Table of contents for September 16, 2019 in Adweek

NOV. 3-6 • PALM SPRINGS, CALIF. • TICKETS AVAILABLE AT BRANDWEEK.COM Adweek: How do you navigate marketing and advertising in the age of rapid consumer feedback that can be both good and bad? Rassi: I think it’s mainly good. The more we hear from customers, the more we can adjust to make sure we’re offering the right things both in terms of the experience and from a marketing point of view. When we get feedback, it’s also free insights we should use in a more real-time way. In the past, we may have relied on a survey you get back in six weeks. It’s a gift when feedback is always-on. We can keep a pulse on what customers care about, how are we doing, what can we be doing better.…

Competitions have been part of the marketer’s playbook for as long as anyone can remember. And while some of them can be pretty strange (the annual competition to make prom attire out of Duck Tape, for instance), none coaxed the shivers like Combat’s World’s Largest Roach contest. Though Combat no longer holds the event, back in the 1980s and early ’90s, it drew the attention of major newspapers and magazines—including Adweek, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. In 1992, the judging was in New York, where 2,000 entrants from 27 states mailed their (mostly dead) roaches in hopes of collecting $50,000 in prize money. Of particular interest to our reporter was a diorama called “Lifestyles of the Roach and Famous.” Say what you want, the contest delivered scores…

Build with your audience in mind. “As our population becomes more diverse, it is critical for publishers to develop content that speaks to the “new general market,” whether that’s in English or Spanish,” said Dobarro. Remain innovative. “You can’t get too comfortable. You always have to make sure to keep working to serve your audience well and produce the best content every day, even if you are a celebrated company,” said Guerrero.…

Step into a time machine to early 2016, and you would have found me, a 37-year-old agency owner, wanting to “see the change and be the change” while living my day-to-day without truly disrupting or changing a damn thing. I was actively repressing my inner desires to change the world (or die trying), and that made for a very disgruntled self. As a creative, denying your inner disruptor can eat you alive. Let’s not do that, shall we? Instead, here’s how you can tap into your inner disruptor, change the world and keep your day job. What’s in it for you? First things first: Be honest. What’s in it for you? If you walk a path toward disruption, there must be a personal reward. Without any self-service, you’ll run out…

AS TROPICAL STORM DORIAN BORE DOWN ON PUERTO RICO LAST MONTH, ITS WHIRLING WINDS THREATENING TO REACH HURRICANE FORCE, A TEAM OF WALMART EMPLOYEES WATCHED closely from an array of screens at the retailer’s Arkansas headquarters 2,000 miles away. Had the severity grown to crisis levels, Lucas Mc-Donald, a former TV weatherman who leads the chain’s emergency operations, might have called in dozens of workers to support the handful who are posted at the division’s command center in 24/7 shifts. The full-house team—typically assembled only a few times a year—would help coordinate relief efforts, adjust supply routes and disseminate information to affected stores, a playbook the company has perfected through two exceptionally hectic hurricane seasons. “Right now, we’re having conversations with some of our merchants on when the right time to…

A feature-length piece about the history of Venice’s oldest Jewish ghetto (dating back to 1516) with a dollop of suggestions for modern visitors. A mini-profile on a mixologist, with an informative Q&A (apparently, the shape and size of an ice cube matters for your drink). A tips-and-tricks post on five places to go on the bullet train when in Tokyo (Kusatsu Onsen looks heavenly). This mix of high- and lowbrow content, written by journalists who have been published in outlets like The Washington Post, The Guardian and Travel + Leisure, could easily slot in any mainstream travel publication. And that is exactly what Marriott wants you to think. The 92-year-old hotel chain is placing a big bet on what content—from advertising and marketing to feature stories and documentaries across digital…

As a student at Syracuse University, Kelsey Davis was already landing video gigs with companies like Coca-Cola, Condé Nast and Land Rover. She quickly realized how difficult it was to be a creative freelancer in a high-intensity academic environment and succeed at both. That’s when she had the idea to start Cllctve, a digital platform and multimedia agency that connects college creatives looking for paying jobs with major brands, both locally and globally. Why do you think it’s so important for brands to start including Gen Z creatives in their content efforts? Traditional advertising agencies and in-house production teams are having trouble scaling their creative production process while effectively maintaining quality control and authentic brand voice among Gen Z consumers. By 2021, the content marketing industry will consist of agencies…

JULY 2015 AccuWeather releases its commercial weather portal, which ties together many of its corporate services with hyperlocal weather data for business clients. OCTOBER 2015 IBM announces its acquisition of the Weather Company for a reported $2 billion. JUNE 2016 The two companies release their first joint product, Deep Thunder, a hyperlocal forecasting platform that helps businesses better understand consumer purchase behavior. SEPTEMBER 2017 IBM draws on the Weather Company’s tools to launch Watson Advertising, a new division that uses AI to create and disseminate weather-specific ads. EARLY 2018 Walmart remodels and expands its Emergency Operations Center at its Bentonville, Ark., headquarters in response to a brutal hurricane season in 2017. FEBRUARY 2019 Lawrence Berkeley National Lab launches a project called ClimateNet that will use deep learning and vast data…

The internet, as most of us know by now, tends to blow up over ridiculous things. This is why, in March 2017, the web was abuzz not with actual news like the impeachment of South Korean president Park Geun-hye or the landslide in Addis Ababa, but with the tattoos of Ed Sheeran. Specifically, the Heinz Ketchup tattoo of Ed Sheeran. In case you missed the story, Sheeran, who’d peeled off his shirt in the Shape of You video, not only emerged as a highly inked musician, but also explained to the media how he’d chosen each of his 60 tattoos to commemorate the important things in his life. One of those things was Heinz Ketchup. While most people don’t get tattoos of their favorite condiments, Sheeran is actually going with…

For decades, Spanish-language media outlets in the United States have kept Latinos informed. Papers like El Diario La Prensa in New York, La Raza in Chicago and La Opinión in Los Angeles remain trusted news sources for Spanish speakers. As legacy news organizations like The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Houston Chronicle and The Seattle Times expand their coverage with Spanish-language articles, they’re providing news and content to distinct demographics like U.S.-based Latinos. Actively and intentionally researching, building out signature experiences and creating content with this rapidly growing demographic in mind is starting to yield impactful results. The Washington Post announced in late June plans to release a twice weekly Spanish-language podcast hosted by Colombian journalist Juan Carlos Iragorri and to publish pieces, both original and translated,…

Groups can function as a safe space for your readers or consumers. According to Ben Breier, senior integrated brand planner at Havas, Facebook Groups have a semi-private nature that allows for organic, transparent conversations. Groups need to serve a purpose. Breier recommends listening to your community, figuring out what kind of space they need, setting it up and getting out of the way. Groups keep users’ attention. Brands are fighting for consumer attention, but the community Facebook Groups create requires more consideration and mental processing, which may keep users engaged longer.…

After President Donald Trump insisted on Sept. 1 that, contrary to National Weather Service (NWS) forecasts, Hurricane Dorian would hit Alabama “harder than expected,” the agency’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) leadership publicly defended him and instructed forecasters in internal memos not to contradict his claims, according to The Washington Post. Several staffers have since pushed back, and NOAA’s chief scientist on Sept. 9 vowed to investigate whether the move constitutes a violation of the agency’s principles. The episode is the latest example of how NOAA, and the NWS within it, is reportedly facing unprecedented political pressures under the current administration that could threaten public forecasting operations. NOAA has been without a permanent leader for more than a year, and Trump’s pick for the position, former AccuWeather CEO Barry…

Aaron Harvey was sick of wrapping burritos in his hometown. After coming off a tour in 2006 with his indie band Mashlin, the future co-founder of digital agency Ready Set Rocket was back in Orlando, Fla., working at a Chipotle, watching old friends swing by on their lunch break. While there’s nothing wrong with that, for Harvey, “it was super embarrassing.” Fortunately for Harvey, who had a marketing degree but no work experience, one of those friends had just started a digital branding shop and needed an intern. Within three years, Harvey rose through the ranks, eventually becoming a partner at the agency. After gutting it out on the road with his band, advertising felt like a natural fit. “When you’re in a band, you’re trying to build a brand,…

At a time when an MBA from an elite university is standard equipment for someone looking to start a company, it’s worth considering the case of Adolf Dassler. The son of a washerwoman, Dassler was barely out of secondary school in Germany when he found himself apprenticed to a baker. A devoted sports fan, Dassler wanted nothing to do with that gig. Instead, he convinced his mother to let him use part of her laundry for his true calling—making athletic shoes. Dassler was convinced that specialized, high-quality athletic footwear would enhance athletes’ performance. As it turns out, he was correct. Adolf went by the nickname of “Adi” which, put together with the first syllable of Dassler, created the brand we know as Adidas. And from the humble factory Dassler opened…