Table of contents for April 18, 2016 in Adweek

If Facebook’s annual F8 developers conference was any indication, the tech giant wants to dominate your life. CEO Mark Zuckerberg laid out a 10-year plan that looks to transform his company into a massive, all-things-virtual endeavor that’s part amusement park, part tech-utilities garden. It aims to be leading the following frontiers: virtual-reality platforms and devices like Oculus Rift; 360-degree cameras; livestreaming—even with drones; Messenger chatbots and other forms of artificial intelligence; and wearables. On chatbots, in particular, Zuckerberg said: “We think you should message a business just the way you would message a friend. To order flowers on 1-800-Flowers, you never have to call 1-800-Flowers again.”…

HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK ARE: MONDAY One-on-one conversation with WPP chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell. 5 p.m. , ITV Stage. TUESDAY Snapchat and Mobile Storytelling: a conversation with Nick Bell, vp of content at Snapchat. Noon, ITV Stage. WEDNESDAY One-on-one conversation with columnist and commentator Piers Morgan. 10 a.m., IPA Stage. THURSDAY An informal interview with Martin Glenn, CEO of The Football Association, and Karen Buchanan, CEO of Publicis London. 4 p.m. , IPA Stage.…

Music streaming services are more popular than ever, and, naturally, no group is leading the charge more than millennials. One of the most popular of those services is Spotify, which provided Adweek with exclusive data to get a better look at this demo. “As the largest global streaming service, we have a deep understanding of millennials from our data on streaming habit,” said Spotify business marketing global director Jeff Rossi. “For marketers looking to reach this highly sought-after group, we understand that millennials are listening more frequently and streaming in more places than nonmillennials, including most often on mobile and desktop as they move from home to school to work. We also see that millennials’ streaming habits are not as impacted by traditional peak consumption periods like prime time or…

Mevo Live Event Camera $299 By now, we all know that livestreaming is the new big thing. But let’s face it: Those shaky videos you’re shooting on your GoPro or iPhone aren’t blowing anyone’s mind. That’s where the Mevo camera comes in. The pocket-size device and accompanying app lets you simultaneously stream and edit professional-looking videos for platforms like Livestream and Facebook Live via Wi-Fi or LTE, or record content for later use. The camera itself is pretty impressive, with a 150° glass lens, 4K sensor and built-in stereo microphones, but where Mevo really shines is its iPhone software. With just a few swipes, you can crop the live image to create up to nine different “shots” and then switch between them, giving viewers the impression that they’re watching from…

Crackle just inked its first distribution deal with a cable provider. Sony’s ad-supported streaming service, which includes shows like Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee and Dennis Quaid drama The Art of More, will be available to Comcast’s 22 million video subscribers this week in time for the cable operator’s annual Watchathon Week. Crackle is set to hold its second upfront this week, following years of being part of the Digital Content NewFronts.…

Specs Current gig Global head of digital, Bloomberg Media Previous gig Svp, digital, Time Inc. Twitter @msh200 Age 44 Why did you want to come over to Bloomberg from Time? The resources at this company are pretty amazing for somebody like me who really wants to build editorial and data-driven products on a global scale. It offered an opportunity that truly is unrivaled and unsurpassed in a media market which is challenged right now. I was really interested in growing my experience in international expansion. That wasn’t something that I had done before and wasn’t going to be able to do too much of it at Time. And video, I really saw the opportunity here, given that we have a linear cable TV channel and a robust digital original video…

‘I can’t thank the celestial lords and ladies enough for the gift of this election season. It’s been incredible.’ One of TBS and TNT president Kevin Reilly’s earliest big bets has already paid off handsomely: Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, the former Daily Show correspondent’s new weekly series (which is considered a late-night show even though it airs Mondays at 10:30), has given TBS more buzz and critical acclaim than it’s had in years. Mixing astute, biting political humor with clever field pieces, the show established Bee as a singular late-night voice minutes into its Feb. 8 debut. With an average weekly audience of 3.7 million across linear and digital platforms, Full Frontal was recently picked up for 26 additional episodes, extending its 2016 order to 39 episodes. (Two days…

Kids are naturally curious, but that curiosity is often tempered by gender stereotyping—boys can build stuff, girls can’t. But, thankfully, all that is changing, and with help from littleBits, a New York-based electronics kit startup, kids—regardless of gender—are gaining more access than ever to the tools that help them create inventions. LittleBits’ mission to democratize hardware is spearheaded by founder Ayah Bdeir, a 2011 MIT graduate, TED senior fellow and co-founder of the Open Hardware Summit. Since the firm wants to help kids embrace STEAM—science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics—it must also have an office that does the same. “We wanted to create a space to mirror littleBits the product—modular, playful, open and design-focused,” said littleBits marketing vp Alyson Shapero, “And to inspire the team to do amazing work to…

Buick and GMC According to sources with direct knowledge of the matter, General Motors has issued a “blind” RFP concerning its Buick and GMC brands. This means the company is looking for new agencies to handle the accounts, which spent nearly $500 million on measured media in 2015, according to Kantar Media. Leo Burnett has been lead creative shop for Buick and GMC since 2007, with DigitasLBi handling digital work. A client spokesperson declined to comment. 1 Nat Geo 332.3m 2 NBA 322m 3 NFL 168.3m 4 WWE 153.4m 5 Tasty 143.7m Nat Geo Leads Engagement While sports dominate Americans’ social engagement, it’s a print brand that leads in social interactions. According to Shareablee’s list of the Top 25 Social U.S. Brands in Q1 2016, National Geographic had 332.3 million…

Whisper’s treasure trove of candid omissions by the mobile app’s burgeoning millennial and Gen Z audience stands to be an intriguing opportunity for brands that want to connect with consumers on such personal levels. And that’s essentially the idea behind the Venice, Calif.-based tech company’s latest offering—a polling feature meant to attract packaged-goods brands, retailers and other marketers. Called Whisper Polls, the product has recently been utilized by the tech company to supply periodicals like Cosmopolitan, Glamour and Teen Vogue with gratis data for their editorial needs. Brands will have to pay an undisclosed sum for the polls, as this development marks Whisper’s latest monetization move.…

It’s possible to build your own virtual reality play place if you’re willing to devote some time, money and manpower to gathering high-tech pieces and learning how to use them. But first, here’s a great hack: Get on a platform developer list, like Sony or Samsung or HTC, so you can try out the latest gadgets first. What you’ll need: Head-mounted devices like the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, smartphones, Google Cardboard. Team One’s collection shows the quick progression and streamlining of the hardware over just a few years, with models from 18 months ago already looking cumbersome and clunky. VR development station, aka a computer, with the brand ASUS being a hot commodity in the space. Development software such as Unreal (game engine), Adobe Suite (design tools), Cinema 4D (3-D…

This is not another rant. Every now and then, the debate about “awards for awards’ sake” pops up in our industry, and I think that’s good. I think that’s healthy. No doubt the skeptics have a point when they point their fingers at ideas created purely for juries. We’ve seen the trend of big winners being small ideas that wouldn’t survive the brutal world of real brands. But we can’t let a few dishonorable works make the real work any less honorable. The shows and wins and trophies and titles push our people, brands, agencies and our industry forward. I openly and wholeheartedly believe in awards. This is not a love affair in disguise or an obsession in denial. I’ll be the first to admit that winning is an exciting…

April 4 was a day that Turner president David Levy had been looking forward to “for many, many years,” he says. For the first time in television history, his networks TBS, TNT and truTV carried the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Final. The game did not disappoint, as Villanova’s Kris Jenkins sunk a game-winning three-point shot at the buzzer to secure the win. Afterwards, a jubilant Levy and his team gathered at their Houston hotel. “There was this feeling of, let’s always remember we crowned a champion after what is probably the best championship game in the history of the tournament,” says Levy. “It meant a lot to Turner to have this type of game forever be in the history books, and that it happened on TBS.” A 30-year veteran of…

THE DOLL Samantha Parkington, who is a “bright Victorian beauty being raised by her wealthy grandmother in 1904,” has been part of the line since 1986. THE OUTFIT Like all American Girl dolls, Samantha comes with a period outfit that’s also available for girls. Samantha’s pink polka-dot dress sells in a human size for $58 retail. THE FURNITURE American Girl’s à la carte pricing means accessories like this white wicker canopy bed and lacy sheet set ($150) are sold separately. Late in 2013, a new crop of videos began surfacing on YouTube. They featured everyday themes like going food shopping and eating out. One of them even notched over 14 million hits. Their amateur directors (nearly all of them young girls) shot the films using stop-motion animation. By last year,…

Specs Age 55 Claim to fame Stars as August Pullman on WGN America’s Underground (Wednesdays, 10 p.m.) Base Los Angeles Twitter @Chris_Meloni What’s the first information you consume in the morning? Newspapers via my iPad. I read The New York Times and Wall Street Journal. You’re pretty prolific on Twitter, posting everything from political thoughts to beard selfies. How did you get started on there? It was about three years ago. I got involved through a woman named Tracey Pennywell who actually does this for a living. She managed my account, got me started, and then I took over. I treat it as a creative outlet. I’ve started thinking more that maybe I should just save that for my Facebook, but you can’t do Facebook and Insta and Twitter. After…