Morning update: Pizza Hut and Italians; most shared ads of 2014, Qatar goes for JWT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzDaI5nsJ_k
Adweek: Pizza Hut wants you to know Italians hate its pizza
There was a time when Pizza Hut was famous for deep-dish pies and a waiting list to be seated. Unfortunately, that was a long time ago. This week, the restaurant chain hauled a piping hot rebranding effort from the oven. It’s bubbling with the stuff you’d expect from a fiftysomething chain trying to attract twentysomething customers—new toppings, new sauces, new crusts and a new logo that’s ditched the red roof in favor of an actual pizza. The spruce-ups, marketing vp Jared Drinkwater told us, are “the biggest changes in the 56-year history of our brand.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9oXiUu-Ico
Mumbrella Asia: The most shared ad of 2014
Two ads from Asia have made a ranking of the world’s most shared commercials of the year so far, compiled by ad tech firm Unruly.
Both are from Thailand, with heart-warming films for DTAC and Thai Life Insurance being shared more than 2.4 times between them.
‘Unsung hero’ for Thai Life Insurance has been shared just under 1.3 million times.
….And this is the most shared featuring Shakira in a video for Activa. It’s been shared 5.8 million times.
AdAge: Publicis promises better sales growth after disappointing year
Publicis Groupe CEO Maurice Levy said he will improve revenue growth after distractions from a failed merger led the French advertising company to cut its 2014 sales forecast.
“We are not delivering the kind of growth we are used to and not what we should do,” Levy said today at a conference in Barcelona organized by Morgan Stanley. “We are confident the situation will improve remarkably next year.”
Campaign: Qatar Airways awards£40 million advertising account to JWT
Qatar Airways is understood to have handed its global creative account to JWT after calling a pitch in the summer
The business, worth an estimated £40 million, was contested by a longlist that is thought to have included the roster agencies 180 Amsterdam, Y&R and Grey Group Singapore.
JWT is now expected to kick off activity for the Qatari government-owned airline early in the New Year.
The creative treatment is expected to concentrate on ads promoting Qatar Airways’ six-month exclusive contract to fly Airbus’ new A350, heralded as one of the lightest, most fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly planes in the world, with extra-wide economy seats.
