“You Have To Be Willing To Accept Risk And Failure,” MediaLink’s Dana Anderson On How To Make Marketing Transformational

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Even with a long history and visible presence at Cannes, launching CLX, a new experiential-led area that showcased the best in immersive marketing, MediaLink curiously remains one of the more mysterious organizations at Lions. 

“I am fixing that, let me tell you,” laughs ‘MediaLink’s CMO Dana Anderson as we sit down at the Cannes Hotel. “Most people think of us a company that introduces people to other people, but ‘we’re more of an intersection between Madison Avenue and technology. The way we help marketers falls into six lanes of disciplines: data and tech, brand transformations, media, diligence, entertainment and agency optimization.”

Anderson’s specialization is MediaLink’s brand transformation department, where she uses her wealth of marketing knowledge to help CMOs deliver large, multidisciplinary brand-led projects. She is an industry visionary with a glittering track record when it comes to delivering high-profile transformational projects. She previously ran marketing at Mondelez International, and also served as CEO at both DDB and FCB Global.

She talks about organizational changes that marketers can make to become more effective.

MediaLink’s primary objective is to help marketing departments become more effective; with that in mind, what do you see as the main challenges facing CMOs?

The reason MediaLink calls ourselves a transformation group and not a marketing group is because we always say, ”last year is the least amount of change you’re ever going to experience.” Marketers are in a tricky position right now. They have so much to look after and things are moving fast so that they also have to learn new skills continually. 

The common perception out there is that the average CMO is only ever really at a place for three years. Well, if that’s the case, then we’re finding that the first year is critical. Many structures need putting in place. Not only do you have to change the strategy, but you also have to figure out procedural changes, like how to make an electronic SOW system or how you bill your clients. They also need to get out there and put points on the board.

How do CMO’s need to adapt to meet these challenges?

I think more people in marketing need to see their roles as more of a long play. CMOs should have a three-year contract, at least. Some work, especially content work, can’t possibly pay out even within a twelve-month framework. You’re running two journeys at the same time. One is the immediate sales journey, the other is the long-term funnel. It helps when you have time to accomplish both. 

Conventional wisdom tends to see the CMOs role as more of a firefighter, dropping in to solve a problem and rotating out.

That’s true, but I also think it’s causing a bit of a problem as CMOs move around so much. I can see the point of it. Giving people two years here and two years there is an excellent way of rounding people out, but there are benefits of having people who can bring longevity to the role.

For example, when I was on the agency side of things, I worked on Miracle Whip for eight years. During that time the leadership changed every two years, so we ended up being the knowledge keepers of the brand. Even that isn’t true anymore; agencies are way too volatile, and they move around too much as well. I think this lack of continuity means that the retention of insights and knowledge is becoming a big problem. 

Haven’t insights and analytics departments moved into this role?

Perhaps, but I’m seeing organizations starting to have conversations that begin with the question, ”Are we measuring the right thing?” If you’re living by a metric that isn’t truthful, then you’re just playing a game. 

”How can I get insights actually out of the door?” is one of the most common requests we get at MediaLink. It involves a lot more than just collecting data. You need to look at everything from how the company is structured, where it sits in an organization and where the information goes. You also have to ask what kind of people you need and how to define an insight as an organization. 

If you redefine an insight, not as a data outcome but as a fact that can lead to a business outcome, suddenly everything is different. It’s also crucial for marketers to use hypothesis in their work so that they can come to useful conclusions and not just notch everything up as a quirk of the consumer.

How do marketers go about figuring out what a useful metric looks like, opposed to a bad one?

I used to have a dashboard of twenty-six indicators on one piece of paper. I mean, talk about mouse type! You’d need a magnifying glass to read it. To this day, I couldn’t tell you what was measured though. I think people just wanted to look at everything laid out on a page and see if there was anything on there that told them if things were going up or down. 

Like many people, I think we were attempting to use analytics to tell us which metric, out of all of this data we were collecting, was telling us the truth. Another problem is that these established metrics are for large data companies, and they’re not designed to show tactical-level events. They are not right for everyone. I like to call them numerical fig leaves; they cover up more than they show.

In the end, the answer to what makes a useful metric very much depends on the particular industry that you operate in. It takes a lot of backward work to figure out a good indicator of success and growth.

In your experience, what are the major stumbling blocks that marketers need to overcome?

Creativity is a sticking point. Not in the sense of coming up with creative campaigns, but how to teach people in a different way. I think companies have realized that you can’t be fast and agile if you aren’t willing to take the appropriate risks. You have to accept [some] risk and failure. 

It’s especially true in process-orientated businesses like banking and pharma where the way of working is intrinsically cautious. Bringing in a more collaborative approach is a great way to bring those processes back in, but it can be a slow process. It’s a case of biting off a little bit, realizing that you haven’t died yet and going back for another little chunk.

IAB Study: 48 Percent Of U.S. Consumers Shop Disruptor Brands, Especially Those Who Use Purchases As Vehicle For Self-Expression

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U.S. shoppers are increasingly opting to buy from direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands, leading to even bigger disruptions in the retail market. The study, conducted by IAB, in partnership with Cassandra, found that a strong community and the ability to provide feedback to brands was one of the leading reasons that consumers, especially younger shoppers, became loyal buyers. 

Direct-to-consumer loyalists tend to be younger buyers who want retail purchases to reflect their personal expression, that’s according to the newly-released IAB “Disrupting Brand Preference” study. The research found that 84 percent of respondents who prefer disruptor brands are under 54 years old and tend to have a household income of $75,000 and above.  

Other key takeaways of the study include:

  • DTC buyers find value in their ability to contribute ideas and feedback to brands and enjoy the sense of visibility they feel as part of sizable social communities. 
  • Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp lead the pack for sharing brand attitudes, especially by older, traditional brand shoppers. 
  • Disruptor brands can best build consumer loyalty—as well as lifetime value (LTV)—through cross-channel interaction. 
  • Search, shopping and social media sites together are nearly equal to traditional TV for brand discovery. 
  • Disruptor consumers expect 24/7 omnichannel access.  

The most insightful trend, however, revolves around Direct-To-Consumer (DTC) buyers using their favorite brands as resources for personal branding and self-promotion. Thus, 47 percent of respondents said that they are more likely to familiarize themselves with a Direct Brand if it aligns with their personal style (which is twice as many, compared to traditional brand-only buyers, who say that they purchase brands to express “who [they are]).” 

These avid DTC brand consumers make up a part of a new audience group, identified by the researchers as “Super Influencers,” who strategically re-post and/or create brand-driven content to increase their own influence on social media, the study suggests.  The expectation is that DTC brands can rely on influencer strategies in their marketing efforts. 

Senior vice president, research and measurement at IAB, Sue Hogan, said on the matter, “There is a tendency to think that the online social activities of younger consumers are incidental—frivolous. But they are not. The differences between disruptor brand consumers and incumbent-only shoppers are stark. For disruptor brand consumers, social behaviors are calculated and deliberate, feeding their need for self-expression.” 

The study was conducted via a 20-minute online survey among a diverse sample of over 3,000 consumers and sponsored by Google, PebblePost and Spotify. 

YouTube’s New Monetization Features; LinkedIn Improves Campaign Manager

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Plenty is going on in social media this week—YouTube rolls out new features to help creators monetize, LinkedIn updates its “Campaign Manager” tool, Twitter is officially testing “Hide Replies” and opens ArtHouse to help brands make better content, Facebook publishes a new diversity report and updates “Why am I seeing this ad?” and “Ad Preferences” features and Mobile Marketer shares the mid-year industry stats. 

YouTube Introduces More Monetization Opportunities For Creators 

This week at VidCon, YouTube announced new features and revamped a host of existing monetization options for creators. 

Why it matters: As social media giants battle for users, YouTube is updating monetization features to help creators drive tangible traffic to the platform, including coveted young, engaged audiences. 

The details: The new features include “Super Chat,” which according to the company’s blog post, allows fans to purchase messages that stand out within a chat during live streams. Another new feature, “Super Stickers,” lets fans purchase animated stickers during live streams and Premieres to show their favorite creators their appreciation. “Channel Memberships” update introduced membership levels, with which creators can now set up to five different price points for channel memberships. YouTube also added five new partners–Crowdmade, DFTBA, Fanjoy, Represent and Rooster Teeth–to “YouTube Merch shelf with Teespring.  

In addition, the company introduced  “Learning Playlists” aiming “to provide a dedicated learning environment for people who come to YouTube to learn.” 

LinkedIn Introduced A More Powerful Campaign Manager

LinkedIn shared a blog post announcing changes the company made to its “Campaign Manager.” 

Why it matters: This effort aims to solve one of the biggest marketing challenges of ensuring that campaigns can meet increasingly complex business goals. 

“Whether you’re a new start-up trying to increase share-of-voice or an established B2B player looking for leads, you need solutions that are flexible and can adapt to your unique objectives,” the blog post reads.  

The details: The latest version of “Campaign Manager” offers the following: 

  • Brand awareness. The marketers can now increase share-of-voice for their product or services through top of funnel campaigns that charge by impressions (e.g. cost per thousand or CPM).  
  • Website conversions. LinkedIn built a tighter integration with their conversion tracking tool, making it easier to create campaigns optimized for specific actions on a website, like purchases, downloads or event registrations.
  • LinkedIn “Talent Solutions” customers can now create ads using “Campaign Manager” and drive applications on LinkedIn or their own site. 
  • Click pricing was optimized to the companies’ campaign objectives. “If you select website visits as your objective, you will only be charged for clicks that go to your landing page. For social engagement campaigns, pricing will be optimized to include all social actions (likes, comments, shares, etc.),” the company stated in a blog post. 

Twitter’s “Hide Replies” Is No Longer A Rumor 

The company shared a blog post, announcing that the users in Canada are now able to hide replies to their Tweets. 

Why it matters: With this feature, Twitter gives the users more control over their conversations, letting them “mute” toxic or unreasonable comments. 

The details: “Starting next week, people in Canada will have the option to hide replies to their Tweets. Anyone around the world will be able to see and engage with hidden replies by tapping the grey icon that will appear. We want to be clear and transparent when someone has made the decision to hide a reply, and will be looking at how this feature gives more control to authors while not compromising the transparency and openness that is central to what makes Twitter so powerful,” the blog post states. 

“Mobile Marketer” Publishes “Key Stats At The Half” 

Mobile Marketer published a report, highlighting the key statistics and trends seen in the marketing industry since January 2019. 

Why it matters: The data gives an insight into the key trends for users and marketers, helping to guide strategies for the remainder of 2019.

The details: Here is what marketers need to know:

  • Location matters. According to the report, location-based marketing is set to grow 14 percent to $24.4 billion in ad spending this year; and 89 percent of marketers reported sales lifts after using location data to boost their ad campaigns. 
  • Voice and virtual assistants are most popular among millennials (49 percent); and not so much among Gen X, Baby boomers and Gen Z with 20, 16 and 15 percent respectively. 
  • Social media keep growing, as Instagram’s expected 2019 revenue is 14 million; the average revenue per Snapchat user grew by 39 percent (from $1.21 last year to $1.68 in 2019); TikTok’s worldwide in-app sales surged 500 percent in May from 2018.

The complete report can be found here. 

YouTube Simplifies Copyright Claims Process 

The Verge reported that YouTube is updating the way it handles manual copyright claims to simplify the process for video creators.

Why it matters: According to The Verge, copyrighted content owners, such as a record label or a film studio will now have to specify exactly where in a video their copyrighted material appears, which wasn’t the case before when the infringement was being reported manually. Creators can more easily respond and verify whether or not a claim is legitimate, and where to possibly make necessary changes to their content. 

The details: With this update,video creators will be able to see the portion of the video that’s been claimed, mute the audio in that portion, replace it with a free-to-use song from YouTube’s library or completely cut out that chunk. If they choose any of those options, the copyright claim will automatically be released.

Facebook Publishes A New Diversity Report 

Facebooked published “Facebook 2019 Diversity Report: Advancing Diversity And Inclusion.” 

Why it matters: The report highlights the company’s inclusivity efforts and unveils Facebook’s goals related to diversity, in a move that the company will likely use an example of transparency. 

The details: “We envision a company where in the next five years, at least 50 percent of our workforce will be women, people who are Black, Hispanic, Native American, Pacific Islanders, people with two or more ethnicities, people with disabilities, and veterans. In doing this, we aim to double our number of women globally and Black and Hispanic employees in the US. It will be a company that reflects and better serves the people on our platforms, services and products. It will be a more welcoming community advancing our mission and living up to the responsibility that comes with it,” the company said in the blog post. 

Facebook Helps The Users Understand Why They’re Seeing Certain Ads 

Facebook shared a blog post, announcing the updates to “Why am I seeing this ad?” and “Ad Preferences” features. 

Why it matters: Facebook has updated the features (which were introduced in the first place for greater transparency and control), but the feedback the company received from the users stated that “they can still be hard to understand and difficult to navigate.” 

The details: The company will show people more reasons why they’re seeing an ad on Facebook with more detailed targeting, including the interests or categories that matched you with a specific ad.

Facebook is also updating Ad Preferences to share more about businesses that upload lists the users’ information, including an email address or phone number. 

Twitter Opens ArtHouse For The Brands 

Twitter announced a new creative team for brands producing video content.

Why it matters: The effort aims to help match brands with high-quality creators, influencers, artists, video editing and optimization experts in a move to help brands create more, and higher quality content. As social platforms compete for ad revenue, this is another way to further boost advertisers’ ROI.

The details: Per Twitter, “Twitter ArtHouse connects brands with the creative capital and talent of influencers, artists and editors who can add a new dimension of relevance to their content. The global team brings together content strategists, digital producers and influencer marketing specialists to help brands launch new products and connect to what’s happening in culture.” For more information brands need to contact their Twitter representative.

Facebook Entices Video Creators With New Features 

At Facebook Creator Day in Malibu, California, the company announced the rollout of several new features, similar to those of their competitors, such as Amazon’s Twitch, aiming to attract more video creators, CNet reports.

Why it matters: With Facebook’s premium content hub, Watch, being less popular than competitive offerings, this move should serve the social media company and marketers well, as creators bring young audiences like Gen Z’ers to the platform. 

The details: New features include payment incentive functionality like Stars, which most likely will function like Twitch’s Bit Emotes–a tipping system where users can reward creators with small payments during streams. 

Also similar to Twitch, Facebook is adding more intimate groups that are only accessible to subscribers of a particular creator. 

Per CNet, the company said it will offer more flexibility, enabling midroll ads to be placed on creator videos and more analytics tools in Brand Collabs Manager. 

Pinterest Introduces A New Video Uploader 

Pinterest doesn’t want to lag behind other social media giants in its effort to court more video creators and introduces the new and revamped video uploader. 

Why it matters: With the new feature, Pinterest wants to encourage paying users to post actionable and inspirational how-to videos and tutorials targeted at the platform users. 

“Because videos on Pinterest surface and resurface over time,” the company explained to TechCrunch, “videos uploaded directly to Pinterest will have a longer shelf life and, in theory, more engagement than if posted to other platforms.”

The details: The new video tab now available on business profiles, will allow brands to conveniently feature all their videos in one place. In addition, an analytics tool will aid them in understanding and analyzing traffic and performance. Also, with a new Pin Scheduler tool, creators and businesses will be able to schedule videos in advance. 

Instagram Influencer Engagement Is Declining 

Along with the general drop in brand engagement on the platform, influencer engagement is at its lowest too, according to the report from InfluencerDB. 

Why it matters: Per Mobile Marketer, the declining engagement rates for Instagram influencers signal important trends that marketers need to be mindful of when strategizing their social influencer campaigns. Thus, according to InfluencerDB report, sponsored posts tend to generate higher engagement than non-sponsored posts. On the other hand, when Instagram feeds get cluttered with sponsored posts, engagement rates for influencer content drop. 

The details: The researchers report that the engagement rate for sponsored posts dropped to 2.4 percent in Q1 2019 from 4 percent in 2016, and the rate for non-sponsored posts dropped to 1.9 percent from 4.5 percent respectively. 

Snapchat To Launch Shows With Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kevin Hart 

The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that Snapchat is further expanding its video efforts, tapping deals with digital and traditional creators, among which are Arnold Schwarzenegger and Serena Williams who will be creating new shows for Snapchat.  

Why it matters: Good quality video content is proven to attract younger and heavily engaged audiences to the platform. 

The details: Per The Hollywood Reporter, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s new show, Rules of Success will provide motivational advice. Serena Williams, Kevin Hart and influencers Emma Chamberlain and Rickey Thompson will also launch shows on Snapchat soon.  

Report: Instagram Brand Engagement Drops

A report by Trust Insights studied 1,430,995 posts from 3,637 brands (Stories excluded) for overall average engagement rate and found that brand engagement on Instagram is in decline. 

Why it matters: Although some decline in engagement is expected as the platform matures and competition grows, marketers should understand the depth of engagement and plan accordingly.

“If you’re marketing heavily on Instagram, a decrease in engagement means a decrease in visibility in the Instagram feed, creating something of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Fewer engagements means less visibility means… fewer engagements,” the report states. 

The details: The overall findings included the maximum average engagement rate year-to-date for this selection of branded accounts being 1.54 percent on April 15, 2019 and the minimum engagement rate being 0.8 percent on June 23, 2019. Beginning in May, average engagements declined over time and now are around 0.9 percent, which makes up a 1.1 percent decrease from earlier this year. These numbers signal an 18 percent drop in average engagements (mostly likes) since the beginning of 2019. 

To improve engagement the researchers recommend the following: 

  • “Some marketers have begun promoting feed posts in their Instagram Stories to catch attention and bring specific posts’ engagement levels up
  • Some marketers, of course, simply take out ads to boost post performance
  • Some marketers use external marketing to bring up feed engagement, such as sharing posts on other platforms or linking to posts in emails, etc.”

Facebook To Cut Fan Subscriptions In 2020 

Facebook made a series of important announcements regarding monetization on Facebook at VidCon this week. 

Why it matters: The company will cut up to 30 percent of fan subscriptions, starting January 1, 2020.

The details: According to TechCrunch,  Kate Orseth, director of media monetization at Facebook, said that Facebook is committed to letting creators keep 70 percent of fan subscription revenue, of course, not including taxes and fees. Then, when the mobile platforms collect their 30 percent fee on first-year subscriptions, Facebook won’t collect and when the platforms lower their share to 15 percent in the second year, Facebook will take the other 15 percent. 

On desktop, however, Facebook will be able to take a cut of 30 percent right away. 

It is important to note that the new policy will only apply to new subscribers starting in January and will not apply to the users who subscribed before then. 

And even more importantly, the company also made a number of ad-related announcements, such as allowing creators to limit ads on a video to “non-interruptive” formats (pre-roll and image ads) and share their audiences with advertisers in the Brand Collabs Manager for ad targeting. In addition, creators will be able to view their Instagram data in Facebook’s Creator Studio.

“Alexa, Open YouTube”

YouTube is officially back on Fire TV, after almost a year and a half since Google removed the app, Amazon shared in a blog post. 

Why it matters: YouTube on Fire TV provides a more convenient way for the viewers to engage with video content on the social media platform. 

The details: According to the company, the official YouTube app on Amazon Fire TV is now available worldwide on Fire TV Stick (2ndGen), Fire TV Stick 4K, Fire TV Cube, Fire TV Stick Basic Edition, and all Fire TV Edition smart TVs. And YouTube TV and YouTube Kids will launch later this year. 

Report: Apss See A 15 Percent Revenue Jump 

App research firm Sensor Tower discovered that during the first half of 2019, app revenue increased by 15 percent to $39.7 billion on Apple’s App Store and Google Play, compared to last year. 

Why it matters: The numbers, as analyzed by Sensor Tower, signal the app economy, for the most part, is steady and healthy.

The details: Per the report, App Store revenue grew 13 percent to $25.5 billion, compared with Google Play’s 20 percent gain to $14.2 billion during the period. 

Tinder became the highest-grossing, non-game app during the first half of 2019, with revenue increasing by 32 percent to an estimated $497 million worldwide in both Apple’s App Store and Google Play. 

Netflix, which was the leader in 2018, removed subscriptions from the app’s iOS version in December to avoid fees, which resulted in total app store spending on Netflix dropping to $399 million.

Facebook’s WhatsApp, Messenger, Facebook and Instagram maintained their dominance in the ranking of downloads and TikTok took fourth place with the app first-time installs increasing by 28 percent to 344 million. 

YouTube Doesn’t Need To Move Children’s Content To A Separate Platform 

Bloomberg reported that during a July 1st call, Chairman Joseph Simons and Republican Commissioner Noah Phillips responded to the children’s privacy advocates, saying that YouTube wouldn’t need to move all children’s content to a separate platform.

Why it matters: Removing ads from the video platform would negatively impact video creators’ viewership and revenue. 

The details: Simons and Phillips proposed that instead, individual channels could disable ads to make sure that YouTube stays in agreement with a U.S. law’s ban on collecting information on children under age 13 without parental permission.

Study Finds Social Ad Growth Drops 50 Percent

According to a study conducted by WARC, the ad revenue growth rate for major social and messaging companies dropped in Q1 2019 to 26.2 percent, compared to 52 percent in Q1 2018 due to user base growth slowdown in North America and Europe. 

Why it matters: The biggest problem facing growth in social shopping is the lack of trust, especially with frequent data privacy scandals. In fact, three-quarters of consumers limit their online usage, due to the belief that their personal data is  misused, according to a YouGov study, which WARC cites in the report.

The details: WARC reports the biggest market for social advertising is North America, at about $8 billion in Q1 2019. Per the report, user growth has slowed significantly for the major social media platforms. Also, time spent on the platforms has plateaued at approximately two hours a day for the past three years. 

On the other hand, Asia (India, Indonesia and the Philippines, especially) is the biggest growth region for social media giants. Time spent on social media platforms in Asia increased to two hours and 11 minutes a day from two hours and nine minutes in 2018. However, monetization rates in these countries are lower than in North America and Europe, WARC reports. 

Instagram Is Committed To Fighting Online Bullying 

Instagram shared a blog post, in which it announced two new features that will help the company fight online bullying. 

Why it matters: The new features should improve user safety while creating a more welcoming environment on the platform, especially for younger users, who reportedly suffer from bullying on Instagram the most. 

The details: One of the new features is powered by AI and it notifies the users in case their comment may be offensive before they post. The second feature “in progress” will start testing soon and will enable the users to “restrict” others looking at their account. 

“We wanted to create a feature that allows people to control their Instagram experience, without notifying someone who may be targeting them,” the blog post explained.

Editor’s Note: Our weekly social media news post is updated daily. This installment will be updated until Friday, July 12th. 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.

Netflix Taps Jackie Lee-Joe To Fill Vacant CMO Position

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This week’s marketing moves include Netflix filling their chief marketing officer position, Kate Jhaveri leaving Twitch for a CMO role at the NBA, Showtime acquiring a new chief marketer, Brinks Home Security appointing a new CMO, executive-level departures at Reebok and QBE Insurance Group, Kim Hurwitz joining FITE TV and Sainsbury promoting Mark Given to CMO. 

Ex-BBC Marketer Fills Netflix CMO Role

Jackie Lee-Joe is relocating from London to Los Angeles to serve as Netflix’s new CMO, the streaming service announced today. 

Before her departure, she was CMO at BBC Studios since 2015. The role at Netflix was previously vacated by Kelly Bennett who left in March after 7 years with the company.

“I’m excited to work with her in promoting our brand and original programming in new and creative ways to our members all around the world,” said Netflix’s Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos in a press release announcing Lee-Joe’s new role.

Lee-Joe will be in charge of overseeing Netflix’s marketing budget of $2 billion.

NBA Hires Twitch CMO Kate Jhaveri

The National Basketball Association has hired Kate Jhaveri as chief marketing officer, reports Bloomberg. She’s leaving Twitch after serving two years as CMO for the streaming platform.

Jhaveri will lead global marketing for the NBA while growing its development and esports leagues and enhancing consumer insights. She brings a wealth of digital experience to the role as a veteran of Silicon Valley.

Sainsbury’s Shuffles Marketing Roles With Integration

In the process of integrating the functions of Sainsbury’s supermarket with Sainsbury’s Argos, which was acquired in 2016, Mark Given has been promoted to CMO replacing Sainsbury’s former marketing director Gary Kibble.

Given joined Sainsbury’s as head of brand communications in 2013; Kibble has been with the non-grocery aspect of the business, Sainsbury’s Argos, for the past two years.
In a statement published to Campaign, a spokesperson commented on the integration: “Bringing together the two marketing functions is the natural next step as we bring the businesses and brands closer together.”

Kim Hurwitz Joins FITE TV

Digital streaming platform FITE TV announced the appointment of Kim Hurwitz to the position of CMO today. She is set to lead all marketing and branding for the combat sports streaming service.

Hurwitz recently occupied the position of chief marketing officer at Karate Combat. Prior to that, she served as an entertainment executive for DIRECTV and others.

Showtime Networks Appoints New CMO

Showtime announced today that Michael Engleman joins the company as chief marketing officer.

Formerly serving as CMO for TBS and TNT, Engleman will oversee Showtime’s marketing, advertising and digital media divisions. He succeeds Don Buckley who formerly occupied the role for eight years.

According to a statement from David Nevins, CCO at CBS and chairman, CEO at Showtime, Engleman’s “ability to thrive within the sensory overload of modern-day media on all platforms sets him apart, making him the ideal choice to articulate the next generation of Showtime Networks to all audiences.”

Brinks Home Security Taps New CMO

Chris X. Moloney brings his more than 20 years’ experience in executive marketing positions to his new role as CMO and SVP of e-commerce at Brinks Home Security.

Moloney joins the home security and alarm monitoring company after serving as CMO for Experian, Wells Fargo Advisors, TaxSlayer and Scottrade. His new position will have him focus on supporting the brand’s Authorized Dealers network while growing its e-commerce platform, according to the press release announcing his appointment.

“Brinks Home Security represents one of the top brands in the industry, with a great tradition of excellence and innovation, and is perfectly positioned to be the hub of the connected home and IoT revolution,” said Maloney.

Reebok’s Global Head Marketer Exits To Coca Cola

Reebok’s global head of marketing and brand management, Melanie Boulden, is vacating her role and joining Coca Cola’s Venturing and Emerging Brands (VEB) division as president and GM.

Boulden joined Reebok in April 2018 and served as SVP of global marketing at Crayola prior to that.

Matt Blonder, former Global Head of Digital, will take up her duties by filling the new title of VP, marketing & digital brand commerce.

First CMO Departs QBE

Australia’s largest global insurer QBE Insurance Group is seeking a replacement for departing chief marketing officer Bettina Pidcock, CMO reports. Pidcock joined QBE in 2016 and filled the newly created CMO role in 2017.

According to CMO’s reporting, Sarah Foale will act as CMO while a permanent replacement is sought.

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 12th. 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.

CMO Average Time In Position Falls To 43 Months

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Average CMO length in the office is dropping, according to the recent CMO Tenure report by leadership consulting firm Spencer Stuart. The data revealed that a CMO “reign” in 2018 dropped to 43 months from 44 months in the previous year. To compare, an average CMO tenure in 2014 was the highest–48 months, and in 2006, it was as low as 23.2. 

The researchers looked at a total of 94 CMOs, 18 of which were new and found that the overall tenure average is stable. However, they do notice certain important shifts in 2018. 

Per the report, a very low 10 percent of chief marketing officers are minorities, which indicates a decline from 11 in 2017. They also found a decline in minority representation among new CMOs. In fact, none of the 18 new CMOs studied are minorities, compared with 6 of the 21 (29 percent) new CMOs in 2017. At the same time, 36 percent of all CMOs are women, which is a significant increase from 28 percent in 2017. 

More companies appear to be creating C-level marketing positions, as 16 of the 18 new CMOs, or 89 percent are the first at the company to hold the position. That contrasts with 12 of 21—57 percent — in 2017. And the number of chief marketing execs promoted internally is on its rise too, from 10 in 2017 to 13 in 2018. 

A consultant in the Spencer Stuart Marketing Officer Practice, Greg Welch, said on the matter, “There are encouraging signs in this year’s tenure study, particularly the increase in the number of women in this year’s freshman class, but considerably more needs to be done to bring more minority representation into the CMO ranks. The increase in first-time and internally promoted CMOs demonstrate that organizations are investing in developing the next generation of marketing leaders, presenting an opportunity to increase the pipeline of minorities in marketing leadership roles.”

Southwest Brings Shark Week To Passengers Via Augmented Reality And In-Flight Experiences

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Those who want to “swim with sharks” can do so with an augmented reality experience on Southwest’s social channels and in airports across the country. Accessible via a special page on Southwest’s website, users can download the filter on mobile and choose any of the five most-popular sharks featured in Shark Week programming, and have the sharks swim across their screens. Southwest is urging followers to document and post on their social channels with the hashtag, #SharksTakeFlight.

Inflight Shark Week tie-ins with Southwest include a library of episodes fliers can watch on the airlines’ custom Shark Week television series channel, as well as a never-before-seen episode available for viewing onboard 30 days before its network release.

Guests can enjoy Shark Week experiences while traveling through terminals, too. Beginning July 8, employees in 40 Southwest airports will display branded materials at the gate to interact with, and host mobile and gate games. The company is also launching a Dare to Dive sweepstakes between July 1-July 31 that gives entrants the chance to win a roundtrip trip to Nassau, Bahamas for themselves and three guests, a $3,000 gift card to The Island House, a boutique hotel, and a $375 gift card to Stuart Cove’s for a diving excursion.

This will be Southwest’s sixth consecutive partnership with Shark Week. In 2018, the company designed a Shark Week fleet consisting of five aircraft to be flown in its network of 99 destinations and 4,000 daily flights. Each plane featured custom artwork around a species of shark seen in the show.

Americans’ popular discount airline its marketing strategy has consistently injected its marketing with both popular culture and purpose-driven campaigns that keep its customers returning, as evidenced by its comeback after an accident killed one of its passengers in April 2018. According to British marketing research agency YouGov, just before the accident, 41 percent of customers surveyed said they’d consider flying with Southwest. That number fell to 31 percent one month after the accident, but seven months after the fact, the number was back up to 44 percent. 

Supercuts Chooses Bald Spokesperson In Fresh Approach To Customer Marketing

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Supercuts created a cross-channel campaign called, “Take It To Supercuts,” that includes a series of 13 television spots starring actor Michael Kelly (House of Cards) to humorously convey the importance of maintaining your hair from the perspective of a bald person. The spots, ranging from seven to 60 seconds, are part of the value-haircut brand’s larger shift to invest in new marketing approaches and technology to meet its consumers’ needs.

In one of the 30-second spots, Kelly is shown admiring men with hair in different real-life situations. As classical music plays in the background, he narrates: 

“Look at you, laughing and flipping, brushing your days away. Unaware of how lucky you are. Hair, such an under-appreciated gift. Show-offs. Look at all the terrible things you do to it. Disrespect it, sacrifice it, cut it yourself, you leave it unattended, you wear it up. Despite everything you’ve done, there’s still one place that cares more about your hair than you’ll ever know.” After his spiel, he walks by a Supercuts salon and looks through the glass, all while envisioning himself in the salon chair with a full head of hair. The spot concludes with the words, “Don’t take your hair for granted, take it to Supercuts.”

In an added effort to spread brand awareness, Supercuts announced a multi-year partnership with the Major Baseball League (MLB) that included experiential activations at the MLB All-Star game. Outside the Progressive Field on the Gateway Plaza in Cleveland, Ohio, the brand set up Supercuts pop-up salons to give attendees clean-ups, team logo hair painting, limited edition All-Star combs, and five-dollar-off coupons they could use every time a walk-off home run was hit.

The brand also extended its new marketing message to an All-Star-themed social giveaway. Between July 7-July 9, users can enter by posting a photo taken in front of the team logo wall and baseball glove chair at the Progressive Field pop-ups, tagged with #TakeItToSupercuts on Instagram or Twitter. Twenty-one winners are to be selected, with each receiving one autographed item from either Daniel Johnson, Oscar Mercado, or Sean Casey, a total prize value of $100.

Regis Corporation, Supercuts’ parent company, is also finding ways to enhance customers’ digital experience with the introduction of new technology. Customers can now book salon services through Google Search and Google Maps via desktop or mobile.

“Supercuts has always challenged the notion that quality haircuts do not have to come at a high price. While other brands in the category lean on gimmicks or price tactics, we’re laser-focused on delivering the highest quality haircuts, from stylists who benefit from our amazing training and support ecosystem. We’re introducing an awesome new voice for the brand . . .,” said CMO of Regis, James Townsend, who Supercuts recently appointed.

British Cycling Brand Le Col Uses Digital Out Of Home Ads To Launch Tour De France Challenge

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Ahead of the 115th Tour de France race, British cycling brand Le Col launched an interactive digital out-of-home (DOOH) campaign called, “Le Col Tour Strava Challenge” to encourage people to get out on their bikes. 

A DOOH screen placed in several UK counties ranks local cyclists based on the rides they log via workout app Strava. Over the course of three weeks, rankings are broken down by location with the DOOH ad showing data in real-time to see which regions ride the most. 

Just two days after the multichannel campaign launched, over a million rides have been logged consisting of more than 500,000 kilometers.

Le Col announced the challenge on their website and social media, encouraging riders to add the hashtag #LeColChallenge to their Instagram posts with plans to announce one winner on each platform every day. Additionally, between July 6-July 28, contestants who cover over 115 kilometers will earn a £50 ($65 USD) Le Col reward, and cyclists who complete one full 115-kilometer ride are entered to win £2,000 ($2,500 USD) worth a premium Le Col kit.

“Cycling brings out the competitive nature in people, whether it’s going faster or further than the riders you meet on the road. That’s why we wanted to give people a new way to interact with the stats from their ride. Over the past year, over 1.2 million cyclists have signed up to our Strava Challenges, so the Tour Challenge, along with our live billboards, will prove once and for all who the best and most active cyclists in the country are,” said Le Col founder and former professional cyclist Yanto Barker.

The brand is known for hosting challenges in partnership with Strava, displayed by the #LeColChallenge hashtag. To date, 3,629 photos on Instagram have been posted using the hashtag. Earlier this year, the brand gave riders similar prize incentives with a 100-kilometer and 200-kilometer international challenge that ultimately attracted 138,252 participants comprised of a whopping 44,875,325 kilometers traveled.

Online Ad Spend To Exceed Half Of Global Ad Expenditure By 2021, Fueled By Small Business

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Online advertising is expected to reach 52 percent of global ad spend in 2021, according to Zenith’s June 2019 Advertising Expenditure Forecast which covers 84 markets. That growth, up 47 percent this year and 44 percent in 2018, is reported to be largely the result of small, local business utilizing Google and Facebook self-serve ad tools to implement highly targeted campaigns that manage themselves. Larger brands are investing heavily in online advertising, yet the majority continue to commit their budgets to traditional media.

Despite the prediction that internet advertising will exceed half of the global ad expenditure, Zenith notes that the growth rate is falling quickly as the internet ad market matures. Online ad spend is only expected to see 12 percent growth for 2019 as a whole, compared to 17 percent growth in 2018. As internet ad markets begin to converge with the growth rate of the market as a whole, internet growth spend will likely fall to nine percent YoY by 2021, the data suggests.

Fueling the growth in internet ad spend is online video and social media, which are expected to grow at 18 percent and 17 percent, respectively, in 2021. Zenith attributes these channels’ success to ongoing technological advancements in ad targeting and delivery, and smartphone technology. 

A TVSquared study found that direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands are seeing an uplift in television ad response, however, Zenith reports that traditional television ad revenues will shrink every year from now until 2021, declining from $184 billion in 2018 to $180 billion in 2021.

“TV still remains an indispensable part of most advertisers plans and campaigns. We expect advertisers to continue spending higher portions of their budget in digital as time goes on. As traditional TV’s reach is falling, you can’t get the same effects,” said Jonathan Barnard, head of forecasting at Zenith.

Comparatively, other forms of traditional media are growing at more steady rates. Out-of-home advertisers are increasing their digital display networks thereby contributing to four percent annual growth in their revenues. Meanwhile, radio is increasing its ad revenue by one percent annually while cinema is growing at 12 percent a year. 

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

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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.