| | Media Buyer & Planner Today | | | | | | | | | #1 Agencies Skipping SXSW | | The annual Austin, Texas-based South by Southwest Conference and Festival in March has been a targeted attendance event for media, creative and interactive ad agencies for years. And that's because their brand clients were big on attending the annual get together which is a convergence of the film, music and interactive industries. But this year is going to be different, according to a Digiday report. That's because the clients themselves have become less obsessed with the conference. OMD Worldwide, every year since 2012, has taken over a popular barbecue restaurant in Austin to host its annual Bootstrap Barbecue. It would welcome about 100 client and introduce them to new startups they might otherwise not meet. OMD execs will still attend, but just meet with clients individually. Doug Rozen, chief digital and innovation officer at OMD says SXSW has become "too corporate." And other agencies like WPP and GroupM's MediaCom, SapientRazorfish and Kettle are also not planning to attend. | | WHY THIS MATTERS: Those agencies who still plan to go will skip sponsoring large events or activations at SXSW, and hold smaller one-on-one meetings with clients. Sponsoring expensive events is no longer cost efficient or effective. There used to be a uniqueness about holding a conference in Austin, Texas. John Baker, CMO at Mirum, says, "The problem with SXSW is that it has gotten so big that it's really, really hard to get noticed. So if an agency is doing an activation, it needs to really hit a nerve." And MediaCom managing director Jeffrey Hinz says creativity has been stifled and it is "being programmed similarly to conferences in NYC or San Francisco. There is no uniqueness. It's like the same bland shopping mall on every corner. And finally, breakfast tacos are so 2009." | | A Take: Digiday | | | | #2 Google Chrome Ad Blocking Begins | | The browser's ad blocker rolls out Thursday and will block out all ads served on sites where publishers do not comply with the Coalition for Better Ads' standards. Sites with unacceptable ad formats such as annoying pop-up ads, auto-playing video ads with sound and flashing animated ads must be removed within 30 days or they will be blocked. However, not only the offensive ads will be blocked, but all ads on that page. And there are some in the ad industry who question Google's motivation. Ghostery director of product Jeremy Tillman says Chrome ad blocking is "less about improving the browsing experience for users and more about forcing publishers and advertisers towards ad standards that benefit Google." | | WHY THIS MATTERS: Clearly something needs to be done about offensive ad formats that annoy users who frequent sites. And it is those types of formats that turn off consumers on all advertising. But as Rich Kahn, CEO and co-founder of eZanga tells MediaPost, this new ad blocking effort by Google should not be something that is forced on website owners. Meanwhile Google says the ad blocking will most likely impact less than 1% of the internet's most-visited sites. | | Two Takes: MediaPost | WSJ | | | | #3 CW Adding Sunday Primetime Programming | | The millennial-targeted broadcast network, jointly owned by Warner Bros. and CBS, will add Sunday primetime programming to its schedule this fall for the first time since 2009 when it gave the time to its affiliate local stations. The CW will add two hours of Sunday programming from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., giving the network 12 hours of primetime programming a week, up from 10 hours this season. Since the network gave its two-hours of Sunday night programming time to its affiliates, it had to negotiate to get the time back. Its major affiliate station groups, including Sinclair, Tribune, CBS and Nextstar agreed and all issued positive statements of support for the move. | | WHY THIS MATTERS: From a media agency and advertiser point of view, it offers them two more hours per week in primetime to reach The CW's younger audience. And unlike the larger and more older skewing broadcast networks, The CW this season is the only network that has seen a gain in overall viewers and is flat in both its 18-34 and 18-49 viewership. That was likely one of the motivating factors in moving back into Sunday night programming. Sunday night is also the largest TV viewing night most weeks. | | Three Takes: Adweek | MediaPost | B&C | |
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| | 52 | | Percentage of social media influencers worldwide who automatically label their content as being sponsored, according to a survey by Zine. Another 45% say they will do so but only when asked by the brand they are touting. The other 7% said they never disclose that their content involves paid sponsorship. Those who do not disclose do face penalties by the Federal Trade Commission, and also face consumer backlash since there is growing feeling that social media users want to know if an influencer is being paid to promote a product. | – Reported by eMarketer
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| | NBC Wins With Olympics | by Michael Malone
NBC took top prize in Wednesday ratings, its Olympics coverage producing a 4.0 in viewers 18-49, per the Nielsen overnights, and a 16 share.
The runner-up was CBS at 1.0/4.
NBC's prime offerings from Pyeongchang included snowboarding, figure skating and speed skating.
The previous night, NBC did a 5.2/20 in prime.
CBS had Big Brother: Celebrity Edition at a level 1.3 while The Amazing Race dropped 18% to 0.9.
ABC was at 0.6/2, with repeated comedies, then Match Game lost a tenth of a point for a 0.5.
Fox too was at 0.6/2. It had repeats of The Resident and 9-1-1.
Univision scored a 0.5/2 and Telemundo a 0.4/2.
The CW rated a 0.2/1. Relationships Just For Laughs scored a 0.2 and The Top 14 Greatest Valentine's Day Movies of All Time did the same. | |
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| • BELLE LENZ has joined iProspect as chief marketing officer and JOEL GROSSMAN was named to the newly created position of chief technology officer. Lenz was most recently communications director for the Americas at Dentsu Aegis Network. Prior to that she was VP, global corporate communications at IPG Mediabrands and also served as director of corporate communications, North America, at Havas Media. Grossman was previously chief technology officer at performance marketing company Leapfrog Online, which was acquired by iProspect last year.
• GREG DREBIN was promoted to executive VP, worldwide marketing, at Twentieth Century Fox Television. He was previously senior VP. His new role includes oversight of both the marketing and research divisions of Fox Networks Group Content Distribution, as well as the research division of Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution. He has been with the company since 2014.
• DICK DeLange was named managing director and global head of planning at experience agency Huge. He was previously chief strategy officer for North America at Young & Rubicam. Prior to that he was group strategy lead at R/GA. • RICHARD TING, executive VP and global chief experience officer at R/GA, was given the new title and role of global chief design officer. He will also continue in his role at a partner of R/GA Ventures. He has been with R/GA since 2006 and previously service as global executive creative director.
• AMY FERGUSON and JULIA NEUMANN were named executive creative directors at TBWA/Chiat/Day New York. They were both previously creative directors at MullenLowe.
• KIERNAN OTS was promoted to executive VP and executive creative director at Leo Burnett Chicago, where he will oversee the Samsung account. He was previously digital creative director at Leo Burnett Sydney. • CHRISTOPHER FERGUSON was appointed executive VP and executive creative director of Weber Shandwick. He was most recently senior global creative director at Under Armour. Before that he was a creative director at R/GA and also worked as a creative director at TBWA/Chiat/Day.
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| Technology Leadership Summit
February 28 – March 1, 2018 | Raleigh, NC
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20th Annual Multichannel News Wonder Women Luncheon
March 22, 2018 | New York, NY
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Advanced Advertising Summit – Spring Edition
March 26, 2018 | New York, NY
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Multicultural Television Summit
April 3, 2018 | New York, NY
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Technology Leadership Awards at NAB
April 9, 2018 | Las Vegas, NV
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Digital Media Tech Leadership Summit
June 5-6, 2018 | Tampa, FL
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The Programmatic Summit
June 7, 2018 | New York, NY
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