Agency

Expect the trend of marketers expanding and/or launching in-house agencies to continue in 2018. If the Ad Age 2017 Marketer of the Year does its creative in-house, that’s certainly a model that should be considered for many others.  By Bill Duggan, Group EVP, ANA

H Code Media announced the launch of a new division called H Code Studio—a full-service content studio combining the identity of a brand, the storytelling of a production house, and the scale of a digital platform.

The idea of going cashless isn’t too far off, especially with giants like Starbucks and Amazon already taking the leap.

In the latest episode of “Behind the Numbers,” eMarketer staffers consider recent regulatory changes covering internet access, and discuss the implications for platforms, marketers and consumers.

Laurence Green does not believe that we have reached “peak purpose”. As he wrote in a recent opinion piece his experience of judging Best Use of Brand Purpose at the 2017 WARC Awards led him to conclude that purpose was alive and well.  by Nigel Hollis

For more than 100 years, the share of money Americans spent at the store for the food and beverages they would later eat at home remained fairly constant. But change is inevitable, and our habits have finally started to shift.

By Gonzalo López Martí – Creative director, etc. / LMMiami.com

• Oddly enough, as much as our culture pays lip service to teamwork, we tend to end up paying groupie tribute to illuminated individuals.
• It is not uncommon in the marketing & advertising racket, for instance, to let one creative director take all the credit for a successful campaign in which dozens of people took part.
• Happens in all walks of life.
• It is an ancestral human atavism.
• Our brittle brains seem to be wired that way.

ThinkNow Research announced even though consumers experienced greater employment and steady or slightly increased income last year, they are less optimistic about the economy in 2018.

Awareness of the business case for inclusion and diversity is on the rise. While social justice typically is the initial impetus behind these efforts, companies have increasingly begun to regard inclusion and diversity as a source of competitive advantage, and specifically as a key enabler of growth. Yet progress on diversification initiatives has been slow. And companies are still uncertain about how they can most effectively use diversity and inclusion to support their growth and value-creation goals.

The changing face of the American mall points to consumers’ shifting priorities and tastes. But while malls may be taking on a different kind of identity, there’s at least one consumer segment that still favors that traditional shopping experience: millennial women.

Bringing attention to the importance of assortment is easy. It’s getting it right that is highly challenging. Here are the top six hurdles companies face in building an optimal assortment.

To compete at the speed of digital, you need to unleash your strategy, your structure, and your people.

In the latest episode of eMarketer’s “Behind the Numbers” podcast, analysts Yory Wurmser and Krista Garcia talk about the challenges faced by the department store sector, and what creative retailers are doing to adjust to new consumer habits and preferences.

Controversy continues to swirl over the recent FCC decision to allow Internet service providers greater control over the Internet “pipe,” setting up a marketplace that might come to resemble traditional pay-TV services.

A survey of senior ad buyers worldwide reveals a range of issues many have when it comes to programmatic advertising.

One in three people—2.48 billion—worldwide used a social network in 2017, eMarketer estimates. Rising social network use in emerging markets in Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East and Africa drove an 8.7% gain over 2016.

Conventional wisdom has long dictated that companies avoid taking a political stance on issues for risk of alienating—or outright angering—potential customers.

A few weeks ago I wrote about being authentic and genuine, both as a brand and a person. Unfortunately, there’s a downside to always being authentic, because that can lead to incredible rudeness.  How do you balance “being yourself” with being professional in the workplace?

GALLEGOS United announced it has hired Dino Spadavecchia as executive creative director. Spadavecchia will oversee development and execution of creative concepts for all clients.

Kantar Millward Brown released a new AdReaction study that examines the global state of multichannel advertising campaigns. AdReaction: The Art of Integration guides marketers on how to best navigate the myriad channel choices and ad formats, while delivering effective, integrated campaigns, well understood across channels by consumers.