Marketing

With all the flashy banners and retargeted content consumers see daily, just how relevant are digital ads to most Americans? Consumer intelligence company CivicScience conducted an internal study to examine how the general population feels about the bulk of the digital advertisements they are served.

For much of our industry’s history, market researchers have used intentional questioning to generate structured data to derive insights from, but as technology has grown in its ubiquity, we’ve gained access to new unstructured data sources and the resources to turn this messy data into insights.  by Kyle Findlay – Senior Data Science Director (Innovation) / Kantar

It’s not easy to find candidates for advertising, media, and marketing roles that have all the desired skills.

Here in the US, the hard-pressed retail industry has suffered the first of what is likely to be a string of bankruptcies. Last week fashion retailer J. Crew and department store Neiman Marcus both filed for Chapter 11. While neither brand could be considered strong, the real issue was the debt load both companies were carrying. The Great Lockdown simply delivered the coup de grâce.  By Nigel Hollis

Marketers have observed the rapid changes in consumers’ behavior throughout the coronavirus pandemic, because of the health effects, social distancing and physical store closures. Online purchasing has sped up. Contactless payment and new safety protocols for stores that do remain open are on the rise. Work-at-home arrangements and home confinement made broadband more essential for many households, and prompted faster adoption of certain digital platforms

I’ll wager you’ve all seen one: they’re slow paced, backed by acoustic piano and open with shots of empty city streets.  Those shots are followed by people copying with life in Coronavirus-enforced lockdown, then the brand that you can’t remember tells you that they’re there for you.  ‘They’ are the COVID-19 ‘emotional support’ ad.  And it’s time they stopped, or they got a lot better.  by Daren – Global Head of Creative / Kantar

Core strength facilitates efficient movement in humans, but when it comes to brands, core strength helps ensure that the brand is poised for efficient growth. So how do you know if your brand’s core is strong or weak?  by Nigel Hollis

2020 is the year when the majority of all Americans under seventeen years old will be from a minority background, a process that will culminate with a so-called “minority-majority” population by the mid-2040s. These demographic changes will bring about a significant transformation to Corporate America, and during the next few months, I will discuss some of these consequences, in each article targeting one specific area of our business environment. By  Isaac Mizrahi – Co-President of ALMA Agency

In this episode, Hispanic marketing guru, Dr. Felipe Korzenny, discusses the ins and outs of successful marketing to Latinx consumers, with a focus on culture.

Innovation is the heart of the tech and telco industries, and brands in this category continue to blaze trails by embracing new digital touch points. However, TV remains important and experience and recommendation are some of the most impactful touch points. In this post I a take a closer look at which media work best for technology and telecom brands.  by Sahaj Chawla – Senior Consultant / Kantar

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has forced immediate, far-reaching lifestyle shifts for American consumers. In fact, it’s unlikely that consumers’ lives will return to normal in the near future.

Americans are adapting to the “new normal” as the coronavirus crisis continues, according to the latest wave of Horowitz Research’s COVID-19 study. In a survey fielded late last week, forty-five percent (45%) of Americans reported feeling “scared” and 63% feel “overwhelmed by the current events,” dropping from 53% and 69%, respectively, in the same survey fielded in late March.

As the economic and social ramifications of the Great Lockdown make themselves apparent there is a lot of discussion about what consumer behaviours will change when we reach a new normal after COVID-19. Some anticipate widespread changes, but I am not so sure. Mostly it will depend on what context the new normal creates.  by Nigel Hollis

Whether it’s tomorrow or six months from now, at some point local and state governments will begin to ease COVID-19-related restrictions and people will be free to resume their everyday lives. But will they? Independent marketing, advertising and public relations agency Mower has conducted a survey of 1,000 U.S. adults to learn what common activities they will feel comfortable returning to on Day One.

It seems frivolous to talk about branding issues with everything going on. But if there’s one thing many of us have more of these days it’s some extra thinking time. And when the current circumstances change, we’ll benefit from taking time to pause and reflect. So, let’s take a few moments to think about emotion and the role it plays in branding.  by Myles George – Director / NeedScope International

During a time when agencies are adapting to a new way of doing business, with back-to-back Zoom calls and smaller team huddles, agencies with culture marketing expertise are thriving. Why? Because cultural IQ has never been more important. Moments of crisis are when strategic partners are needed, particularly in today’s climate when there are shifts in behavior, messaging and production capabilities.  by Gonzalo Del Fa

The Great Lockdown is just the beginning of what is likely to prove a long and difficult road through recession to recovery, and that means advertisers are going to have to answer three difficult questions. Can your brand afford not to advertise? Where should you advertise? And what sort of content should you run?  by Nigel Hollis

During the 2008-09 recession, agency organic growth fell by -1,500 bps from +4% in 3Q 2008 to a low of -11% in 2Q 2009. It took seven quarters in the end for organic growth to recover back to +6% in 2Q 2010, reflecting the prolonged economic weakness over this period.

As the coronavirus pandemic spreads across the globe, threatening both lives and livelihoods, consumer-packaged-goods (CPG) manufacturers continue to play an important role: producing essential items we all rely on for our health and well-being. CPG leaders have focused on meeting this demand while guarding the safety of employees and customers.

Avoid damaging cuts and realign resources in response to fluid shifts in demand from the Covid-19 fallout.