Table of contents for Sep-07-15 in Adweek

When it comes to trusting brands, there appears to be a definite gender divide. According to a recent Harris Poll EquiTrend study ranking the most-trusted consumer packaged-goods brands among the sexes, women were most likely to favor brands that make life easier (Ziploc bags, Dawn dish soap, Q-Tips), while men chose a mix of brands both practical (Duracell batteries, Ticonderoga pencils) and indulgent (Glenlivet whiskey, Ghirardelli chocolate). Here, the CPG brands men and women trust most: MOST-TRUSTED CPG BRANDS AMONG MEN 1 Band-Aid Adhesive Bandages 2 Heinz Ketchup 3 Neosporin Antiseptic 4 Reynolds Aluminum Foil 5 Duracell Batteries MOST TRUSTED CPG BRANDS AMONG WOMEN 1 Ziploc Food Storage Bags 2 Band-Aid Adhesive Bandages 3 Reynolds Aluminum Foil 4 Neosporin Antiseptic 5 Dawn Dish Soap…

In the constantly shifting and often convoluted world of media, two major industry movements are currently under way that will shape how content is produced and business gets done: the rise of programmatic ad buying—you might have heard something about that over the last 18 months or so—and a growing openness on the part of sellers to work more closely and collaboratively with creative. Firstly, and in a nutshell, the vaunted rise of the programmatic age has resulted in data being used to reach niche audience/consumer targets across multiple channels and driving efficiency and results. Though one can get data-driven insight without programmatic buying, it has certainly made it easier to activate the data to target an audience. From digital to more recently television, the sale of media inventory is…

The best creative work loses all its power if it isn’t seen or experienced in the right setting or context. That’s why we at Adweek honor the media plan, arguably the most important part of the marketing process. The plans celebrated in this section bristle with tech innovations, from our inaugural Programmatic, Data and Insights plans to the personalization of TV spots and “magic mirrors” that transform your ordinary wheels into the car of your dreams. But, coming full circle, it’s the creativity and originality of these plans that make them deliver the goods for the client. Congratulations to all the winners. THE JUDGES THE MEDIA PLAN OF THE YEAR COMPETITION EARNS ITS CREDIBILITY FROM THE PANEL OF INDUSTRY PEERS WHO JUDGE THE WORK. ADWEEK OFFERS A HEARTY THANKS TO:…

When buying consumer goods, Germans tend to go for the cheapest price without considering the brand behind the sale—so the country’s biggest entertainment electronics retailer Media Markt has worked to heighten public awareness by running loud, often ridiculous campaigns. In order to encourage price-focused consumers to interact directly with the brand, Media Markt’s agency partners at UM turned a simple series of rabbit races into a branded-content sporting event nearly as popular among Germans as the 2014 World Cup. Three such races were broadcast simultaneously on YouTube, Germany’s nine largest private TV stations and the homepage of its biggest newspaper as bloggers and traditional print/digital journalists covered the event from every possible angle. The race itself was hosted by one of Germany’s best-known sports pundits and filmed at an “arena”…

Zenith had a tough assignment for its first campaign with FX: How do you promote a TV series that has already featured haunted houses, insane asylums and magic-conjuring witches—the last of which stood as FX’s most-watched season to date? To create buzz for the fourth installment of FX’s American Horror Story franchise, Zenith created two unique audiences: “Miss American Horror” and “Offbeat Freakster,” which targeted socially influential millennial fans and young, unconventional hipsters. The “Take a Second Look” strategy asked viewers to go beyond what they thought they initially saw and implored fans to join its “Embrace Your Inner Freak” movement, which was designed for viewers to celebrate their own individuality. The campaign used the hashtag #WirSindAlleFreaks (German for We Are All Freaks) and included a full-screen mobile interstitial on…

Porsche’s latest addition to its stable of luxury sport cars is the Macan—an SUV that also comes with the lowest sticker price of any Porsche to date. With a more affordable price tag, the brand could now appeal to young professionals, a demographic that traditionally viewed Porsche as inaccessible. Drawing inspiration from the campaign tagline that “Every car should be a sports car,” Omnicom’s Ignition Factory set to make that a reality by creating an augmented valet experience that brought the brand to life for shoppers at a Beverly Hills mall. The idea was simple: put a new generation of affluent shoppers into the Macan. When drivers entered the parking garage to have their cars valeted, a life-size rendering of the new Porsche appeared. Using software that identified and tracked…

To give fashion fans a sneak peek at the Alexander Wang x clothing collection at the department store H&M, media agency UM turned to Twitter as “the key to unlock the mysterious box of Wang.” The IPG shop aimed to show fashionistas around the world that its client had the most exclusive apparel from a leading designer, and it built buzz (while downplaying competitors’ campaigns) by focusing on bloggers and social media influencers in the high-fashion vertical. First, the client created a literal box that appeared in London’s St. Christopher’s Place. Curious fans could only view the fashion-forward contents of the box by tweeting the campaign’s hashtag, and H&M followed by sending both personalized tweets and images/videos of the Wang items in question to these aficionados. Using this strategy, UM…

THE CLAIM The “can help” bit is a softening of earlier wording: “lower your cholesterol 4% in 6 weeks.” In 2009, the FDA ruled that only drugs can make such claims. THE BOWL Cheerios marketed the health benefits of whole oats from the start. But the addition of the heart-shaped bowl in 1996 sold that message better than any verbiage. THE O’S After Lester Borchardt perfected his puffing machine, General Mills tested 10 different shapes before settling on the ring, which also floats quite nicely. It was 1941, and Lester Borchardt had a crazy idea. His employer, General Mills, was looking for a product that would compete with Wheaties and Corn Flakes in the growing ready-to-eat cereal category. The competing brands were made from corn; General Mills placed its bet…

As the most high-profile tenant of One World Trade Center, Condé Nast had a February move-in date that was talked about in the press for years before the building was even finished. Now, six months later and on the eve of New York’s fall Fashion Week, Teen Vogue’s editor in chief Amy Astley gave us an exclusive tour of her new downtown space. The art on the walls is especially meaningful to her. “All of it is personal,” she said. “Photos from people who shoot for us; sketches of me by artists, former interns or Teen Vogue fans; Irving Penn images of flowers and models. All of it is meaningful and triggers happy memories.” The move was also an opportunity for Astley to ensure that only her most cherished mementos…

The late-night wars are back! Stephen Colbert wasted no time putting his imprint on The Late Show by unveiling an eclectic lineup of guests for his debut week on CBS. In addition to welcoming George Clooney and Jeb Bush on his Sept. 8 premiere, Colbert made a splash with several atypical bookings, including Elon Musk and Uber CEO Travis Kalanick. (He then doubled-down by announcing second-week guests including Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.) Not to be outdone, Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show countered on Sept. 1 with a huge booking of its own: a Sept. 11 appearance by Donald Trump, returning to NBC for the first time since the network cut professional ties with him June 29. (Fallon also scheduled Justin Timberlake and Carrie Underwood to…

Beth Comstock becomes the first female vice chair of GE. McKinney hires Kerry Fitzmaurice as managing director in New York, promotes Walt Barron to chief strategy officer. Dan Donovan returns to McCann New York as executive creative director. Jamie Gutfreund joins Wunderman as global CMO. Carmelo Anthony becomes a founding partner of Vice Media’s new sports channel, The Clubhouse. Alvaro Cabrera moves to DigitasLBi as chief strategy officer for North America. Ogilvy vet Bruce Henderson steps down as chief creative officer at Geometry Global.…

National Football League games are the biggest draw in broadcast television, with national telecasts averaging more than 20 million weekly viewers last season for one network—NBCalone. While the league’s digital presence has also been growing (NBC’s streamed games averaged a record 3.3 million unique users last season, up 9 percent year over year), the NFL this season plans to livestream more games than ever across multiple platforms, including digital partners CBS Sports and Yahoo, and offer fans a comprehensive paid subscription service featuring premium content. To help make viewing a beefed-up, more seamless experience for fans, the NFL will announce on Tuesday that it has rolled up all its subscription offerings into one package called Domestic NFL Game Pass. The service, which will cost $99 per year, will include NFL…

As September ushers in the official start of football season, fans all over are gearing up to follow their favorite teams—and brand marketers are once again in on the action. In its annual survey, IPG Media Lab found that fans of pro football watch nearly four games every Sunday and that those who tailgate plan to spend almost $600 on food over the season. “Considering professional football makes up nearly one-third of all sports viewing on TV, and it’s almost always viewed live, these findings are important for advertisers,” said Kara Manatt, IPG Media Lab’s vp, consumer research strategy. “Aligning with professional football allows advertisers to associate their brand with the ‘big event’ and reach a large, passionate audience at the same time.” So from a brand standpoint, tailgaters, couch…

Equipped with the insight that a girl’s confidence plummets during puberty, hits a low after her first period and sometimes never bounces back, P&G’s Always, working with media agency Starcom MediaVest Group, created a campaign to inspire. It aimed to take the phrase “like a girl” and turn it into a symbol of power for young women. SMG targeted its key audiencemillennials—on mobile, where they constantly consume and share content. Cristina Torres, SMG’s vp, communications planning director, says the agency designed the campaign to be sharable across social channels, and to “live seamlessly in the video environment.” To date, the video has racked up 90 million views and counting, with 65 percent coming from social sharing in the first week. During the Super Bowl, SMG ran the #LikeAGirl spot after…

Coolbox $199 Your next marathon Ikea assembly project is about to get a lot more enjoyable thanks to the Indiegogo-funded Coolbox. This souped-up toolbox boasts a bevy of useful features, like a rechargeable internal battery for charging your iPhone or powering small tools, an extension cord, power strip, Bluetooth speakers, USB ports, LED floodlights, clock, tablet stand and whiteboard—on top of holding a full bench worth of tools. When your project is complete, pop the cap off a cold one with Coolbox’s built-in bottle opener. Buy it: coolbox.io FASHION Out, Damned Spot Kelby & Co. Slim Indigo Chambray Shirt $110 Are you one of those people who can’t seem to wear a shirt without spilling something on it? Kelby & Co. has you covered. The New York-based startup…

Hulu has been working steadily over the past year to close the gap with Netflix, and last week the company unveiled a true game changer in its battle with other streaming services: a commercial-free option for subscribers. The new ad-free plan goes for $11.99 per month, $4 more than what it charges for “limited commercials.” According to reports, YouTube may also be jumping on the commercial-free bandwagon with the launch of two separate subscription services—one for music and another for premium video content—by the end of this year. “Tom Brady’s stock just went up even higher.”David Srere, co-ceo, chief strategy officer, Siegel+ Gale, to adweek on the New England Patriot QB’s brand marketability following a federal court decision to erase the NFL’s four-game suspension for his role in deflategate.…

In a summer stuffed with more TV options than ever, the most buzzed about show wasn’t Orange Is the New Black or True Detective, but Mr. Robot, USA’s acclaimed new hacker drama. An antithesis to USA’s usual “blue skies” formula, Mr. Robot grabbed fans early on (its massive prelinear debut drew 2.7 million viewers) including Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner. Averaging 1.2 million in adults 18-49 each week in live-plus-three, it helped make USA summer’s No. 1 cable entertainment network in the demo. The network also found success with another inventive experiment: a new VOD windowing strategy for Season 2 of comedy Playing House, in which each episode debuted on VOD a week before airing on USA. President Chris McCumber talked about the network’s transformative summer. Mr. Robot was such…

When it comes to basic clothing items—the T-shirts and trousers that are the foundation of all our wardrobes—millennials continue to shun brick-and-mortar chains like Gap and J.Crew while flocking to direct-to-consumer retailers like AYR, Cuyana and Everlane. It isn’t only that younger consumers prefer shopping online. It is also that millennialswith an estimated spending power of $2.45 trillion, per You Brand—are graduating from fast fashion. At the same time, they are drawn to the superior service and deals that are defining elements of the Web-based stores. “The explosion of smartphones and really powerful apps in mobile are changing the way people shop, especially for things like basics where you don’t need to try on one T-shirt versus another,” said Allen Adamson, North American chairman at brand consultancy Landor Associates. Traditional…

Can you explain the Trilia name? Trilia is a mashup of “true” and “real.” It reflects how we approach every relationship we have—with clients, with tech and content partners and with each other. The open triangle reflects our belief that pricing transparency is absolutely critical to a solid relationship with our clients. If you look at the conversation in our industry in the last few months, we see a general lack of transparency that we think is bad for business. Why a stand-alone agency? We had one primary objective in mind when launching Trilia. We wanted to be able to invest in tools, technology and data sets to give our current clients an edge in the marketplace. To do that, we needed to be in a position to create a…

After spending two years developing a mobile ordering app, Taco Bell wanted to spur rapid adoption among its loyal fans. With a goal of 2 million new app users, Taco Bell hired DigitasLBi to find a way to reach fans on their mobile phones and activate easy download. Instead of adding to Taco Bell’s already active social strategy, everything was taken away, blacking out each channel and directing visitors to the new app. For 72 hours, Taco Bell’s digital presence went dark, leaving only one message on Twitter: “The new way to Taco Bell isn’t on Twitter, it’s #OnlyInTheApp.” Similar messages were placed on Facebook, Instagram and various online sites “I think the first part of this was a lot of measuring twice, cutting once, and going to great lengths…

DigitasLBi focused on the little things to drive big results in its 24-episode “EveryDay Genius” campaign developed last year to introduce the American Express EveryDay credit card. The product was aimed at a new target for the company: multitasking, suburban moms not as caught up in fine dining or pricey travel as the typical AmEx cardholder. Data revealed that the target audience wanted practical tips and household shortcuts—in modern parlance, life hacks—but felt overwhelmed by the amount of information available. The key to gaining their attention and trust, the agency determined, was to put popular hacks to the test and find the best ones. Kari Byron, longtime costar of Mythbusters, hosted a series of Web videos with subjects ranging from how to safely carve a jack-o-lantern to the proper procedures…

Few marketers, especially beauty brands, have made it their mission to improve their consumers’ self-esteem. That’s what Unilever brand Dove has done, making inroads since 2004 with its “Campaign for Real Beauty.” But a lot can change in a decade. “In 2004 women were fundamentally benchmarking themselves against the images in a magazine,” says Cindy Gustafson, managing director of the invention studio at Mindshare. “And in 10 years there’s been an incredible seismic shift because of the advent of social media and technology. The fact is this is where women are now taking their self-esteem cues from.” Mindshare analyzed 18 million tweets and found that a third of them contained negative beauty or body image content, and women were 50 percent more likely to tweet negatively about themselves. Dove decided…

When Jimmy Fallon took over The Tonight Show from Jay Leno last year, GE knew that the hosting change was “a huge cultural moment” the company wanted to be a part of, notes Laura Correnti, group account director, The Grid. And when the company, which has been looking to move away from traditional advertising and into brand programming, discovered that Fallon was also a patented inventor and science nut, “it was the ultimate perfect storm,” says Correnti. So GE and The Grid (OMD’s GE-dedicated agency, which is a joint venture between OMD and innovation agency Giant Spoon) teamed with The Tonight Show to create Fallonventions, a seven- to eight-minute live segment in which kid inventors demonstrated their new products for Fallon, who countered with some wacky creations of his own.…

No one can dispute the success or ubiquity of Coca-Cola’s “Share a Coke” campaign, which substituted the iconic Coke logo with people’s names in a bid to personalize their carbonated experience. But how to keep it bubbly? Coke and MediaCom U.K. planted the flag for Year 2 of the campaign in England, giving viewers of Channel 4’s 4oD digital catch-up TV platform (now called All 4) a chance to see their own names on bottles—a potential reach of 11 million. Led by Chris Binns, managing partner and head of engineering, MediaCom U.K. latched onto 4oD subscribers’ sign-in names to create personalized ads for each viewer, ending the messages with the tagline “Share a Coke With …” followed by the viewer’s name on the bottle. In total, the effort generated 4…

What’s the first information you consume in the morning? The first thing I do is turn on the Howard Stern Show. If Howard’s not on, I’ll listen to Morning Edition or something on NPR. It’s very important to me that the first thing I do in the morning is listen to something. So I’ve heard that you don’t use any social media. That is true. How have you managed to do that? [Laughs] I mean, people always ask me to [join social media], for a job that wants me to promote something or stuff like that, but nobody’s ever been able to make me do it. Although that would be amazing—I would love to see somebody tweeting under duress. [Laughs] But from the very beginning, when IM-ing first became a…