A Skylight Company Is Behind A Cautionary Viral Video About Modern Life

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Daylight is a necessity, not a luxury—that’s the message behind skylight brand Velux’s new campaign, “The Indoor Generation.”

The cautionary video warns of the adverse effects of depriving our bodies of natural light. Narrated by a young girl, she tells a tale of humankind turning their homes into places they’d never want to leave but in shutting themselves out from the sun, they created problems ranging from depression to allergies.

Velux claims that 90 percent of our time is spent indoors and that 84 million Americans currently live in damp and moldy conditions. The brand did not cite the source of this information.

“The Indoor Generation” video has gained traction across social media, especially on Facebook, where it currently sits at over 7.1 million views.

To measure user engagement with Velux’s campaign, we calculated the earned media value from YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter from May 14 to 17.

“Earned media” is the value of engagements a brand receives across channels as a result of their marketing efforts. To help quantify what the value of those engagements is worth, Ayzenberg Group established the Ayzenberg Earned Media Value Index (a.emvi) and assigned a quantifiable dollar amount for marketing gains a brand receives from a campaign or individual engagement that includes social media networks and similar digital properties.

(Editor’s note: AListDaily is the publishing arm of Ayzenberg Group. To read the updated a.emvi report reflecting the rapid changes in social, click here.)

Based on the latest a.emvi rates for social media interactions, Velux’s “Indoor Generation” ad earned a total of $830,387.28 in earned media value. This figure was based on values assigned to views, likes, comments and retweets.

“The Indoor Generation” generated the most earned media value on Facebook with $761,673.37. YouTube also proved effective in reaching audiences, with over 2.4 million video views to date. In its first four days, the ad earned $68,618.41. Instagram and Twitter delivered modest results—less than $100 of earned media combined.

The Velux website offers tips for integrating sunlight and fresh air into a daily routine. Although the brand does not cite the sources of its grim statistics, the ad appears to have had a strong impact on audiences, especially on Facebook who shared the PSA over 600 times.

Instagram Unleashes An Emoji Slider And Twitter Tackles Trolls

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This week in social media news, Instagram thrives in Japan, Twitter battles trolls and Facebook lets users reminisce over old Stories.

Instagram: Sushi, Sharing And Surveys

Japanese Instagram users cited feeling a growing “sense of belonging” in the community, according to study findings released on Thursday. A 2017 Kantar study commissioned by Facebook IQ found that a majority of respondents check Instagram right before bed. The most popular topics are Fashion and Photography, both at 27 percent.

Users in the region are open to advertising on the platform, Kantar found, stating that some of the interviewed respondents don’t regard an ad as an ad. In addition, 33 percent said Instagram is a suitable advertising medium for any brand and not just those in high-end categories.

Instagram announced the ability to share feed posts inside a Story—even if that post originated from someone else. The new option allows users to insert another Instagram post like a sticker and will automatically credit the original poster. Users can opt out of having their posts shared by others in the settings and the option is only available for public accounts. Feed post sharing is now available for Android devices and will roll out for iOS in the coming days.

Instagram introduced the Emoji Slider, a new way to interact with users by creating polls inside Stories. Users can pose a question to their followers such as “How much do you love pizza?” Users can type any question they like and choose an emoji, which appears on an interactive slider. The emoji animates as users slide it left or right on the scale.

“By choosing an emoji for your question, you also add a layer of emotional context that helps those answering understand your tone and answer accordingly,” Instagram said in the announcement.

Twitter: Don’t Feed The Trolls

On Wednesday, Twitter announced its “new approach” to battle abuse on the platform, integrating new behavioral signals into its algorithm update. The idea is that accounts exhibiting suspicious behavior or those which have been reported multiple times for abuse will show up less often in Twitter’s timeline.

“Less than one percent of accounts make up the majority of accounts reported for abuse, but a lot of what’s reported does not violate our rules,” wrote Twitter’s director of product management and health David Gasca. “While still a small overall number, these accounts have a disproportionately large—and negative—impact on people’s experience on Twitter.”

Since not all “trolls” or negative comments technically violate Twitter’s rules, the algorithm update targets accounts that do not contribute to the “healthy conversation.” Gasca did not provide examples of what they constitute as healthy.

Early tests saw a four percent drop in abuse reports from Twitter search results and eight percent fewer reports from conversations.

In other news, Twitter has announced that its legacy API services will retire on August 16. Its new Account Activity API is now available to developers.

Facebook: Stories And Soundbytes

Like Instagram—and Snapchat from whence the feature originated—Facebook Stories disappear after 24 hours, but users in India can now archive them for viewing and posting later. Indian users are the first to try the platform’s new Stories update that rolled out on Wednesday. Facebook will let users privately save their clips from the Facebook Camera directly to the social network instead of their phone in case they don’t have enough space.

For a country like India, with 22 official languages, not having a custom keyboard can make posting a challenge. Facebook Stories will now offer audio recordings that play against a custom background. The feature could also be useful for those who are known for their voice, such as podcasters and voice actors.

Brands React To The Infamous ‘Yanny Or Laurel’ Debate

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Brands were quick to capitalize on the viral “yanny or laurel” debate this week by stubbornly choosing a side, remaining neutral or inviting conversation on social media.

The debate started last week when high school student Katie Hetzel was working on a school project that recorded a computerized pronunciation of the word “laurel” from their computer speakers. Other students in the room discovered that they heard different things so Hetzel posed the question to their Instagram followers. Soon after, fellow student Roland Szabo, posting as RolandCamry, posed the question to Reddit. Other students posted the clip as well across social media and the debate has gained considerable traction ever since.

So what’s the correct answer? While the recording originated from “laurel,” examining Hetzel’s low-quality recording reveals that both words can be heard at different frequencies—”laurel” at low frequencies” and “yanny” at high.

People are responding to the debate in the thousands—let’s examine how brands have joined the conversation.

Team Laurel

Brands that heard “laurel” created memes to express their frustration about how anyone could interpret the clip any other way.

Warby Parker was a bit more subtle, promoting its Laurel model of glasses but calling it Yanny.

Taking a STANCE #laurel #yanny #itslaurelokay

A post shared by Smosh Games (@smoshgames) on

Team Yanny

Others, hearing the higher tones of “yanny,” defended their position on the matter with equal ferocity.

Embracing Both Sides

Not wanting to alienate any customers, most brands decided to show support for both “yanny” and “laurel” listeners. Some asked users to respond with the word they heard more clearly.

Staying Out Of It Altogether

Some brands merely commented on the debate rather than choose a side.

Hearing What You Want

It has been suggested that what listeners hear on the recording can also be influenced by previous experiences and preconceived notions. Some brands dodged the debate by “hearing what they wanted,” inserting different audio into the clip.

 

Study: Marketer Confidence In Driving Revenue Unchanged In 10 Years

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After a decade, marketers still have a difficult time funneling customer engagement into revenue, the CMO Council and Sendwithus reported Tuesday.

In 2008, the CMO Council asked brands if they were fully realizing the revenue potential of customers, to which 76 percent said no. The question was posed again in a March study but 77 percent of marketers still said no and 10 percent say they are not even sure.

The new report, Gaining Traction With Every Digital Interaction, found that marketers aren’t confident in using digital communication to drive revenue. In fact, only 47 percent feel they are only “doing okay” in their digital communication efforts.

Marketers are optimistic about the practice, overall, with 94 percent of the respondents believing individual digital communications will help them reach their customer experience goals. Despite faith in digital communications overall, only 13 percent said they are drawing the full possible revenue from their customers.

Part of this uncertainty may be tied to a lack of collaboration. According to 34 percent of marketers, transactional emails are not leveraged as a relationship and revenue driver because they are created outside of marketing, with little opportunity to collaborate or align across functional areas.

The CMO Council asserts that that collaboration around the channels of choice for the customer is critical to turning an automated touchpoint into a revenue-producing opportunity.

This lack of involvement with digital communication efforts might explain why just only 36 percent of respondents see transactional emails as an opportunity to reinforce consumer relationships. The survey found that 30 percent use them only to confirm choices such as a password reset or receipt—not to further engagement.

Marketers were asked to detail the state of collaboration across key stakeholders in customer experience. Just over a quarter of respondents said that that collaboration is left to team leaders who collect input and feedback as needed. Just under a third of marketers indicated that collaboration comes in the form of meetings to align on strategies and timelines.

Looking forward, marketers indicated plans to realize revenue by optimizing profitable consumer relationships. Sixty-four percent said they are personalizing communications across all touchpoints, and identifying new ways to improve up-sell/cross-sell opportunities with existing customers.

Survey: Toyota, Verizon, Walmart Among The Most Trusted Brands In America

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In partnership with Ipsos Connect, Reader’s Digest has fielded its 2018 annual Trusted Brands survey, revealing both the most trusted brands in America and the state of brand trust generally.

“Trust has always been one of the most essential values we maintain at Reader’s Digest,” stated Lee Zellweger, the journal’s publisher. “This program enables us to understand how trust impacts consumer behavior and why it is critical that brands work diligently now more than ever to protect the trust they have built between themselves and their consumers.”

The survey, which polled 5,500 Reader’s Digest readers across America, found the brands people trusted the most in each of 40 different product categories, which are granted the Reader’s Digest Trusted Brand seal of approval.

Toyota won big across the automomotive categories, taking home the prize of most trusted brand for SUVs and hybrid and standard cars—only losing out to Ford for the truck/van slot. In the hotly contested wireless provider category, Verizon won out over rivals Sprint and AT&T.

Walmart was crowned the champion of trusted mass-merchandiser retailers, small surprise given its ubiquity and Amazon’s effect on other brick-and-mortar retailers in the category. Beating out MasterCard and Amex, Visa earned its seal as most trusted credit card company.

“This year’s winners consist of brands and companies that have excelled at earning the respect and allegiance of consumers nationwide,” Zellweger continued.

You can see the full list below.

The journal emphasized the importance of building brand trust, citing several of the survey’s more general findings. Seventy-one percent of the survey’s respondents claimed they would pay more for a brand they trusted, and 82 percent said they make an effort to stick with brands they trust.

While consumers tend to be generous with brands they like, woe on those that betray that trust. According to Ipsos, 68 percent of respondents claimed that being let down by a brand even once will make it “hard” for them to use it again in the future.

Many marketers may find themselves in the “untrusted” category. Sixty-nine percent of respondents agreed that “brands need to do a better job of earning consumers’ trust.” Additionally, 48 percent claimed to trust brands less now than they have in the past.

Though Amazon did not appear on the Reader’s Digest list, it was recently voted the most liked brand in America, though how much consumers trust it was not determined.

Amazon Is The Most-Trusted Retail Brand According To New Study

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Written by H.B. Duran

Consumers are loyal to Amazon because they see the company as emotionally appealing, a new study finds.

The a.network Brand Trust Index Retail Report by marketing technology developer Soulmates.ai asserts that consumer perception can be measured through a combination of emotional and scientific means.

Decoding Consumer Trust

Soulmates.ai determined the top 10 US retailers by sales revenue and presented 4,054 US consumers with a variety of emotion-based statements designed to measure levels of trust and the underlying reasons. Instead of simply asking whether a consumer trusts a brand or not, respondents were asked to rank how they agreed with statements such as, “[Brand’s] creativity is what makes them a good brand” or “[Brand] is only interested in making money.”

This “read between the lines” approach to brand trust was developed for a.BTI by Galen Buckwalter, Ph.D., chief science advisor at Soulmates.ai and the psychometrician behind eHarmony’s matchmaking technology.

“The process of what I went through in developing a measure of brand trust was exactly the same one I would go through if I were developing a measure of openness in people or honesty,” Dr. Buckwalter told AListDaily.

The a.network Brand Trust Index (a.BTI) defines trust along three key dimensions: Brand Loyalty, Brand Reliance and Emotional Appeal.

Loyalty is earned through shared values and similarities with a consumer and a perceived service competence. Reliance is perceived when a brand consistently meets expectations, which may include social responsibility, honesty, consistent success and innovation. Emotional Appeal, meanwhile, is earned when a brand engages consumers on a social level or gives them something to aspire to.

For this study, survey responses were analyzed and assigned a number in each key dimension. Based on those results, an overall trust score was assigned to each brand.

Rely On Amazon, Aspire To Costco

Out of the 10 retailers in this study, approximately 30 percent of respondents selected Amazon as their most trusted brand. Amazon scored 96 for reliance, 98 in terms of loyalty and 99 overall, 25 points higher than Costco, the next most-trusted brand in the study.

Best Buy, Target and Kohl’s rounded out the top five brands in the a.BTI findings with trust scores of 66, 66 and 63 respectively.

At 60, Apple was one the most polarizing brand in the study, Soulmates.ai said, which is why the brand comes in at the center of the list. Consumers ranked the brand as very high or very low in terms of trust.

Dollar General came in last in terms of consumer trust with an overall score of just 24 but scored higher in individual factors with low-income respondents.

Soulmates.ai found that similar brands can be perceived very differently. For example, Costco scored 73 points in Emotional Appeal compared to Sam’s Club at 57.

Trust Is Like A Cake

“Trust is a very complicated issue [but] can be customizable in terms of how it is relevant to brands,” Soulmates.ai director of analytics and data products Johanna Tam told AListDaily. “Different components of trust are important and that varies across demographics.”

Scoring brand perception varies across demographics like income, gender, political affiliation and age group, Tam noted. “For college students, service competence may not be as important as honesty.”

Brands wanting to shape their image will need to decide which individual trust dimensions are most important.

“For different industries, trust is like baking a cake. You’re going to need eggs, butter, sugar and flour but how much? It depends on what kind of cake you want to make. The idea is that all of these components are important but they have different weights [depending on a brand’s goal].”

Pom Wonderful ‘Impaled By A Dolphin’ Spot Pokes Fun At Big Pharma

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Pom Wonderful produced a video spot that pokes fun at the pharmaceutical industry by claiming that pomegranate juice helped a man impaled by a dolphin.

“Impaled by a Dolphin and Better Than Ever” tells the story of Jeff Kowalczyk, a fictional man that was impaled by a dolphin but saw it as a wake-up call to get healthy. Prior to the “accident,” Jeff claims he was overweight and didn’t exercise, but something like [a dolphin sticking out of your chest] puts things into perspective.

Focusing on health benefits, this campaign marks Pom Wonderful’s largest digital spend to date, with a multimillion-dollar media plan. According to the company, the spots will be shown in contextually relevant TV shows like The Doctors and Dr. Oz, online sites such as WebMD and on screens in doctors’ offices across the country.

The “Impaled By a Dolphin” ad is presented in the style of a pharmaceutical commercial, down to the subtitle disclaimers, upbeat music and generic activities that somehow represent living with an ailment but being able to ignore it thanks to the cure being marketed.

Jeff is shown going about his daily life as if nothing happened, working, making dinner and riding his bike—all with a live dolphin sticking out of his body.

“These spots poke fun at mundane pharmaceutical industry advertisements and use humor to talk about what people typically want to avoid—what they should do after a health scare,” Pom Wonderful said in a press release.

In addition to using tongue-in-cheek humor to sell its juice, “Impaled by a Dolphin” may also be a playful jab at deceptive health marketing. Last week, the US Supreme court refused to review a court ruling that found Pom Wonderful guilty of making deceptive health claims. Claims included marketing pomegranate juice as being able to treat, prevent or reduce the risk of heart disease, prostate cancer and erectile dysfunction.

Despite the Supreme Court’s denial, Pom Wonderful’s dolphin spot links its pomegranate juice to health benefits such as verbal memory performance, brain activity and maintaining post-exercise arm strength, as claimed by two preliminary studies mentioned at the end. Links and details about the studies were not released in the ad or its video description.

Mother’s Day Marketing Gets Sentimental; Spending Expected To Reach $23.1B

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Brands have answered the call to celebrate Mother’s Day this year with messages ranging from sentimental to silly.

Spending on Mother’s Day is expected to reach $23.1 billion in the US this year, a slight drop from 2017’s record $23.6 billion, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF). According to NRF’s annual survey, 86 percent of Americans will celebrate Mother’s Day this year and spend an average of $180 per person.

Finding The Words

Sometimes it’s hard to say how you feel, or you want to say it just right. That’s why Americans turn to the $3.6 billion greeting card industry for occasions like Mother’s Day—something Hallmark is taking full advantage of with its marketing campaign.

Hallmark teamed up with actress Julie Bowen (Modern Family) to surprise moms with a giant greeting card on the street. When opened, the card reveals a handwritten message from the recipient, who reads it aloud.

Bowen also provided voice over for a TV spot called “When You Care Enough To Put It Into Words.”

American Greetings asked its Facebook followers what they do just like their mothers. Answers ranged from having the same handwriting to spaghetti night crying at commercials. The brand illustrated some of these answers with a YouTube video called “Just Like My Mom” using colorful props and upbeat music.

Different Kinds Of Moms

For Mother’s Day, Teleflora produced a series of videos called “Love Makes A Mom.” The three-video series highlights different kinds of mother figures including a half-sister that steps in, a lesbian couple and a mother of a child with Down Syndrome.

Australian shopping center brand Stockland created a video called “Those Who Mum” that highlights mother figures in all their forms. The Stockland website also produced an editorial series that highlights several mothers from the region—telling each Australian woman’s story in detail.

Being a mom means putting herself above the needs of her family, and that can be reflected in how she looks.

Planet Fitness commissioned a study to support its “Judgement Free Zone” mantra that celebrates the “mom bod” —the female equivalent to a “dad bod” that often reflects the toll of physical and emotional stress after having children. The survey found that 79 percent of women feel stronger after having kids and 59 percent of respondents believe that women with “mom bods” are comfortable in their own skin.

Speaking of feeling comfortable, American mothers find it difficult to find a private place to breastfeed in public. Zappos teamed up with Mamava to install private rooms around New York and enlisted the help of comedienne Dena Blizzard to spread awareness.

Taste The Love

According to the National Restaurant Association, 34 percent of American families plan to dine out for Mother’s Day. Meanwhile, another 34 percent plan to have a home-cooked meal this holiday.

The National Cattleman’s Beef Association is highlighting moms that work on cattle farms on itshttps://www.thehoth.com/google-keyword-planner Facebook page and the hashtag #RealRanchMoms. The “Beef. It’s Whats For Dinner” brand is also sharing recipes and digital greeting cards to share with the carnivorous mothers in your life.

Carvel is offering ice cream cakes printed with custom designs drawn and/or colored by family members. The legacy ice cream brand teamed up with influencer Kelly Mindell, who designed and helped promote exclusive Carvel cake templates for Mother’s Day.

Burger King’s ‘Promposal’ Created Over $260K Earned Media Value

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Burger King asked Wendy’s to prom over Twitter and garnered attention that would have otherwise cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in marketing spend.

On Wednesday, a Burger King restaurant in Boston, Massachusetts changed its sign, playfully asking the neighboring Wendy’s restaurant to prom. The official Burger King account posted a photo on Twitter and waited for a response as social media reacted with supportive messages.

Wendy’s responded within the hour, accepting in the brand’s trademark sarcastic tone. “Ok, but don’t get handsy and we have to be home by 10,” wrote Wendy’s.

Burger King changed its sign to say “She said yes!” and posted a picture with a rose inside a burger box—its own fast food corsiage.

To measure user engagement with Burger King’s “promposal”, we calculated the earned media value from Burger King’s initial request, Wendy’s acceptance tweet and Burger King’s response on Twitter from May 9-10.

“Earned media” is the value of engagements a brand receives across channels as a result of their marketing efforts. To help quantify what the value of those engagements is worth, Ayzenberg Group established the Ayzenberg Earned Media Value Index (AEMVI) and assigned a quantifiable dollar amount for marketing gains a brand receives from a campaign or individual engagement that includes social media networks and similar digital properties.

(Editor’s note: AListDaily is the publishing arm of Ayzenberg Group. To read the updated AEMVI report reflecting the rapid changes in social, click here.)

Based on the latest AEMVI rates for Twitter interactions, Burger King’s “promposal” earned a total of $260,696 in earned media value. This figure was based on values assigned to likes, comments and retweets.

Like a prom king and queen, Burger King and Wendy’s shared the spotlight—in this case, the earned media value—when Wendy’s accepted. Wendy’s quote retweet earned a majority of the earned media value: $113,133.54 in likes, $5,610 in comments and $121,391.97 in retweets for a total of $240,135.51.

Burger King and Wendy’s haven’t always gotten along on Twitter. In October, Burger King promoted user tweets that complained when Wendy’s took spicy nuggets off the menu.

For now, the two brands are playing nice for prom season, to which Moon Pie responded, “I knew I should have asked sooner.”

TickX Appoints Paul Kirwin To CMO, And Other Hires

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This week: executive shakeups as TickX and Katz Media Group bring on a chief marketing officers, Industrial Light and Magic promotes a vice president of marketing, Gold’s Gym elevates a new marketing leader and others.

Paul Kirwin Joins TickX As CMO

UK-based event discovery platform TickX has appointed Paul Kirwin as its first-ever chief marketing officer, ahead of its planned expansion into the continental European market.

“We couldn’t be happier that Paul has joined the TickX team,” said Steve Pearce, TickX CEO. “Marketing will play a key role in taking TickX to the next level as we target rapid international expansion in the coming months and we’re pleased to have hired one of the best marketing professionals in the country to help achieve our goals.”

Kirwin joins the company from PureGym, where he created and led the startup’s marketing team for six years.

ILM Promotes Gretchen Libby To Vice President Of Marketing And Production

Industrial Light and Magic has appointed Gretchen Libby to the role of vice president of marketing and production, overseeing client marketing and strategic relationships.

“Gretchen is a key member of our executive team and has been instrumental in numerous strategic initiatives in recent years, from marketing the studio to our global expansion,” said Lynwen Brennan, Lucasfilm’s general manager. “She brings depth of production understanding that is prized within the company and continues to be invaluable to our clients.”

Libby has been with ILM for over 20 years, first as a production manager in 1997.

Katz Media Group Appoints Stacey Lynn Schulman CMO

Stacey Lynn Schulman has been promoted to chief marketing officer of Katz Media Group, set to lead the company’s insights team and strategy.

“Stacey is a well-respected, thought-leader that brings an incredible amount of enthusiasm, vision and insights to our industry. She has her pulse on the ever-changing media landscape and is always ahead of the game when it comes to consumer and media trends,” said Mark Gray, CEO of Katz Media Group. “As Chief Marketing Officer, Stacey will help us solidify Katz’s position as the pre-eminent local media solution provider for national brands.”

Schulman first joined the company in 2014 as executive vice president of strategy, analytics and research.

Pinnacle Hires Promotes Peter Lyle To Executive Vice President Of Marketing

Appending “executive” to his title, Peter Lyle is now executive vice president of sales and marketing for Pinnacle Climate Technologies.

“Peter’s focus, passion, and results orientation will serve him well with these additional, new responsibilities,” Ron Ten Berge, Pinnacle’s CEO, stated. “Peter has continuously demonstrated a customer and consumer-first orientation, built strong customer relationships, and has delivered consistent business growth year over year.  Peter will now be leading the global sales and marketing strategy.”

Lyle has been with Pinnacle for eight years, most recently as vice president of international sales.

The Rest Of The C-Suite

Editor’s Note: Our weekly careers post is updated daily. This installment will be updated until Friday, May 11. Have a new hire tip? We’re looking for senior executive role changes in marketing and media. Let us know at editorial@alistdaily.com.

Allegro Hires Michael Schwartz As Chief Marketing Officer

Commodity management software provider Allegro Development Corporation has appointed Michael Schwartz to the role of chief marketing officer.

“Michael has a proven track record of success, and I’m extremely excited to have him join the Allegro family,” said Frank Brienzi, CEO of Allegro. “His extensive leadership experience in the ETRM and CTRM software market makes him a strong addition to Allegro’s executive team; and I look forward to working with him to continue furthering our global marketing initiatives.”

Schwartz joins Allegro from Eka Software Solutions, where he served as executive vice president and chief marketing officer.

Gold’s Gym Promotes Dave Reiseman To CMO

Dave Reiseman is rising in the Gold’s Gym hierarchy, achieving the level of chief marketing officer.

“Dave has been one of the Gold’s Gym brand’s biggest champions for many years and brings exceptional leadership skills, passion and creative vision to the role,” said Gold’s CEO Brandon Bean. “He has been instrumental in bringing the new Gold’s Gym Experience to life and creating a high-energy, service-driven marketing department that’s focused on growing our business and supporting our team members, franchisees and members around the world.”

Reiseman has been with the Gold’s Gym marketing team for 15 years, most recently as vice president of marketing and brand communications.

Akeneo Hires Christel Billault As Vice President Of Marketing

Product information management solutions provider Akeneo has appointed Christel Grizaut Billault vice president of marketing, seeking to assist the company expand in Europe and North America.

Billault joins the company from Acronis, where she held a series of senior marketing roles.

Ryanair Elevates Chiara Ravara To Head Sales And Marketing

Budget airline Ryanair has appointed Chiara Ravara head of sales and marketing, a promotion from her prior role of senior sales and marketing manager.

“We are pleased to promote Chiara Ravara to Head of Sales and Marketing as she brings considerable experience and industry knowledge to this key role,” said Ryanair’s marketing operations director, Matthias Wenk. “Chiara will spearhead the efforts of the Sales and Marketing team as we continue to roll out our latest ‘Always Getting Better’ customer experience improvement program, and grow traffic, routes and tourism across Europe.”

Ravara has been with the airline since 2014, joining from Italian firm Aviareps.

Nicole McInnes Joins OVO As CMO

After six months as Woolies’ marketing director, Nicole McInnes has joined OVO as its first-ever chief marketing officer.

“I’ve known Nicole for many years. It was her experience inspiring consumers on behalf of digital native companies that were pioneering machine learning algorithms that convinced me she was right for OVO,” said Matt Jones, the company’s CEO. “I’ve been after her to join since this business was just a concept. I have never met a marketer who matches commercial acumen and analysis with creative passion the way Nicole does, which is exactly what we were looking for in a CMO.”

McInnes ran Woolies’ e-commerce marketing during her tenure there, experience she will bring to OVO’s digital business.

Superior Communications Appoints Scott Shanks CMO

Retail and supply chain solutions provider Superior Communications has promoted Scott Shanks to CMO, a newly created position.

“Scott’s industry experience and retail background has been influential in maintaining our strong financial, operational and logistical scale while enhancing our service offering to better support all channels, customers and suppliers,” said Jeff Banks, Superior’s president and CEO. “We are excited to have Scott as part of the Superior leadership team and look forward to his continued contribution to the business.”

Joining Superior in 2015, Shanks was previously senior vice president of indirect distribution.

Globe North America Re-Hires Eric Tomlinson To Marketing Director

Clothing brand Globe has brought Eric Tomlinson back into the fold as marketing director, where he will manage the brand’s North American marketing initiatives.

“Eric is a multi-dimensional talent, that brings years of industry experience back to Globe and we’re stoked to have him driving our marketing efforts here in North America,” said Gary Valentine, Globe North America’s COO and president.

Tomlinson returns to the surfwear brand after a two-year hiatus at Surfline/Wavetrak, where he served as executive producer of content partnerships.

Dick Clark Productions Promotes Three Marketing Executives

Rika Camizianos, Magdalena Mango and Michael Nieporent are all rising up the Dick Clark marketing executive ladder, each receiving promotions. Camizianos has been elevated to vice president of creative content and post production, Mango to vice president of brand strategy and integrated marketing and Magdalena too vice president of brand, marketing and digital strategy.

Kevin Mallon Joins Echelon As Marketing Director

Echelon Investment Partners has created the role of director of marketing, tapping Kavin Mallon for the position.

“We are thrilled to have Kevin join our growing and talented team to bring our unique offering to the institutional investor community for the first time,” said Charles Britton, founder and CEO of Echelon. “Kevin is an accomplished business development professional with a demonstrated track record of working directly with emerging managers to help plan and execute an effective marketing strategy.”

Mallon most recently served as marketing director for Old Hill Partners.

JMH Premium Promotes Laura Guthrie To Director Of Marketing

Flavor solutions provider JMH Premium has promoted a handful of female executive leaders, including Laura Guthrie. She assumes her new title of director of marketing after leading a substantive rebranding effort last year.

“Her excellent work on installing our new Sales CRM Sales Management tool has been particularly effective in the support of our sales process restructure,” said Kevin Dulin, CEO of JMH Premium.

Guthrie joined the company in June of 2017.

Xometry Appoints Two New Marketing Vice Presidents

Aaron Lichtig and Danny Chang have joined manufacturing platform Xometry as vice president of growth marketing and vice president of relationship marketing, respectively.

“Aaron brings deep digital and growth experience from Google and P&G, and Danny has tremendous marketplace expertise, including his GM role at eBay Motors,” said Bill Cronin, Xometry’s senior vice president of sales and marketing. “Both will be key leaders in helping Xometry continue to exceed our business objectives while building strong customer and partner relationships.”

Lichtig joins the company from Partnership for a Healthier America, and Chang, prior to consulting with Xometry for several months, led product marketing for CEB Inc’s technology, government and events businesses.

Old Republic Promotes Lorna Mello To Senior Vice President of Sales And Marketing

Lorna Mello has earned a “senior” prefix to her previous title of vice president of sales and marketing, where she will oversee the company’s efforts to better align its sales and marketing objectives with its overall business strategy.

FracTEL Names Adam Hoffmann Chief Marketing Officer

Telecommunications company FracTEL has appointed Adam Hoffmann as CMO to lead the firm’s company and product marketing initiatives.

“Adam’s mission is to leverage FracTEL’s incredible infrastructure, identify our next generation of product solutions, and implement marketing strategies that showcase the unique ways we partner with our clients to drive success,” said Michael Crown, the company’s president. “The addition of Adam to our team truly demonstrates our continued evolution and commitment to excellence.”

Previously, Hoffmann served as a marketing consultant, assisting FracTEL in its own marketing efforts throughout 2017.

Henry Drummer Joins Bank Of Ireland As CMO

Bank of Ireland has appointed Henry Drummer as chief marketing officer, the firm’s first.

“Henry brings a wealth of marketing experience in consumer, digital and business-to-business marketing,” said Francesca McDonagh, Bank of Ireland’s group CEO. “Leading a Group marketing team, he will drive the development of a strong brand for Bank of Ireland, shaping and delivering a differentiated position for the Bank in the markets in which it operates.”

Prior to joining Bank of Ireland, Drummer served as group marketing director for consumer and business at Eir, leading the company’s rebranding project.

Mobvista Taps Ramon Zhu As AI Vice President

China-based adtech firm Mobvista is expanding its artificial intelligence team, appointing Ramon Zhu as vice president of AI and machine learning.

“With so much of the online economy dependent on advertising, digital marketing is always looking for new and better ways to serve the right ads to the right consumers. That’s why ad tech companies are at the forefront of developments in AI and smart algorithms,” said Mobvista’s Founder and CEO, Robin Duan. “With Ramon on board, I believe Mobvista will continue to be one of the leaders in this race, and both our business and our customers’ campaigns will hugely benefit from his expertise.”

Zhu was the cofounder of GoSo.cn, China’s answer to Google after the search engine withdrew from the country in 2010.

Thea Beckman Signs With Fusion Bank As Content Director

Legal-cannabis financier Fusion Bank has hired Thea Beckman as its content director, leading both the company’s public-facing content and marketing production.

“I’m extremely excited about the work I will be doing with Fusion Bank, especially since this organization is blazing fresh trails,” said Beckman. “We have a real chance here to change the face of the legal cannabis industry, not only for the licensed businesses that are struggling against federal prohibition but also for the patients and researchers.”

Beckman joins Fusion Bank from WorldClass Brand Management, an internet markeitng and e-business consulting firm.

Job Vacancies 

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VP, Strategy Manager JPMorgan Chase New York, NY

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