Table of contents for March 28, 2016 in Adweek

Now that they’ve had their day (two weeks, actually) in court, Hulk Hogan and Nick Denton are taking their fight to the court of public opinion. The former pro wrestler pummeled Gawker in a Florida courtroom as a jury awarded him in excess of $140 million for the pain he suffered when the gossip site published a grainy 2007 clip of him having sex with his best friend’s wife. Last Tuesday, Denton penned a lengthy and scathing rebuttal, arguing that the case “was never about the sex on the tape Gawker received, but about racist language on another, unpublished tape that threatened Hogan’s reputation and career.” Meanwhile, on ABC’s The View, Hogan called Gawker “the ultimate bully,” adding, “If they’re going to practice what they call journalism that way, they…

In recent years, Georgia has become a mecca for television and film production, as tax incentives have lured movies and TV series away from neighboring states. That could all come to an end if Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal passes a so-called “religious liberty bill” that would limit the rights of the state’s LGBT residents. Last week, a number of Hollywood players that do business in the state—among them, Disney, Viacom, AMC Networks, Time Warner and Comcast—urged Deal to veto the bill, with some threatening to move production elsewhere if it were to become law. The National Football League also warned that the bill could affect its decision to hold the 2019 or 2020 Super Bowl in Atlanta.…

TAP INTO STARS’ SOCIAL FOLLOWINGS Many of today’s younger stars are very active on social media, so it makes sense for the sport to tap into Bryce Harper or Matt Harvey’s large followings like the NBA does with its marquee players. “A lot of these players are young adults and millennials themselves,” said Simon Wardle, chief strategy officer, Octagon. BITE-SIZE CONTENT Many younger fans aren’t going to watch a three-hour game six nights a week. Creating short-form clips should help baseball become part of fans’ social media diets. “What kind of snack-sized bites can I get out there just to keep them interested in the sport?” wondered Jason Maltby, director of national broadcast TV, Mindshare. EMBRACE SINGULAR MOMENTS 162 games can be a slog, but everyone remembers José Bautista’s bat…

‘Today, we have some of the world’s most awarded creative people working with pharma and medical clients.’ Bio Jeremy Perrott, this year’s chair of the Clio Health Awards’ Design, Film, Out of Home and Print Jury, was named global CCO of McCann Health in 2008. Before that, he was ecd at McCann Worldgroup Asia Pacific. Perrott has also held senior creative positions at various McCann network operations, including London, Seoul, Tokyo and New York. Jeremy Perrott insists that medical and pharmaceutical creative work can be just as sexy as any other form of advertising—perhaps even more so. And if anyone would know, it’s Perrott. For the past eight years, the Aussie native has served as global chief creative officer of McCann Health. In that time, he has built the New…

Specs Current gig Vp, global marketing, Living Proof Previous gig Svp, social content, Digitas Twitter @amkline Age 46 What attracted you to Living Proof when you joined two years ago? I had been at Digitas for 10 years, working at a senior level on very large brands, and I was looking for a way to put my mark directly on the right brand. I had only used one of the products before I started interviewing. One of the things that attracted me most was the way the company was founded. We are down the street from MIT. Our founders’ work was mainly in the biotech and medical spaces, and they sought to apply the same innovation, rigor and discipline to hair. Do you apply lessons from your agency career at…

“Meredith Corporation is opposed to any legislation that puts limits like this on legitimate advertising. Pharmaceutical companies spend millions of dollars annually on the research and development of life-saving and life-enhancing drugs, and deserve the right to promote their benefits to consumers. Additionally, direct-to-consumer advertising has proven to raise awareness of life-threatening conditions that may have gone undetected. Finally, advertising represents just a small fraction of the cost of prescription drugs.” Art Slusark, vp of corporate communications and government relations, Meredith Corp. “Cows will fly before this passes.” Media CMO “If there was a hiatus or outright ban on direct-to-consumer pharma advertising, there would be dramatic consequences for all large media sales organizations as well as pharma companies. It would take years for media companies to replace the advertising dollars…

‘We’ve built a company positioned to play an important role in solving the cost, quality and access issues for patients, payers and providers.’ When CVS Health announced two years ago it will no longer sell or stock tobacco-related products, it was a game-changing move for the Woonsocket, R.I.-based brand, one that even received accolades from first lady Michelle Obama. But, according to Norman de Greve, CVS’ svp and CMO, the step was part of a larger strategy that had been in the works for the last decade to shift the brand from being the proverbial “drugstore on the corner” to a “multifaceted healthcare company.” In 2006, CVS acquired MinuteClinic, a walk-in clinic provider; the next year it merged with pharmacy benefits manager Caremark; and in 2013, it bought home infusion…

Globe Blazer Speaker Board $250 From lightbulbs to handbags, you can find wireless speakers built into just about anything imaginable. And while some of these gadgets are real head scratchers (Bluetooth piggy bank, anyone?), others—like the Blazer Speaker Board from Australian skate company Globe—are undeniably cool. The skateboard, designed in collaboration with audio startup Boombotix, features an integrated Bluetooth speaker with 50mm driver and passive radiator, so riders can actually feel the bass thump underfoot. The battery-powered speaker lasts for two hours at full volume, or more than six hours when lowered to 70 percent. It’s also water-resistant, dust proof and all-around rugged, so you don’t have to worry about damaging it while performing a particularly impressive stunt. Buy it: globebrand.com HOME Clean Machine iRobot Braava Jet 240 $200 Not…

Blake Mycoskie’s third-place finish in 2002 on CBS’ The Amazing Race was just the beginning of his real adventure. After visiting Argentina on a segment of the show, Mycoskie later returned and noticed how many children didn’t have shoes. So he started Toms, a shoe line inspired by the popular espadrilles he saw Argentine polo players wearing. His shoes were different, though: Every pair sold would result in a pair of shoes donated to a child in need. Today, Toms is an internationally known brand that has helped children in developing countries all over the world, and has expanded to eyewear, bags, even coffee. Mycoskie now serves as “chief shoe giver” and his cozy office at the Toms headquarters in Los Angeles is a testament to his life, career and…

The sharing economy has brought us day care coops, healthcare co-ops and dairy co-ops. Now, there’s a data co-op. Last week, Adobe announced the Device Co-op, a service for marketers that harnesses the collective power of connected devices to better reach consumers and compete with data giants like Google and Facebook. Per Adobe, members of the co-op will be able to receive more detailed website metrics, offer more personalized content and use more accurate targeting. It could potentially link to 1.2 billion devices, according to the company.…

Specs Claim to fame Native Texan and longtime Princeton townie, Amy Hansen is svp, creative director at HCB Health. Base Austin, Texas Twitter @hcb_austincd Sewer inspector. Embalmer. Gastroenterologist. Tough jobs for sure. But try healthcare advertising for a week. Just try to be creative in an environment where important safety information takes up :35 of a :60 TV spot, where rules for short-form messaging run 15 pages long, where every print ad, website, banner and video must pass a rigorous risk mitigation assessment by a medical legal review team. The threat of an FDA letter looms large in the lives of pharmaceutical brand managers, and that can lead to a condition known as FUD: fear, uncertainty and doubt. The resulting manifestation is “safe” advertising. You’ve seen it before: Happy patient…

1938 Congress passed the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, which gave the FDA authority over the labeling of pharmaceuticals and the FTC control over their advertising. 1962 The Kefauver-Harris Amendments proposed the concept of consumer protectionism when dealing with pharmaceuticals. 1997 The beginning of rapid growth in DTC advertising attributed to new FDA guidelines. 2005 $4.6 billion spent on DTC marketing. Dec. 2015 Martin Shkreli arrested on charges of securities fraud at Retrophin. Feb. 2016 Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D.-Conn.) proposed the Responsibility in Drug Advertising Act of 2016, which seeks a three-year moratorium on DTC pharma advertising.…

CVS From its early days as Customer Value Stores (hence, CVS), a health and beauty chain in New England, CVS Health has morphed into an integrated healthcare services provider. In addition to CVS/pharmacy—which now operates in 45 states—the company runs a pharmacy benefit management division called CVS/Caremark, with 75 million plan members; CVS/specialty pharmacy (for medications that require high-maintenance handling); and CVS/ MinuteClinic, a chain of walk-in care centers staffed by nurse practitioners who can administer lab tests and vaccines, write prescriptions, and treat a variety of minor illnesses and injuries including sprains, burns and infections. CVS sent shock waves through the industry on Feb. 5, 2014 with the announcement that its 7,600 stores would no longer carry tobacco products. Scrapping the cigs, chew and snuff meant the immediate loss…

INTERVIEW Specs Age 39 Claim to fame Platinum-selling country singer/ songwriter; co-host of the 51st Academy of Country Music Awards (Sunday, April 3, 8 p.m. on CBS) Base Nashville Twitter @LukeBryanOnline What’s the first information you consume in the morning? I just go to my computer and I hit all of the newsfeeds. I don’t want to follow just one news service because I like to get the conservative news, the liberal news. I check sports news, Georgia Bulldogs recruiting, album sales and stuff like that. Then on my phone, I check Twitter and [my own personal] app. You have a huge social following. I wouldn’t say that I’ve been the biggest innovator with social media for country music. Nobody’s done it better than Taylor [Swift] in starting a career,…

The Colorado-based healthcare system, which also serves communities in Wyoming and Nebraska, last week appointed WPP’s Grey in San Francisco as its lead agency following a review. Grey takes over from the incumbent, Denver-based Cactus, and is tasked with media buying and planning, as well as creating brand advertising and digital communications to support UCHealth’s expansion. For Grey, the appointment is the latest in a string of account wins. Last year, the agency added SunEdison, Pernod Ricard’s Graffigna wine brand and LendingTree.…

‘We’ll have somewhere between 15-20 [Snapchat Stories] over the course of the season.’Rob Manfred, MLB commissioner Major League Baseball has an age problem. The 147-year-old league is financially healthy, sure, but younger fans are increasingly hard to find. MLB has the oldest median TV audience at 56 years, compared to 49 for NFL viewers and 41 for NBA fans, according to Nielsen. But with a cadre of young stars eager to leave their mark on the game, baseball hopes to bring millennials back to the diamond. As Rob Manfred begins his second season as commissioner, he’s looking to increase the league’s social footprint while appealing to those who don’t watch sports on traditional TV. Adweek: What do you make of Bryce Harper’s comments about how the sport is “tired” and…

For OTC allergy medications, now is the time to get noticed. Market research firm YouGov asked 4,500 U.S. adults each weekday, from January through mid-March, their feelings about five brands: Zyrtec, Claritin, Benadryl, Sudafed and Allegra. “The data reinforces the idea that CMOs have to be nimble, especially in pharmaceuticals,” said YouGov BrandIndex CEO Ted Marzilli. “You have to have the flexibility on when to pull the trigger on millions of ad dollars and consumers will react in kind. This year’s mild winter meant an early spring. The consequence is a late start to flu season and an early start to allergy season. Benadryl and Claritin look like they have a timely jump at just the right time. It may be a challenge for the others to catch up.”…

‘It offends me when people call [Shkreli] a pharma executive. He’s an immoral hedge-fund manager who happened to buy a pharma company. He could be selling drywall for all he cares.’ Reid Connolly, CEO, Evoke Health When ex-Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli smirked his way through congressional testimony in February, refusing to answer questions about how his former company increased prices for Daraprim, a drug used to treat cancer and AIDS, by 5,000 percent, it (understandably) stoked Washington’s and the general public’s ire against the pharmaceutical industry. That same month, Congress introduced legislation to ban direct-to-consumer (DTC) drug ads. Not helping matters is this pugnacious election season that’s drawn stark contrasts to the broader issue of healthcare. In other words, the pharmaceutical industry finds itself in deep damage control mode.…

THE HOOK Purell’s “On the Go” products include this 1-ounce portable bottle, designed to hook onto key chains, diaper bags, purses and, as shown here, belt loops. THE FORMULA The Advanced formula of Purell bumps up the alcohol content from 62 percent to 70 percent, affording more germ-killing power per squirt. THE INGREDIENTS Purell is mostly ethyl alcohol, but the company adds moisturizers like glycerin and propylene glycol to keep skin from drying out after use. THE NAME Originally, Purell was going to be called Flash (as in “works in a flash”). But GoJo settled instead on Purell, a proper noun based on “pure.” Fast Facts 1946 GoJo Industries founded 1997 Purell hits the consumer market. 70% Increase of Purell sales during H1N1 swine flu outbreak In the Steven Soderbergh…