| | Media Buyer & Planner Today | | | | | | | | | #1 Amazon Takes Aim at Google, Facebook | | The ecommerce giant is stepping up its efforts to get a bigger chunk of ad dollars by targeting advertisers who don't currently sell their products and services on its platform, Digiday reports. Amazon is not only working with ad agencies but it also continues to grow its own ad sales teams and is creating dedicated units for each of the larger brands. Multiple media agency executives tell Digiday they have been hearing more from Amazon reps who are trying to sell them and their clients on Amazon advertising. And Amazon has also hired programmatic specialists from a New York agency. Amazon has lots of ads to sell, including sponsored products that appear when people do Amazon.com searches, traditional banner display ads, video ads and mobile device-based ads. Amazon is also willing to customize ads like homepage takeovers on Amazon.com. And it is selling ads on its new Thursday Night Football streaming service on Prime Video. | | WHY THIS MATTERS: The goal is to aggressive try to take dollars away from Google and Facebook. And working closely with the media agencies is a way to do that. Amazon is sharing data with agencies and showing them how to best use its platform for the benefit of their clients. | | A Take: Digiday | | | | #2 Beef Industry Targets Millennials | | The U.S. beef industry is resurrecting its 25-year-old tagline, "Beef. It's What's for Dinner," in a marketing campaign aimed at millennials, The Wall Street Journal reports. The goal is to arouse childhood memories of the slogan and offer more information about the origins of their food. The online-only ad from the National Cattlemen's Beef Association was created by WPP agency VML and is targeted at millennial parents, in particular. It also pays homage to beef. The original campaign was introduced in 1992 with TV and radio commercials with voice-overs from actor Robert Mitchum. | | WHY THIS MATTERS: Beef consumption in the U.S. declined 15% over the 10 years ending in 2015 due to a combination of factors, including rising prices, health concerns about eating red meat and the growing. availability of what is considered to be more healthy chicken products. But the Agriculture Department projects an increase in beef production over the next decade will lower prices and drive up demand. The cattlemen's association has an annual marketing budget of about $30 million, far less than the $80 million to $90 million it had in 1992. | | A Take: WSJ | | | | #3 AMC Sells Six-Second Spots in 'Walking Dead' | | AMC Networks will air a six-second commercial unit at the 9 p.m. start of its hit drama The Walking Dead beginning with the second episode of season eight, which airs on Oct. 29. The spots will appear at the start of episodes two through eight. Traditional thirty-second sports in The Walking Dead cost a reported $500,000, highest price for a scripted show ad on television, B&C reports. And Scott Collins, ad sales president at AMC Networks, says he's looking for a price between the cost of a 15-second spot and a 30-second spot for these shorter messages. Collins says he could sell all seven units to one advertiser or sell them to individual brands. And adds that these will be the only six-second spots AMC sells in fourth quarter. | | WHY THIS MATTERS: The six-second commercial was introduced earlier this year by YouTube and adopted by Fox, which ran its first six-second spot in its broadcast of the Teen Choice Awards in August. It has since run the short ads in other shows, including NFL games. The Walking Dead is the highest-rated entertainment show in all of television among the 18-49 demo, so the short spots should be in high demand by advertisers, despite the hefty price tag. | Two Takes: B&C | Adweek
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| | 67 | | Percentage of senior marketers worldwide who believe that media buying agencies are responsible for brand safety, according to a survey by the CMO Council and Dow Jones. Some 50% also believe digital ad buying networks bear responsibility for brand safety, while 49% believe digital media platforms bear responsibility. | – Reported by eMarketer
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| | Fox Tops Despite 'Empire' Drop | by Michael Malone
Fox was the top scorer in Wednesday (Oct. 4) ratings, putting up a 1.7 in viewers 18-49, according to Nielsen's overnights, and a 7 share. That topped the 1.3/5 posted by ABC and CBS. Fox's Empire was off 21% from its premiere at 1.9, and Star fell 22% to 1.4. ABC had The Goldbergs down 11% at 1.6 and Speechless at 1.3, down a tenth of a point, then Modern Family off 10% at 1.9, and American Housewife off 13% at 1.4. Drama Designated Survivor rated a 0.9, down 18% from last week's premiere. On CBS, Survivor slipped 6% to 1.6 and SEAL Team fell 20% to 1.2, then Criminal Minds dropped 15% to 1.1. NBC was at 1.1/4. Blacklist did a 1.0 and Law & Order: SVU a 1.3, before Chicago P.D. scored a 1.2. All three shows dropped a tenth of a point from last week. Telemundo did a 0.7/3, with El Señor de los Cielos leading with its 0.8. Univision scored a 0.5/2. The CW was at 0.3/1 with repeats. | |
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| • KATE HIGGINS was named president of the Winston-Salem, N.C., office of MullenLowe. She was most recently head of accounts at independent San Francisco agency Erich & Kallman. She has also been VP, account director at Crispin Porter + Bogusky.
• MARNI WALDEN is leaving her position as executive VP and president of global media at Verizon, effective Dec. 31. Her departure comes after a restructuring of Verizon's operations as it looks to integrate the recently acquired Yahoo business into its operations and plans to develop and launch its own subscription OTT TV service.
• JONATHAN MILDENHALL is stepping down from his position as CMO of Airbnb on Oct. 20 to start his own consultancy. Prior to Airbnb, he was VP of integrated marketing communication at Coca-Cola North America. • MELISSA GREGO was named to the newly created position of CEO of the Hollywood Radio and Television Society (HRTS). She is the first woman to lead the 70-year old organization and her appointment follows the retirement of HRTS executive director Dave Ferrara. Grego is former Broadcasting & Cable editor-in-chief and has also held editorial positions at Variety, the Hollywood Reporter and Television Week. | |
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