Indice dei contenuti per October 22, 2018 in Adweek

Eight years ago, Instagram was nothing more than a new social media app designed to share grainy photos of food, friends and family. A billion-dollar acquisition and a few years later, Instagram is turning into a leading contender in the social commerce space, with the platform evolving from a place for influencers and normals to one where brands can thrive and create whole businesses. Several data breaches at Facebook, and Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger abruptly leaving the company in September hasn’t done much to dissuade brands and analysts from seeing the future of Instagram as a social shopping hub. However, before the platform gets to that point, many are hoping for new tools to monetize the platform—as long as Facebook doesn’t get too involved. “When we envision…

Advertising pioneers like J. Walter Thompson and Raymond Rubicam built creative empires that dominated the industry for decades. That era may be nearing its end. Insufficient self-branding, limitations imposed by the holding company model and client-dedicated units led to the decline of once-potent agency brands. Holding companies have responded by consolidating struggling creative agencies with other offerings, a trend that shows no signs of slowing. “It seems to me that the devaluation of agency brands and the devaluation of creativity are moving in lockstep,” Ad Contrarian blogger and BadMen author Bob Hoffman said, leading shops to attempt to be “everything at once.” He added, “We do the opposite of what we tell our clients to do.” Doublebit Narrative partner, brand language strategist and Interbrand veteran Caitlin Barrett attributes branding issues…

There must be a better way—a solution that’s more cost efficient, less stress inducing, more socially beneficial and less environmentally destructive. | The founders of the feisty, status quo-defying brands in Adweek’s first-ever Challenger Brands issue started with precepts like these, identifying pain points in industries as varied as home insurance, group exercise, dental health and women’s cosmetics and finding completely new answers to everyday consumer problems. Now that they have—some with nine-figure revenue to show for their efforts—all eyes are on them. | “You get pressure from the top because the big guys wake up,” says Courtney Nichols Gould, co-founder of SmartyPants Vitamins, “and there’s pressure from below because you’ve cleared the decks.” | See from these 15 examples how all that compaction created some fairly fabulous diamonds.…

THE SUN Among the subtle changes William Fuld made to the board in the late 1800s are the stylized sun and moon, denoting “yes” and “no,” respectively. THE NAME Contrary to popular belief, Ouija is not the union of the French word “oui” and German “ja.” It’s a fabulized term that supposedly just means “good luck.” THE PLANCHETTE Originally a tool for automatic writing, the planchette swapped a pen holder for a window when it took its place on the Ouija board. Forty-five years ago, Americans flocked to theaters to see The Exorcist. Many were sorry they did. The movie—which many consider the scariest of all time—made the news after audiences began fainting, crying and running out of theaters. As Linda Blair’s character Regan MacNeil demonstrated, demonic possession is no…

The Microsoft co-founder, pictured (r.) with Bill Gates, passed away on Oct. 15 at age 65 due to complications related to non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Allen left the company after eight years but not before leaving a massive mark on the personal computing revolution. He remained on the Microsoft board until 2000. Allen also left his mark as a philanthropist, real estate mogul and sports owner: He had stakes in the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks and NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers and was part owner of Major League Soccer’s Seattle Sounders FC.…

When Canadian coffee and doughnut chain Tim Hortons learned about Kenya’s only hockey team, the Kenya Ice Lions, the brand decided to give 12 of the amateur players an unforgettable trip to the home of hockey. Upon arriving in Canada, the players were surprised with top-of-the-line gear, custom jerseys and a team to finally play against. But they also had a few unexpected visitors lace up and join their starting line: global hockey stars Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon. Canadian agency Zulu Alpha Kilo created a video of the stunt.…

A recent article in Forbes showed that 64 percent of consumers make a purchase after viewing a branded social video. Another one stated that marketers who use video grow revenue 49 percent faster than nonvideo users. The evidence is staggering: Video is everywhere, and it is a key business driver. Whether it’s a how-to video, behind-the-scenes clip, brand origin story or product demo, video is quickly becoming the communications tool of choice for individuals, brands and businesses of all shapes and sizes. It’s simple and essential: If you want to reach your audience effectively, you have to use video. Predictably, with opportunities come challenges, one of the greatest being the creative bottleneck of video creation. Increased demand, decreased shelf life, the high volume of assets needed and disposability of those…

When Jay Kamath first hit the job market with his newly earned architecture degree in 2005, the advice he received from those in the field wasn’t exactly encouraging. “A lot of architects I was meeting were saying, verbatim, ‘Don’t become an architect,’” Kamath said. “So I was like, ‘Oh, that’s a red flag.’” Luckily, Kamath had already begun to discover that his interests lied elsewhere. While he still credits his undergraduate education for immersing him in the world of design, he had simultaneously developed an overlapping side passion for computer graphics, where he felt he might have more of an opportunity to mold projects in his own vision. He enrolled in an advertising design master’s program at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Brandcenter before locking down an art director internship at Wieden…

After news broke that DDB recently hired former Droga5 CCO Ted Royer, who was fired from the agency in February, Time’s Up issued a statement Wednesday night calling the resulting controversy an opportunity to “reiterate” its own reason for being. DDB worldwide CEO Wendy Clark, one of the group’s most visible leaders, also acknowledged making a “mistake” and agreed to step down from the 10-woman Time’s Up steering committee, though she will remain a member of the larger group. “Our signatories are accountable to the values of the mission,” the statement read. “We hold the women who signed, and their agencies, accountable for a process of change.”…

HOLO Founded in 2017 and based in Germany, it says it is developing a new way of building and running apps on users’ devices. BLOCKSTACK Founded in 2013, this New York-based startup is also building an internet for decentralized apps. INTERPLANETARY FILE SYSTEM (IPFS) Founded in 2014, this Palo Alto, Calif., company is working on a peer-to-peer hypermedia protocol that will replace HTTP. MAIDSAFE Established in 2006, this U.K. firm is building a decentralized system called the Safe Network. STORJ Founded in 2015, this Atlanta-based company wants to bring blockchain and peer-to-peer protocols to cloud storage.…

Brands that want to capitalize on millennial holiday shopping need to focus on becoming a hot topic of conversation. According to new research from PopSugar Insights, 40 percent of millennial women cite talking with friends and family as a top influence when it comes to shopping for the holidays, compared with less than 10 percent who say the same of social media and in-store shopping. “For millennials, last-minute shopping is a thing of the past,” said Rob McLoughlin, vp, PopSugar Insights. “This generation of energized holiday shoppers relies on conversation with friends and family as well as digital content for inspiration and turns to online retailers, led by Amazon, to purchase.” Where women get their holiday gifting inspiration…