Morning Update: World Surf League plays on unpredictability in first ad; Nike signs LeBron James lifetime deal; Coke marketing shakeup
Agency Spy: Mistress Debuts Ad for the World Surf League Celebrating ‘Chaos Theory’
Mistress launched the first-ever ad campaign for the World Surf League, “You Can’t Script This,” with a 90-second spot entitled “Chaos Theory.”
The spot opens with a voiceover introducing chaos theory as “a celebration of the unpredictable.” He continues to wax philosophical about how “the slightest change can ripple across the globe” over a mix of stock footage, World Surf League highlights and original shots.
Digiday: 2016 Year in Preview: Ad blocking will force the industry to put the user experience first
If publishers weren’t thinking about the user before, they will in the coming year.
Spurred by Apple’s introduction of ad blocking to iOS in September, publishers and advertisers spent much of 2015 wavering between muted concern and outright panic over ad blocking’s potential effect on the future of the industry. Over 198 million people globally run ad blockers each month, according to anti-ad blocking firm PageFair, and Apple’s support risked increasing the magnitude of that existential threat even further.
But while the industry has obsessed over various wrinkles of ad blocking — how to fight the tech, whether ad blocking is unethical, etc — the ad blocking story’s actual importance became clear when it started forcing the hard questions about the role of the user experience in digital advertising, and whether the industry has completely forgotten about the people on the other side of the screen. In 2016, the discussion about ad blocking will expand beyond ad blocking to include user experience overall.
The Guardian: Quentin Tarantino on the media: ‘I keep giving fish, and they give me back chum’
If this year has proven anything for film-maker Quentin Tarantino, it’s that the 52-year-old hasn’t mellowed with age.
As well as his recent controversial remarks concerning police violence that landed him in trouble with the largest police union in the US, Tarantino has been vocal on a number of less urgent matters in interviews leading up to the release of his eighth film, The Hateful Eight, which opens in December.
AdWeek: Agency Calls Out PepsiCo President on Twitter, Challenging Him to Work With Small Shops
PepsiCo brand manager Brad Jakeman delivered a poignant speech at the ANA Masters of Marketing conference that had the industry buzzing in October. He criticized large agencies for focusing on 30-second TV commercials while shunning new technology, warning that “the agency model is not going to bend—it’s going to break.”
A small boutique agency in New York, HERO Group, believes it has the solution: big brands must hire small agencies to shake things up. And it’s launching a campaign called “#ChallengeMeBrad” to give featherweights a fighting chance.
The Drum: Nike makes history by signing ‘lifetime’ sponsorship deal with LeBron James
Nike has signed a “lifetime” deal with basketball star LeBron James in what is being described as the largest single-athlete guarantee in the brand’s history.
The deal with the 30 year-old Cleveland Cavaliers forward marks the first time that the sports company has ever confirmed a “lifetime” deal with an athlete.
It illustrates Nike’s desire to have James as a brand ambassador well beyond his playing days and suggests that the Baltimore-based company has a long-term strategy to sell footwear and other branded merchandise using his name, similar to its highly lucrative $2.2bn Michael Jordan line.
AdAge: Coke Shuffles Management in Wake of Wendy Clark Exit
Coca-Cola is making significant changes to its North American leadership team in the wake of the departure of Wendy Clark, a highly respected marketer who is leaving to become president and CEO of North America for DDB Worldwide.
Ms. Clark — whose exit was announced last month– carried the title of president of sparkling brands and strategic marketing in North America.But instead of filling her role as is, Coke has elected to create a new division called USA Operations that will oversee all U.S. beverages, including brand strategy, marketing and integrated content for all sparkling or carbonated and still brands, as well as retail sales and franchise leadership. The USA division’s president will be Hendrik Steckhan, a former president of Coke’s German business who recently came to North America to serve as president of still beverages. Mr. Steckhan will report directly to to Sandy Douglas, president of Coca-Cola North America.
