Marketing

ANA, ever-faithful and aggressive on behalf of its advertiser members, struck a second blow to 4As this week — a right uppercut to the chin — with a new ANA study of advertising production practices.  The report detailed “a range of improper behavior, including allegations that some agencies have steered production contracts to their in-house production and post-production outfits by urging other companies to inflate their prices during the bidding process,” as reported in WSJ.  ANA’s first blow — a left to the head — was its 2016 media transparency report, which outlined improper media owner rebates and kickbacks to media agencies.  The combination 1-2 punch is sure to further undermine trust and lead to contract reviews and reductions in agency remuneration. 4As is taking it on the chin.  What can they do?  The fight is a mismatch.  ANA has the weight advantage — or does it?  By Michael Farmer – Madison Avenue Manslaughter Archives

There’s a quote that gets thrown around and misattributed all the time that says, “Hope is not a strategy.”  In the digital media and advertising business the word “identity” gets thrown around even more, so to paraphrase this oft-used cliché, I’ll say: Identity is not a strategy.

Advertising campaigns that resonate in the minds of consumers are hard to find: A Nielsen study shows that 22% of digital ads failed to drive uplift for key brand metrics in Australia. Encouragingly, understanding frequency – the number of times consumers see a campaign – has a demonstrated impact on resonance, and can ensure brands maximise their digital spend.  By Gabrijela Okadar, Manager – Marketing Effectiveness, Nielsen

Rapid adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Intelligent Automation (IA) brings a host of broad questions leaders must thoroughly consider as their organizations move into the automation age. A new KPMG LLP report explores these potentially massive issues and provides important insights to help drive decision making as robots and cognitive technology begins to outpace human intelligence.

From job growth picking up and income lagging behind to weak housing investments and the current political climate, consumers are being bombarded with a slew of mixed indicators that are making them less willing to open their wallets and spend.

Non-transparent production practices exist at multiple ad agencies and agency holding companies, according to a new study by the ANA (Association of National Advertisers).

Target is worried. Latinos, one of its key demographics, are shopping less. The news alarmed CEO Brian Cornell so much that at the July Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference in Aspen, he told an audience that “there’s almost a cocooning factor” among Latino shoppers. “They are staying at home. They are going out less often, particularly along border towns in the United States. You’re seeing a change in behavior.”  By Ozzie Godinez – CEO and Co-Founder at PACO Collective

Ad Blocking remains a hot industry issue based on its continued rise on desktop and mobile and it’s costing the online advertising industry billions of dollars annually. Kantar Millward Brown’s Duncan Southgate, in partnership with GroupM, explored who blocks ads and why, and recommends what advertisers, agencies and publishers can do to reduce ad blocking.

The annual growth rate of the U.S. Hispanic population remained flat between 2016 and 2017, but Hispanics continue to account for more of the nation’s overall population growth than any other race or ethnicity, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of preliminary population estimates from the Census Bureau.

All brands have a story to tell consumers, but telling it in a way consumers want to hear can be challenging. Marketers are taking advantage of their ability to use content and ad creative sequentially to present longer, more compelling messages to consumers.

If there is one thing that has changed in the last couple of decades it is our expectations of immediacy. Ever since Apple put easy access to information in our hands people have come to expect everything to be more immediate. This includes business success which is a problem when brands take time to grow strong.  by Nigel Hollis

With marketing technologies growing ever more powerful, many companies are deploying the latest tools to personalize marketing or make ad spending more efficient. There’s no question that new digital technologies allow marketers to approach customers with surgical precision, unlike the blunter instruments of just five years ago. But the rush to invest in new technologies designed to boost the return on investment (ROI) of a single purchase or channel often misses the foundational goal of knowing who your target customers are, what they’re worth to the firm and how they behave.  By Laura Beaudin, Brian Dennehy and John Grudnowski

Do brands still hold sway over consumers? According to new research, executives worldwide are worried that the marketing power of the brand is declining.

Every year, companies spend months creating their price and promotion plans in hopes of driving better results. However, intensifying pressures from today’s increasingly competitive marketplace are causing systemic shifts in the effectiveness of the current planning process.  By Lana Busignani, Executive Vice President, U.S. Marketing Effectiveness, Nielsen

The agency refusal to cooperate infuriated procurement. As one exasperated executive told me in 2003, “Who the hell do they think they are, anyway? A bunch of prima donnas. I’m going to whack their fees by 10% — maybe that will send them a message.”  By Michael Farmer – Madison Avenue Manslaughter

It’s no secret that traditional Spanish broadcast networks have been experiencing a steady loss of viewers in the U.S. year over year. Many factors are contributing to this decline including a slowing in immigration from Mexico. But, perhaps even more impactful is the fact that growth in the U.S. Hispanic market is primarily coming from U.S. born.  By Mario Carrasco –  ThinkNow Research

Influencer Marketing has become a central focus of marketing strategies and budgets for 2017. According to Bloomberg, an estimated $255 million is now spent on influencer marketing every month. With a buy in like that, what’s the ROI? EMarketer reported that advertisers earned an average of $6.85 for every $1 they spent on influencer marketing.

Despite concerns around the current economic and political landscape, Hispanic spending continues to rise across the total fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) market, according to Nielsen’s Target Track retail measurement service. In year-to-date (YTD) 2017, Hispanic consumers have increased their FMCG spending by 0.6%, compared with 2016. In comparison, non-Hispanic dollars sales are 0.7% lower than last year.

So while it’s been well documented in the first half of 2017 that smaller companies are pulling ahead of the pack and driving much of the growth in the U.S. fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) realm, the trend begs the question: Is size the new determining factor for success, or can large companies advance too?

Consumer products giant Procter & Gamble Co. on Thursday reported better-than-expected fiscal fourth quarter profit and sales, but if you think this means things are turning up for the struggling US consumer packaged goods sector, think again.