The 10 Things In Advertising You Need To Know Today | ||
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1. Where models are looking in ads can make a huge difference in engaging consumers. Heatmaps overlaying ads, generated using eye-tracking technology, reveal that when a model’s eyes look at the product, a viewer’s eyes are drawn to the product and headline too, an important factor in generating sales. 2. Victoria’s Secret has called on Taylor Swift to drive sales. The singer performs two songs in this year’s Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, which airs Dec. 9 on CBS. 3. The UK’s biggest newspaper publisher, News UK, has numbers out for both The Times and The Sun, which it says prove its digital paywall strategy is working. The Times’ digital subscriber number was up 8% year-on-year to 152,000 and the company that operates the newspaper has swung back into profit for the first time since 2001. 4. This crazy Japanese ad featuring a double-barreled “Shrimp Cannon” is predictably addictive. The add is for cellphone carrier NTT Docomo Inc. and has been watched on YouTube more than 8 million times. 5. Teen retailers are grappling with not being cool any more. Abercrombie, Aeropostale, and American Eagle will all announce earnings this week, and analysts expect lackluster results. 6. WPP has signed a $1.25 billion contract with IBM, the companies announced in a press release. WPP says the 7-year services contract will enable the world’s biggest advertising company to develop new digital services, expand the use of big data and analytics, and foster greater collaboration within a global cloud infrastructure. 7. Billionaire investor and owner of the Dallas Mavericks Mark Cuban doesn’t think streaming services like Netflix will replace cable TV any time soon. He told the audience at Business Insider’s Ignition conference that most Netflix hits are only popular because they appeared on TV first and that viewers still demand a “front-end presentation” (not always just what they want when they want it.) 8. A top Apple analyst has described iAd as a “mobile ad zombie.” Speaking at Business Insider’s Ignition, Piper Jaffray’s senior research analyst Gene Munster said “Apple has really missed the boat,” AdAge reports. 9. Pharrell and Cara Delevingne star in a holiday campaign for Chanel, Adweek reports. The fantasy-themed ad, created by Karl Lagerfeld, tells the story of the history of the brand. 10. Google is redoubling efforts to attract more brand advertising that largely flows through TV, The Wall Street Journal’s CMO Today reports. Neal Mohan, Google’s vice president of display and video advertising, says teh company is providing new ways to measure how ads perform, with tools like “brand lift studies.” Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Good morning, here's everything you need to know in the world of advertising today. The Russian Central Bank Is Intervening Again To Halt A Rouble Collapse | ||
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Traders are claiming that the Russian central bank has stepped back into currency markets to halt the rouble's slide as it continued to fall in early trading on Wednesday. Here's the evidence:
The central bank confirmed earlier rumours that it had intervened in currency markets on Monday. On Wednesday it confirmed that it had spent $700 million to defend the rouble over two days after the currency saw its worst falls against the dollar and the euro since the 1998 Russia crisis. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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A Bizarre Tweet Is Going Around About Cameron Controlling The Press | ||
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A tweet claiming that Prime Minister David Cameron controls "75% of the UK press" is being shared hundreds of times on social networks. The problem is it's a completely meaningless statistic. Here's the tweet: It has been attached to the #CameronMustGo hashtag that has been trending on Twitter in the UK for over a week. Last week it caused outrage after left-wing food blogger and Guardian columnist Jack Monroe sent a tweet accusing Cameron of using his grief over the death of his son "to legitimise selling our NHS to his friends". However, the latest meme is more bizarre than offensive. The claim is perhaps unsurprising coming as it does after the hacking scandal, which revealed as much about the close personal ties between members of the press corps and senior politicians as it did about journalistic ethics. For example the Leveson Inquiry detailed the close friendship Cameron appeared to have with Rebekah Brooks, the former editor of News of the World and The Sun. But are these revelations sufficient to claim that he "controlled 75% of the UK Press"? Clearly not. In no sense is the UK press controlled, even if there are plenty of examples of journalists being over-credulous. The whole meme and the commentary around it is reminiscent of the frequent criticism thrown at the BBC. In a widely reported (though seriously flawed) study last year the Centre for Policy Studies claimed to have proven that the Beeb had a clear left-wing bias. Yet here's the Guardian's Owen Jones from March this year complaining that the broadcaster is a "threat to democracy" due to its right-wing bias. Those on Twitter gleefully retweeting claims of right-wing bias in the press might do well to read Alex Massie's analysis of the BBC controversy in the Spectator. As he wrote: "This is not as simple as left versus right. It is rather different. The BBC’s political coverage operates on a default presumption of scepticism. Governments propose policy; the BBC subjects those proposals to intense scrutiny. It is reflexively opposed to change. Almost any change. The status quo – being known and therefore endurable – is preferable to the unknown risks of an alternative vision. In this respect it is actually a profoundly conservative institution." There is no doubt that a lot of political coverage in the British press also fits into this definition — it is generally reactive to circumstance and resistant to radicalism. But that is quite distinct from government control. As we are likely to see today with coverage of the Autumn Statement, the biggest flaw of the UK press (and one that no honest political journalist can claim to be wholly immune from) is not bias but all-too-often falling victim to the narcissism of small differences. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Britain to unveil pre-election budget pledges | ||
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London (AFP) - Britain's finance minister George Osborne will Wednesday give an update on the country's financial health in a key budget announcement ahead of next year's general election. With Britons heading for the polls in May 2015, the coalition is likely to hold back from announcing fresh austerity measures that have dominated budgets since the government came to power four and a half years ago. Instead, investment pledges across British infrastructure and the National Health Service are set to be revealed. But he is expected to confirm that Britain will fall well short of his pledge to eliminate its budget deficit, thought to stand at around £90 billion (114 billion euros, $140 billion) before the election. Osborne, a key figure in centre-right Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron's coalition government, delivers his so-called Autumn Statement before parliament at 1230 GMT. The statement precedes Britain's full annual budget announcement, which usually occurs each March. "Although the Autumn Statement is typically little more than a charade, where previously pledged money is recycled, there is always the potential for surprises," noted Rebecca O'Keeffe, head of investment at stockbrokers Interactive Investor. "This is particularly relevant this year, as the budget in March may be too late for George Osborne to influence the economic debate ahead of the general election." She added: "However, any major tax giveaways today would leave the UK finances in a far less sound condition than had been intended at the start of the government's tenure." Britain's economy is outperforming the eurozone but in recent months market analysts have raised concerns over the impact of falling inflation on British wage growth. With many workers failing to win salary increases, the government has seen tax receipts shrink, hindering its bid to shrink the deficit. On Wednesday, the government also provides its latest forecasts for British economic growth and public finances. Ahead of the statement, Britain on Monday pledged to put in place plans for £15 billion ($24 billion, 19 billion euros) of investment in roads infrastructure over the next five years. Osborne is also pledging an extra £2 billion of funding for the National Health Service.
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