Today, the NHL Network is launching NHL Tonight: 2014 Sochi Edition, a live highlights show that will run immediately following the Latvia-Switzerland telecast. In this week's Data Points we learn how Olympic viewers like to be marketed to.
What's more difficult than making a commercial that's funny or sad? Making one that's earnestly romantic. As we're reminded each year in the weeks leading up to Valentine's Day, marketers are practically incapable of conveying love without falling into a handful of stereotyped scenarios and coating them in a thick lacquer of cloying cheese. For a refreshing alternative, check out this two-minute spot by BBDO Germany for European hair-coloring product Schwarzkopf Nectra Color.
Caribou Coffee, whose previous out-of-home ad stunts have included heated bus shelters in Minneapolis, is back with another special campaign—a giant, five-story-tall Pinterest board built (with help from ad agency Colle+McVoy) at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn. Caribou used pinned images from fans as inspiration for its new Real Inspiration Blend blend of coffee. That sounds like a stretch, but the giant Pinterest board is pretty impressive.
When it comes to sex, a reluctant "yes," "OK" or "sure" doesn't qualify as a green light, according to a Canadian campaign encouraging "enthusiastic consent." "Real consent is mutual and sure. It is not muted, frail, hesitant, or afraid.
Cards Against Humanity's promotions are as bitingly sarcastic as the game itself—whether they're charging more for the game on Black Friday, experimenting with a "Pay what you want" model (which outright insulted anyone who chose to pay less than cost) or teaming with Netflix just this week for an already sold out House of Cards pack. But the card game's recent "12 Days of Holiday Bullshit" promotion w
Quick—what do the Xbox, Eggland's Best eggs and Adams flea and tick spray have in common? For the record (and before your mind wanders too far) they’re a few of the 23 winners of the annual Product of the Year honors. Yes, we know, a nice bonfire could be had with all of the awards and trophies out there. But getting named one of the POY is actually a very big deal for a brand—not only for the boasting rights, but for the marketing. The winners will appear on the cover of Parade magazine, and the halo effect of a POY translates to an average sales bump of 10-15 percent.
Winter Olympics will be glad to know that people who watch the games are 9 percent more likely than the general public to buy from companies that sponsor sporting events, but beware of celebrity endorsements—viewers are 43 percent less likely to buy products that celebrities use, according to Experian Marketing Services. Meanwhile, multitasking during the games is on the rise, with three-fourths of those planning to watch the Winter Games plan to use more than one device while doing so, per Arnold Worldwide.
The native advertising programmatic gold rush is on. Following the emergence of a handful of native ad networks came yesterday's announcement that the startup TripleLift was launching a native ad exchange with several top brands and publishers.
Izea, a firm that has ridden the trends of sponsored content and social media by connecting companies with celebrities and personalities, is announcing today that it has raised $12 million in new funding. The 7-year-old company has already raised $24 million in four rounds of funding, but this is the largest amount raised in a single round to date. The funding was led by Special Situation Funds, with participation by Izea board members and other investors, which were not disclosed.
DDB is splitting with Reebok amid a review of the sneaker and apparel company’s global creative business. The review is in its late stages with a trio of contenders that sources identified as Mother; Goodby Silverstein & Partners; and Venables Bell & Partners. Select Resources International in Santa Monica, Calif., is managing the process. Annual global media spending on the brand is estimated at $50 million.
