Agency

Consumers aren’t the only ones who get wrapped up in the spirit of spending around the holidays. At a time when consumers are at their most generous, advertisers are upping their games and spending big to engage with consumers looking for the perfect gift and to share good tidings. Whether through images of cute polar bears sipping soft drinks or wise-cracking chocolate-covered candy, advertisers spent nearly $2.5 billion across the tech, clothing, gaming, book, kitchen, sporting goods and jewelry segments last year, up from $2 billion five years ago.

In a largely commoditized category, producing the best product is not enough to differentiate from the competition. Brands need to look at what they can authentically contribute to culture and how they can inspire their audience to build affinity. Few CPG brands are doing this well or being bold enough to do it.

Mari Tato is currently executive producer at Miami-based In&Out Productions*, one of the leading film production houses catering to the US Hispanic market today.  By Gonzalo López Martí – LMMiami.com

Univision Communications Inc. has announced plans to open two retail and specialty stores in early 2015 in the newly-redesigned Terminal 2 of the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

Publicis will acquire digital agency Sapiente for an estimated $3.7 billion, thus will also get La Comunidad as well to add to its roster.

The country’s fastest-growing ethnic segment also may be its most misunderstood, particularly by design and construction brands. “The Arrival of Hispanic-American Homeowners” white paper details buying power and purchasing habits of this emergent demographic for home and building product manufacturers.

The Hispanic market reminds me of the stock market. Both are filled with loud noise from its participants that make it very hard to understand clearly how to best capitalize on it.  By Arturo Nava, founder, Logra Tu Dream

The problem with brand value is really simple: no one agrees on it.  By Randall Beard, Global Head, Advertiser Solutions – Nielsen

But where will those dollars come from over the next year? Print, television and digital display are the chosen ones.

Horowitz Associates, Inc., Market and Multicultural Research has rebranded as Horowitz Research. In addition to the more streamlined name, the firm has unveiled a new visual identity and tagline: “Research. Insight. Innovation.”

I recently had a conversation with Mike Welch, who heads AT&T’s advertising business, and we very quickly found ourselves doubling back on our discussion to define the term “programmatic TV.” Impressed by the clarity of Mike’s take on the subject, and assuming that this “definition conversation” is happening in boardrooms and across lunch tables throughout the industry, I am herewith offering up a definition of programmatic advertising — particularly programmatic TV — in the public interest.

The Federal Trade Commission has charged Gerber Products Co., also doing business as Nestlé Nutrition, with deceptively advertising that feeding its Good Start Gentle formula to infants with a family history of allergies prevents or reduces the risk that they will develop allergies.

General Mills Inc. announced its exclusive U.S. partnership with GRAMMY Award-winning group Camila for the company’s 2014-2015 Musica y Sabor campaign focused on connecting with Hispanic consumers through one of their biggest passion points: music.

Time-based metrics are getting everyone’s attention at the moment because buying proxies of time are much better than buying clicks. Brands are fighting for a slice of a consumer’s life, and time is the best measurement to understand if advertisers’ efforts are successful.

Digital place-based (DPB) media is establishing a spot in media plans. In July 2014 polling by the Digital Place Based Advertising Association (DPAA), nearly 90% of US agency planners said they had included DPB media in their executed plans, and the majority of that group (48.5% of respondents overall) used the tactic in 20% or more of their approved and executed plans—up from 45.4% who did so in 2013. Meanwhile, the percentage of agency planners who didn’t include DPB media in their plans fell from 13.1% to 10.9% year over year.

Optimism about the economy is kindling holiday cheer as shoppers plan to spend more this year and tech-savvy shoppers have even higher spending expectations, according to Deloitte’s 29th annual holiday survey.

The Federal Trade Commission filed a federal court complaint against AT&T Mobility, LLC, charging that the company has misled millions of its smartphone customers by charging them for “unlimited” data plans while reducing their data speeds, in some cases by nearly 90 percent.

Chester Cheetah, the official Cheetos brand spokes-cheetah, announced the introduction of Los Cheetahs. This insanely talented team of trick fútbol players combines athleticism, theater and comedy — a spectacle only fitting for the most popular sport in the world and the most mischievous brand. Los Cheetahs will embark on a nationwide tour beginning with an event on November 8 in Long Beach, Calif. To add to the magnitude of this news, global fútbol legend, Jorge Campos, is on the roster as one of Los Cheetahs’ goalies.

Marketing leaders at consumer packaged goods (CPG) firms are facing fundamental shifts in the global commercial environment. To meet these challenges, they have an opportunity to accelerate their adoption of digital—and rethink both their marketing models and their routes to consumer engagement.

I know there are books written on the definition of strategy, but I tend to think most books are too long (even my own book).  Simply put, strategy is a plan, which enables you to be proactive.  Strategy ensures you’re not forced to react to everything thrown in your direction at the same level of intensity.  Strategy creates priorities, gives you an end goal to shoot at, and a means of achieving those goals.