News

Morning Update: Will Daily Mail buy Yahoo?; Apple’s NBA laughs; Facebook to offer branded content; publisher’s guide to lay-offs

yahoo screen shot

BBC News: Yahoo: Why would Daily Mail or anyone else buy net firm?

Recently, there have been more stories about Yahoo shutting bits of its business than celebrating successes. The firm’s own internet services are now valued to be worth a fraction of its stake in the e-commerce giant Alibaba.

So, after the US tax authorities effectively blocked Yahoo’s sales of shares in the Chinese business, chief executive Marissa Mayer opted for plan B: sell off Yahoo’s core business. Since February, dozens of US-based companies have been linked to a potential bid.

Kobe Byrant Spars With Michael B. Jordan in Hilarious Ad for Apple TV

As Kobe Bryant prepares to play his final NBA game this Wednesday, the tributes to the legendary Los Angeles Laker keep pouring in, including from brands. And while some of the Kobe commercials are sober and serious, others recognize the guy’s decent comic timing and history of amusing ads—and are going for laughs.

The best of the latter category will almost certainly be this new Apple TV spot from TBWA\Media Arts Lab, costarring Creed actor Michael B. Jordan. The setting, once again, is a Hollywood movie-production trailer—just as it was in the previous Apple TV spot which broke a few weeks ago, starring Alison Brie and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau.

facebook tab on mobile

Ad Age: Facebook Opens the Gates to Branded Content

Facebook has long prohibited publishers, celebrities and influencers from taking advantage of its vast platform to post branded content on their pages, unless it was part of a paid ad campaign on Facebook. As the rules said:

“Advertising on Pages: Third-party advertisements on Pages are prohibited, without our prior permission.”

That was despite the proliferation in branded content as marketers tried to engage banner-blind consumers, and despite the occasional posting of branded content on Pages despite the rules.

grim reaper - death - layoffs

Digiday:  The publisher’s guide to mass layoffs

The dark days of recession-related downsizing may long gone, but a correction is threatening digital media as publishers face the limits of growth. Yahoo, IBT Media and Mashable have laid off staff in the past couple of months, and there may be more to come.

As bad as a mass layoff is for all involved, here are five ways to mitigate the pain, according to HR consultants and people who have endured them: A big mistake companies make is failing to tie the layoffs to the broader company strategy, said Tracy Benson, founder and CEO of consulting firm On the Same Page. Agencies deal with this all the time because accounts come and go.

Reaching millennials with mobile

Ad Week: 6 Tips for Marketers Who Want to Connect in a Meaningful Way With Millennials

While brand experiences have grown in scope, scale, sophistication and effectiveness in recent years, there are a host of new issues and challenges marketers must understand and manage to take these experiences to the next level and to make them meaningful to—you guessed it—millennials.

Consumers, particularly influential millennials, have a constantly changing set of habits, interests and concerns. Brands need to be quick on their feet and work hard to entice, entertain and captivate consumers to provide highly engaged and unforgettable experiences they crave and want to share with peers.

DandAD Festival

Campaign Live: Why the D&AD Festival matters

There are a lot of advertising and design festivals around these days. Every industry has them and ours is better endowed than most.  Why then has D&AD chosen to launch its own into such a crowded market, at a time when awards shows themselves are, rightly, under some scrutiny from those that enter them?

Well, it won’t surprise you to learn that we think there are a lot of rather good reasons why this festival matters, and why you should come. And here they are.

JWT DVD Gustavo Martinez

Ad Age: WPP Drops Opposition to Entering Video Into Evidence in JWT Suit

For all the arguing that WPP has done over the last few weeks to keep an allegedly damning video under wraps, it’s now changing its mind.

In a filing Monday morning, WPP lawyers said they’re happy to see the video in evidence in Erin Johnson’s lawsuit against J. Walter Thompson and former agency chairman-CEO Gustavo Martinez, as long as other employees’ faces are obscured.

ADVERTISEMENT

Get the latest media and marketing industry news (and views) direct to your inbox.

Sign up to the free Mumbrella newsletter now.

 

SUBSCRIBE

Sign up to our free daily update to get the latest in media and marketing.