Direct-To-Consumer Brands See Uplift In Television Ad Response, Study Finds

Though digital ad spending in the US is projected to reach $129.34 billion in 2019, direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands are seeing major uplifts in response and sales from television ads—according to a report from TVSquared, “Direct-to-Consumer Brands: TV Performance Benchmarks.”

Via an analysis of data gathered over 15 months, from January 2018 to March 2019, for 18 US-based DTC brands, the report provides key trends for DTC campaigns that aired on broadcast, cable and satellite. The findings are based on four DTC verticals—retail, subscription services, food and high-end—among a collective $138 million in television ad spend, 749 billion ad impressions and 1.9 million spots.

Despite the success that DTC brands have experienced with television ads, the performance of television marketing is harder to track compared to social and digital. The report notes that on average, DTC brands track four key performance indicators (KPIs), such as immediate business outcomes like purchases and conversions, and longer-term response, such as app activity, site traffic and search.

Food delivery brands’ primary three KPIs are orders, sessions and first response. Retail brands, on the other hand, track purchases and conversions, registrations and cart size. Subscription services measure performance based on acquisition versus repeat customer, purchases and conversions and basket size.

In terms of length, traditional 30-second television ads performed the best, generating response rates 50 percent above average and four times higher than any other ad length. The poorest performing ads were 60 seconds or more in length. Among all television programming genres, the brands analyzed saw the most successful performance with Talk, Children and Spanish Language.

Insight from ratings historically show that prime time (evening) is the ideal time for television ads, but TVSquared’s study revealed otherwise—morning and daytime ads averaged significantly better response rates than prime. When it came time to the day-of-week effectiveness, the performance was nearly equal across verticals, with Thursdays and Fridays driving the most response.

Given that 94 percent of US viewers keep a phone on hand while watching television, DTC brands deem television marketing an effective means for driving brand awareness and optimizing reach.

Still, until deeper analytics tools for measuring performance of television ads become readily available, digital ads will continue to dominate. According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) report on video advertising spend in 2019, more than eight in 10 advertisers agree that a unified multi-platform buying solution, namely television and digital video, is important. 

Amazon India Pushes Prime Day Online Sales With Virtual Reality-Based Booths

Amazon India is giving shoppers a virtual reality-based (VR) experience for Prime Day, allowing them to enjoy products in life-size, at 360-degree views and in real-life situations. Amazon Prime Day Experience Zones are available in-store at select malls for customers in Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune, Hyderabad and Kolkata from July 6 to July 16.

Through VR, Amazon will transport customers to the world of Prime Day, where they can inspect everything from the fit of a dress on a 360-degree hologram to the intricacies of jewelry and the inside of a fridge.

While in the virtual world, visitors also have the ability to walk through its streets and play games. Utilizing brick-and-mortar in this way allows Amazon to enhance customers’ immersive shopping experiences, with the goal of increasing online sales. 

Free and open to all visitors, the Experience Zones will be available for hundreds of new products launching on Prime Day. Amazon also partnered with brands such as Kate Spade, Nestle and Samsung LG, to launch over a thousand new products on Prime Day (July 15 and 16) available in India first to Prime members.

The company’s international efforts to build hype around Prime Day will extend to social, too. Those who visit the designated Experience Zones and take a selfie with the Prime Day wall as the backdrop have a chance to win prizes. Entrants must post the photo on social media with the hashtag #AmazonPrimeDay and #DiscoverTheJoyOfMore.

Spotify Uses Bollywood Star Power To Launch First Multilingual Television Spot

Spotify launched a playful television video spot to expand on its first campaign in India launched earlier this year, “There’s A Playlist For That,” which uses location intelligence and cultural nuances to emphasize the platform’s diverse selection of music for all of life’s moods. Published to Spotify’s YouTube and India Twitter, the spot marks the company’s first television and first multilingual campaign in India and will extend to digital and out-of-home (OOH).

The 35-second spot, titled “Slow Breakfast,” shows a father, played by Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor, in the kitchen preparing breakfast for his teenage kids. When one of his sons, actor Ishaan Khattar, notices that his dad is whisking the eggs at a leisurely pace that matches the beat of the song, he changes the song via the Spotify app. In response to this new upbeat song, Kapoor shifts into high gear and starts rapidly chopping vegetables and whisking the eggs. In an excited state, however, he accidentally drops the skillet and the cooked omelet falls on the floor. The kids express their disappointment via sighs and nods, then Kapoor picks right back up from where he started whisking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_jFPgXlWAo

The spot reflects Spotify’s creative attempts to connect with the audience in India, the second-most populous country. Earlier this year, Spotify placed geotargeted, personalized OOH ads in important traffic intersections. This highly personalized approach ties into the exclusive features available to Spotify India, including multi-language music recommendations, playlists specifically curated by Indian music experts and new algorithmic playlists tracking music trending in different Indian cities.

“Spotify’s arrival in India is a big step forward in our overall global growth strategy. A fundamental piece of that strategy is staying connected to global culture while allowing room for local adaptation, and we’ve certainly achieved that with our India launch. We’ve worked closely with local teams of researchers, engineers, and cultural tastemakers to ensure this global product is going to be loved, used, and favored by people all over India, whether they’re listening to local Bollywood and Punjabi hits, or discovering curated global playlists of K-pop or Brazilian funk,” says Cecilia Qvist, Spotify’s global head of markets.

“The youth in India often deals with the pressures of judgement, individuality, social norms, and more; in this chaos, music acts like a companion,” said Rajdeepak Das, Leo Burnett’s managing director India and chief creative officer South Asia.

Spotify’s entrance into the Indian market means competition for Gaana, the country’s current most favored on-demand streaming app, according to a report from CyberMedia Research. Among those surveyed, 25 percent ranked Gaana as their top choice followed by 20 percent tied for Apple Music and Youtube, and 14 percent for Wynk. While only 50 percent of respondents said they were aware of Spotify.

Kate Spade Uses Video-First Strategy In Partnership With Refinery29 To Attract Younger, Edgier Buyers

Kate Spade partnered with Refinery29 to create a branded video series to promote its apparel, dropping it in real-life situations that resonate with millennials. In a move to attract a younger demographic, the series will be published exclusively on Refinery29’s Instagram. Called “Pilot Season,” the series celebrates female talent both in front of and behind the lens.

One of the 60-second videos hilariously depicts a babysitter named Heather, who is also an artist. Despite being on the clock, watching her client’s Gen Z daughter, the distracted nanny mocks up fashion sketches in her notebook while daydreaming about the lavish, creative lifestyle she’ll lead when she achieves her dream career. Heather snaps out of it when the girl calls her name and tells her, “You should straighten up before my mom gets home. It’s, like, one of your babysitting duties. Just a tip, ya’ know, since you’re new.”  The caption of the Instagram video post reads:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BzLYuIDnNaL/

“Women get sh*t done — even if it means sticking out a 💩 job to get to the next step on the career ladder. That’s why we partnered with @katespadeny to create five Instagram shorts for women by women. Every day this week we’ll be sharing stories about what it means to be the heroine of your own journey.”
The brand isn’t just passively detailing the sometimes unglamorous reality of day-to-day life, instead, it’s asking for viewer feedback, too. A call-to-action (CTA) for users to share “the most frustrating job you’ve ever put up with,” is posted in the comments.

Sprint’s Chief Marketing Officer Roger Solé On 5G, Data Privacy And CMO Visibility

Sprint’s CMO, Roger Solé, has a lot on his plate. He leads all the mobile service provider’s products, services, advertising and branding initiatives, customer acquisition and customer retention. Solé came to the company from TIM Brasil, where he served as a chief marketing officer. His list of accomplishments at Sprint includes the launch of several innovative programs such as “Switch And Save 50 Percent,” the $1 iPhone promotion and “Sprint Open World.” 

Solé sat down with AList to discuss innovation in telecom industry and beyond, and meditate on the challenges CMOs face in today’s reality. 

People have been talking about 5G for quite a while already. What else is important to add? 

I don’t think a lot has actually been [said] yet. Because remember, the first objective of 5G is to enable all the IoT, the Internet of Things world. Maybe it’s not advertising, in the common sense, but the fact that anything can be connected to the [internet] means that an ad can be on anything. You could have real-time, AI-based, personalized machine learning that’s everywhere. I don’t think it’s been thought of like that. What IoT brings is a new kind of the digitalization of all the economy. It’s not just a few sectors, but it really brings a revolution to everything connected. Everything online, all the time, with everything. And working in parallel to that that is AI and automated devices. This brings an absolutely new world, and advertising is going to be part of this revolution. 

I don’t think it’s necessarily specific of advertising, but all the companies that lead you there [to the connected world] are already in development. Digital advertising is already influenced by AI, by microtargeting. So just imagine if you bring it everywhere. I think it’s going to be more personalized and, therefore, more relevant. 

And maybe it’s not going to be seen as advertising. It’s going to be seen more like a service. That is definitely a little bit like paid search has been. Because people don’t really hate paid search. It provides you a value, and, non-intrusively, you have all of those alternatives that the vendor has [sponsored]. But they’re not, necessarily, seen as traditional advertising.  

Is there any marketing technology that you’re specifically investing your time or money in?

Obviously, Artificial Intelligence (AI). Because now, we’re talking as enablers of the industry. I think we’re going to enable amazing new experiences with organic targeted advertising—everywhere. As users of advertising, there’s nothing specific that we’re all thinking about 5G, but what we are doing is leaning in to see what makes sense. 

One of the most relevant goals is to translate the logic that we have today in digital advertising into traditional advertising. That is still very relevant. Especially upper funnel brand building, which all companies really need. We have these lower funnel customers (that are usually more price sensitive) who are ready to switch, and these customers are easier to target because they are already aware.

The top of the funnel is more challenging—and right now harder to measure. For these people, you need to capture their interest and their imagination through upper funnel brand-building exercises. The problem with this kind of advertising is the old saying of, “Hey, I know my advertising works, but I don’t know which half.” And the other half is rubbish. That’s the part we need to change. I see the light at the end of the tunnel. Instead of seeing this as traditional TV or radio, we need to see this as just one more upper funnel media that’s connected, just like any other digital, to the same stack, where you can understand who is actually looking at this, watching this and what’s the actual reaction.

There’s been always this problem in putting too much attention on attribution at the end of the funnel. We are building these multi-touch attribution models where we are able to understand what is the real effect of each beat; and that’s digital only. But how do you integrate upper funnel digital into traditional media? Because when people are watching the Super Bowl, and there’s an ad and, maybe, it’s relevant–for brand building purposes. But today, you don’t really know, and that’s what’s been bothering the industry. 

As a CMO, I’m not really focused on just doing brand advertising, I need to deliver the business results. And I also run pricing offers, promotions. Things are connected, and, actually, I don’t care about building branding, unless it has effects on the other side. 

For traditional media, what we’re working on right now is trying to connect them and plug them into this mentality of multi-touch attribution, and there are promising tools. We’re experimenting with closed-loop models. The outcome of that model is that we’ll know if a specific ad generated traffic in a store. And then from the store, we already more or less know from the traffic how we come back. So you actually get sales per ad. That’s the goal. 

For that kind of granular information you need integration with either [HTV] cable companies or smart TV. You get the information of who sees what, and then you need some geolocation capabilities to connect that same audience with where they are. It’s a complex method, but ultimately, I absolutely need this. I need to show  our CEO, “Hey, I’ve invested $100 million, and [these are] the customers we brought.” Because every time I tell him, “I need more money,” he says, “Okay, but what results are you going to bring?” I, and other CMOs, cannot just say, “I don’t know,” forever.

Do you think that as customers realize more about where their data is going, they will want to take back their data? 

We are totally concerned with that. Because the marketer will always find a way. No matter what the public allows, some marketers find other ways. The [disclosure of] what Facebook was doing, for us, was a shocking surprise. That’s where it all started. Internally, they [Facebook] have that saying of, “Do it first, even if we break things.” So now they broke a few things and they understood that, and need to re-approach it. Now they are trying to be ultra-compliant, which makes sense. But they were a startup. 

Now, they are a big company and they need to behave like [one]. Being multinational, one of the biggest in the world, the world is going to ask them for responsibility and compliance in how they use data, especially if that data is misused by political groups.  If companies don’t comply with what the customers expect from [them], they need to rearrange things. 

Can you talk about the CMO’s accountability to the board and the CEO? You are responsible for the budget and data. And often today, CMOs are replaced with chief revenue officers, what’s that trend?

There’s a huge pressure on the CMO, and you have to justify the budget, which is huge, usually. But honestly, once you get your budget, then you are held accountable to a lot of things in the company outside [of your direct] control. Somehow, you are seen as a chief revenue officer, meaning you are the first person after the CEO who needs to be responsible for bringing the revenue home, and this is a huge responsibility. The budget piece, ultimately, concerns me last because it’s an OpEx. It’s an expenditure that I actually control. What [primarily] concerns me is showing results. Traditional media is the big offender there because it’s sometimes so difficult to show how it works. That’s why I’m so obsessed about being able to performance-manage all the media. When you can show results, then you are in a good place with the board or the CEO about how you’re using the resources. 

Where most of the pressure comes is not there [showing marketing campaign results], actually. It’s the pressure on sales. Meaning bringing new customers and losing less of our base. In other industries that might be, literally, sales of products. But, in telecom, because you have subscriptions, it’s really how many subscriptions you bring (meaning new customers or new families) and how many you lose. And then how you manage the existing ones, and everything together gives you the revenue. 

Revenue of new customers, revenue of customers that you lose, and then, the revenue of those who stay and how much it all grows. And this is difficult because revenue is not something that you can 100 percent manage. You do things to get better, but ultimately, someone spends wherever they want. And if someone wants to leave–they leave, and if someone doesn’t buy an add-on, they just don’t. And it depends, sometimes, on many factors, like what your competitors are doing exactly,  disposable income, how the economy is going. There are other substitutive products that are happening and the new business models are being created. 

You cannot manage the world. I cannot really control revenue in the way that the board or the CEO usually wants, which is with [more] certainty. Revenue is always so uncertain; it depends on so many things that are not necessarily in your control. And that’s the tough part of the CMO [job].  They are asking so many things [over which] you don’t really have total control. And that’s why a lot of [CMOs] get fired very quickly because, “We don’t know why. It must be you,” [is often an easy excuse]. It’s easy to fire the CMO. But it’s not easy to grow revenues. Maybe the next one is going to give you more. And that’s why you see that some of them are replaced by chief revenue officers. I think that shows that those companies associate the CMO with revenue, and that’s always a super hard spot to be in. 

How have you gone through your career as a marketer, especially as you’ve moved up? And how do you recommend letting go of micromanaging things and looking at the bigger picture, instead? 

Because of the huge expectations, unfortunately, you are not able to give up on [all] micromanagement, especially with the CEOs that we have had at Sprint. They are micromanagers themselves and they expect you to know everything and you generally don’t. There are certain things you still need to know. 

Maybe once a month, I do a full report on what’s going on, summing up several different key pieces. I try to help connect the dots and keep everything moving forward. There are key projects you need to be very involved in to ensure they are done right, because you know that others, like the CEO, are watching carefully. Then there are other projects that might really excite you that you want to be part of. You have to balance it all out. 

That’s also why the CMO job is complex because you need to go through the execution while also never losing sight of the big picture strategy. If you lose that, you are not a CMO. You need to know where the industry is going, where your company is going, and then what are the things that actually demand your critical attention. And you need to be creative while also leaning on your team and the rest of the organization because [marketing] is in the middle of so many interactions. You also need to think about how to bring the other areas [of the organization] that support the company, like IT, to the big picture vision.

What do you think is the key issue facing marketers in 2019?

Going back to my concerns, it is that it should be consistent. Understanding the relevant performance metrics and performance management in digital. It’s an area where there’s still a lot of dark spaces. I think it was Procter & Gamble CMO saying that, “I also don’t understand what happens with 30 percent of my digital advertisers.” There’s been a lot of criticism about some of the way it’s being measured. 

Performance in digital. You’ve got the Google stack, a Facebook stack. These aren’t connected. And there are vanity metrics, too. That’s why it’s difficult to have the multi-touch integration because things don’t talk to each other. And then you’ve got all of this display world, where  you are unsure of how many people really see them. That puts a lot of questions about performance in digital advertising. And then on traditional, it’s always been difficult to measure, and that is how we really get into performance management. 

If we could connect all of this, then you would be able to show [the value of] what you do, what it brings to the company in terms of revenue. That’s how you would be able to connect it to the aspiration or what people expect from you, in terms of bringing revenue. 

The other concern is really integrating this strategy with tactics It’s critical to always have a vision and then turn that into specific tactics and initiatives. These are the two things CMOs need to be the most concerned about. 

Twitch’s Broadcasts On Amazon; Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp Down

AList is here to give you the deepest insight into the shifts and updates in the world of social media

Facebook opens this week’s round-up with the important changes it made to its civil rights policies and the ways in which it addresses misleading health-related content issues. Other social media news this week include Twitch hosting an event at Amazon Prime Day, Brita rolling out an influencer campaign to save the environment and Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp experiencing outages in the US and Europe.  

Check in daily for more news and tips.


Twitch Curates Faves On Amazon Prime Day; To Host Live Shopping Event

On Amazon Prime Day (July 15th and 16th), Twitch will host a live shopping show, called “Twitch Sells Out: A Prime Day Special Event.” 

Why it matters: With popular Twitch streamers showcasing hand-picked merchandise, the event presents an opportunity for Amazon and specific brands to connect with a new user base by combining influencer marketing techniques combined with deep discounts.  

 The details: The two 12-hour podcasts will mimic home shopping channels and showcase games, gaming accessories, kitchenware and electronics and even some offbeat  items offered on Amazon. 

Prime members will receive a 30 percent discount on Twitch merch purchased through Amazon between July 3rd and July 16th. 

Facebook, Instagram And WhatsApp Suffer Outages 

In the U.S. and Europe, users report images and videos not loading on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, according to DownDetector. 

Why it matters: The outages, on the eve of a big American holiday where brands often launch summer campaigns, greatly affect social media ads that featured image and video content. 

The details: Many Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp users expressed their concerns on Twitter. No comment has yet been from the social media giants.


Brita’s New Instagram Influencer Campaign Fights Water Pollution 

To promote its reusable drink bottles, water-filter producer Brita rolled out an influencer campaign that is intentionally Photoshopping images, with the aim of calling attention to plastic waste issue, MobileMarketer reports

Why it matters: Brita’s cause marketing campaign is hoping to attract tech-savvy, eco-, health- and socially-conscious young consumers, who are known to embrace cause-driven campaigns. 

The details: Instagram influencers Kylee Campbell and Kevin Droniak who have approximately 100,000 followers, participate in Brita’s #NoFilterNoFuture campaign, along with the other 19 influencers, who will share personalized pictures, photoshopped to depict natural settings affected by pollution on Instagram. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BzQmjWTAjLy/

Facebook Addresses Sensational Health Claims

Facebook announced that the company is taking action to stop the spread of sensational and misleading content related to health on the platform. In June, Facebook made two ranking updates to reduce posts with misleading or sensational health claims and posts that aim to sell products or services based on health-related claims. 

Why it matters: The algorithm changes will help create a safer environment for the users and brands on the platform by eliminating the dangerous “miracle cures” and reducing the spread of content posted by bogus companies trying to profit from unverified claims.

The details: According to Facebook, “Most Pages won’t see any significant changes to their distribution in News Feed as a result of this update. Posts with sensational health claims or solicitation using health-related claims will have reduced distribution. Pages should avoid posts about health that exaggerate or mislead people and posts that try to sell products using health-related claims. If a Page stops posting this content, their posts will no longer be affected by this change.” 


Facebook Brings Back Reach Estimates In “Custom Audiences”

After suspending the reach estimates metric due to a potential security concern, the flaw has been fixed and the counter is back on, AdExchanger reports

Why it matters: The metric is especially important to advertisers, as they use it to preview reach estimates for lists uploaded to Custom Audiences.  

The details: In March 2018 the metric was suspended after Northeastern University researchers found a vulnerability. However, according to Facebook, no one had taken advantage of the exploit.

Since then, the feature was halted while Facebook worked with researchers to solve the problem. 

Per AdExchanger, eventually, the social media company and the researchers came up with the following solution, “making the rounding logic more complex for how estimates are displayed; improving the backend detection process for potential misuse in collaboration with Facebook’s business integrity team, which investigates security issues; and limiting the number of audiences and API calls that a single account can have.” 


Instagram’s New Sticker Allows Conversations Within “Stories” 

Instagram introduced the new sticker in “Stories,” called “Chat.” 

Why it matters: The sticker allows friends and followers to start chats in “Stories,” which means that brands can directly communicate with their followers on Instagram about the products and services they showcase in “Stories.” 

The details: The “Chat” sticker will let users join an Instagram group DM conversation associated with the story post. The original poster, however, does have to approve the request first.


Facebook Publishes A Second Update On The Company’s Civil Rights Audit

Facebook shared a second progress report on the civil rights audit, lead by Laura Murphy, former ACLU Washington director. The consensus is that Facebook’s policies on harmful content, such as white supremacy, still need improvement. 

Why it matters: Facebook initially made changes to strengthen the company’s policies and enforcement against harmful content in December 2018, fighting discrimination in Facebook ads, protecting the 2020 census and elections against intimidation and formalizing Facebook’s civil rights task force. However, according to the new report, white supremacy policy on the platform is still “too narrow.” 

The details: “The narrow scope of the policy leaves up content that expressly espouses white nationalist ideology without using the term ‘white nationalist. As a result, content that would cause the same harm is permitted to remain on the platform,” the report reads. It suggests that moving forward, Facebook prohibits content that “expressly praises, supports, or represents white nationalist ideology” even if the content does not explicitly use the terms “white nationalism” or “white separatism.” 

Note: Facebook’s civil rights audit was initiated  in 2018 and its intent is to inform the company’s examination of critical areas of concern and identify changes and improvements to prioritize and implement; and to “focus the company’s attention on its civil rights footprint in a sustained and comprehensive way.” The first audit report can be accessed here


Twitter Updates Search Results With Additional Information 

Twitter rolls out updates to search results on all mobile platforms. 

Why it matters: The additional information provides more insights into usage. And for brands, this means that the activity from their account may now appear in relevant searches and help influence whether or not users take action to see more.

The details: It’s assumed that by seeing more information about a search, the user is better guided towards the results he or she is searching for and can better understand whether or not a certain account is worth following. 


Editor’s Note: Our weekly social media news post is updated daily. This installment will be updated until Friday, July 5th. Have a news tip? We’re looking for changes to and news surrounding social media platforms as they relate to marketing. Let us know at editorial@alistdaily.com.

Flight Centre Nabs Ex-Kmart Exec; Beth Wood Joins Principal Financial Group

This week’s executive shifts include Flight Centre acquiring an ex-Kmart marketing exec, Principal naming a new chief marketing officer and Facebook’s chief revenue officer joining as chair of the Ad Council’s Board of Directors.


Ex-Kmart Exec Joins Flight Centre As CMO

Flight Centre snagged Joachim Holte this week to serve as chief marketing officer, Mumbella reports.

Holte joins Flight Centre, the largest retail travel outlet in Australia, after leaving his executive marketing role at Kmart for the position. He previously served as marketing and strategy lead at Wotif, Yahoo, Rate City and Wayfair.

According to Mumbella’s reporting, Holte will report to Flight Centre’s executive GM, Alissa O’Connell. 

“We are pleased to welcome Joachim and believe he will play a valuable role in our brand’s ongoing evolution,” she said.


Principal Hires SVP, CMO

Principal Financial Group announced the hiring of Beth Wood as senior vice president and chief marketing officer. Her new role becomes effective on July 22nd when she will report to Principal’s president and CEO, Dan Houston.

In a press release announcing her hiring, Houston remarked on Wood’s 25 years in the industry.

“Her strong track record and deep understanding of data will help us better anticipate and meet our customers’ needs around the globe. And as a previous entrepreneur, she understands the challenges small to medium-sized business owners face and how we can provide the technology and expertise to ensure their businesses thrive,” said Houston.

Wood previously served as VP and CMO at Guardian Life Insurance, VP of marketing at MassMutual and in marketing roles at Frito-Lay and Johnson & Johnson.


Facebook Chief Revenue Officer Joins As Chair Of The Ad Council’s Board of Directors

Facebook’s chief revenue officer, David Fischer, will succeed Linda Boff as chair of the Ad Council’s Board of Directors. He first joined the board in 2011 and previously served as vice chair.

According to a statement today from the Ad Council, Fischer will be working “in collaboration with the Executive Committee, the governing body of the Ad Council’s Board, and Ad Council leadership to further the organization’s mission to use the power of communications to address more than 30 critical social issues.”

Fischer’s record at Facebook includes a 10-year tenure during which he’s overseen growth of the platform’s advertising business while managing its global sales and marketing teams.

Lisa Sherman, president & CEO of the Ad Council, noted that “David’s commitment to purpose-driven marketing has been invaluable to the Ad Council and our social good campaigns.”

View the full list of Ad Council’s Board of Directors here.


Check out our careers section for executive job openings and to post your own staffing needs.

Editor’s Note: Our weekly careers post is updated daily. This installment is updated until Friday, July 5. Have a new hire tip? We’re looking for senior executive role changes in marketing and media. Let us know at editorial@alistdaily.com.


Job Vacancies 

Chief Marketing OfficerSharkNinjaNeedham, MA
Vice President, Film MarketingNew York UniversityBrooklyn, NY
Chief, Marketing And Communications OfficerSCRRA/MetrolinkLos Angeles, CA
Senior Vice President of Marketing

Clear Channel OutdoorNew York, NY
Vice President of Marketing, International
RokuSan Jose, CA
Chief Marketing Officer
Founders Brewing Co.Grand Rapids, MI

Make sure to check back for updates on our Careers page.

McDonald’s Promotes Geolocation Delivery With QR-Enabled Picnic Blankets

McDonald’s Sweden gave out free limited-edition picnic blankets featuring a quick response (QR) code, letting people place food delivery orders from their phone. The initiative—which the company introduced in a video on its Sweden Instagram—comes after McDonald’s announced its investment in technology company Plexure and acquisition of logic technology leader Dynamic Yield, which will play a key role in advancing the brand’s ability to personalize customer experiences.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BzLRRn2nFBL/

McDonald’s featured the offer for free blankets through its social media networks in a push for increased mobile app usage and location-specific services. Upon scanning the QR code, smartphone users’ geographic location was sent to their food delivery service of choice thereby alerting the nearest McDonald’s to fulfill the order and deliver it to the blanket’s location.

“Across all of our markets, we’re using technology to elevate and transform the McDonald’s customer experience. Our mobile apps play a key role in our digital acceleration, allowing customers to interact with us on their terms in a personal, customized way. This investment is a testament to our belief in Plexure’s ability to deliver strong results for our business as well as the talent and technology they’ve cultivated,” said Steve Easterbrook, president and CEO of McDonald’s, in a company press release.

Plexure has powered a version of McDonald’s global mobile app in 48 countries outside the US. In addition to access to Plexure’s technology, McDonald’s will further its targeted strategy thanks to its acquisition of Dynamic Yield, with which it has plans to vary outdoor digital drive thru menus which change food displays based on the time of day, weather, and trending menu items–making the company one of the first to integrate decision technology into the customer point of sale at a brick and mortar location. Utilizing both company’s resources, McDonald’s will reinforce itself in the quick service restaurant (QSR) space with highly customized experiences for fans.

Fast food giants that have leveraged mobile hot spot delivery are few and far between, making McDonald’s ahead of the game. In 2018, Domino’s introduced over 200,000 hot spot delivery locations. This year, 7-Eleven announced 7NOW Pins, allowing customers to locate the nearest pin and order 7-Eleven via the brand’s app to 2,000 hot spot locations.

Urban Decay’s “Pretty Different” Futuristic Video Campaign Challenges Beauty Standards

Urban Decay, the brand that encourages users to defy traditional beauty standards, launched an eclectic video spot to introduce its new campaign, “Pretty Different.” The beauty company wants girls, boys, men and women to challenge the status quo and embrace their uniqueness. The sentiment is not only socially admirable but could also help the brand financially, as more people who identify as women and men are wearing makeup

Set in a futuristic dystopia, the 60-second spot features the brand’s five new “Global Citizens,” advocates who challenge the status quo in their respective spheres. They include Ezra Miller, Lizzo, Joey King, Karol G, and CL—dancing to the beat of their own drum, figuratively and literally. The spot, published across Urban Decay’s social channels, opens with a scene of millennial pink-clad girls robotically taking selfies in unison, in front of ring lights. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atXeCbcwWaw&feature=youtu.be%3Futm_source%3Dinstagram&utm_medium=social_post_orga&utm_content=ud_make_pretty-different_nativedisplay_cv&utm_campaign=pretty+different+sizzle+from+ig+bio_

Afterward, an influencer-led YouTube makeup tutorial titled, “How To Be Pretty” is projected on the walls of Miller’s ultra-modern bedroom. The same selfie-takers are then shown standing in an assembly line while an automatic airbrush sprays each girl’s face to look the same. Then the chaos of camera flashes and overbearing paparazzi causes Lizzo to storm out of a photoshoot.

In response to the unrealistic, cookie-cutter beauty norms being pushed on them, the trailblazers in the spot have an ‘aha’ moment to break free and revolt by applying makeup in their own individual ways. The camera pans to each ambassador as the words, “pretty untamed, pretty bold, pretty fierce, pretty wild, pretty dangerous,” flash over them. The spot received over 1.5 million views on Instagram in just four days.

“‘Pretty Different’ is our anthem for fellow makeup junkies who don’t subscribe to beauty standards. It’s our tribute to individuality because everyone is pretty different. It’s our approach to reinventing what it means to be a beauty brand,” says Wende Zomnir, Urban Decay’s founding partner.

Urban Decays says the “Pretty Different” global movement will, in addition to digital and social media, extend to out-of-home (OOH) ads to embody the vision that beauty isn’t about standards. The brand also launched GIFs unique to the campaign with Giphy, available for use on Instagram Stories.
Urban Decay boasts a long list of successful social media campaigns intended to challenge beauty norms. In 2014, to launch its Perversion Mascara, the brand encouraged users to tag their posts with the hashtag #BiggerBlackerBadder, resulting in 7,064,652 impressions of the hashtag and a social reach of 2.1 million users across all networks. The following year, the brand saw 3.9 million Twitter impressions of the hashtag #UDSummerNights, which was used to promote its summer collection.