| | Media Buyer & Planner Today | | | | | | | | | #1 Lowe's Moves to Multiple Agencies | | The home improvement chain is renovating its agency structure, moving from an agency of record to a roster of shops for projects system, Ad Age first reported. The retailer has brought in Portland, Maine-based Via Agency, Greenville, S.C.-based EP & Co. (formerly Erwin Penland), and Los Angeles-based Conill. The goal is to better focus the chain's marketing message and make it more relevant to customers in different parts of the country, says Jocelyn Wong, chief marketing officer for Lowe's. "We serve a broad customer base across all income levels, genders and race," Ad Age quotes Wong as saying. "We needed to make sure our agency model could be as agile as we needed it to be, as diverse as we needed it to be." Lowe's had previously used BBDO New York exclusively to handle its creative since 2005. Each of the new agencies will be on retainer and each will be given projects and also have the opportunity to pitch for other projects against each other. The first new creative campaigns are expected sometime in second quarter. Lowe's media agency, Starcom, is not impacted by the latest move. | | WHY THIS MATTERS: The move by Lowe's goes counter to lots and lots of other companies who are moving from roster shops to one main agency in order to save money and to make it less hectic for creative. Lowe's apparently believes that multiple agencies doing creative gives it a better opportunity to target customers in specific areas of the country or specific demographic groups. The home improvement retailer is also a major ad spender, allocating around $387 million on U.S. media in 2016, according to Ad Age's Datacenter. | | Two Takes: Ad Age | Adweek | | | | #2 Facebook Ad Execs Downplay Russia Campaigns | | There was a time when Facebook ad sellers were using the fact that Russian operatives spending a relatively insignificant amount of $100,000 in ad dollars successfully impacted the 2016 U.S. presidential election. At least they would discuss it with ad buyers who asked. No more, according to a Digiday report citing discussions with 10 media buyers. While Facebook ad sellers aren't using the Russian ad buy as an example of the platform's effectiveness, David Eisenman, CEO at Brooklyn-based media and creative agency Madwell tells Digiday they still "suggest to marketers that a small business can spend a couple hundred [dollars] a month and see results." And the Digiday report asks, "So which is it?" | | WHY THIS MATTERS: Facebook is caught in a Catch-22. If it says the Russian ad buys successfully influenced the election's results, that proves its advertising works, but it also opens it up to a firestorm of negativity and questions about its role in undermining democracy. "They never bring it up themselves," says one ad buyer at a major agency. "When we do, they deflect. Usually, it's by saying, "Look at all these amazing changes we've made to the news feed." | | A Take: Digiday | | | | #3 Cadillac Oscar Ads Less Political, More Fun | | The auto brand holds the exclusive national automotive advertising rights to Sunday night's Academy Awards broadcast on ABC, and unlike last year when it ran a politically toned ad, this year Cadillac is planning to run three spots with a lighter, more fun tone, Ad Age reports. Last year's ad, created under then chief marketing officer Uwe Ellinghaus, who has since departed, featured street protesters, cops, soldiers and flood victims in an attempt to promote unity amid the divisive political environment. This year's spots, created by Publicis Groupe's Rokkan, will feature The Jetsons and Knight Rider. The ads will promote a variety of Cadillac vehicles in a light-hearted way. Cadillac marketing director Renee Rauchut says the goal of the ads is to "have more fun and stay a bit more optimistic and upbeat." | | WHY THIS MATTERS: Rauchut says Cadillac's marketing budget in "finite" and "we don't have billions of dollars to just roll the dice and see how it comes out in the other side." She would much rather directly promote its cars than take a stand on political issues. She did not rule out Cadillac returning to more high-minded advertising, but in this year's Oscars telecast "it just didn't seem to make sense against what we have to communicate." | | A Take: Ad Age | |
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| | 89 | | Percentage of U.S. agency executives and brand marketers who strongly agree (33%) or agree (56%) that influencer marketing can have a positive impact how consumers feel about a brand, according to a survey by marketing company WhoSay. Another 60% strongly agree (22%) or agree (48%) that they must increase their influencer marketing budgets in 2018. | – Reported by eMarketer
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| | Nielsen was experiencing data processing delays so overnight ratings from Thursday primetime were not available at presstime.
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| • JON STEINLAUF will become chief U.S. advertising sales officer at Discovery Communications once the merger with Scripps Interactive Networks takes effect. Steinlauf is currently president of national ad sales and marketing at Scripps Networks Interactive, a post he has held since 2015. Prior to that he was executive VP of ad sales. He's been with Scripps since 2000 and prior to that was VP of ad sales at Turner's TBS and TNT networks. Ben Price, who serves as president of U.S. ad sales for Discovery will now report to Steinlauf, as will Leigh Anne Brodsky, who is currently executive VP of Discovery Global Enterprises. KATHLEEN FINCH, who currently heads programming at Scripps will become chief lifestyle brand officer for the combined company. And NANCY DANIELS, currently president of Discovery's TLC, will assume the new role of chief brand officer, Discovery & Factual, where she will lead all aspects of Discovery Channel and the Science Channel brands. She succeeds Rich Ross, who is leaving the company.
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