Despite Expected Games Industry Growth, Employee Diversity Stagnates

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Employment Diversity Still Lags

The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) has released its annual survey on diversity in the advertising business, revealing only marginal progress toward a more diverse workforce.

Despite a general gender balance across all agencies and roles (50.5 percent female and 49.5 percent male), diversity among C-suite positions is the same as it was a year ago. Just 30.9 percent of executive roles are filled by women, compared to 30.3 percent in 2016.

Ethnic diversity in the C-suite is lagging even more, actually dropping from its levels last year. In 2016, 5.2 percent of executive positions were held by ethnic minorities, but in 2017, that figure was 4.7 percent.

“While the rise in diversity doesn’t appear extreme enough or fast enough, and we have yet to achieve parity at all levels, there is an inevitable time lag from implementing change to seeing results, and we mustn’t lose heart,” writes Sarah Golding, IPA president and CEO, for Campaign.

The advertising industry isn’t alone in its diversity woes: game developers are currently facing stagnation in the area as well. According to the International Game Developers Association’s 2017 Developer Satisfaction Survey, just 42 percent of respondents thought the industry has increased diversity in the past two years, down from 47 percent in 2016. Seventy-four percent of the survey respondents identified as male, 81 percent as heterosexual and 61 percent as white.

Tech, Games Industries Expect 2018 Growth

This year is set to bring healthy growth to the consumer tech sector, according to the Consumer Technology Association’s (CTA) semi-annual forecast. According to the CTA’s research, emerging technologies and resilient categories will drive $351 billion in retail revenue this year, up 3.9 percent from 2017.

“Our forecast incorporates several key economic factors including a strong stock market, continued job growth and stable rules for international trade to forecast these record-setting sales for breakthrough technologies and longtime market leaders alike,” said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of CTA.

Connected devices are expected to experience the largest share of growth, increasing 6.6 percent from last year, pushed largely by the meteoric growth of smart speakers.

The new year is expected to be a healthy one for the UK games industry as well, per TIGA’s Business Opinion Survey. Of the game studios surveyed, 68 percent plan to hire additional workers and just 2 percent plan to shrink their staff. Opinions on company performance are likewise optimistic, with 62 percent reporting that their business is performing either “very well” or “well.”

Super Bowl Advertising Worth The Hype

A new study conducted jointly between Stanford and Humboldt Universities on Super Bowl ads has revealed that advertisers can expect to reap benefits long after the event ends, with increased sales persisting well into the year.

“For some type of ads, there is a large social media multiplier by provoking interest and subsequent conversations on social media and mass media, that could be independent of Super Bowl viewership,” Daniel Klapper, one of the study’s authors, said in a release. “That is good news for advertisers as it suggests that our estimates are only a lower bound of the benefits of Super Bowl advertising.”

This boost is especially noticeable for sole advertisers in a product category, with AB InBev, the exclusive alcohol advertising rights holder, enjoying a 4.7 percent increase in revenue as late as March Madness.

Spending Habits Of Smart Speaker Adopters

A new study by Consumer Intelligence Research has garnered some insight into the purchase habits of Amazon Echo users, revealing significantly higher spending than non-owners. Echo owners spend $700 more per year than the average Amazon customer and $400 more per year than Amazon Prime members.

Fashion Influencers Drive Millennial Women To Buy

According to research by Dealspotr, millennial women are more affected by lifestyle influencers than their own family when making fashion purchase decisions. Forty-one percent claimed that influencers and bloggers were their primary inspiration for fashion ideas, compared to 37 percent for friends and family. However, this figure may change in the near future: 52 percent of millennial women claim to trust fashion influencers less than they used to.

Unsurprisingly, Instagram is far and away the most popular medium, with 59 percent saying they enjoy viewing fashion content on the platform. Additionally, physical retail proves the most popular destination for completing purchases, with 65 percent claiming they most often buy clothes in store rather than online.

CES Marketing Activation Standouts: Foreo Stunt, Intel Drone Lights And Personalized Spotify

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The phrase “Hey Google” is this year’s CES marketing activation frontrunner.

You encounter these words on a digital video board as you head out of McCarran International Airport and into Sin City for the 51st annual CES. Several hotels across The Strip later, you see the same message on the monstrous video walls outside of the casinos.

Once you take a trip to the Las Vegas Convention Center to Google’s exterior cavernous exhibitor space, a giant gumball-like vending machine has “Hey Google” emblazoned on it as it greets comers and goers. Even the city’s monorail, which has two trains crossing in opposite directions throughout the day, is wrapped up with the ad phrase.

Historically, brands like Apple, Amazon and Google skip the dog and pony show that is CES, but the latter is making a surprise appearance this year to tell the competition that it’s serious about reshaping consumer behavior on digital assistant products.

Google’s branding push and coming out party is perhaps a warning shot to Amazon and the rest of the digital assistant pack that “1A” of the world’s advertising duopoly is taking voice seriously this year. Smart speakers were a popular gift over the holidays, as Amazon’s Echo Dot was the top-selling product across all categories on Amazon, and appear to be a big platform focus in 2018.

Turner Network Embraces Robotic Art

Turner is considerably increasing its presence at CES again this year. In addition to expanding—and sponsoring—the Sports Zone with a live ELEAGUE Street Fighter esports event and bringing TNT’s entire Inside the NBA studio and team to Las Vegas for a live show, the network is also hosting an invite-only event at the Aria Wedding Chapel in C-Space, where it will be displaying “Markers” and the world debut of ArtBots, a robotic graffiti platform created by artist Scott Peterman.

The art installation sources trending topics and fan imagery from social media and is conveniently holding court at Turner’s ad sales meetings location—exhibiting to its current and potential clients how the network is thinking toward a more creative future.

Over the course of CES, ArtBots is generating robotically drawn murals that aim to mirror Turner’s ability to connect with consumers through a massive piece of fan art. Inspired by classic plotter-and-dot matrix printers, the ArtBots platform uses technology that’s already available and blows it up to scale.

Turner said the installation brings visions of consumer art and content to life, and channels the roots of CES when products were not necessarily intended for commercialization, but instead introduced for inspiration and innovation.

First-Hand Experience With Automated Cars

Lyft has big plans to enable self-driving developers and car manufacturers to plug into its million-plus per day ride network. The ridesharing company is partnering with Aptiv at CES to demonstrate a fully automated, end-to-end ride-hailing experience.

Consumers can ride around the Las Vegas Strip area all week for more than 20 pick-up and drop-off locations. The experience is specifically set in complex driving environments amidst busy streets and pedestrians instead of the usual controlled situations of parking lots.

It’s another demonstration of the future of mobility at work and offers a glimpse for the commercial applications of scalable, automated-driving technology.

Also getting in on the self-driving and autonomy action are Pizza Hut and Dominoes.

Both of the pie makers are partnering with Ford and Toyota, respectively, during CES for a self-driving pizza delivery cars.

Which begs the question: who do you tip?

Spotify Shows Personalization Capabilities

Spotify is at CES to show that it’s serious about bringing consumers of the streaming service, artists and advertisers all together under the banner of culture. At the C Space in Aria, the brand is demonstrating personalization, user experience and machine learning models through art and sciencen with curated playlists and time capsules that take users back to songs of yesteryear.

Spotify, which reportedly filed for IPO last week, is trying to build moments for marketers to tap into with sponsorships of playlists and concerts that deliver value for brands throughout different moments of the day.

Intel Lights Up Las Vegas

Intel is bringing a nightly drone light show this week over the Bellagio fountains featuring over 250 Intel Shooting Star drones sparkling in the sky. The experiential marketing move, which plays to the tune of Kygo’s song “Stargazing,” marks the first time that drones have flown over the famous fountains on the Las Vegas Strip.

In a different kind of light show, Intel also set a new Guinness World Records for simultaneously flying the Most UAVs from a single computer indoors when it flew 100 of their mini-drones during Intel CEO Brian Krzanich’s opening keynote.

Foreo Fakes A Stunt To Announce New Product

Beauty brand Foreo activated an ‘Area 51’-inspired experience outside of The Sands to promote its latest beauty product UFO, a device designed to eliminate paralysis from sheet masks.

The experience began with four “paralyzed” people. Cars with caution signs arrived to put CES attendees on notice. Once outside The Sands, the motorcade came to a stop and paparazzi swarmed the vehicles as scientists and security officers stepped in. They inspected the paralyzed people around the caution tape, and three aliens arrived to announce UFO.

BMW Brings Real And Virtual Worlds Together

The screeching sounds coming out of the BMW cars drifting in the outdoor racetrack reverberated throughout the crisp air as hordes of consumers cross-crossed convention halls.

The German car manufacturer arrived at CES with a marketing program designed on showing both the real and virtual worlds of racing.

BMW debuted VR@Retail, a new tool that aims at enhancing the retail experience for consumers in an immersive environment. The automaker also hosted a virtual experience through for the PlayStation game GT Sport, where the top five daily finishers were invited to the BMW Ultimate Driver CES Showdown at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Gibson Gets Groovy

Also outside the Convention Center in a cavernous tent was Gibson Brands, which brought a groovy vibe and sound to consumers who were looking for a reprieve from the inside noise, much like American Greetings did last year.

Over 70 custom guitars decorated the Gibson Custom Shop Guitar Art Gallery, and music performances occurred throughout the week.

Cheetos Creates Dance Move To Rally US Curling Team Support

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Cheetos has created a new dance move called “The Curl” with the hopes of becoming a viral sensation—or at the very least, bring awareness to the USA Curling team.

The dance was released ahead of the USA Curling team’s competition in February, taking advantage of football fans gearing up for SuperBowl LII. Curling—a team sport played by two players on a rectangular sheet of ice—doesn’t get the kind of attention other sporting events do, despite being an official sport of the Winter Olympics since 1998. Cheetos called it “one of the country’s most underappreciated sports.”

Cheetos enlisted YouTube singer/dancer Todrick Hall to help create a curling equivalent to a touchdown dance. Fittingly, the activation also includes Washington Redskins tight-end Vernon Davis and football Hall of Famer LaDainian Tomlinson.

A music video called “Teach Me The Curl” depicts Cheetos mascot Chester the Cheetah, Hall, Davis and Tomlinson teaching the US Curling team how to perform the dance move.

Dance sensations seem to pop up every couple of years, and Cheetos hopes to be the latest. In fact, the Curl bears a strong resemblance to the music and lyrics of the 2011 Cali Swag District hit single “Teach Me How to Dougie.”

The song and dance move, both created by Hall, taps into multiple demographics across music, dance, football, curling and fans of Cheetos snacks. On Hall’s channel alone, the video gained over 65,000 views in one day. Social media posts about the activation have also gained traction thanks to shares by curling teams and fans.

To completely seize on its promotional momentum, Cheetos will release limited-edition Winter White Cheddar Curls, available starting February 12. The new snack is prominently featured in the music video, complete with Chester the Cheetah curling on its package.

Falling in line with tongue-in-cheek food marketing trends, such as campaigns as Wendy’s savage Twitter account and KFC launching a chicken sandwich into space. Even Taco Bell started offering wedding services at its quick service locations. Cheetos calls its food marketing “mischievous,” promoting its cheese-flavored snacks with mobile games, branded accessories and line of luxury apparel. Most recently, the brand partnered with Regal Theaters in December to offer “Cheetos popcorn”—flavored popcorn mixed with crunchy Cheetos—at participating theaters across the US.

 

USA Curling Team

American Adults Prefer Legacy Media; Gen Z Embraces Streaming Video

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American Adults Haven’t Forgotten About Legacy Media

According to research by eMarketer, the increasing shift to digital media has not entirely left other formats behind. In 2017, US adults spent significantly more time with non-digital radio than with social media. On average, consumers spent 96 minutes per day listening to radio, compared to only 51 minutes on social media.

Tablet usage is likewise underappreciated, per eMarketer’s analysis. Though tablets make up a minority of content consumption, it is still a significant figure. On average, American adults spend 72 minutes per day using tablets for non-voice activities.

EMarketer predicts that these ratios in media consumption are unlikely to drastically shift in the near future, declaring the era of “wild volatility” over. In the next year, eMarketer predicts only single-digit changes to any media consumption rates.

Teens Move On To Streaming

Among Gen Z, those born between 1996 and 2011, only the most cutting-edge media platforms will do. Per a study by Awesomeness, 71 percent of teenagers’ entertainment consumption comes from streaming services. Teenagers prefer to consume on mobile devices, watching 34 percent of their content on smartphones, compared to 26 percent on PCs and 24 percent on televisions.

“Creating mobile-optimized content that’s platform specific, direct, and entertaining is essential for brands to reach Gen Z,” said Harley Block, senior vice president of brand partnerships for Awesomeness. “They watch 68 videos in a day—meaning this audience has the ability to sort through content faster than ever before.”

YouTube provides the plurality of this entertainment at 34 percent of the total content consumed, with Netflix in second place at 27 percent. Television significantly lags, with live TV making up 14 percent of total video consumption and premium TV representing just 5 percent.

Streaming Video And TV Steadily Diverging

Pricewaterhouse Coopers has released its annual US internet user poll, revealing a steady decline in interest in linear television, with only 73 percent subscribing to traditional TV providers. By comparison, in 2016 that figure was 76 percent, and in 2015 it was 79 percent. Streaming video services have reached equal saturation, with 73 percent reporting a Netflix subscription.

However, one cohort is growing faster than cord-cutters or cord-nevers: cord-trimmers, or consumers scaling back the amount they pay for linear TV packages. In 2017, 37 percent of cable subscribers self-identified as cord-trimmers.

Even though time spent with non-digital television is steadily declining, it still takes up much more of the average day than digital video, with an average of 238 minutes watched daily.

While ad breaks during paid-for cable television are something consumers have come to expect, they are far less tolerant of them on streaming video platforms. According to a survey by IBM Cloud Video, 72 percent of consumers believe that any ads will detract from their viewing experience, with 60 percent disliking even relevant, targeted ads. This means that advertisers likely won’t be able to use Netflix’s movie-recommendation algorithm to target pre-roll ads anytime soon.

Gift-Giving Drives Smart Speaker Adoption

Smart home products are often “recommended” in the form of gift-giving, according to a new study by Scripps Networks Interactive made available to AListDaily.

Research by VentureBeat backs up this analysis. The Amazon Alexa and Google Home apps were the first and second most-downloaded apps on the Google Play store on Christmas Day, indicating heavy adoption as gifts. By comparison, the apps ranked seven and 37 on Google Play charts at the same time in 2016, respectively.

For consumers who purchase connected appliances for themselves, three key lifestyle milestones trigger smart home adoption: home renovation, moving to a new home and an increase in household income.

(Editor’s Note: Our weekly reports post is updated daily. This installment will be updated until Friday, January 5. Have a new report, study or insight to share? Let us know at editorial@alistdaily.com.)

Insightful CES 2018 Events Off The Show Floor

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There is nothing better than decompressing during a holiday break only to jump straight into the world’s largest tech show in CES shortly thereafter—in Las Vegas no less. Sin City will soon turn into a weeklong, cross-town gathering for a boatload of brands, C-suite executives and celebrities for the 51st installment of CES.

For marketers whose calling card is to thrive on the business of consumer technologies, the annual show offers a comprehensive look into transcending industries and stimulating emerging markets.

Tech, brands, Hollywood and marketing will collide—mostly at C Space in Aria—throughout the entire week as leaders will explore topics like how the business of content distribution is changing the future of media, marketing, advertising and entertainment industries.

If you ever find yourself lost, distracted or splurging life savings on the slot machines, point yourself back to Aria, since most of the CES programming there is likely up your alley.

Marketers have already prognosticated that this year’s CES will serve as a springboard to monitor how disruptive innovations like blockchain, voice assistants, artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality, among others, are going to shape consumers and industries alike.

Since a wide majority of marketing executives are not in town for the press conferences and gadgets, they mostly skip the show floor and instead opt for more private sessions with panels, conference programs and meetings. With arranged libations seemingly within arm’s reach at all times, CES also somewhat doubles as a booze-filled party.

AListDaily will be soberly reporting from CES throughout the entire week (and attending a few parties at night, if the lithium body batteries allow). Come along for the ride.

Sunday, January 7

Unless you decided to celebrate the New Year in Las Vegas and already have MoneyGram on speed dial, this is likely your first official day in town to conduct business.

Grab your badge from any of the locations listed here and get ready for CES Unveiled if you’re an industry analyst (or member of the press). Brands like Liberty Mutual, LG and Johnson & Johnson and a slew of start-ups will showcase their new tech products.

CES Unveiled
5 to 8:30 p.m.
Shorelines Exhibit Hall at Mandalay Bay

Monday, January 8

If you haven’t scrubbed through the Advertising, Entertainment & Content sessions yet, do so—now. There is a smorgasbord of panels in marketing, advertising, gaming, VR, AR, music and more throughout the entire week that begin today. Sessions kick off at the Las Vegas Convention Center and Sands Expo (inside The Venetian) and later carry into C Space at Aria.

If you’re still exploring VR and AR as a strategy to see if it’s the best relationship between your brand and consumer, then head over to Digital Hollywood and check out:

VR/AR as a Branding Strategy
1 to 2 p.m.
Tech East, LVCC, North Hall, N258

MediaLink CES Kick-off Party
8 p.m. 12 p.m.
Encore at XS Nightclub
*By Invitation Only*

Senior executives who buy and sell media from creative and media agencies, chief marketing officers, media inventory holders, investment banking, private equity and venture capitalists, leading entertainment studio and entertainment executives, and select talent, will be in attendance.

Tuesday, January 9

Exhibitors at Tech East at the Las Vegas Convention and Tech West at Sands Expo officially open doors to the jam-packed showroom floors, and it will most definitely require a sanitizer bath and quarantine soon after. There are over 3,900 exhibitors, so channel into your inner Douglas MacArthur if you plan on seeing new products and map an efficient plan of attack that will win you many medals—maybe even at Cannes if you do it right.

Just one note: if you had intentions of sitting in on Federal Communications Commission chairman Ajit Pai, the chief dismantler of net neutrality protections, re-do your schedule because Pai has bailed on his CES speaking engagement.

Instead, you should check out the CMO panel featuring executives from Turner, Panasonic, Mastercard, Deloitte and The Economist, as they explain their approach to technology and share best practices in data, analytics and transparency as part of their business plan. For those who will not be at CES, this session will be livestreamed.

C Space Storytellers: CMO Panel
3:30 to 4:15 p.m.
Tech South, Aria, Level 1, Pinyon Ballroom

CES Opening Party
10 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Omnia Nightclub at Caesars Palace

What can happen at an open bar inside one of the city’s hottest nightclubs . . . on a Tuesday? You’re just going to have to hail a self-driving taxi to Caesars Palace and find out.

Wednesday, January 10

Variety’s Entertainment Summit
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Tech South, Aria

If looking to produce, monetize, market and distribute content for digitally savvy audiences, this day-long event featuring over 40 speakers from top companies will be worth your time. The summit is open to all CES registrants.

MMS After Hours
11 p.m.
Chandelier Bar at The Cosmopolitan
 *By Invitation Only*

The occasional booze fest may be fun every once in a while, but if you’re a senior brand and agency marketer looking to connect with executives in the digital marketing industry in a more intimate manner, this mixer made possible by the Mobile Marketing Summit may be right for you.

Thursday, January 11

Social Innovation Summit
9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Tech South, Aria

The full-day event—billed as the Tech for Good conference—unites over 500 corporate executives, grantmakers, celebrities, investors and social innovators for a series of programs, discussions and networking events centered around the role of technology in driving social impact. Themes include: 

Tech & Impact: Corporate pioneers achieving the bottom line of profits, people and the planet.
Inclusive Entrepreneurship: Creating platforms to diversify innovation for entrepreneurs, investors and corporations.
The Future of Work: The role of emerging technologies in educating new generations and creating the jobs of the future.

VR Fest
10 p.m. to 4 a.m.
Hakkasan Nightclub at MGM Grand

If you’re taking advantage of the VR, AR, mixed reality programming curated by the Virtual Reality Festival, head over to the VR Arcade at Hakkasan Nightclub.

Friday, January 12

C Space—one of the several marketer safe havens, remember?—is closed because it’s no longer offering programming. The Advertising, Entertainment & Content calendar is bone dry. There are just three conference sessions in total taking place across town (esports is one them). There are no more press conferences and news to take in. Las Vegas is a little darker than it was yesterday.

However, bleary-eyed exhibitors who burnt the midnight oil all week are in for business for one last day, so if you missed out on anything particularly special, now is the time.

Dig through the couch of your hotel room for any left behind bitcoins, and head over to McCarran International Airport. It’s time to go home.

Daily Harvest, Chicago Cubs, WGN Expand Marketing C-Suite

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Highlights

Patrick Yee, former CEO of Laird + Partners, has joined food subscription start-up Daily Harvest as its CMO, which recently secured $43 million in funding from investors.

“It’s really about standing for something more than just our products,” Yee told WWD. “I think I’m bringing a content approach with my background with Refinery and certainly my stint at Laird as well.”

Before joining Laird + Partners, Yee served as executive vice president of marketing and strategy for Refinery29 for eight years.

The Chicago Cubs have hired Lauren Fritts as vice president of marketing, where she will oversee all of the team’s branding initiatives.

Prior to joining the Cubs, Fritts worked at Gatorade as director of consumer engagement, a role in which she led branded content and experiential marketing efforts.

WGN America has promoted Brian Dollenmayer to the position of chief marketing officer, an expanded role in which he will handle marketing efforts for both the network and Tribune Studios, WGN America’s original content arm.

Dollenmayer first joined WGN in 2013 as executive vice president of marketing and promotions, playing a part in the company’s transition from a Chicago-specific TV station to a national cable network.

Ron Perry has joined Columbia Records as its latest chairman and CEO, the record label announced.

“Ron is an immensely dynamic and forward-thinking executive who excels at bringing the best out of artistic vision,” said Rob Stringer, CEO of Sony Music Entertainment. “After his enormous success in recent years, we are thrilled to have Ron join Sony Music and lead the great team and unparalleled roster at the legendary Columbia Records label.”

Before signing on with Columbia, Perry served as president for Songs Music Publishing, signing Grammy-award winning artist Lorde, among others.

The Rest Of The C-Suite

(Editor’s Note: Our weekly careers post is updated daily. This installment will be updated until Friday, January 5. Have a new hire tip? Let us know at editorial@alistdaily.com.)

Global information and analytics firm IHS Markit has announced the appointments of two new company directors, Lord Browne of Madingley and Nicoletta Giadrossi.

“We believe Lord Browne’s financial and energy industry expertise will enable him to contribute significant managerial, strategic and financial oversight skills,” said Lance Uggla, the company’s president and chief operating officer. “Similarly, Nicoletta’s extensive business experience in the industrial and energy sectors in Europe and her consulting and private equity background bring a unique perspective to the board.”

Lord Browne had served as the CEO of British Petroleum from 1995 to 2007, and since then served a joint head of renewable energy practice at Riverstone. Giadrossi most recently served as a senior advisor for Bain Capital Partners in Europe, since 2015.

Snap Inc. has hired Rahul Chopra as head of Stories Everywhere content, a product that has not yet been announced. According to a report from Cheddar, it will make Snapchat Stories available outside the app. No details on when or in what form Stories Everywhere will be released are currently available.

Chopra most recently served as CEO of Storyful, a social data agency subsidiary of News Corp, a position he departed in September.

Steve Butts, IGN’s editor in chief, has been dismissed from his position at the gaming news website after accusations of harassment.

“IGN initiated an investigation into alleged misconduct involving Steve Butts,” said Mitch Galbraith, IGN’s general manager. “As a result of the investigation, the company has appropriately determined to part ways with Mr. Butts.”

Butts has been with IGN since 2012.

Two Vice Media executives, president Andrew Creighton and chief digital officer Mike Germano, have been placed on leave shortly after the publication of an expose about sexual harrassment at the company by The New York Times. 

“Let’s be frank,” Sarah Broderick, Vice’s chief operations and financial officer, said in an email to staff, “we need more women and diversity throughout the organization.”

Hulu has promoted Julie DeTraglia to the newly created position of head of research, centralizing its insights and analysis teams under a single executive.

Before her promotion, DeTraglia served as head of ad sales research.

DJ Khaled announced a partnership with Weight Watchers, wherein he will serve as a social media ambassador for the brand’s new “Freestyle” program.

“DJ Khaled has an incredibly authentic drive and passion to inspire others through his wellness journey and experiences on WW Freestyle,” said Mindy Grossman, president and CEO of Weight Watchers. “By capturing and sharing his process, he will enliven and inspire his community, showing that it’s possible to integrate healthy habits into your life.”

Rob Lowe announced that he will serve as a brand spokesperson for Atkins Nutritionals, creators of the low-carb Atkins diet.

“The new campaign follows our ‘Today’s Atkins’ creative launched this past fall and continues to show that Atkins extends way beyond a diet,” said Scott Parker, chief marketing officer for Atkins Nutritionals. “Rob is a great representative of this lifestyle, as he has followed an Atkins low carb approach for years.”

Roku has tapped Scott Rosenberg to fill the now-vacant position of general manager of platform business, as the current one, Steve Shannon, has announced his departure.

“Steve joined Roku in the early days of our monetization strategy and was instrumental in developing key advertising, content and services initiatives as well as recruiting top talent like Scott,” said Roku CEO Anthony Wood.

Rosenberg has been with the streaming platform since 2012.

David White has joined Accolade Wines as its United Kingdom marketing director. Previously, he served as director and general manager for Moët Hennessy Diageo Singapore.

Job Vacancies 

Product Manager – APIs Ayzenberg Pasadena, CA
VP of Marketing GE Healthcare Chicago, IL
Sr. Director, Sports Partnerships and Marketing Initiatives SiriusXM New York, NY
Sr. Director, Brand Marketing Capcom San Francisco, CA
Sr. Director of Partner Marketing The Walt Disney Company New York, NY
Director of Global Strategic Marketing  Johnson & Johnson Raritan, NJ

Make sure to check back for updates on our Jobs Page.

Spotify Reportedly Files For IPO

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Spotify has confidentially filed for an IPO with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Axios first reported Wednesday. This is a further step in the music-streaming service’s plan to become the largest company in the US to ever pursue a direct listing for selling its shares later this year.

Taking advantage of recently relaxed SEC rules that permit companies of any size to get feedback and work out kinks for their IPO before notifying the public, Spotify will not have to publicly disclose its financial information until just two weeks before its shares become available. This private filing will also permit the brand, reportedly valued at $19 billion, to renege on its IPO entirely in the case of a market downturn, or fears over volatile stock.

Spotify may end up having to exercise this right, as its approach to its IPO is unprecedented for companies of its size. Rather than offer large, long-term investors first dibs on company stock, Spotify will put its shares directly on the New York Stock Exchange for anyone to purchase.

There’s a reason that large companies haven’t attempted direct listings before. Large investors interested in long-term gains are significantly less likely to quickly dump stock at the first sign of trouble, which keeps the company value much more stable. By sidestepping this cohort, the Spotify IPO is likely to see more volatile stock prices, especially early on.

But this tactic also carries a number of advantages—it’s much cheaper than the traditional IPO method and the current Spotify shareholders will not need to dilute the value of their own holdings.

It remains to be seen exactly how or when the Spotify IPO will play out, but its circumstances have been fairly shaky of late. Last week, Wixen Music Publishing filed a $1.6 billion lawsuit against the company for allegedly using thousands of its songs without paying licensing fees.

Spotify has not commented on the legal matter and will proceed with the IPO nonetheless, according to Reuters.

Virtual Reality Finding Its Way Out Of ‘Trough Of Disillusionment’

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In its second year on the consumer market, virtual reality has been challenged with getting out of the “trough of disillusionment”—a phase of disappointment that follows any heavily hyped technology trend—as it seeks acceptance and mass appeal.

Here’s a quick recap:

  • Hardware makers, content developers and tech giants like Facebook and Google remain committed to helping the industry grow, and this year alone saw Hollywood further embrace the technology to create memorable movie promotions, leading more celebrities to become involved with VR.
  • HTC and Oculus cut their hardware prices, with the latter launching a large-scale campaign over the summer to grow adoption while IMAX debuted its first VR arcades in the US.
  • Sony reported that over 2 million PlayStation VR headsets and 12.2 million VR games were sold worldwide, in addition to 70.6 million PlayStation 4 consoles.
  • Intel launched its VR esports initiative.
  • Both Apple and Google are bringing support to augmented reality.
  • Microsoft is partnering with hardware companies to make mixed reality headsets, while HTC and Oculus both announced wireless headsets for next year.

But people are still optimistic about the technology. While Stephanie Llamas, SuperData’s VP of research and strategy, says the industry isn’t growing as quickly as many expected, VR still grew 24 percent year-over-year—from $1.8B to $2.2B—as a result of steady headset sales and higher content demand.

While Tony Parisi, Unity Technologies’ global head of VR/AR strategy, agrees that hardware adoption has been slower than predicted, he said that there has been significant uptick in other areas of VR.

“Overall, we’re seeing increased VR adoption across the enterprise, with more organizations moving from proof-of-concept to real-world deployment,” he said. “We’re also seeing VR applications across medical, film and entertainment and creative, proving that the wide-scale opportunity for VR is real.”

Parisi also pointed out that VR investments jumped 79 percent in the second half of 2017, indicating that industries are doubling down on the technology. That’s in addition to how over a million headsets were shipped in Q3 due to price cuts and growing consumer awareness. “All in all, it’s been a bit of an up-and-down year for VR, but there are positive signs that VR is nearing the end of the ‘gap of disappointment,’” he said.

Frank Azor, VP and GM at Alienware, Gaming and XPS at Dell, thinks high expectations led to disappointment, but sees the sale of 3 million VR headsets this year as success. “[It would be] a monumental success for any one-to-three products to sell that many units, so I don’t get how that’s regarded as a failure,” he said. “[VR has done] better than the first or second year of the first Windows tablet, and [has been] more successful than the first notebooks and gaming consoles in their first and second years. Plus, there were 2 million sold last year, which means there were at least 5 million headsets sold.”

Azor isn’t alone in his optimism.

“Every major tech company has a VR strategy and their own headsets,” said Baobab Studios CEO Maureen Fan. “There are so many more opportunities for creators now. VR is also becoming more social. However, we still need a lot more high-quality content for VR to become mainstream. We also need more universally appealing content that draw new audiences into VR.”

Baobab and Hollywood studios have been focused on creating content that appeals to broad audiences through VR experiences such as Invasion!, Asteroids! and Rainbow Crow featuring musician John Legend. Invasion! won an Emmy in 2017, and Baobab announced that it is partnering with Roth Kirschenbaum Films (Maleficent; Alice in Wonderland) to adapt the VR short to traditional 2D screens.

“Distributors have released data that shows that VR experiences and films rival games in views,” Fan explained. “For example, Invasion! beat out games when it launched. We think they complement each other and rising tides lifts all boats. VR experiences and films bring in new audiences to VR and are crucial to increasing VR adoption.”

“The public puts a high premium on celebrity-endorsed goods and content,” Llamas added. “Having someone like John Legend doing Rainbow Crow or Obama in an Emmy-winning 360 video legitimizes the tech in the eyes of mainstream consumers. It’s hard for them to get access to headsets and make their own opinions about it, so trendsetters like celebrities help pique people’s curiosity and consumption.”

Parisi noted that quite a few high-profile Hollywood studios have become involved with VR, with the technology being an immersive extension to storytelling and film. As examples, he highlights CocoVR, Blade Runner 2049: Memory Lab, in addition to Unity’s partnership with Lionsgate this year to debut Virtual Room advertisement for Jigsaw—demonstrating the opportunities VR provides for brand marketing.

“What we found is VR ad experiences elicit greater emotional response, and massively higher engagement rates than any other platform,” Parisi said. “They show that people are more immersed with the brand. For example, the Jigsaw Virtual Room ad saw 6X the video completion rates of skippable video. We hope to see this type of brand marketing continue in 2018 and help push the widespread consumer adoption of VR.”

But even as VR content diversifies, Fan admits that she is often asked if Baobab is making games or films due to their interactivity. So, it should be of little surprise that video games are getting a tremendous amount of attention, with Bethesda launching VR adaptations of its hit games Skyrim, Fallout 4 and Doom, and CCP launching a virtual sport called Sparc while Oculus partnered with Intel and Alienware to bring VR to esports.

Azor said that VR and esports was a fascinating combination because it fully brings together the athleticism of traditional sports with the limitless potential of video game environments.

“To us, what VR and esports fuse the best of those two things and creates a new level of competition and athleticism that I don’t think we’ve ever seen before,” said Azor. “We think that’s a cool opportunity, even though we don’t know entirely where it goes. It’s something that we see bubbling up and emerging, and we’re trying to help feed it and kick it off. That’s why we created the Alienware VR Cup, partnering with Oculus and Nvidia.”

Although VR seems to be finding its stride, it’s hard to overlook how both Google and Apple are showing strong support for augmented reality. Devices such as the iPhone X appear to be driving enthusiasm, but Fan asserts that—while AR platforms are promising—they will probably experience the same cycle VR is going through.

“AR is an exciting new area for creators to engage with a new audience that have yet to try VR,” said Fan. “For both AR and VR platforms, it comes down to creating great content. AR through your phone is immediately accessible, just like 360 VR videos  are immediately accessible. However, it’s all about the quality of the content. AR goggles will still take time and will go through the natural tech cycle that VR and other tech goes through.”

“AR and VR offer different experiences for consumers,” Parisi added. “What we are seeing now with AR is that there is a real and tangible opportunity to reach more consumers. This is largely due to the fact that AR is no longer the future—it’s available today and it will be available on more than 1 billion devices in the marketplace by the end of 2018.”

Llamas agreed that VR and AR are fundamentally different technologies, with different use cases and experiences. She said that, “2018 will be about realigning expectations and helping consumers and the industry alike understand the important differences between the two so they understand they are not mutually exclusive, and we can be excited about both!”

Sega Turns Parkour Gym Into Real-Life ‘Sonic Forces’ Level

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Platformer video games like Sonic Forces are designed to inspire virtual adrenaline, but Sega decided to see how players would fare in a real-life platformer environment, so they created Sonic Forces Academy—dropping influencers into a freerunning and parkour gym.

Matthew Patrick (MatPat), Jirard Khalil (The Completionist) and Tom Cassell (Syndicate) gathered at the Tempest Freerunning Academy in California to try their hand at running and jumping in the activation, which was made to look like the iconic Green Hill Zone—a recurring level that appears across the Sonic franchise. When sections of the course became too difficult for them, expert athletes took over.

Sega’s activation—which will remain open after this launch for public access—is designed to promote Sonic Forces, its latest game launched in November.

“We were looking for a fun activation that could travel beyond core Sonic fans,” said Ivo Gerscovich, Sega chief brand officer. “We all liked the idea of giving high-profile YouTube influencers and gamers everywhere the opportunity to see what it would be like to try some of Sonic’s trademark moves in real life.”

Matt, Jirard and Tom were challenged with recreating such moves as wall run, spring jump, hoop dash, grappling hook and tag-team run. Much like the course itself, planning an activation of this nature took a considerable amount of effort and coordination.

“Sega’s marketing team spent months working with our agency, Ayzenberg,* to get the right folks involved and making sure the activation was accurate to the game,” said Nathan Shabazi, Sega associate brand manager. “This included providing lots of b-roll footage, 3D hi-res assets, and looking for some of the coolest moves in the game. After seeing the parkour and gaming influencers’ excitement upon using it, we knew we had something special.”

“We came together with Sega to put together an awesome celebration of Sonic and drive awareness of Sonic Forces going into the holiday,” Francesca Forgach, ION‘s VP of client services, told AListDaily. “We wanted to really establish a cohesive program that had multiple communication touch points across channels, promoted by influencers, driving excitement with their fans. We want fans to get hyped and excited, and want to participate in the custom parkour experience.”

Beyond the ideal timing of the activation, which allows consumers to keep Sonic Forces top of mind through the holidays, Sega’s social media manager, Aaron Webber expects Sonic fans will resonate strongly with the living game experience and the “join the uprising” tagline.

“We expect fans will be thrilled with the activation and the chance to experience part of Sonic’s world in our own,” said Webber. “In a day and age where we often find ourselves sitting in a single spot for hours at a time, it’s great to get up and get active.”

Hardcore fans who try out the parkour course will also appreciate its difficulty, which is on brand for a Sonic level.

“The reality is that we tried parts of the Tempest Green Hill Zone parkour course ourselves,” added Webber. “Not only were they even harder than they looked, but we now have an even greater appreciation for our blue blur.”

*Editor’s note: AListDaily is the publishing arm of Ayzenberg.

CORRECTION: Sega quotes were all previously attributed to Aaron Webber. Attributions have been updated to their respective sources.

Top ESPN, BET TV Execs Step Back; Domino’s CMO Promoted To International Team

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Highlights

ESPN president John Skipper announced his retirement, citing struggles with substance abuse. George Bodenheimer, who served as ESPN’s president from 1998 to 2011, will take over in the interim while the network searches for a permanent replacement.

“I have great respect for John’s leadership, and I applaud the courage he’s demonstrating by addressing his challenge head on,” said Bodenheimer. “The most important thing right now for John and his family is that he conquers his addiction, and the entire ESPN family is behind him.”

Skipper has been with ESPN since 1997, when he joined as senior vice president and general manager of ESPN The Magazine. He has held his current position since 2012.

BET Networks announced the appointment of Scott M. Mills as president, taking over day-to-day operations from BET chairman and CEO Debra Lee, who is relaxing her control over the network.

“I have spent more than 20 years leading this incredible enterprise and I am so proud of the BET team and all that we have accomplished,” Lee said in a statement. “As I look to the future, I believe it is the right time to take a step back from day-to-day responsibilities at BET.”

Before taking over operations from the BET chairman, Mills served as executive vice president and chief administration officer for its parent company, Viacom. He has served as president of BET Networks once before, during which time he launched the channel’s mobile and digital video operations.

Domino’s Pizza is promoting Joe Jordan, its US chief marketing officer, to its international executive team. As executive vice president, Jordan will oversee global marketing efforts, focusing on growth in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Additionally, the company is hiring a new marketing executive, Art D’Elia, as senior vice president and chief brand and innovation officer for Domino’s US.

“As our brand becomes a global leader in markets around the world we have a chance to expand our great leadership and provide opportunities for exceptional performers,” said Patrick Doyle, Domino’s president and CEO. “We’re excited about this change, and the chance to share our resources and put proven leaders into positions we believe will help us accelerate our brand trajectory.”

Prior to becoming Domino’s Pizza’s top marketing executive, Jordan served as the pizzamaker’s CMO for three years, and was responsible for double-digit sales growth between 2015 and 2017. D’Elia previously was the chief marketing executive at Danone Dairy UBN, where he led marketing efforts in the UK, Ireland, Belgium and the Netherlands.

The Rest Of The C-Suite

Amusement park entertainment company Cedar Fair has tapped Tim Fisher as its latest chief operating officer.

“We are making significant, strategic, long-term investments within and adjacent to our parks,” said Richard Zimmerman, Cedar Fair president and CEO. “Tim’s significant industry experience, coupled with his extensive knowledge of our parks and target markets, will deepen our management team and help us fully capitalize on all of our park-level initiatives.”

Fisher joins Cedar Fair from Village Roadshow, another theme park operator, where he has served as CEO since 2009.

BFS Capital, a financial services provider for small businesses, has hired Mary Harris as its new CMO.

“I look forward to expanding our market presence and visibility across the US and building new and lasting relationships with our customers and partners,” Harris said.

Prior to signing on with BFS Capital as its head marketing executive, Harris served as senior vice president of marketing and public relations for BankUnited, helping the bank rebrand and earn accolades from Forbes.

Andrew Lustgarten has risen to the position of president of The Madison Square Garden Company (MSG).

“[Lustgarten’s] unique experience in sports, live entertainment management and corporate development will be critically important as we continue to focus on enhancing our core businesses and identifying compelling opportunities that further our presence and influence in live experiences,” said James Dolan, MSG’s executive chairman and interim CEO.

Lustgarten has been with MSG since 2014, when he joined as executive vice president of corporate development and strategy. Prior to that, he spent seven years at the NBA, where he held the position of senior vice president of global strategy.

Madison Square Garden is still looking for a new CEO, after David O’Connor departed the company in November.

Job Vacancies 

Director of Marketing Insights HP San Diego, CA
VP, Global Business Marketing Facebook Menlo Park, CA
VP of Marketing Bitly San Francisco, CA
VP, Worldwide Marketing Partnerships Paramount Pictures Hollywood, CA
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Integrated Brand Director, Global Influencer Marketing Nike Portland, OR

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