Netflix to Use Video Ads?

Another man down! Nexflix has begun to experiment with pre-roll and post-roll ads. While these ads are currently focused on Netflix’s own original programming like House of Cards and Orange is the New Black, niche markets are starting to see advertising before or after streaming content. Netflix hasn’t sold 3rd party advertising, but as we’ve seen with streaming services like Soundcloud, it seems almost inevitable. Hulu currently shows a mixture of 3rd party advertising as well as its original programming content. While there are rumors that Netflix may transition to a low cost ad-supported and a higher priced ad-free model, Netflix assures its viewers that for now, pre-roll and post-roll ads are just a test and may never become a wide-spread thing.

Netflix profits are fairly low at the moment, making 3rd party advertising seem likely. However, the company is eager to reap the benefits of global expansion once the process is complete in 2017. According to the CEO in an article from Business Insider, “Our international expansion strategy over the last few years has been to expand as fast as we can while staying profitable on a global basis. Progress has been so strong that we now believe we can complete our global expansion over the next two years, while staying profitable, which is earlier than we expected.” If this is to be believed, 3rd party advertising may never materialize into an actual mode of profit, which would be impressive for a company in the 2010s.

We can only hope that Netflix will maintain the level of content and quality we so thoroughly enjoy. Binge watching House of Cards will never be the same with interrupting PSAs from Pampers.

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Commercials with a Message

Sometimes commercials are intended to send a message instead of or in conjunction with selling a product. This Thai Life Insurance commercial is a great example. It’s longer than the typical 30 second clip and there isn’t a direct sales pitch. Instead, the company has opted to share it’s company values and brand as a means to insight emotion from the viewer. The feelings ultimately lead to the view wanting to know more about the company. So even though Thai Life Insurance did not request the viewer purchase a product, the positive message in the commercial encourages the viewer to potentially buy Thai Life Insurance anyway.

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This MetLife commercial is very much like the one above in that is doesn’t directly sell a product to the viewer. Instead it taps in to the viewers emotions.

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Bernas

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from Carl Nelson France http://ift.tt/1DVlyPE

International Commercials

Thomas J. Barratt: the father of modern advertising. If you’re familiar with marketing and advertising, you’ve seen this name many times. He was the chairman of the A&F Pears soap manufacturing company, introducing a variety of new techniques and strategies to the marketing world at the turn of the 20th century. He used a combination of catchy phrases, slogans, and images successfully branding Pears soap as a cultural trend. Barratt was also known to use testimonials by scientists, physicians, and high ranking social figures to  support his advertising claims.These are all techniques we’re more than accustomed to by now, but at the time, they were unlike anything anyone had seen before.

Of course advertising has come a long way since the early 20th century. It has expanded from domestic, niche markets to a global audience. People have more access to global content than ever before and an unbelievable reach, making it difficult for ad agencies to execute effective strategies across the board. Agencies need to assess who the target audience is, what outcome they expect, and the best way to reach the largest number of people. Television advertising was the biggest breakthrough prior to the complex online and digital marketing system we have now. However, even though most consumers spend more time online than in front of their TVs, commercials continue to play a large role in how advertisements are distributed.

But what happens when a commercial reaches an the wrong set of eyes? More so, what happens when someone from the United States watches a commercial intended for the UK?

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Ads like this can be very “hit or miss” depending on who’s watching and what type of message is ultimately being sent. There are more similarities between the United States and the United Kingdom but that may not be the case with countries like Japan. Many are familiar with the “weirdness” associated with Japanese commercials. Popular YouTube duo, The Fine Brothers, hosted an entire segment dedicated to other YouTubers reacting to Japanese commercials.

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As you can see, taken out of context, advertisements can make very little sense. This surely works in the reverse as well. In other words, American commercials would equally fail in another country. Advertisements have to not only align the the product values, but also align with the social and cultural norms of the intended audience.

Check out the Japanese commercial compilation below. What do you think?

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Chuck E. Cheese’s Seeks New Creative Agency

Chuck E. Cheese's is looking for a new creative agency to revive the fortunes of the faded pizza arcade brand, sources said.

The Irving, Texas chain spent $28 million on media spending in 2014, according to Kantar Media. Most recent reports have the account handled by The Richards Group, Dallas, but reps there haven't responded to an inquiry.

In January Chuck E. Cheese's brought in a new chief marketing officer, Michael Hartman, who was previously senior marketing officer at SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment.

When reached by Adweek, Hartman declined to comment on the agency review.

In addition to Richards, the brand has also worked with several agencies in the past, including Zambrelli for TV advertising, M/C/C for social media marketing and Apollo Interactive for website development.

Founded in 1977 by Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell, Chuck E. Cheese's was the first family restaurant to integrate food with entertainment and arcade games. (It has continued to use its namesake animatronic mouse mascot as a fixture in ads.) In recent years, the chain has also had the dubious distinction in the media for curious outbreaks of violence at its stores, including an incident last in month in Ohio where patrons beat employees.

While Chuck E. Cheese's has done little to change with the times, it nonetheless has strong millennial brand awareness and had grown to 577 outlets as of March, 2014.

Chuck E. Cheese's is owned by CEC Entertainment, which was bought by an affiliate of turnaround investors Apollo Global Management last year, for about $950 million.

from Adweek : Advertising & Branding http://ift.tt/1yTp14q

Droga5, Morgan Spurlock Show You How the Toyota Mirai Is ‘Fueled by Bullsh*t’

Toyota wants you to know it has a car that literally runs on bullshit.

This new ad for the automaker's Mirai fuel cell vehicle features an engineer visiting a dairy farm, loading a pickup bed with cow manure, taking it to be processed into hydrogen and using it to power a ride.

Directed by Morgan Spurlock, the ad is the first in a series titled "Fueled by Everything." Created by Droga5, the campaign hopes to persuade consumers that hydrogen cars are a viable alternative to internal combustion engines, despite a skeptical marketplace—hence the ad's mix of folksy and defensive. (Ron the farmer's cool demeanor casts doubt on his sincerity at moments, but there are some real action shots of heifers unloading.)

A small number of Mirais go on sale in California this fall, and Toyota's tack is to point out the abundance of fuel—not just crap, but also sunlight, wind and more—presumably in part because a leading criticism of the technology is the shortage of hydrogen stations. One doesn't follow the other, but Toyota is working with other car makers to develop infrastructure in the Golden State.

It's not clear though, whether drivers will be able to bring their own manure.

from Adweek : Advertising & Branding http://ift.tt/1IMJNmy

Check Out this YouTuber Making Some Insane Trick Shots With Oreo Cookies

Showing crazy trick shots is a pretty good way of getting viral video views, as we've seen in branded efforts from Wheaties (bowling), McDonald's (soccer)—and of course, that old, fake-as-hell Michael Jordan and Larry Bird ad "Nothing But Net."

Now there's a new kid in town, Peter Bamforth—a YouTuber who makes "videos about anything and everything." But he's particularly adept at trick shots. His "EPIC Ping Pong Trick Shots" video from 2011 got 300,000 views.

And now, he's returned with more trick shots—starring Oreo cookies.

It's a pretty impressive feat, not only because of the level of inventiveness in materials, but also for the patience this kid must have. Check it out below.

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from Adweek : Advertising & Branding http://ift.tt/1blPgWj

There Are Big Disconnects in This New ANA Survey of Marketers and Agencies

A new Association of National Advertisers survey of marketers and agencies reveals (perhaps not too surprisingly) little harmony and much discord.

While marketing and agency leaders agree that agencies are valuable to marketers and help drive business results, they differ on how well they work together, the clarity of assignment briefs and the quality of the ad-approval process.

Specifically, just 27 percent of agency leaders polled found marketer briefs to be clear, compared to 58 percent of the marketers. Similarly, only 36 percent of the agencies were satisfied with how marketers approve ads, versus 54 percent of marketers, according to the ANA.

As you might expect, the biggest disconnect was in compensation. Nearly three-quarters of clients (72 percent) described their agency compensation as fair, while only 40 percent of the agencies agreed. 

As ANA President Bob Liodice acknowledged, "There are disturbing legacy issues that continue to plague the partnership that have been further complicated by blossoming transparency concerns." He added that the ANA is "committed to making tangible improvements and will be working in partnership with the 4A's to actively address those issues."

In all, the ANA polled 126 marketer executives and 105 agency honchos in its survey, which took place in January and February. Fifty-eight percent of the agency respondents work at full-service agencies, 23 percent at creative-only agencies, 12 percent at media shops and the remaining 7 percent are specialty players.

The full survey is available to ANA members.

from Adweek : Advertising & Branding http://ift.tt/1OhvH3B

SapientNitro Named British Airways’ Digital Lead Agency

This time SapientNitro won the prize. The Publicis Groupe agency has been named the digital lead for British Airways, business previously handled by OgilvyOne.

Last year SapientNitro emerged as a review finalist when the U.K. flagship airline retained long-time agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty after a six-month global creative search. In the current review, BBH also competed for the digital business, along with DigitasLBi and We Are Social. 

The global digital assignment includes key British Airways markets like the U.S., U.K., China, India and Europe. The airline's digital spending couldn't immediately be determined, but the brand spends around $100 million annually on its marketing communications.

"We are confident that SapientNitro will offer us great ideas, insight, the ability to apply strategy practically, a strong reputation in the industry and a good fit with the British Airways brand," Sara Dunham, British Airways' head of marketing, retail and direct, said in a statement.

In November, Publicis announced a $3.7 billion all-cash offer for SapientNitro, with the deal closing on February 6 of this year.

 

from Adweek : Advertising & Branding http://ift.tt/1zQjyqc

Ad of the Day: Gun Violence PSA Makes Heartbreaking Statues From Victims’ Clothes

Eight victims of gun violence are memorialized in lifelike but faceless plaster statues in FCB Chicago's "The Unforgotten," a traveling public-service installation and media campaign.

Created for the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence, the campaign recruited artists who took pains to imbue each statue with as much of each victim's personality as possible by studying gestures and body language from family films and photos. The figures are dressed in the victims' actual clothing. They wear sweatshirts, jeans, scarves and sneakers. Some carry backpacks. One figure slings a guitar because it was modeled on a young musician who was fatally shot while helping his band unload their gear. The statues' name tags work with a mobile app, allowing users to access videos about the victims' lives.

"This cause desperately needed an unusual approach," says FCB Chicago creative chief Todd Tilford, "something shocking to compel people to take action, while at the same time honoring the victims, and the families and friends of the victims. Not in a loud, screaming way, but in a powerful, silent way."

The initial exhibit was held April 10 at Chicago's St. James Cathedral Plaza, and Tilford says plans are underway for the installation to visit other cities in Illinois and possibly around the country.

The three-minute campaign video features interviews with family members and shows the statues posed in parks, on sidewalks and in bus shelters. The clip closes by asking viewers to "Help us get guns out of the wrong hands. Unforget the victims and sign our petition at The-Unforgotten.org." The campaign hashtag is #Unforgotten.

Mannequins have been effectively deployed in recent PSAs about the homeless and people with disabilities. The figures created for "The Unforgotten," while similar to mannequins, achieve a haunting, visceral presence owing to their level of personalization. The absent faces remind us that human beings lost their lives—clothing and artifacts are all that remain.

Tilford believes these surreal specters transcend blood-soaked category clichés, and refutes the idea that the approach might be a tad too abstract or esoteric.

"While the memorial statues were artistically designed, they went far beyond being 'artsy,' " he says. "How do we inspire real change? What if we could bring some of the victims back to tell their stories? That's what we did. We did something different."

CREDITS
Client: Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence
Agency: FCB Chicago
Chief Creative Officer: Todd Tilford
Group Creative Director: Chuck Rudnick
Art Director: Jordan Sparrow
Executive Creative Producer: John Bleeden
Creative Producer: Rachel Chapman
Film Director: Ben Flaherty
Account Supervisor: Ky Anderson
Group Management Director: Karyn Kerner
Senior Strategic Planner: Hayet Rida
Director Experience Planning: Katie Swindler

PR Agency: Current – Lifestyle Marketing and Public Relations
President: Virginia Devlin
Vice President: Alexis Valenti

Production Company: Lord + Thomas
Executive Producer: Katie Roach
Executive Producer: Jared Stachowitz
Senior Editor: Steve Immer
Copywriter: Anthony Williams
Group Creative Director: Derek Sherman
John Skibicki: Lead Developer

Experiential Agency: FCBX
Management Director: Marty Kane

from Adweek : Advertising & Branding http://ift.tt/1GaRnVi

WPP’s Q1 Revenue Was Up 8%, but Holding Company Expects a ‘Demanding Year’ Ahead

The ad industry's largest holding company said its first-quarter profits for 2015 are "well above target" but admitted, "2015 looks to be another demanding year."

WPP Group's reported revenue rose 8 percent in the first quarter to just over $4 billion, with like-for-like revenue, which eliminates the impact of currency and acquisitions, climbing 5 percent. Last month WPP said like-for-like revenue in January increased nearly 7 percent, indicating a slowdown in more recent growth.

WPP posted like-for-like revenue growth in all of its operating regions and business sectors, with the exception of data investment management. The company saw "particularly strong growth geographically" in the U.K. and Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Central and Eastern Europe. Among its business practices, WPP's major growth increases came from advertising and media investment management; direct, digital and interactive; and healthcare.

The company reported a like-for-like growth of 7 percent growth in the first quarter of 2014, a year that was boosted by spending on soccer's World Cup. While WPP now predicts the pattern for 2015 will look similar to 2014, this year lacks quadrennial events like the World Cup and Winter Olympics to boost marketing investments.The company is forecasting full-year revenue growth of more than 3 percent as opposed to 2014, when WPP said reported revenue rose almost 5 percent to $17.4 billion.

"Following the group's record year in 2014," the company said in its current earnings statement, "2015's first quarter top line growth has been reasonably above budget, particularly given that worldwide (gross domestic product) growth … has slowed in the second half of last year and the first quarter of this year."

from Adweek : Advertising & Branding http://ift.tt/1yWKMAP