The Lowdown is Ad Age’s weekly look at news nuggets from across the world of marketing, including trends, campaign tidbits, executive comings and goings and more. Gina Rodriguez in Luna Equal Pay campaign Credit: LUNA Bar via YouTube Equal Pay Day on April 4 turned into a lasting marketing opportunity, thanks to LeanIn.Org, founded by […]
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On YouTube Live, Pirates Plunder Entire Channels Like ESPN and CNN
A still from a live YouTube stream of CNN programming on Wednesday. Credit: Sport News TV via YouTube Most Popular A viewer can turn on YouTube most any morning and click on a livestream of CNN, or watch ESPN’s most popular shows in real time. These feeds are often among the most popular YouTube live […]
Watch the Newest Ads on TV From Toyota, P&G, Trivago and More
Every weekday, we bring you the Ad Age/iSpot Hot Spots, new and trending TV commercials tracked by iSpot.tv, the real-time TV ad measurement company with attention analytics from 10 million smart TVs. The New Releases here ran on TV for the first time yesterday. The Most Engaging ads are ranked by digital activity (including online […]
Pepsi Is Pulling Its Widely Mocked Kendall Jenner Ad
Pepsi is pulling its Kendall Jenner ad after the spot drew a torrent of criticism, including complaints that the ad was not only clumsily executed but that it co-opted protest movements such as Black Lives Matter for commercial gain. The ad had been planned to run globally across TV and digital. “Pepsi was trying to […]
How Sally Beauty Gave Its Loyalty Program a Stunning Makeover
A Sally Beauty Supply store at Jacksonville Beach, Fla. Credit: Diane Macdonald/Getty Images Most Popular If you ask Ryan Linders how to convert a customer, he’ll tell you it’s simply a matter of putting “the right thing” in front of them. This, of course, is a lot harder than it sounds. Not only does one […]
What's Part Frappuccino and Part Cherry Pie? It's at Starbucks in Japan
It’s a pie-beverage hybrid: the American Cherry Pie Frappuccino Credit: Starbucks Japan Most Popular Starbucks is introducing a frappuccino you can attack with a fork. The American Cherry Pie Frappuccino comes with a crispy pie crust over the top of the cup. Sadly, this little slice of Americana is available only in Japan. The beverage-dessert hybrid […]
Digital Advertisers Bought More Varieties of Data in 2016
Most Popular There’s an incomprehensible amount of audience data flowing around the digital ad market, and a new report suggests advertisers are investing more money to layer data onto their ad buys. They’re selective about it, though. In 2016, for example, CPG and retail brands sought after consumer profile data about urban families. Compared to […]
The Los Angeles Times Extends Its Scathing Anti-Trump Editorial Series
Ad Age “Media Guy” columnist Simon Dumenco’s media roundup for the morning of Wednesday, April 5: Last night on CBS’s “The Late Show,” Stephen Colbert’s guest Louis C.K. called President Trump “a gross, crook, dirty, rotten lying sack of [bleep].” For the record, The Los Angeles Times has said basically the same thing this week […]
Havas Group Teams Up With a Chinese Ad Company on a Joint Venture
(From l.) Chen Tianlong, chairman of GIMC, and Yannick Bolloré, Havas Group CEO Credit: Havas Most Popular Havas Group said it is teaming up with a big Chinese ad agency company to launch a joint venture to benefit their clients and help local brands expand internationally. Havas’ partner in the deal is Guangdong Advertising Group […]
POLL: Does Pepsi’s Kendall Jenner Ad Celebrate a New Generation of Protest, or Just Co-Opt It?
Pepsi is absorbing a barrage of critcism over its new ad showing Kendall Jenner being drawn into a generic peace protest and handing a cop a soda, echoing iconic images from real protests in the process. “This is a global ad that reflects people from different walks of life coming together in a spirit of […]
POLL: Does Pepsi's Kendall Jenner Ad Celebrate a New Generation of Protest, or Just Co-Opt It?
Pepsi is absorbing a barrage of critcism over its new ad showing Kendall Jenner being drawn into a generic peace protest and handing a cop a soda, echoing iconic images from real protests in the process. “This is a global ad that reflects people from different walks of life coming together in a spirit of […]
Unilever Gives Birth to Baby Dove as Johnsons Tries to Bounce Back
[embedded content] Most Popular Unilever’s Dove and Dove Men+Care are proud parents of Baby Dove, the brand’s first major category extension since launch of the aforementioned men’s line seven years ago. The new line of baby washes, lotions and wipes kicks off with a digital video today to be followed by a broader digital, TV […]
Internet Privacy 2017: What You Need to Know
Ajit Pai, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, speaks during a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., in March. Credit: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg Most Popular There has never been a reasonable expectation of online privacy, and there never will be. Regardless of what you may have recently heard about joint resolutions or […]
CNN Debuts Next Digital Business With Anthony Bourdain
Most Popular As CNN continues its push into new digital businesses, it is debuting a digital travel site on Wednesday based on Anthony Bourdain’s TV show. The cable news behemoth is partnering with Roads & Kingdoms, a publication that focuses on food, travel, politics and culture, for Explore Parts Unknown, a stand-alone digital brand that […]
Purchase of Panera Fuels a Fast-Growing Coffee-Bagels-and-Doughnuts Conglomerate
Credit: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg Most Popular JAB Holding Co. agreed to buy Panera Bread Co. for about $7.5 billion, adding a fast-growing U.S. bakery chain to a food empire that spans coffee, bagels and doughnuts. Panera investors will receive $315 per share in cash, the companies said in a statement Wednesday. That’s 20T higher than […]
Behind SoulCycle’s First Branding Campaign
Most Popular For more than a decade, SoulCycle has relied on the power of its cult-like following to drive brand awareness and expansion—it recently opened its 74th location. Now, amid rising competition, the fitness chain has created its first branding campaign to highlight the SoulCycle name and ethos ahead of new company initiatives scheduled for […]
After the Rise of ‘Femvertising,’ Is ‘Oldvertising’ the Next Big Thing?
Reebok’s new brand ambassador in China isn’t a taut young athlete, a muscular sports star or a dewy-cheeked model. It’s Wang Deshun, an 80-year-old grandfather who became an instant star after baring his super-ripped torso on the runway at Beijing Fashion Week in 2015. Reebok’s official WeChat called Mr. Wang “the coolest grandpa” and noted […]
The NBA’s New Customer Data Team Wants More Global Fans
Orlando Magic allows season ticket holders to offer their seats via the team mobile app in exchange for ‘Magic Money,’ which gets them seating upgrades. In return, the team gets insights about fan preferences. Credit: Getty Images Most Popular Hoops fans want custom interactions with their teams as well as the National Basketball Association itself. […]
Wahl Out as McDonald’s U.S. CMO, Replaced by PepsiCo’s Flatley
Morgan Flatley. Credit: McDonald’s McDonald’s U.S. Chief Marketing Officer Deborah Wahl and two other U.S. executives are being replaced at the Golden Arches, with PepsiCo’s Morgan Flatley being named to the top U.S. marketer spot. Ms. Wahl is out after three years at McDonald’s. She joined in 2014. The changes, announced Tuesday night, come after […]
Amazon Prime Suits Up as NFL’s New Thursday Night Football’s Streaming Partner
A trailer for Amazon’s ‘All or Nothing,’ a documentary series promoted by NFL Films, now likely to get promotion during Amazon Prime’s stream of 10 ‘Thursday Night Football’ games. Credit: Amazon Most Popular The NFL is huddling up with a new live-streaming partner in Amazon, which has agreed to fork over $50 million to simulcast […]
Pepsi’s Kendall Jenner-Joins-a-Protest Ad Sparks Backlash
Most Popular Pepsi is taking some heat on social media and across the internet for its new ad that shows supermodel/reality TV star Kendall Jenner walking off a modeling shoot to join a nondescript peace march. Some critics are accusing the brand of making light of political protests. A lot of the backlash is over […]
Auto Defections May Be the Least of Bill O’Reilly’s Worries
‘The O’Reilly Factor’ is feeling the heat. Credit: Fox News Most Popular Five high-end automotive brands have begun backing out of their on-air buys in Fox News Channel’s “The O’Reilly Factor,” as Lexus, BMW and Mitsubishi on Tuesday joined Mercedes-Benz and Hyundai in putting some distance between themselves and the network’s top draw. And while […]
Cuts Aren’t Over, But P&G Wants to Restore Agency Profits
Marc Pritchard at the 2017 ANA Media Conference, March 2, 2017 Credit: Courtesy ANA Most Popular After cutting nearly half its agencies and around 30% of its creative and production fees, Procter & Gamble Co. isn’t finished yet. But in a speech to the 4A’s Transformation conference in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Chief Brand Officer […]
Cuts Aren’t Over, But P&G Wants to Restore Agency Profits
Marc Pritchard at the 2017 ANA Media Conference, March 2, 2017 Credit: Courtesy ANA Most Popular After cutting nearly half its agencies and around 30% of its creative and production fees, Procter & Gamble Co. isn’t finished yet. But in a speech to the 4A’s Transformation conference in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Chief Brand Officer […]
Watch the Newest Ads on TV From Bud Light, Angel Soft, Geico and More
Every weekday, we bring you the Ad Age/iSpot Hot Spots, new and trending TV commercials tracked by iSpot.tv, the real-time TV ad measurement company with attention analytics from 10 million smart TVs. The New Releases here ran on TV for the first time yesterday. The Most Engaging ads are ranked by digital activity (including online […]
When Tronc and Oath Merge, Should the Combined Company Be Called Troath?
Most Popular Ad Age “Media Guy” columnist Simon Dumenco’s media roundup for the morning of Tuesday, April 4: Will you take the oath to get used to Oath, the new name for the combined AOL-Yahoo unit under Verizon? Or will Oath bug you forever and ever, like Tronc? And Oath aside, should Verizon entirely do […]
This Comics Artist Turned Apple’s Terms and Conditions Into a Graphic Novel
Panel from R Sikoryak’s ‘Terms and Conditions’ based on Peter Bagge’s ‘Hate’ comic Credit: R Sikoryak Most Popular Some know comics artist R Sikoryak for his Masterpiece Comics series, in which he projects classic novels through the lens of iconic comics with tongue-in-cheek flair. Think Dostoyevsky’s “Crime and Punishment” drawn and told in the style […]
As Verizon Makes an ‘Oath,’ Should It Erase the Yahoo or AOL Brands? (POLL)
The logo for AOL 8.0 on a computer screen during its introduction in October 2002. Credit: Rick Maiman/Bloomberg News. Verizon Communications will introduce a division called Oath this summer, around the time the telecommunications giant expects to close its deal to combine its AOL unit with Yahoo’s internet assets. The new unit will oversee more […]
How Marketers Can Save Companies From ‘Technical Debt’
Most Popular Technology has opened up new opportunities for marketers, and rapidly. It’s becoming ever easier to implement systems, drop in new applications and ship digital products. We’re benefiting from economies of scale and the democratization of technology. But everything has a dark side. In the case of rapidly implemented technology, that dark side is […]
YouTube Invites in Safety Inspectors, but Powers Are Limited
YouTube’s plan to reassure advertisers with third-party evaluations of its content seems likely to comprise after-the-fact audits, not screening every possible video before ads run. Credit: Istockphoto/Vertigo3d Most Popular Independent oversight is coming to help police YouTube videos for brands, but there will be limits to what these outside parties can deliver. The ad tech […]