Hasta La Creative!

Lawyers for JWT and parent company WPP have filed a motion to dismiss Erin Johnson’s lawsuit against them and now-former JWT Chairman-CEO Gustavo Martinez, citing in part a text message from Ms. Johnson to Mr. Martinez.

“It is clear that Plaintiff has twisted the facts and distorted the context to contrive gender-based hostile work environment and retaliation claims,” the new filing says.

Putting the events described in Ms. Johnson’s suit into chronological order reveals the “lack of merit,” the filing adds. “It is immediately noticeable that there are only a few incidents that might have any relevance to these claims,” it says.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Verizon’s latest spots include some members from the cast of “30 Rock,” and features a dialogue fans of the show may remember about the “backdoor brag.”

The spot, which was created by Wieden & Kennedy and began airing last night, resurrects “30 Rock” characters Jenna, played by Jane Krakowski, and Kenneth, played by Jack McBrayer, and it also features a non-speaking part by Frank, played by Judah Friedlander.

In the spot, Jenna approaches Kenneth as he is working on a personal essay that he’s having trouble completing, because it’s not in his nature to brag about himself, he said. Jenna then asks, “Not even a backdoor brag?”

Continue reading at AdAge.com

The Ad Age Presidential Campaign Ad Scorecard is sponsored by The Trade Desk

Editor’s note: Here’s the 14th installment of the 2016 Presidential Campaign Ad Scorecard, a comprehensive view of spending across broadcast, cable and satellite TV as well as radio. The chart below represents a collaboration between the Ad Age Datacenter — specifically, Kevin Brown, Bradley Johnson and Catherine Wolf — and Kantar Media’s Campaign Media Analysis Group (CMAG). Some context from Bradley Johnson follows. –Ken Wheaton

The interactive map captures TV and radio ad spending in each state by presidential candidates’ campaigns and by political action committees that support or oppose candidates.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Now that the frock coats and breeches have been mothballed — the broadcast networks leaned so hard on “Hamilton” during upfront week that Lin-Manuel Miranda should get a commission on every dollar they’re about to book — it’s time to size up the fall TV schedule. The Big Five have locked in 43 new scripted series for the 2016-17 season (or 44, if you count NBC’s “Emerald City,” which was first green-lighted two-and-a-half years ago), and 19 are set to premiere in the fall. For all the questions about the inherent insignificance of scheduling in an age when time-shifting has disrupted the power dynamic between broadcaster and viewers, the competition for eyeballs on any given hour of the prime time grid is still very much a zero-sum game. (If nothing else, time slots still play a key role in determining how inventory is priced. There’s a reason the 8 p.m. shows almost always fetch higher CPMs than those that air at 10 p.m.)

Here’s a look at the five time slots that promise to be the among the most contentious hours on the fall schedule.

Monday 10-11 p.m.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Fraudsters will have to up their game following the Trustworthy Accountability Group’s deployment Monday of its “Certified Against Fraud” initiative. Its official arrival comes more than six months since the group, a creation of ad-industry trade organizations, said it was developing the program.

The group’s cornerstone anti-fraud certification program will award “TAG Certified Against Fraud” seals to buyers, sellers and intermediaries in the digital advertising supply chain that complete rigorous anti-fraud requirements, TAG said.

“Going forward, TAG will name and proclaim the companies leading the fight against digital ad fraud through a ‘Certified Against Fraud’ seal that recognizes their efforts to protect partners and customers,” Mr. Zaneis said in a statement. “Participants in the digital ad supply chain can now ask a simple question to tell if their counterparties have taken the necessary steps to fight ad fraud: ‘Are you TAG certified against fraud?’ As more TAG anti-fraud seals are awarded, the cracks in our industry exploited by bad actors will also be sealed against their criminal endeavors.”

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Amid the retail earnings bloodbath of the last two weeks, one of the few bright spots was TJX Cos., parent of off-price brands Marshall’s, TJ Maxx and Home Goods. The Framingham, Mass.-based retailer reported a strong first quarter as consumers stocked up on discounted designer pillows and cut-rate Michael Kors bracelets. The company called out its marketing as a reason for such positive growth.

“We are very happy with our creative marketing campaigns at every division this spring,” said Ernie Herman, who was promoted to chief executive earlier this year, replacing long-time leader Carol Meyrowitz, on a recent conference call. He noted that recent traffic gains are a result of TJX’s marketing across all divisions.

Knowing that most shoppers appreciate a good deal, TJX has built a $29.1 billion retail empire around it. The company, which has nearly 3,700 stores in seven countries, has continually succeeded at a time when other retailersboth department stores such as Macy’s and Kohl’s and specialty stores like Gap Inc.are falling short. Such gains are partly due to the company’s discovery and destination store modelshoppers are eager to spend when it’s an ever-changing assortment of bargainsand also to its clever taglines and effective marketing campaigns.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Naja.co, which launched in 2014 as an alternative to Victoria’s Secret, has teamed up with Badger & Winters, the agency behind the #WomenNotObjects initiative, to introduce an inclusive line of nude lingerie for women of all races and ethnicities.

The Nude For All collection by Naja includes seven shades of nude and the ads feature real women rather than models, many whom are leaders of women’s initiatives within entrepreneur-focused organization Summit Series.

Catalina Girald, CEO and founder of Naja, said she reached out to Badger & Winters because she read about the #WomenNotObjects effort and “had been looking for a firm who shares the same values as we do.” Ms. Girald said she created Naja because she wanted to “change the way lingerie was marketed to women” by emphasizing that the products are meant to make women feel good, not men. Naja even includes little inspirational quotes on the inside of the underwear to make women laugh or smile, she added.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

At least one company in Apple’s supply chain is already reaping the benefit from plans to outfit next year’s version of the iPhone with a brighter, higher-definition screen.

The first evidence came last week when Applied Materials reported an almost fourfold leap in orders for equipment to make displays, an early sign producers are retooling their manufacturing to meet Apple’s demand for a new kind of organic light-emitting diode, or OLED, screen. The technology will allow Apple to upgrade the biggest component of its main product.

“Some tooling or machinery orders now set up suppliers for the fall of 2017,” said Gene Munster, a Minneapolis-based analyst at Piper Jaffray. “It sets up the iPhone in the fall of 2017 to be more of an impactful upgrade than the fall of this year.”

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Jackie Woodward is leaving her post as VP of global media for General Mills to become chief marketing officer at Krispy Kreme.

The move — which was confirmed by a Krispy Kreme spokesman — comes less than two years after Ms. Woodward joined General Mills from MillerCoors. At Krispy Kreme she replaces Dwayne Chambers, who departed late last year to become CMO at P.F. Chang’s China Bistro.

At Minneapolis-based General Mills, Ms. Woodward oversaw all paid, owned and earned marketing efforts. The VP global media role was a newly created position when she joined in August of 2014. In late 2015 she oversaw a media review that led to the company selecting WPP’s Mindshare as its U.S. media agency. Publicis Groupe’s Zenith had been handling the business since 2001.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

It was the laugh heard round the world. Late last week, shopper Candace Payne posted a Facebook video of herself wearing the new Star Wars Chewbacca mask she’d bought at Kohl’s, and viral stardom ensued. But rather than just chuckling and moving on, Kohl’s reacted quickly by creating its own video response within 24 hours of Ms. Payne’s hilarious debut. The real-time marketing strategy resulted in record social engagement for the Menomonee Falls, Wisc.-based retailer.

“We have a two-way conversation with customers on social media all the time, so we were prepared,” said Nancy Carruth, senior VP-marketing for the 1,167-unit chain. “The most important thing is how nimble the team is, how they act with speed and really stay connected to the conversation.”

In Kohl’s two-minute video, the retailer visits Ms. Payne and her family to give them each a Chewbacca mask, along with $2,500 in Kohl’s gift cards and 10,000 points in its Yes2You loyalty reward program. The retailer, which has 38 million customers in its loyalty program, used the #AlltheGoodStuff hashtag, which is part of its current marketing campaign, for the post.

Continue reading at AdAge.com