| | Media Buyer & Planner Today | | | | | | | | | #1 Ford Reevaluating Relationship with WPP | | The global auto giant is in the process of cutting costs and revamping its lineup to include fewer car models but more SUVs, Ad Age reports. As part of that process, Ford is also reviewing its future marketing plans and evaluating its relationship with agency holding company WPP, whose dedicated Global Team Blue unit handles the majority of the automaker's global advertising. Ad Age interviewed new Ford Motor global chief marketing officer Kumar Galhotra, who says he wants the brand to build up its trust with the consumer. And he wants to see more efficiency and effectiveness. He refused to say whether Ford is committed to staying with WPP or planning to work with other agency holding companies. "We don't know yet," he says. "We are at a very early stage," he says, of defining a future business model. "We will have to redefine the model for ourselves sometime this year." | | WHY THIS MATTERS: No category is more competitive than automotive and auto sales, so it should be no surprise that Ford, like its competitors, are looking for new ways to market themselves to gain an edge in selling more cars. That means more pressure on agencies, both creative and media, to deliver in ways most beneficial to each client in ways tailored to their specific goals. With all brands re-evaluating their marketing priorities, it is not going to get easier for WPP or any other agency holding company going forward. | | A Take: Ad Age | | | | #2 Fox Wins Thursday Night Football | | The network will pay $550 million per year through the 2022 season for NFL Thursday Night Football telecasts, according to multiple reports. Fox is paying $100 million more per year than the combined $450 million that CBS and NBC were paying for joint rights to telecast five games each on Thursday nights. Fox will get one additional game – a total of 11 – and also gets digital streaming rights, including via mobile phones. Fox will also televise the games on Fox Deportes. Fox will handle TV production for 18 games and NFL Network will simulcast the 11 games on Fox plus televise exclusively the other seven games with Fox announcers. Bud Light has agreed to be a major sponsor of the Thursday telecasts. | | WHY THIS MATTERS: Fox outbid both CBS and NBC, which televised the Thursday night games under the just expired contract. However, both CBS and NBC, which were losing money on Thursday night football under their previous deals, bid less this time around. NBC continues to televise Sunday Night Football in primetime, while CBS continues its Sunday afternoon telecasts. CBS points out it has the two highly-watched entertainment shows on Thursday night in The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon. While Fox is also expected to lose money on the new deal, and while NFL viewership has declined slightly, Thursday Night Football still has one of the largest TV audiences on broadcast television. | | Three Takes: B&C | Adweek | MediaPost | | | | #3 Why This Year's Super Bowl Ads Won't Work | | Mark Duffy, veteran agency copywriter who for the past 12 years has been writing his "copyranter" blog, pans most of the ads scheduled to run in the upcoming Super Bowl in a first person article in Digiday. He says as "astoundingly stupid" at Mountain Dew's "Puppymonkeybaby" ad from the 2016 Super Bowl was, "looking at this year's spots, I see no ads even as good as Puppymonkeybaby so far." Duffy says in the ads released so far, "I see the same repeated creative and strategic mistakes that have been made over and over in recent years." He says gratuitous use of celebrities doesn't work, nor does purpose-driven ads unless a brand is directly tied to the purpose. He does give a few examples of some good Super Bowl spots of the past – a 1999 Monster.com ad by MullenLowe that he says made the company an instant job-search player; and a 1997 Tabasco ad by DDB Needham. | | WHY THIS MATTERS: It's only one man's opinion, but his point is one that should generally be remembered when creating an ad that costs $5.2 million for 30 seconds of air time. That is, "You want a big social media Super Bowl reaction? Create a great, big idea commercial." One, he says, that is "big-impact" and engagingly sells the product. | | A Take: Digiday | |
| | |
| | 67 | | Percentage of U.S. marketers who say their brand has been exposed to online brand safety issues, according to a survey by GumGum and Digiday agency Custom. Among that total, 9% say it has happened regularly, 43% say it has happened a few times, while 15% say it happened once. The other 33% say their brand has never been exposed to a brand safety issue. Tragedies, divisive politics and fake news were each cited by 39% of respondents as being the type of brand-unsafe content their brands were exposed to. Only 9% say their brands appeared adjacent to pornography. | – Reported by eMarketer
| |
| | | |
| | NBC Wins State of the Union Race | by Michael Malone
NBC took the ratings crown Tuesday, scoring a 1.6 in viewers 18-49, according to the Nielsen overnights, and a 6 share. That topped the 1.1/4 put up by CBS. NBC had the best rating among broadcasters for President Trump's State of the Union address.
Ellen's Game of Games rated a 1.8 on NBC. The network's coverage of the State of the Union from 9 to 11 p.m. did a 1.5.
On CBS, Super Bowl's Greatest Commercials rated a 1.1. CBS' State of the Union broadcast scored a 1.1.
ABC did a 0.9/3. A pair of Fresh Off the Boat episodes rated a flat 1.0, then the State of the Union a 0.9.
The CW rated a 0.8/3 with regular programming. The Flash grew 29% to a 0.9 and Black Lightning went up 33% to a 0.8.
Fox scored a 0.7/3. A Lethal Weapon repeat led into the State of the Union, which did a 0.8.
Univision rated a 0.6/2 and Telemundo a 0.5/2. | |
| | | |
| • LISA GIACOSA was named head of analytics and insights at Publicis media agency Spark Foundry. She was previously global head of media at Kimberly-Clark. Prior to that, she worked at other Publicis agencies, including VivaKi London, where she served as global digital director, and at Starcom MediaVest Group, where she was a senior VP at Starcom MediaVest Group.
• TED ROYER, chief creative officer at Droga5, was placed on leave by the agency, pending an internal investigation, according to an Ad Age report. Further details were not released. He has been with Droga5 since the agency opened in 2006 and was promoted from executive creative director to CCO in 2013.
• RYAN MOGLIA was appointed to the newly-created position of head of data insights and activation at DiMassimo Goldstein. He was most recently VP, CRM and content strategy, at Sapient Razorfish. Prior to that he was VP, strategic director at Wunderman New York and also served as senior director, CRM strategy and insights at Kirshenbaum, Bond + Senecal.
| |
| | | |
| Technology Leadership Summit
February 28 – March 1, 2018 | Raleigh, NC
Learn More
20th Annual Multichannel News Wonder Women Luncheon
March 22, 2018 | New York, NY
Learn More
Advanced Advertising Summit – Spring Edition
March 26, 2018 | New York, NY
Learn More
Multicultural Television Summit
April 3, 2018 | New York, NY
Learn More
Technology Leadership Awards at NAB
April 9, 2018 | Las Vegas, NV
Learn More
Digital Media Tech Leadership Summit
June 5-6, 2018 | Tampa, FL
Learn More
The Programmatic Summit
June 7, 2018 | New York, NY
Learn More
| | more events » | |
| | | | |
