Agency

How quickly and effectively marketers respond and adapt to ongoing consumer feedback has become a new determinant of brand performance, reports the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council in a survey report.

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.

Few sectors have experienced as much disruption as banking over the last decade or so. The trusted partner personified by a high street presence and friendly bank manager has given way to an uneasy hybrid of digital and telephone services. Recession, digitisation, and high-street closure have changed our relationship with banks from trusted partner to service provider. Banks have suffered from their lack of customer centricity, focusing on sales rather than forging the long-term relationships of old.

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.

BOTTOM LINE: Marketer trade group the ANA has released a detailed report on fee transparency issues in the commercial production ecosystem, which is the focus of a Department of Justice probe. While the report does not detail any specific agency or holding company’s wrong-doing, the description of practices and recommendations to marketers may add to the scrutiny marketers are increasingly applying to their agency and holding company contracts.  By Brian Wieser / Pivotal Research Group

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.

Bernardo Rodriguez will be responsible for advancing J.D. Power’s digital transformation with responsibility for new product development, branding, marketing and mergers and acquisitions. In this role, Rodriguez will be responsible for the design and content of J.D. Power’s digital interface with clients and consumers, reporting directly to Finbarr O’Neill, Chief Executive Officer and President.

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.

Petco returns as a national sponsor of NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations’ Clear the Shelters pet adoption campaign for a second consecutive year.

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

María Elena Salinas, an influential voice in television and Hispanic America for more than three decades, announced that she plans to leave the Univision News anchor chair at the end of the year.