Morning Update: Buzzfeed splits divisions; can brands in movies work?; Comedy Central picks up ABC comedy
Poynter: BuzzFeed undergoes company-wide reorganization, separating entertainment from news
BuzzFeed is making a major organizational change that cleaves its journalistic efforts from its entertainment-focused content, founder Jonah Peretti announced in a memo to staffers Tuesday.
Citing a desire to “simplify our organizational structure” and “allow us to operate more entrepreneurially,” Peretti announced that the social-first media company will formally divide BuzzFeed News, the reporting division overseen by Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith, from a new division called BuzzFeed Entertainment Group.
Campaign Live: Smash or flop: can brands be a natural fit in the movies?
Since Jules Verne gave shout outs to real shipping and transport companies in his 1873 novel, Around the world in 80 days, branded integrations have come a long way. Today, with the myriad disruptions to traditional ad models, there’s fresh impetus behind brand integration as companies search for more authentic and surefire ways to connect with audiences.
Comedy Central is filling the vacant 11:30pm time-slot with Chris Hardwick’s @Midnight following the surprise cancellation of The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore. There’s no word on how long the move will remain in effect, but it’s a certainty 11:30 will be in turmoil until a replacement is found. However, the answer to the network’s stress may not lie with its usual roster, but rather thousands of miles away in the land down under.
Ad Age: Tampons Never Really Caught On In China. Will That Ever Change?
Tampons aren’t really a thing in China. So a tampon brand tried to build awareness on social media during the Olympics by explaining what they are and that women athletes use them. “Tampons are put inside and won’t leak. You can move around freely!” the Greener Life brand explained.
Poynter: Gawker’s demise is troubling for experiments in reader engagement
This is a column about Gawker.com’s demise, but it is also a column about a plane ride I took last Friday. The two are related, though it might not seem that way at first.
I’ll start with the plane ride, which was from San Francisco to Raleigh-Durham. I sat next to a woman who brought an assortment of religious material to read on the plane. We made some initial chit-chat about disliking airplane rides, then we both settled in for the lengthy flight — she read her Kindle, I thumbed through my backlog of New Yorkers.
Ad Age: Marketer’s Playbook: Retail Like You’ve Never Seen It Before
There is an inescapable power shift taking place in retail and it’s affecting every corner of the landscape. By the time a consumer enters a store, there’s a good chance he knows more about the product he wants than the sales person peddling it.
Many consumers are “showrooming,” visiting a store only to touch and feel a product they plan to purchase online for the cheapest price, delivered the very same day. All things being equal, why wouldn’t he choose the digital option? There’s less friction in the experience.
Mumbrella Asia: Singapore’s Hall of Fame Awards introduces do-good category
The Institute of Advertising Singapore has introduced new categories for the Hall of Fame Awards this year, including an award that recognises agencies that support CSR programmes.
The ‘For Good’ award, according to IAS, “serves to accelerate the nation’s goal of building a more inclusive and caring society” and will please the many agencies in Singapore that tend to produce do-gooding work around awards season.
Ad Week: How Le Labo Took the Fragrance Industry by Storm, After Starting With Nothing
On a recent afternoon in the Le Labo boutique on 29th Street in Manhattan, a well-dressed professional woman sought out the sales associate and wasted no time getting to her point. She was visiting from California, she said, and wanted to buy the scent (Tubereuse 40) sold only in New York. “We don’t have that in L.A.,” she said, sounding a bit pouty. Fortunately for the woman, it was nothing that $175 for 1.7 fluid ounces couldn’t fix, and she left happy.
https://youtu.be/m7A3cBhvA0k
Ad Week: Nike’s ‘Unlimited’ Series About Everyday Athletes Was the Most Remembered Olympic Ad
To determine the most effective TV spots of the Olympics, Google tracked the top 12 brands with ads that aired during NBC’s broadcasts by length and frequency, including Coca-Cola, Nike and BMW.
Collectively, the ads generated 3.5 billion impressions. The company’s data includes online surveys as well as traffic stats about Google searches.
