Agency

Covered California is sending videos like “Guadalupe’s Story” to potential customers, to encourage them to sign up for health insurance.  The way human brains are wired, it just doesn’t make sense to us to buy something now that we may not need for years in the future.

Pfizer, Eli Lilly and the other companies engaged in creating and selling pharmaceutical drugs or treatments are expected to spend $4.4 billion on television commercials this year.  That’s a seven percent increase from 2016, according to Kantar Media research.  With $5 billion a likely TV ad sales outcome next year, Univision Communications Vice President of Business Development, Dennis O’Leary, wants to see more of this spending directed at the nearly 60 million Latinos living across the United States.  By Simon Applebaum

Experiential plays a powerful role in driving the how, when, and where millennials spend their dollars and willundoubtedly become one of the most influential and relevant engagement channels for the generation to follow….Generation Z. For legacy brands, experiential marketing is incredibly important as it inspires people to action and force CPG marketers to rethink how they connect with people outside of the aisle and beyond the screen.

Massive cybersecurity breaches have become almost commonplace, regularly grabbing headlines that alarm consumers and leaders. But for all of the attention such incidents have attracted in recent years, many organizations worldwide still struggle to comprehend and manage emerging cyber risks in an increasingly complex digital society. As our reliance on data and interconnectivity swells, developing resilience to withstand cyber shocks—that is, large-scale events with cascading disruptive consequences—has never been more important.

Who will succeed and who will fall short as the retail sector goes through a wave of creative destruction?  eMarketer’s latest report, “The Future of Retail: Nine Things to Watch for in the Coming Year,” digs into questions of pricing, technology and even politics as key factors over the next 12 months.

Some 32% of marketers plan to bring programmatic buying in-house, and more than 50% of marketers and agencies believe this complex job will ultimately become the responsibility of the brand.

You’re in a new city, with an hour before a business meeting. You need to focus on your presentation, but you also need something to eat. Your connected watch finds several local quick-service restaurants and chooses one based on how busy it is, your company expense policy and your dietary preferences—using your vital signs to ensure you’re eating a balanced diet. (Did you really have bacon maple pancakes for breakfast?). While you keep working, the watch tells your self-driving car to take you to the restaurant. Based on local traffic, the watch will alert you when it’s time to leave for your meeting. And because you’re in a hurry, it will pay the bill. Hopefully, it will leave an appropriate tip.

Univision Communications Inc. (UCI) and The Harris Poll have released findings of a national study, “Banking on Hispanics for Growth,” to offer insights regarding Hispanic consumers’ attitudes and behaviors on the financial services sector. The findings were unveiled in a webinar presented by Roberto Ruiz, UCI’s executive vice president of Strategy & Insights, and Kathy Steinberg, The Harris Poll’s Senior Consultant PR Research.

The influencer marketing space shows no signs of slowing down. But to have a successful strategy, brands need more than just celebrity endorsements. Identifying the right influencers is a science that relies on complex data, not just the number of social media followers a user has—that’s why influencer platforms are becoming key components of companies’ marketing stacks. Rob Trauber, CEO of apparel brand Johnny Was, and Zackary Cantor, director of decision sciences at digital marketing company GlobalWide Media, spoke with eMarketer’s Maria Minsker about the value of influencer marketing technology.

Brands have been called on to make a stand and many have answered the call. So far this year we have seen a number of large, well-known brands lining up to save the world or make it a better place to live in. I applaud the fact that these brands are willing to take a stand, but I do wonder if it is yet another step on the road to brand fragmentation.  by Nigel Hollis

Marketers are becoming more and more interested in reaching out to and engaging Influencers – due to the factors like media fragmentation, quality and transparency issues of the media supply chain, and the rise of ad blockers. Thus, the idea of reaching a targeted group of people who are particularly powerful and influential is spreading. Which is why the identification of the Affluencers is so important – this target has the potential to not only represent a disproportionate amount of purchases, they also represent a group that is sought for their advice and purchasing input across all categories. In addition, Affluencers on average consume more media than general Affluents, with both print and digital publications up +9%.

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

• The way we package, ship and display goods will be disrupted dramatically in the coming years.
• If your job depends on the good old tried & true ways of selling CPGs to the masses, well, get ready for some upheaval.
• Some more upheaval, that is.
• The good news: shopping is not going anywhere.
• Shopping is freedom.
• Shopping is therapy.
• Shopping is our God-given right.

The Creative Board of FUSION, the cable network of Fusion Media Group (FMG), announced an open call for scripted and unscripted television projects. This initiative builds on the commitment by FUSION and its Creative Board to generate new opportunities for young storytellers who span different ethnicities, races, sexual orientations, genders and religions. The open call is aimed at helping to level the playing field for underrepresented creative talent, with or without agency representation, who want to tell stories that are otherwise going unheard.

NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises announced the expansion of Fluency Studios with the launch of “Fluency Plus,” a new, bilingual digital production studio.

Kantar Millward Brown has transformed its annual Getting Digital Right study into a global Getting Media Right study. Why? Because digital cannot and should not be considered in isolation from the rest of the media mix.  by Nigel Hollis

With the new television season in the U.S. now upon us, viewers are able to connect with new program offerings as well as old favorites. While much focus will be on the shows themselves, Nielsen took a look at insights surrounding the advertising inventory—from how much money is spent on advertising over platforms to the commercial ratings lifts of ads beyond seven days to how marketers are leveraging branded integrations. After all, it’s these commercial spots that help underpin a multi-billion dollar industry, powering a large part of the media ecosystem.

Brighter spirits may fuel a diverse mix of spending on experiences, self-gifting and gifts for others this holiday shopping season, according to Deloitte’s 32nd Annual Holiday Survey of consumer spending intentions and trends.

Bain & Company is forecasting 3.5% to 3.9% growth in US retail sales this holiday season, slightly above last year’s 3.5% growth and well above the 10-year average of 2.6%. Our optimism stems from positive macroeconomic indicators across the board, including rising wages, increasing employment and a strong stock market. We also see above-average growth in housing-related expenditures.  By Aaron Cheris, Darrell Rigby and Suzanne Tager

Over the last few months I’ve had the opportunity to speak with close to 50  marketers, friends, clients and former colleagues. I didn’t have an agenda or a pitch, just a conversation about their career paths and how they decided on their professions.  The conversation eventually made its way into a discussion of relationships they had with various consultants, advisors, and agencies.  Just for kicks, I built a word cloud from my notes and saw five themes emerge from what they wanted from a vendor.

Emilio Azcárraga Jean is leaving Grupo Televisa after being at the helm of the media company for 20 years.