their attention, authenticity is key. Being able to include details that show a level of familiarity with Hispanic audiences will help to further solidify the perception of a brand as being authentic.

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August 30, 2018 at 02:20PM

Every Generation Gets the Beach Villain It Deserves Technology

By NELLIE BOWLES from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/2wpD58y
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Droga5 Wins Essentia Water AOR Assignment

Droga5 Wins Essentia Water AOR Assignment

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Essentia Water has selected Droga5 to be its new creative agency of record following a formal review.  

The agency will help reposition the ionized alkaline bottled water company as a "lifestyle brand" by leading marketing strategies across communication channels, including advertising, social media and influencer marketing, experiential, corporate website and retail. 

Southwest Media Group will continue to oversee media planning and buying, while DeVries Global retains the public relations business for the brand. 

This agency selection follows April's elevation of Karyn Abrahamson from vice president of brand and marketing to CMO. She is tasked with helping to grow market share in a competitive bottled water market. The product is now available in 60,000 locations nationwide with measured retail sales of $153 million over the last 12 months.  

Last year's advertising supported the Creative+ message, in a nod to its ionized alkaline status, by inviting "overachievers to overachieve with Essentia." 

The campaign featured real, everyday people, found through social media, as well as social media influencers who shared their motivational stories. Ads were targeted to key cities that were seen as setting the bar for culture, like Los Angeles, New York City and Portland. 

The Washington State-based brand spent $1.3 million on advertising in the U.S. last year and $22,000 during the first six months of 2018, according to Kantar Media. 

Incumbent Periscope, who developed last year's work, did not defend. 

The review was managed by Promontory Brands.

 

 

 

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August 30, 2018 at 11:33AM

Nissan Is 'Calling All Heismans' For Eighth Year

Nissan Is 'Calling All Heismans' For Eighth Year

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Just in time for the start of the college football season, Nissan is breaking its annual Heisman Trophy-related campaign.

Newcomers to the campaign include 2017 Heisman winner Baker Mayfield (Oklahoma University), Auburn legend Bo Jackson and Gino Torretta (Miami, 1992).

The season’s first spot, “Calling All Heismans,” features Charles Woodson leading the charge.

It debuts Aug. 30 on ESPN during the college football season opener, Purdue vs. Northwestern.

The Nissan Heisman House is a fictional fraternity that provides fans a glimpse of what it might be like if the winners of college football's highest individual honor lived together under one roof.

Nissan credits agency TBWA\Chiat\Day for coming up with the concept after hearing 2009 Heisman winner Mark Ingram refer to the group of winners as a fraternity during an awards ceremony speech.

TBWA has worked on the campaign every year, says Erich Marx, director, marketing strategy and content, Nissan model line, at Nissan's U.S. sales and marketing organization.

“We think it is a perfect fit for our brand,” Marx tells Marketing Daily. “We talk all the time about how we're a car company with high-tech innovative products. We look at things a different way and we're always looking for an angle in our advertising to bring excitement, joy, engagement to our fans, our consumers and shoppers. And what's more exciting than college football?”

The research repeatedly shows that the campaign, which is an overall brand campaign first and a vehicle model campaign second, has tremendous reach. 

“Overall, the lift we get, the engagement we get, the enthusiasm and feedback we get from college football fans and just consumers in general, exceeds virtually everything else we do,” Marx says. “It is absolutely the pinnacle for us from a brand-lift standpoint.”

The campaign supports Nissan's now 13-year sponsorship of the Heisman Memorial Trophy Award and the Heisman Trophy Trust. It features 10 Heisman Trophy winners in seven 45-second spots and five 15-second spots running throughout the college football season.

While past years’ efforts have featured numerous Nissan vehicles, this year’s focus is on Nissan Intelligent Mobility and the Titan pickup, although there will be appearances by the all-new Altima, all-new Kicks and Rogue.

“The core content of the campaign has always been the TV commercials that run in very high-profile ESPN media weight,” Marx says. “But having said that, with the growth of social media, we really have then tried every year to figure out what is the secret sauce to having fans not only engage with us, but share with each other their enthusiasm, to almost act as recruiters for the Heisman House campaign amongst themselves.”

New this season will be a series of animated GIFs of each Heisman winner for fans to share socially and via text. The GIFS for each player are likely to appeal to not just their college fanbase, but also their past or present NFL affiliation. For example, the Baker Mayfield GIF is likely to be shared by Oklahoma University fans, as well as Cleveland Browns fans.

“It’s just a second bite of the apple for us to add reach to this campaign,” Marx says. 

For the 12^th straight year, Nissan will provide college football fans the opportunity to vote for their favorite Heisman Trophy candidates. Nissan fans have accurately predicted the winner 10 of past 11 years

Nissan also announced two sweepstakes, including one that offers a chance for a member of the public to win two tickets to attend the exclusive Heisman Trophy Award Ceremony in New York on Dec. 8.

Fans also can enter to win a customized Nissan Titan. Last year nearly 1 million consumers used the configurator on NissanUSA.com to customize a Titan in their favorite school colors.

As in previous years, the Nissan Heisman House Tour, featuring a simulated Heisman House, will travel to different college campuses throughout the U.S. The tour's first stop will be Sept. 1 in South Bend, Ind., for the Michigan vs. Notre Dame matchup.

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August 30, 2018 at 08:01AM

'Face' Story Pairs 'NatGeo' Journalism With Digital Savvy

'Face' Story Pairs 'NatGeo' Journalism With Digital Savvy

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National Geographic’s September cover, “The Story of a Face,” follows Katie Stubblefield, a suicide survivor and the youngest person to ever receive a face transplant. The print issue just hit newsstands this week, but the story was breaking records in the digital sphere long before that.

As of last Friday, total digital traffic was up to 2.9 million global unique viewers and 10.5 million global page views across all content related to the story. The story has become NatGeo’s No. 1 so far this year; it's also the most read story ever on Apple News. A documentary about Katie premiered on National Geographic Channel this past Saturday. 

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National Geographic’s editor in chief Susan Goldberg spoke with Publishing Insider about creating a singular story that resonates with audiences cross-medium.

How has National Geographic leveraged its legacy of reporting to become a leader in the digital publishing age?

For the past few years, our goal has been to turn National Geographic’s iconic yellow border into a portal that brings the world to our consumers — regardless of platform. In order to be relevant within a shifting media landscape, we must create exceptional content that reaches our readers wherever they are — Snapchat or Instagram or in the printed magazine.

“The Story of a Face” was our most ambitious cross-platform effort to date, and it began from the moment we started reporting the amazing journey of Katie Stubblefield. From inception, our internal teams were thinking about how to successfully create platform-specific content, catered to the preferences of the audiences and the storytelling strengths of each medium.

For “The Story of a Face,” specifically, we created: a 9,000-word magazine feature; a photo-first interactive and mobile version of that story, currently the third most-read story this year on our website; our longest-ever Instagram story (25 chapters), which has become the most successful @NatGeo Instagram story in our history on the platform; a Snapchat story focused specifically on teen suicide prevention; and both short- and long-form video content to be shared on our website, social platforms and linear channel.

What is behind this incredible response? The story itself. Katie’s experience is a moving, inspiring, gripping and at times harrowing journey that gets to the heart of what it means to be human.

While reporting this story, we decided not to shy away, in photos or words, from looking at how difficult this process was and is for Katie; that decision highlights her bravery and resolve.

How do stories like these allow National Geographic to pull together its many teams?

In print and story online, there is the incredible reporting from Joanna Connors and photos by Lynn Johnson and Maggie Steber. But that’s not where it stops. To spread this powerful reporting across platforms, we tapped into expertise across teams to build still and animated graphics, create videos, and customize content for social channels.

Where do you see the future of deep feature reporting heading?

It was clear from the start that to tell Katie’s story right, we would need to commit people to it for several years. We were willing to do that because this story deserved that kind of time and care. Having our journalists embed themselves with the Stubblefields and the grandmother of the donor over the past two years resulted in a story that went beyond the “shock factor” of the subject of a face transplant and captured a richer story of our humanity.

Of course, we can’t spend two years on every story. But in an age of Twitter-journalism and impossibly fast news, it’s more important than ever that we recognize that some stories need time to tell, if we want to do it right. That's whether stories are about groundbreaking science, as in this case, or climate change, wild places, species preservation or the human journey.

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August 30, 2018 at 08:01AM

A More-Vulnerable instagram Rolls Out Security Features

A More-Vulnerable instagram Rolls Out Security Features

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While other social apps have been overrun by bots, fake news, and nasty trolls, Instagram has remained largely immune to such abuses. For years, that was due to its relatively small user base, along with its focus on pretty pictures -- with text added only as an afterthought.

Yet that’s starting to change.

Having recently surpassed 1 billion monthly active users, Instagram has emerged as a major mainstream platform. The Facebook unit has also shifted to a video-first strategy, which -- as YouTube executives well know -- attracts misuse in spades. Additionally, Instagram has become a more attractive target simply by virtue of other apps stepping up their security game.

Exposing its vulnerabilities, Instagram was recently the target of what appeared to be a coordinated hacking operation. Among other unwelcome effects, users were locked out of their accounts or saw their profile pictures replaced with animated characters, while some even lost their accounts entirely.

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Evidence suggested that Russian hackers might have been involved. For example, some of the victims saw the emails connected to their Instagram accounts changed to Russia’s .ru domain.

In response, Instagram is rolling out a number of new features to better protect users and marketers on its network.

To curb cons and impersonators, the network will now let notable users verify their accounts.

To discourage threats of violence and similar offenses, Instagram says it will only verify accounts that comply with its Terms of Service and Community Guidelines.

Putting a check on bots and fake accounts, it’s adding a feature to evaluate the authenticity of accounts with large followings, and an improved form of two-factor authentication for more secure log-ins.

Mike Krieger, co-founder and chief technology officer at Instagram, made the company’s intentions clear this week. “Our mission is to bring you closer to the people and things you love,” he explained in a blog post. “That closeness can only happen if Instagram is a safe place.”

For Facebook, keeping Instagram is more important than ever. Per a recent appraisal by Bloomberg, the network is now worth more than $100 billion.

 Whether these latest changes are effective in securing Instagram remains to be seen.

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August 29, 2018 at 10:55PM

The One Thing A.O. Scott Doesn’t Use to Review Movies (No Spoilers!) Technology

By A. O. SCOTT from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/2MZM2Pm
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You Took Lousy iPhone Photos. Here’s How to Make Them Beautiful. Technology

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'Texas Monthly,' Frost Bank Team For Sponsored Series

'Texas Monthly,' Frost Bank Team For Sponsored Series

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Texas Monthly and Frost Bank are teaming up on a sponsored digital initiative called “The Texas Optimism Project.” It lives on a page on the Texas Monthly website.

The online initiative started in June and will run until the end of 2018.

One interview features Mikaila Ulmer, a young woman who created a lemonade business called Me & The Bees Lemonade, founded on the mission to save honeybees, after she was stung by the insects when she was 4 years old.

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“Figuring out how to forgive, and then research and understand how important bees are to us, was hard,” she says in the conversation.
Another installment features Gilbert Tuhabonye, a runner, philanthropist and survivor of genocidal violence in Burundi.

The stories are shared on Texas Monthly's social platforms as well.

The sponsored project includes a brief quiz for readers to find out how optimistic they are. Plus, they can sign up for a biweekly email newsletter with positive content called "Good Newsletter."

Readers can also sign up on the page to Frost Bank’s “30-Day Optimism Challenge,” which delivers daily challenges for 30 acts of optimism to users’ inbox.

Last month, the regional magazine launched a campaign to get readers to whitelist the publication or sign up for its email newsletter. 
When readers using ad blockers land on Texas Monthly’s homepage, an interstitial pops up with a call to action: “To support our work and bypass this message, consider signing up for our weekly newsletter below or whitelisting texasmonthly.com

within your ad blocker.”

Texas Monthly redesigned its site in January and reorganized its editorial team to cover new, specific verticals, including News & Politics, Being Texan, The Culture, Style & Design, Food & Drink, BBQ and Travel & Outdoors. 

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August 29, 2018 at 06:53PM

Char-Broil Gears Up For Labor Day, Partners With BrightWave And Emarsys

Char-Broil Gears Up For Labor Day, Partners With BrightWave And Emarsys

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Char-Broil, a manufacturer of outdoor grills and accessories, is working with BrightWave and Emarsys to improve its email marketing and cross-channel customer engagement. 

The announcement comes just in time for the Labor Day weekend, a holiday in which 60% of all American families barbecued last year, the firm says.

BrightWave will serve as Char-Broil’s email and eCRM agency of record. BrightWave introduced the Emarsys platform, AI-driven technology that will allow Char-Broil to deliver personalized messages across channels, Emarsys says.

Included in this tech package is the Emarsys Link Overview, a function that highlights improperly formatted links, and Combine Segments, allowing firms to merge contacts into a unified segment.

Before this, Char-Broil had been frustrated with its email performance.

“The primary challenge was that Char-Broil had more platform than they needed in the ESP that they were with before,” states Andrea Short, senior strategist for BrightWave. ”It was not marketer-friendly, and the team didn't feel confident or empowered to use that tool to get their program out the door or scale their program the way they wanted to.” 

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The arrangement will drive personalization and automation in email, web and social channels. In addition, the firms expect to use automation tools to define customer segments.

The new arrangement will allow Char-Broil to educate new customers about the brand, drive sales through resellers, and drive parts sales directly through its e-commerce site.

“Today’s crowded online retail marketplace means that we must deliver personalized experiences to our customers while maintaining operational efficiency,” states Paige Farrow, senior director of marketing for Char-Broil.

Farrow adds, “We aim to make our marketing efforts more effective in the long run, deliver lifelong customers, improve sales and increase brand loyalty.”

Char-Broil introduced its charcoal grill in 1948. The company offers gas, charcoal and electric outdoor grills, smokers and fryers.

 

 

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August 29, 2018 at 04:46PM

'NYT' Air Ads For 'The Daily' Podcast

'NYT' Air Ads For 'The Daily' Podcast

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The New York Times

is airing

commercials

for its podcast “The Daily” on television, Hulu and YouTube.

The 15- and 30-second spots feature the voice of “The Daily” host, Michael Barbaro.

The narration reads: “This moment we're living in deserves to be questioned, to be challenged. This moment deserves compassion, and an honest conversation. But most of all, this moment deserves to be understood.”

Photos of President Trump, Russian president Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un appear alongside images of political and social issues in the U.S. — from flooded cities to voting booths and guns for sale.

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The campaign runs through September.

The ads build on the goal of “The Daily” — “to tell stories more deeply” and “to incorporate a new kind of transparency into the way those stories are told” — according to the Times.

The Times announced its first marketing campaign for the popular podcast in early July, with the same central message: "This moment deserves to be understood.”

The original out-of-home campaign and commercials appear in three U.S. cities: highway billboard and wallscape spots in Los Angeles, a light rail wraparound in Portland, Oregon and a marketing takeover of Ogilvie Transportation Center in Chicago.

Ad spots in terrestrial and streaming radio — including Spotify and acast — are also part of the campaign.

Since its launch in February 2017, “The Daily” has drawn 5 million unique monthly listeners and airs on 30+ radio stations nationwide. Those stations include five of the top 10 public radio stations distributed by American Public Media.

Earlier this year, the company announced it plans to turn “The Daily” into a 30-minute TV show called “The Weekly,” set to air on FX and Hulu.

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August 29, 2018 at 04:46PM

Customers Died. Will That Be a Wake-Up Call for China’s Tech Scene? Technology

By LI YUAN from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/2POd0I4
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Facebook Rolls Out Watch Worldwide

Facebook Rolls Out Watch Worldwide

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Trying to give its video strategy a shot in the arm, Facebook is rolling out Watch globally.

The social giant launched the ad-supported on-demand video platform last year; it has since sought to fill it with a higher caliber of content.

That has included live Major League Baseball games, a talk show hosted by Jada Pinkett Smith, and a behind-the-scenes fashion-show footage from beauty mogul Huda Kattan.

Yet the success of the platform remains a subject of industry debate.

On a monthly basis, more than 50 million U.S. consumers now spend at least a minute viewing Watch. Since the beginning of the year, total viewership has grown 14 times over, per internal estimates.

However, only 41% of folks said they watch videos via the service at least once a month, according to a recent TDG Research survey of 1,632 adult Facebook users.

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In fact, only about half of adult Facebook users said they had even heard of Watch video service, TDG found. “The offering continues to face significant challenges regarding feature awareness and use,” the TDG report concluded.

Fidji Simo, head of Video at Facebook, says Watch remains a work in progress. “We’re building new video experiences that put people at the center, giving them the ability to shape the direction of the content,” Simo promises in a new blog post.

The global expansion also offers new opportunities for creators and publishers, Simo noted.

For example, Facebook is also expanding its Ad Breaks program so more partners can make money from their videos.

To grow its Watch audience, Facebook has made the service widely available across various platforms and services. Along with iOS and Android, consumers can find Watch on Apple TV, Samsung Smart TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Xbox One, and Oculus TV.

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August 29, 2018 at 03:30PM

Miss America Battles 'Miss Conceptions'

Miss America Battles 'Miss Conceptions'

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The Miss America Organization and AOR Y&R are leading up to the Sept. 9 competition with a new social campaign designed to reverse what they contend are misguided stereotypes about Miss America. 

“Miss Conceptions” opens with a title card, “They aren’t the sharpest knives in the drawer,” before showing the ladies talking about their ambitions and achievements. One woman aspires to be a diplomat working on counterterrorism; another is training to be a commercial jet pilot, while another has developed a prototype tile that generates electricity as you walk on it.  

The other two spots--"Scholarships" and "The Job--focus on the misconceptions surrounding the competition (rebranded from pageant), including how it pays for their education and empowers them to advocate for social causes. 

The videos run via the Miss America Organization YouTube channel. A new website also launches today, along with additional details about the upcoming Atlantic City competition airing on the ABC network.  Out-of-home, local TV and ABC promos are also planned.

This campaign coincides with the organization's ongoing struggles, most recently with the current and several past crown holders speaking out against the group's new direction. There are also concerns that the group hasn't been able to attract advertisers to this year's event after eliminating the swimsuit competition.

 

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August 29, 2018 at 02:36PM

Yahoo's Interested In You: Email Scanning Draws New Fire

Yahoo's Interested In You: Email Scanning Draws New Fire

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Oath’s practice of scanning emails to feed advertising received new attention on Tuesday with the publication of a story in The Wall Street Journal.

The Journal reports that Yahoo is now “actively pitching advertisers on its ability to plumb Yahoo Mail inboxes for valuable information,” despite the fact that Silicon Valley largely frowns on this activity.

This is all marketers need as Google and the other social giants come under fresh scrutiny in light of GDPR — and national politics.    

Oath, the umbrella brand of AOL and Yahoo Mail, informed users earlier this year that it is scanning their emails for use in targeted advertising. The practice had already been in place, and was included in the Yahoo privacy policy, but was extended to AOL email users.

What’s the point of the exercise?

 “The scans have become one of Oath's most effective methods for improving targeting, company VP Doug Sharp says, but adds that it applies only to commercial emails (those from retailers, or mass mailing) and that users can opt out,” the Journal writes.

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The story adds that neither Google or Microsoft scan messages for ad purposes. But Google doesn’t exactly deserve a halo 

A study of Google’s data activities by a team at Vanderbilt University reports that since Gmail “acts as a central mail repository for many people, it can determine their interests by scanning email content, identifying merchant addresses through their promotional emails or sales receipts sent to emails, and learn about a user’s plans (e.g. dinner reservations, doctor’s appointments,).”

It notes that in 2017, “Google announced it would discontinue the practice of Gmail message-based personalization of ads. Recently, however, Google clarified that it is still scanning Gmail messages for some purposes.”

These apparently include the integration of apps from other developers with Gmail. That development drew quite a bit of heat when reported by the Journal in July.

The Vanderbilt study continues that,” from its inception in 2004 until at least late 2017, Google may have scanned the contents of Gmail emails to improve ad targeting and search results, as well as filter spam. In the summer of 2016, Google went a step further and changed its privacy policy to enable it to combine formerly anonymous web-browsing data.”

Google got the message — especially after the filing of class-action lawsuits over the practice. But it probably will not get a free pass for any lapses going forward, given the overall breadth of its information-gathering.

“Google learns a great deal about a user’s personal interests during even a single day of typical internet usage,” the Vanderbilt researchers write. “In an example ‘day in the life’ scenario, where a real user with a new Google account and an Android phone (with new SIM card) goes through her daily routine, Google collected data at numerous activity touchpoints, such as user location, routes taken, items purchased, and music listened to.”

Yeah, we know: How can consumers complain about Oath when they’re getting a free email service? Tell it to the EU.

At least Google had the sense to back off on the email scanning. Microsoft was smart enough never to do it. And Oath? Some observers feel that Verizon should never have acquired Yahoo. This proves it once again.  

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August 29, 2018 at 01:35PM

Social Media Could Have Transformed Marketing -- Instead, It Amplified Its Flaws

Social Media Could Have Transformed Marketing -- Instead, It Amplified Its Flaws

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In 1999, Rick Levine, Christopher Locke, Doc Searls, and David Weinberger said the Internet would turn markets into conversations, audiences were actual human beings, and companies would come down from their ivory towers to create meaningful relationships. Eight years later, I read their book, "The Cluetrain Manifesto." Social media was going to change the world, and I wanted to be at the tip of the spear.

I joined a rapidly growing cadre of change agents using social media to radically transform everything from fixing potholes and broken stoplights to managing city budgets (the city of Santa Cruz crowdsourced its budget)

Social media wasn’t the realm of any one person, department or organization. It was owned by everyone and no one. The only thing early adopters of social media had in common was the desire to create change.  

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These conditions applied:

People were people, not fictionalized digital personas. 

-- No one talked about social “content.” These platforms were for conversations with constituents in real time.

-- The organizational hierarchy flattened dramatically. Corporate silos crumbled as people throughout the org chart could easily collaborate with other departments.

-- Customers talked to one another about brands all over the Internet, and marketers were invited to join.

-- Social media accounts were run by actual people, with real names and personalities. 

We enforced these changes because this was an opportunity to do things differently, to do things better.  We could say, “No, senior director, you don’t get to approve every tweet we write. Do you follow me around and pre-approve my conversations, too?” 

But social media became too popular, too fast. It didn’t take long for marketers to start measuring the ROI of every tweet, post, and photo. Eventually, they were able to overwhelm the change agents with processes and best practices. 

Instead of recognizing social as an opportunity to fundamentally change how companies interact with employees and customers, companies did what they always do: blanketed people with ads, driving as many impressions as possible, as cheaply as possible, until they derived every last piece of revenue. “Social media” became less social. It became another place for brands to push out advertising. 

Other things happened:

-- Conversations gave way to content. 

-- Social media got integrated into IT, with complex usage permissions.

-- Thriving unofficial fan sites were shut down in favor of sanitized (read: boring) official sites. 

-- Humans with personalities and names were replaced by corporate personas and branded voices.

-- Success was measured in clicks and likes rather than relationships and loyalty. 

Rather than fundamentally changing how marketing works, marketing fundamentally changed what social media was. 

Today I see a world where social media has been weaponized to manipulate the public, and where everyone -- brands, influencers, politicians, friends, and family members -- is no longer interested in conversations, but in capturing the most likes, clicks, and views as efficiently as possible.

Still, there are signs the pendulum is starting to swing. Unilever recently said it will no longer work with influencers who buy followers or use bots. Mozilla and Sonos pulled Facebook ads after the Cambridge Analytica scandal. And many direct-to-consumer brands like AllBirds, Warby Parker, and Glossier have grown without losing their soul: their personality and relationships with their consumers. Maybe they’ll be the change agents that reverse the trend.

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August 29, 2018 at 01:35PM

New Campaign From Another 'Papa' In The Pizza Business

New Campaign From Another 'Papa' In The Pizza Business

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Papa Murphy's is releasing its first creative work from its new agency Mekanism and its in-house social media agency Epic Signal as the "take and bake" pizza brand introduces two new spokespeople, Millennial-aged couple Matt and Molly and the new tagline, "Bake It Up A Notch."

These two characters are designed to appeal to consumers who may also be in their "transitional period," having bought their own home and love being in their kitchen and making food, says Tommy Means, chief creative officer, Mekanism. “We specifically chose improv actors and a director with experience directing improv actors to capture their conversations, as their beloved pizza heats up in the oven.”

The campaign kicks off with three spots, including one where the duo is huddled around the oven giving one another high fives as they wait for their pizza and another where Molly wears a pepperoni onesie. 

While this campaign introduces a new tagline, the previous 'Love at 425' has not been retired, says the agency, explaining that research revealed the older line still has recognition value among current customers. However, to win over new customers, "leaning into the 'Bake it up a Notch' campaign line was likely to move the needle more effectively because it helps educate on the benefits of baking a pizza at home," says an agency representative. 

In total there are six new main TV commercials, 10 radio spots and, to continue Papa Murphy's "heavy investment" in digital, over 100 pieces of content unique to social – including mostly short-form video. The digital content runs across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, GIPHY and YouTube.

 

 

 

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August 29, 2018 at 12:03PM

Twitter Bans Another 486 Bad Actors

Twitter Bans Another 486 Bad Actors

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Like Facebook and other top social networks, Twitter continues to crackdown on accounts that engage in what it calls “coordinated manipulation.”

A week after suspending 284 such accounts, the company just banned another 486 bad actors.

“Since our initial suspensions last Tuesday, we have continued our investigation, further building our understanding of these networks,” Twitter revealed on Monday.

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While its investigation remains ongoing, Twitter said last week that many of the offending accounts appear to have originated from Iran. “Fewer than 100 of the 770 suspended accounts claimed to be located in the U.S. — and many of these were sharing divisive social commentary,” Twitter said on Monday.

On average, the 100 accounts in question tweeted 867 times, and were followed by 1, 268 other accounts. Additionally, Twitter found that the majority were less than a year old.

Many of the tweets were of a political nature. They appear to be part of larger effort by foreign governments to sow political discord among U.S. voters.

Twitter said it identified one advertiser from the newly suspended set, which ran just $30 in ads in 2017. Those particular ads did not target the U.S., and the billing address was located outside of Iran, according to Twitter.

The company says it continues to work with law enforcement and its peer companies to reduce coordinated disinformation campaigns.

Along with Twitter, both Facebook a> and Google deleted hundreds of accounts with suspected ties to the Iranian and Russian governments, last week.

With the help of cybersecurity firm FireEye, Facebook reported removing 652 Pages, groups and accounts, which targeted users on Facebook and Instagram.

Additionally, Microsoft recently foiled another attempt by the Russian government to meddle in the U.S. electoral process. On the news, Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president-Chief Legal Officer, suggested that the problem of foreign actors attempting to meddle with its network is getting worse.

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August 29, 2018 at 10:06AM

Four Rookie Shows Will Attract The Most Attention This Fall

Four Rookie Shows Will Attract The Most Attention This Fall

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One rookie show has all of this fall’s new network shows beat, but two revivals with roots in a bygone age will be the most closely watched debuts of the new TV season.

The rookie show is called "The Rookie" on ABC, starring Nathan Fillion (pictured above), formerly of ABC’s "Castle."

I am not supposed to really say this, since the networks all would rather we critics refrain from sharing our impressions of the new fall shows until we have seen the completed premiere episodes they will be providing soon.

But based on the "Rookie" pilot, I am sure ABC will not mind my saying that of all the new fall shows I have seen so far, this one emerges as the one most likely to be a surefire hit. It just seems to have what you might call old-school TV charm. 

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Fillion plays a guy in his 40s who seeks a change in his life and career, and decides to join the LAPD. He then becomes the oldest rookie on the force. Fillion is great in it. "The Rookie" premieres Tuesday, October 16, at 10 p.m. Eastern.

However, greater attention will be paid to this fall’s prime-time retreads -- CBS’s "Murphy Brown" and "Magnum P.I." reboots, and ABC’s desperate, Hail Mary spinoff of "Roseanne," "The Conners."

"The Conners," of course, is the show that ABC hastily put together after Roseanne Barr got herself fired at the end of May after her now infamous "Planet of the Apes" tweet.

This show will feature all of the other Conner family members in what feels like a desperate bid to maintain and continue the phenomenal success of last season’s "Roseanne."

But one wonders how on earth this can be achieved without Roseanne herself. For better or worse, she was the charismatic centerpiece of the whole project.

Without her and her unpredictable points of view, there will likely be no thrill at all in tuning in to watch "The Conners" every week. 

Nevertheless, the show will premiere earlier on the same evening as "The Rookie" -- Tuesday, October 16 -- at 8 p.m. Eastern. Look for "The Conners" to be widely covered for at least a few days both before and after it premieres.

Over on CBS, the new "Murphy Brown" is scheduled to premiere on Thursday, September 27, at 9:30 p.m. Eastern. No pilot was produced for this show, which evidently went straight to series based on the idea alone.

The "idea" is that Murphy and her cohorts (most of whom are coming back) are still in the television journalism business, although TV audiences have not seen hide nor hair of them since 1998. 

Today, these refugees from 1990s media will be coping with all of the changes that have remade the nation’s news media -- most notably, the role of social media in driving the national conversation about current events.

But herein lies the problem. How in the world will it even be explained in the show how this group of people, all 20 years older, have maintained their employment in this radically different news industry?

Here in the real world, very few people who were thriving back then in the old media of TV news (plus newspapers, magazines and other forms of once-prevalent media) would appear to still be thriving in those same jobs today. Or at the very least, such examples are exceedingly rare.

What then will be the main thrust of this new "Murphy Brown"? It might be reasonable to assume it will consist chiefly of Murphy and her fellow news veterans making sarcastic comments about the habits and lifestyles of Millennials.

Whatever it turns out to be, this new "Murphy Brown" will likely do nothing to lower the median age of CBS’s audience. It might actually achieve the opposite.

As for the new "Magnum P.I.," at least Tom Selleck had the good sense to stay with "Blue Bloods" and not assume his old "Magnum" role at age 73. The new "Magnum P.I.," starring Jay Hernandez, 40, premieres Monday, October 1, at 9 p.m. Eastern on CBS.

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August 29, 2018 at 09:25AM