Table of contents for April 03, 2017 in Adweek

Last fall, Samsung faced potentially its biggest crisis as a brand when a design flaw caused batteries in its brand-new Galaxy Note 7 smartphones to catch fire. Since then, Samsung has worked to show users and nonusers alike that it had learned from its mistakes and could be trusted again. That test of trust began last week in earnest, as Samsung showed off the new Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+. It also debuted its most ambitious marketing campaign yet with a series of spots created with R/GA, Turner Duckworth, Leo Burnett and Wieden + Kennedy. Over the next few months, the campaign will roll out in three phases, with a nature-themed series debuting at launch, followed by others focusing on the regular people and content creators who use the products.…

For years, buyers have struggled with the disconnect between the “inordinate amount of time” they spend defining custom targets and audiences for their clients, “and then ultimately, when we go to market, we end up buying a Nielsen age/sex demo, adults 18-49. It’s entirely disingenuous to the front part of the process,” said David Cohen, president, North America, Magna Global. While almost all of the TV media companies have been rolling out their own data platforms to transact more advertising based on metrics outside of the traditional age and gender demos, NBCUniversal is making the biggest push yet to transition brands into making targeted audience buys. Last month, the company announced it was committing $1 billion in 2017 advertising inventory to data-based, non-Nielsen transactions in this year’s upfront and scatter…

‘I’m trying to get to a place where we can have a different kind of conversation where the goal isn’t to just bludgeon the other side.’ Van Jones surprised his CNN colleagues the evening of Feb. 28 when he effusively praised a portion of President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress: “He became president of the United States in that moment, period,” the left-leaning political commentator proclaimed. “That was one of the most extraordinary moments you have ever seen in American politics. Period.” Jones was referring to the moving moment when the president honored the widow of William “Ryan” Owens, the Navy SEAL who was killed during the January raid in Yemen. It became yet another viral sound bite from the commentator, who has been one of…

Could the cloud begin to cast a shadow on consultancies sooner than forecasters expected? After a year of global consultancies acquiring creative agencies and digital shops to get a better grasp on the marketing industry, a report in the British IT press raises an unexpected question of whether the firewall between CRMs and consultancies will ever come down. Last week, British outlet The Register reported that CRM powerhouse Oracle had hired global specialists to explore a potential acquisition of Accenture, the Dublin, Ireland-based consultancy. While most analysts have been quick to say a deal of this type or size is highly unlikely, the prospect of a successful joining of these companies—or any others of similar nature—would dramatically shake up the marketing ecosystem and shift long-held notions that software companies and…

MANAGED SERVICE NBCU’s Audience Targeting Platform (ATP) combines the Audience Studio’s data assets with other first- or third-party data (some of which can be supplied by clients), and the company’s technology recommends what clients should purchase across its portfolio. “We guarantee the delivery of the audience segment that is mutually agreed on with the client,” said Rosen. Previously only open to limited brand segments in the upfront, it is now accessible to all clients, in both upfront and scatter. LINEAR PROGRAMMATIC This option is for clients and agencies that prefer to use their own data set and make their own investment decisions, rather than have NBCU handle that, as is the case with ATP. First offered six months ago in scatter only, it’s also now available in the upfront market.…

THE RIM The Solo cup comes in 9- and 18-ounce sizes, but the big one is what most everyone likes. It can hold a pint of beer, with enough room for foam. THE COLOR Robert Hulseman enlisted the help of his children to choose the colors of the cups, and he personally liked blue best—but red outsells them all. THE DENT Added in 2009, these “ergonomic grips”— as the company calls them—ensure a more “reliable hold.” They also make a convenient place to put the brand name. A few days after Christmas last year, Toby Keith took to Twitter to pay a bit of tribute. It was all of 41 characters, but the sentiment was genuine: “Raise one for this good man today,” Keith wrote. “RIP #RedSoloCup.” The platinum-selling country…

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It’s a digital world, but consumers increasingly are seeking out entertainment from a source that’s decidedly analog: board games. In the last year, board game sales in the U.S. grew by 28 percent, per NPD Group, and global sales increased to $9.6 billion in 2016 from $9.3 billion in 2013, according to Euromonitor International. “It plays into the nesting trend,” said Juli Lennett, toy industry analyst at NPD Group. “More people are binge watching and cooking at home, and they’re also playing board games at home, rather than going for an expensive night out. Instead of Snapchat or texting, it gives people an opportunity to come together face to face and have fun.” Riding this wave is Hasbro, owner of the granddaddy of board games, Monopoly, which debuted in 1935.…

Specs Current gig Global head of Bloomberg Live Previous gig CEO, Robb Report Twitter @stephencolvin Age 56 You’ve been the CEO of media companies including the Robb Report, the Newsweek Daily Beast Company and Dennis Publishing. Why take a job focusing on live events? Bloomberg is an amazing company. Great products, great people, and the chocolate almonds at our offices aren’t too bad either, by the way. But events have always been a pretty important thread with all the media companies that I’ve worked with, going back to way before I came to the U.S. when I was in the U.K. I’ve always been a huge believer in the role that events play as a very powerful, engaging media platform. It seems like every company is investing in events. How…