Morning Update: vending machine serves up ads; GroupM’s global survey tool; Visa’s Rio Olympics ad; where have the creatives gone?
Ad Age: Vengo, a Vending Machine With an Ad Network, Secures $2M Deal on ‘Shark Tank’
One of the largest deals to ever close on ABC’s entrepreneurial TV show Shark Tank has everything to do with a vending machine that serves both Reeses’ Peanut Buttercups and digital ads.
Vengo Labs founder and CEO Brian Shimmerlik wrangled up a $2 million deal with investors Kevin O’Leary and Lori Greiner. Mr. Shimmerlik went toe-to-toe for about five minutes with Mr. O’Leary and Ms. Greiner before accepting a deal.
The CEO and his co-founder, Steve Bofill, secured $2 million in venture debt that will be paid off over three years with a 7% interest rate. In return, the investors will each receive 3% of the company.
GroupM Creates Global Consumer Survey Tool Connecting to WPP Data
WPP media agency network GroupM is starting a global consumer survey tool called Live Panel as part of a larger effort to make better use of its own data.
GroupM units will use the panel, which includes Kantar Media’s Lighspeed sample of over five million consumers in 30 markets, to help determine which consumer segments to target with a digital ad buy, or to learn more about the behaviours of people they’ve already identified as likely to purchase the product.
Users can then match that information with IDs from other data sources at GroupM and parent WPP, such as Kantar, to learn more about that consumer type and to track key performance indicators such as purchase intent, awareness or actual sales.
Campaign Live: Visa releases beating heart Olympics ad
Visa, the payment services sponsor of the Olympic Games, invites a comparison between its unfailing services and the beating heart of an athlete in a new cinema campaign.
Saatchi & Saatchi London created the ad, which mixes shots of an athlete’s training regime in the run up to the Olympic Games with images of a heart beating inside someone’s chest.The ad features Ashely Bryant, a decathlete who won silver at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, who plays an Olympic athlete preparing for the forthcoming games. International Olympic Committee rules forbade the use of an Olympic athlete in the ad.
Ad Age: Where Have All the Creatives Gone?
If Don Draper were working in today’s ad business, there’s a good chance his business card wouldn’t read Sterling Cooper but instead Google, Apple or Facebook. Mr. Draper may have found enlightenment on a mountaintop, but today’s hot creatives are increasingly finding their Zen in the tech world.
For many who do make the leap, the appeal lies in the opportunity to do work that requires a different level of thinking or that can even change the world. The migration of young talent to tech companies has been going on for years, but the loss of established bold-name creative leaders to the Apples and the Googles is a newer and troubling trend for agencies.
Out of home agency JCDecaux has announced the departure of its Singapore managing director Ashley Stewart after 18 years with the company. He will be replaced by deputy MD Evlyn Yang who returned to the firm in June 2014 after a brief stint at SMRT as assistant general manager.
Stewart, who played a leading role in the development of the business in Singapore, is leaving to “pursue personal interests”, according to a JCDecaux statement.
Ad Week: 5 Times the Next Big Thing Failed to Kill the Last Big Thing
One of my favorite debates in digital marketing goes like this: When will email be replaced by (fill in the blank)? Or when will brands stop using SMS? Even the Internet is challenged: When will apps or Facebook kill the Web?
Rather than defend any individual digital marketing channel, I want to highlight this important fact: So far, nothing has replaced anything in digital marketing. Instead, we’ve seen a layering of new digital channels on top of existing channels, which creates a rich tapestry of ways to connect with customers. The Internet of Things adds even more options for customer-to-brand interactions, and the most popular connected devices like FitBit use email and mobile notifications to reach users.
Ad Age: What It’s Like to Be a Woman in Adland: Stories of Sexism in the Office
For all the progress women have made in business, sexual harassment is too often a fact of life. We asked several prominent women in the ad business under the cover of anonymity about their experiences. Here’s what they had to say:
“There was a time when I was passionate about a piece of creative and because of that, my boss asked me if I had my period,” said one ad agency executive. “I actually grabbed him and said, ‘No, that’s insulting. I’m emotional about this creative because I care, but I’ll let you know when I have my period so you can decide how passionate I really am.'”
