Table of contents for January 7, 2019 in Adweek

BRAD HALEY, CMO, IHOP Adweek: Did your success with the IHOb “name change” make you more or less likely to return to that marketing tactic in the future? Haley: IHOb was the most effective campaign in brand history, generating 22,000 media stories, $113 million in earned media ad value and holding the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4 positions trending on Twitter at the same time. Introducing burgers challenged what people thought of IHOP and gave us credibility in the lunch and dinner space that we plan to continue to build upon in the future. How is the chain speaking to/targeting coveted Gen Z and millennial consumers? Fortunately, we already have a very high percentage of Gen Z and millennial guests now. However, we can’t simply rest on our…

Mark Sorsa-Leslie feels fortunate that the internet-connected device e he started designing in 2016 was built to comply with stringent privacy requirements set by the U.K.’s National Health Service. Two years later as privacy rules tighten, he says his Internet of Things (IoT) device is well-positioned to comply with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Whether for consumer use or for commercial or government applications, interest in obtaining and installing connected devices has exploded. By 2019, about 14.2 billion connected devices are expected to be in use around the world, according to the research and insights company Gartner; nearly double that—about 25 billion—are expected to be plugged in by 2021. While some IoT devices have in the past faced scrutiny over lax security protocols, privacy regulations like GDPR…

Even in an era of infinite digital metrics, publishers and brands are still faced with an age-old problem: It’s hard to measure how your content affects people. Mention ROI, and most brand marketers go white from memories of a budget meeting gone wrong. Impressions, page views, shares, scroll depth, time spent, brand lift: The best metrics the web has to offer still fall short and pale in comparison to the hard-dollar ROI of direct response marketing. After all, it’s much easier to tie revenue to direct response programmatic ads, which trigger immediate transaction, than stories designed to change how people think. This has made good branded content a tough sell, even if our gut tells us those stories are making an impact. We lose out on budget to crappy ads…

IN 2017, nearly 17 million Americans had their identities stolen. If they followed the Federal Trade Commission’s recommended 40-page recovery process, they had to contact the companies where fraud occurred; place fraud alerts with credit bureaus; review their credit reports; report the identity theft to the FTC and their local police departments; close new charges; remove bogus charges; correct their credit reports; and add extended fraud alerts or credit freezes. It’s a nightmare, right? Now imagine it’s your face that needs to be recovered. With the use of facial recognition soaring, and little to no laws on the books regulating it, identity theft is poised to take on a whole new dimension. Even technology companies, which are notorious for prizing innovation above privacy concerns, are taking a beat. As Google…

THE GLASS The ball’s clarity and weight come from its 24 percent lead oxide content, qualifying it as crystal. THE SHAPE Roughly, it’s a sphere, meant to mimic the contours of a snowball that’s packed by hand. THE NIMBUS The nodular surface of the glass results in fragmented shafts of light that add to the snowball’s appeal. As the wintry weather sets in, it’s the season for Americans to revive the cherished annual institution of the snowball fight. As it happens, making snowballs is popular in Sweden, too—but the Nordic country has a decidedly less aggressive use for them. It’s called the snölykta, and it’s essentially a hollow pyramid made of snowballs with a light source on the inside. When lit up at night, it creates the unlikely and entrancing…

Thirty-eight years ago, a major airline manufacturer was in serious trouble and hoped advertising would bail it out. Adweek’s July 14, 1980 issue carried the news of a new campaign aimed at salvaging the reputation of the DC-10 jet—and with it, the fortunes of maker McDonnell Douglas. A little over a year prior, the port-side engine on American Airlines Flight 191 ripped off the wing during takeoff. The plane stalled, crashed and killed 273 people. While the NTSB would fault American for faulty maintenance, the public blamed the plane, nicknaming it the “Death Cruiser 10.” Enter J. Walter Thompson, which cast former astronaut Pete Conrad in a series of ads in which he staked his reputation on the jet. Good luck with that. “The campaign may stir up more controversy…

From beauty boxes to streaming platforms, subscription services are becoming part of the norm. But with more services to choose from, how can brands make their subscription offerings stand out? New research from digital marketing company Digitas sheds light on what keeps subscribers around (49 percent said access to a large selection) and what makes them cancel for good (56 percent cited renewal cost increases). “Today, there are more subscription services than ever, challenging brands to make their subscription services not just a nice to have, but a need to have,” said Kristin Scheve, svp, media director, Digitas. “There are ways brands can navigate and connect with consumers in the growing economy.”…

Crime is a passion for Michelle Nguyen. The crimes that other people commit, that is. “Earlier this year, I actually went to a true-crime convention. It was the best thing ever,” she said. Growing up in San Jose, Calif., Nguyen toyed with forensic art, but she went down a more traditional art-nerd trail instead, ending up in the agency biz. “A lot of Asian parents would rather have their children be doctors or lawyers,” she said. “But luckily, my sister ended up going to med school.” Nguyen’s worked her way up the food chain from an initial graphic designer post. A few years ago, she was the in-house creative director at Brit + Co. She then helped launch the agency Scout Lab. After a year and a half there, she…

If online publishing were a romcom, you could liken Yahoo Finance—which in Q1 will ask readers to join a paid membership program to receive premium articles, data, research and tools—to Julia Roberts’ Notting Hill character, Anna Scott. After months of romantic turmoil and emotional exhaustion, Scott threw up her hands with the famous line: “I’m also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.” So, what does this have to do with Yahoo Finance Premium’s attempt to go after hearts and minds with something extra? In their effort to stay flush with cash, or perhaps to simply stay in business, publishers like BuzzFeed, Quartz and Yahoo Finance are going the extra mile to win over eyeballs and dollars. In fact, digital outlets are learning…