Table of contents for February 25, 2019 in Adweek

The world’s biggest and most valuable video platform faced another threat to its chief source of revenue: advertising. Google-owned YouTube last week saw an exodus of major brands like AT&T, Disney and Nestlé after one blogger posted an extensive video alleging that the company enables pedophiles “to connect with each other” using the comment threads under videos that include children. On Wednesday, the company responded to advertisers’ concerns by holding conference calls with reps from big brands and all major agency holding companies, later issuing a memo summarizing its efforts to address the matter. “Over the last 18 months, we have taken significant steps to enforce tougher protections for minors on YouTube,” the memo read, citing the removal of “4.3 million videos and 3.7 million comments to date” while acknowledging…

Marketing is an industry that constantly evolves due to the ever-changing ways in which people engage with content and campaigns. From the invention of the television to the frequent changes in social media algorithms, marketers have to stay up-to-date not only on the latest media and ways to market but also regarding who we’re marketing to. Over the last few decades, marketers have placed an emphasis on diversifying target audiences, finding that there is a great deal of buying power beyond the white male consumer. Examples of this can be found in women and African-Americans: The purchasing power of women in the U.S. alone ranges from $5 trillion to $15 trillion annually, and African-American buying power was roughly $1.2 trillion as of 2017. More often than not, marketers have been…

THE DRESS Even in 1963, Barbie had 64 changes of clothes. Clothing and accessories are central to Barbie play, including this little black dress with which you “can’t go wrong,” Barbie says. THE HAIR Though Barbie has had brown, black and red hair, styled in every manner possible, she’s most often associated with the sun-bleached blonde locks she sports here. THE PIC This is one of Barbie’s first poses from her Instagram account, @BarbieStyle, launched in 2014. It currently counts 1.9 million followers. In the weeks leading up to the national bicentennial of July 4, 1976, communities across America joined in the craze for shoving time capsules into the ground. Among them was the town of Lima, Ohio. But while Lima buried the usual payload of comic books and bumper…

Being a working mom isn’t easy. You’ve got to deal with persnickety personalities, restrictions on screen time, sudden tantrums and late-night homework. And that’s just at the office. The winners of the She Runs It 2019 Working Mothers of the Year Awards know that balance can be more of a pipedream than a reality. But they have the commitment, sacrifice and passion to do what it takes to be successful at home, at the office and in their communities. Each year, She Runs It honors women who have achieved outstanding business results while also serving as strong role models or mentors at work, at home and within their communities. This year’s 22 honorees—along with three “best companies for working families”—will be celebrated on February 28 at a luncheon at Cipriani…

PlayStation. Walgreens. Lowe’s. Carlsberg. Coach. Sony. Groupe PSA. From 2016 through late 2017, several of OMD’s most valuable accounts fell like dominos as the industry-wide string of big-budget reviews continued apace. The Omnicom Media Group hub remains, by most estimates, the world’s largest media network—but after a decade-long run atop the heap, it ranked dead last among 18 agencies on consultancy COMvergence’s 2017 new business report. “If I have the numbers right, we lost about $1.8 billion in business in 2017,” says Florian Adamski, the former Omnicom Media Group Germany chief who ascended to the global CEO role at OMD after a devastating six months with an estimated new-business value of negative $800 million. How did Adweek’s Media Agency of the Year for 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2015 fall…

Growing up in Utah, Eryk Rich’s interest in rappers like Eminem and Dr. Dre fueled his determination to study audio engineering and seek a career in the record industry. Little did he know then that he’d end up teaming with Interscope Records, the label those performers helped grow, to discover up-and-coming artists for a Volkswagen Jetta campaign. As Deutsch’s svp and music director, Rich is in charge of all of the behind-the-scenes work that goes into setting the agency’s creative output to just the right soundtrack—producing audio, signing artists, digging up sometimes-obscure tunes, securing rights and keeping tabs on the latest trends in an ever-changing modern music industry. “[My team says,] ‘OK, we have this great, creative idea. How do we make it pop? How do we tap into the…

Casting animals in TV spots is nothing new, but 33 years ago, computer giant Commodore showed just how effective it could be. In 1986, the computer mouse was still a newfangled device. Tasked with explaining how one worked, agency Ted Bates decided to hire the most logical demonstrator: a cat. As Adweek reported, after auditioning 30 kittens (and firing a Siamese that “got skittish on the set”), producer Elaine Gold went with a white domestic shorthair called Kitty One. The spot featured the feline encountering a Commodore, then pushing the mouse around with its paw. “If the family cat can use a mouse,” Gold told us, “everyone in the family can probably use it.” The ad was a highlight of the holiday season, but Commodore was already losing the home-computer…

Today’s media agencies face a new slew of challenges, as more clients slash budgets, issue RFPs and take everything in-house, from planning to programmatic. But clients aren’t the only ones making big changes. Both OMD and Initiative bounced back from challenging years with strategic pivots, picking up new business from brands like Daimler Mercedes, Liberty Mutual, Revlon and the U.S. Army. Breakthrough network Essence transcended its reputation as Google’s digital resource to score new partnerships with BP, Peloton, T-Mobile and more while doubling its headcount and adding 11 offices around the world. On the work front, these shops proved their media mettle with headlining campaigns for Amazon, McDonald’s, Target, USA Network … and who could forget the International House of Burgers? Read on to find out why these three earned…

In 1979, Ellen Kiam gave her husband Victor a Remington M3 electric shaver. Kiam, a successful businessman who’d always shaved with razors, was impressed. How impressed? “I liked it so much,” he said, “I bought the company.” Kiam delivered that famous line as the star of his own TV spots for Remington, a company he really did buy after putting together a $25 million LBO. A road warrior who’d risen to the executive ranks of Lever Brothers and Playtex, Kiam already knew how to sell. What he likely didn’t know was that his no-frills pitching would make advertising history, opening the door for the likes of Wendy’s Dave Thomas and Chrysler’s Lee Iacocca to become TV spokesmen for their own firms in the years ahead.…