| | Media Buyer & Planner Today | | | | | | | | | #1 Marriott Reviewing Media Account | | The hotel giant is conducting its first formal review for its media planning and buying account since it awarded the assignment to WPP and GroupM agency MEC in 2011. That agency recently merged with another GroupM media agency Maxus to become Wavemaker. MediaPost reports that Wavemaker will participate in the review. Marriott also merged with Starwood Hotels last year and noted that this was a key factor in deciding to conduct the media agency review. After the merger, in addition to Marriott, the merged company includes Sheraton, Westin, LeMeridien, Ritz-Carlton and Bulgari hotels. | | WHY THIS MATTERS: Marriott is a sizable ad spender, allocating more that $230 million on U.S. advertising in 2016, according to Kantar media. It reportedly spends close to an additional $200 million globally. So whatever media agency wins the pitch will get a big name account. | Two Takes: Ad Age | MediaPost
| | | | #2 Microsoft Buys Six-Second Spots in 'Walking Dead' | | The tech company, already a sponsor of AMC's The Walking Dead, has bought the first two six-second ads in the top rated zombie drama, Broadcasting & Cable first reported. Microsoft will also be the presenting sponsor of livestreams of the red carpet at a Walking Dead premiere on Sunday at The Great Theater in Los Angeles. Livestreams will be available on Facebook Live, Twitter and YouTube. The six-second Microsoft ads will be for its Xbox gaming system and will appear at the beginning of the second and third episodes of the new season. The first one airs on Oct. 29. While no price for the six-second spots was announced, AMC had previously said it expected to get at least the same price of a 15-second ad in the show, if not more. A 30-second spot in the show sells for a reported $500,000. AMC earlier said it plans to sell one six-second spot in episodes two through eight. | | WHY THIS MATTERS: The Walking Dead is the most watched scripted entertainment show on television among the advertiser desired 18-49 demo, so Microsoft will get some bang for its buck, even if the spot only lasts six seconds. The six-second commercial was introduced earlier this year by YouTube and then adopted by Fox, which has run them in some of its shows, along with NFL game telecasts. | Three Takes: B&C | Ad Age | Adweek
| | | | #3 Campbell Launches Global Media Review | | The soup company has initiated a review of its global media planning and buying, Adweek reports. Incumbent agency is WPP and Group M agency MEC which has held both U.S. and global media since 2006. Prior to that MEC was Campbell's U.S. media agency beginning in 1999. Campbell spent some $165 million on U.S. measured media in 2016, according to Kantar Media. Its global spending was not immediately available. | | WHY THIS MATTERS: MEC recently merged with another GroupM media agency Maxus to become Wavemaker. Another major MEC (Wavemaker) client, Marriott, also announced this week that it is putting up its global media account for review. In that instance the incumbent has been invited to participate. In this case, it was not immediately known if it was invited to participate, however a Campbell spokesperson told Adweek that the client is "pleased with the performance" of its current agencies but believes "we can be both more effective and efficient with a more streamlined approach." | | A Take: Adweek | |
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| | 40.1 | | Percentage of mobile app users in North America and Europe who are in favor of watching video ads for which they receive some kind of reward, according to a survey by AdColony. Some 22.4% of mobile app users also find acceptable video ads which allow viewers to play part of a game. And 20.8% find traditional banner ads favorable. The acceptance of any type of native app advertisement drops as respondents get older. | – Reported by eMarketer
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| | CBS Wins With Football | by Michael Malone
Thanks to Thursday Night Football, CBS was the top network in ratings Thursday, scoring a 2.7 in viewers 18-49, per the Nielsen overnights, and a 10 share. That easily topped NBC's 1.2/4. Thursday Night Kickoff did a flat 1.9 on CBS and the game a 2.8, down 10% from last week. The Raiders beat the Chiefs in a tight one. On NBC, Superstore scored a flat 1.1, as did The Good Place, which was down a tenth of a point. Will & Grace rated a flat 1.7 and Great News a 0.8, down 20%, before Chicago Fire posted a level 1.1. ABC scored a 1.1/4, with It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown at 1.4 and Toy Story of Terror at 1.1. Scandal slipped 8% to 1.1 and How to Get Away With Murder went down 10% to 0.9. Fox was at 0.7/3, as Gotham did a flat 0.8 and The Orville was in repeats at 0.6. The CW posted a 0.6/2, with Supernatural down 14% at 0.6 and Arrow at a flat 0.6. Both shows had their season premieres last week. Telemundo did a 0.6/2 and Univision a 0.5/2. | |
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| • DANIEL DAO was promoted to executive VP, managing director, Havas Sports & Entertainment. He will fill the role previously handled by HSE president Mikey Hersom who is leaving the agency. Prior to HSE Dao spent 14 years in executive roles at experiential marketing agency ignition, which was acquired by Havas in 2012. Among HSE's clients are Coca-Cola, Harley-Davidson and Under Armour.
• ABE BAGINSKY, ERIK NORIN and CRAIG LOVE have joined Mother New York as creative directors. Baginsky was previously a creative director at Ogilvy & Mather New York. Norin joins after a stint as creative director at 72andSunny and prior to that as a creative director at Wieden+Kennedy New York. Love was previously executive creative director at McCann New York. | |
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