Weight loss and lifestyle brand Weight Watchers has picked MDC Partners' Anomaly as its new lead creative agency after a review, according to several parties with direct knowledge of the business. "We have added Anomaly to our agency roster; they will work on global brand strategy and creative," a Weight Watchers spokesperson said. The representative...
↧
Weight Watchers Names Anomaly as Creative Agency of Record After a Review
↧
WhatsApp Co-Founder Jan Koum Is Leaving Facebook
WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum announced Monday that he is leaving the messaging application and parent company Facebook. He revealed his departure in a Facebook post, saying that he would take some time off before contemplating his next move. Koum and Brian Acton co-founded WhatsApp in January 2009, and Facebook's $19 billion acquisition of the messaging...
↧
↧
Hulu’s New CEO Works to Capitalize on the Momentum of The Handmaid’s Tale
When The Handmaid's Tale premiered one year ago, the Elisabeth Moss drama changed Hulu forever. "That show's success created awareness for Hulu that wasn't there in the creative community and within the general population, and [it] started a chain of events that helped move the momentum forward," said Randy Freer. Since he took over as...
↧
Why the NBA, NFL and MLS Are Trying to Compete With Established Esports Leagues
It's no secret esports is booming as mainstream media companies like ESPN and Turner Broadcasting sign on--all with an eye toward reaching young men and the advertisers that would follow. But for the most part, the bulk of hard-core gamers is still drawn to Amazon's Twitch and YouTube, streaming the less brand-friendly, first-person shooter games...
↧
AGW Is Not Your Average Agency, and That’s What Brands Love About It
At AGW Group, authenticity is revered. "The success of our agency rests purely on our culture," explained CEO Adam Gorode, who co-founded the Brooklyn culture marketing shop five years ago. "We've benefitted by having a band of outsiders approach this industry. Our media buyers are not media buyers by trade; our advertisers are not advertisers...
↧
↧
Online Underwear Brands Are Using Comfort, Innovation and Great Ads to Win Over Consumers
Ladies' lingerie brands are the latest in the fight to fend off digital upstarts. For years, Victoria's Secret has been the dominant brand, with roughly 50 percent of the women's underwear market share, but last year its sales reportedly saw a drop-off with each passing month (as much as 10 to 14 percent from month...
↧
How the Grand Theft Auto Franchise Proved That All Press Is Good Press
↧
Twitter Is Debuting 30 New Shows Focused on Activism, Entertainment and Sports
During Monday night's Digital Content NewFront presentation, Twitter announced it's debuting 30 new shows for its platform, as the company continues its bets on news and video. At the company's second annual NewFront, the company said it signed a multi-year partnership with NBCUniversal, which will sponsor seven of the new shows with content from the...
↧
Mark Zuckerberg Reveals That Facebook Is Building a ‘Clear History’ Feature
Facebook's latest olive branch to rekindle some goodwill on the privacy front is modeled after a feature found in web browsers. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post Tuesday that he would introduce the social network's new Clear History feature at its F8 annual developer conference in San Jose, Calif. He wrote, "In your...
↧
↧
George Washington’s Recipe for Beer Inspired Budweiser’s Latest Patriotic Premium Brew
Budweiser is using another old recipe to create a new brew. Like the Budweiser 1933 Repeal Reserve, the company has unearthed a historic recipe from 1757--this time it's one from George Washington--to create the Budweiser Freedom Reserve Red Lager. The new lager features molasses in the recipe, a nod to Washington's mixture, as well as...
↧
This Agency Recreated Pulp Fiction’s Notorious Gimp Scene to Promote Portfolio Night
Love it or hate it, Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction is now part of the contemporary film cannon--and few scenes inspire more fear and loathing than "bring out the Gimp." Two Australian agency executives are promoting their country's edition of the One Club Portfolio Night in Perth on May 23 in a slightly disturbing way--by recreating...
↧
Marketers Won’t Become Obsolete Due to Bots—Just More Strategic
Recent advancements in machine learning are significantly changing the advertising landscape. Over the past year, improvements in the technology have enabled marketers to start measuring real net profits from ads and allow small advertisers to effectively compete with large advertisers on a more even playing field. Thanks to machine learning, advertising platforms such as Facebook...
↧
Nielsen Social Content Ratings, Week of April 23: The NFL Draft Was the Top Pick
The first round of the 2018 National Football League Draft--broadcast by ESPN, ESPN Deportes, Fox and NFL Network--was the No. 1 pick of the Nielsen Social Content Ratings for the week of April 23. Nielsen included the NFL Draft under television series and specials, not sports events, and coverage of the first round tallied 15.965...
↧
↧
This New Agency Created by RAPP Vets Caters to Clients ‘Paying Too Much Money for Too Little Work’
After decades in the ad industry, former RAPP Los Angeles and RAPP London executive creative director Nick Platt decided to create his own agency. "For years, I carried a notebook where I would write down everything that I would do differently in advertising and at the agency level," Platt said in a statement. "Those ideas...
↧
Studio71 Focuses on Talent and Brand Safety at NewFronts
Media company and content studio Studio71 unveiled its 2018 lineup at its NewFront, which includes new partnerships, as well as an expansion of what it called its most engaging and culturally relevant franchises. The lineup includes new original content from creators like comedian and actress Lilly Singh. It will also continue popular shows like Rhett...
↧
Want Trump to Melt Away? This Ad Agency Created the Perfect Candle for You
The creative minds at Los Angeles-based multicultural boutique o1 Agency have built a great, beautiful candle--and they want you to pay for it. Beautiful is, of course, a matter of opinion when describing a dense, yellow-orange, miniature sculpture of President Donald Trump's head and neck, but this candle is undeniably handcrafted. And for a limited...
↧
In-App Purchases Are Coming to Facebook Instant Games for Android, Web
In-application purchases are coming to Facebook's Instant Games platform for Android and Facebook.com starting May 7. The social network rolled out Instant Games in closed beta in 30 countries in November 2016, and all Messenger users got access last May. Instant Games is an HTML5 cross-platform gaming experience for Messenger and News Feed on both...
↧
↧
Snap Inc. Reports Weaker Than Expected Q1 Earnings
Snap Inc. shares plunged on Tuesday in after-hours trading, following the company's weak first-quarter earnings and warnings that growth likely won't be much better in the near term. According to the company's first-quarter earnings released today, revenue for the first three months of the year totaled $230 million--up 54 percent year-over-year but still missing analyst...
↧
Pitch CEO Exits to Join Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine as Head of Brand Studio
Pitch CEO Rachel Spiegelman will be leaving her position to pick up the role of head of brand studio at Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine, according to an announcement from the media company. Reporting to Hello Sunshine CEO Sarah Harden, Spiegelman will lead efforts to partner with "mission-aligned brands who respect the power of the female...
↧
The Ingenious Way Saks Fifth Avenue Became the Preview Destination for the Met Gala
The Metropolitan Museum of Art's latest costume exhibition, "Heavenly Bodies," explores Christianity's influence on fashion--and Saks Fifth Avenue is celebrating the installation. In collaboration with Vogue, the department store is echoing its longtime neighbor, Patrick's Cathedral, by decking out six of its store windows with glimmering, haunting ecclesiastical scenes. According to Vogue international editor at...
↧