Hasta La Creative!

Back in April, Coca-Cola announced it would cut some 1,200 jobs as part of an organizational redesign aimed at cutting costs.

Today sources reached out to us claiming that the company has already started implementing such changes, beginning with hundreds of layoffs across offices. We reached out to Coca-Cola for a response and a representative referred us to the below statement, which the company originally made in April.

In February, we shared with our people that we are in the process of designing a new operating model to support our growth strategy as we transform our business into a true total beverage company. In late April, we shared that our work to implement a new lean corporate center will result in approximately 1,200 job reductions beginning in the second half of 2017 and carrying into 2018. These changes, while difficult, will help us create a faster, leaner and more agile corporate organization that is focused on doing fewer things better with a clear focus on serving our operating units around the world while also maintaining appropriate corporate governance for the company.

As has long been our culture at Coca-Cola, we do not take decisions about job impacts lightly and will treat our people with dignity, fairness and respect throughout this process. We are committed to moving quickly to build an organization that is agile and positioned for faster growth.

It’s unclear which departments were targeted or how this may impact the company’s marketing going forward. But the April announcement included confirmation that Coke sales dropped 11 percent from the previous year, with profits down 20 percent.

So it’s safe to say the company will move to cut operating expenses across the board, including its marketing efforts.

According to a report in yesterday’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Coca-Cola laid off more than 420 people in its Atlanta headquarters and two other area offices. That total included “59 people with corporate positions.”

Former COO James Quincey took over the chief executive officer role in May after moving to shake up the senior leadership team and name the company’s first chief growth officer.

The hot topic of gender inequity in the industry played out today at Saatchi & Saatchi’s annual New Directors Showcase, which opened with a film that invited the audience to see things from two different perspectives.

The poetic, visually stunning “Open Your Eyes,” directed by Jake Dypka and Hollie McNish, depicts two different stories simultaneously. One showed the “male” experience of gender stereotyping while the other illustrated the “female” point of view. The audience could choose which to watch by switching off between a pink or blue set of polarized glasses they received at the event.

Saatchi also made it a point to bring diversity into the process of selecting this year’s films. Judging happened in two parts, with two different juries, one comprising people from within the agency, another from outside. The outside group included Kai-Lu Hsing, managing director at RSA, and directors such as Sara Dunlop and Alma Har’el, who started the Free the Bid initiative and also served on this year’s Glass Lions Jury.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Looking back at 2016, the year was one of the biggest yet for video marketing. More and more outlets adopted this form of advertising than ever before, and this massive adoption rate created new practices and trends that no one really saw coming.

Although all forms of marketing change and adapt over time, few go through changes as quickly as that of video marketing. The Internet Age is one that doesn’t slow down for anyone, and this is extremely applicable when talking about online video advertising.

While the core principles and practices will always remain true, the way in which we approach video marketing has seen some big evolutions that you need to properly adhere to if you want to stay ahead of the curve throughout the year. Here are the top 5 video marketing practices that you need to be implementing in 2017.

1. Live streaming

Live streaming has become huge. Sites such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and others popularized the idea of live broadcasting you and the world around you, and this is something that doesn’t show any sign of going away soon.

During 2016, we saw companies along the lines of Chevrolet, Disney, Buzzfeed, EA Sports, Ari BnB, and others adapt some sort of live streaming as part of their video marketing tactics. More companies have already jumped on the live streaming bandwagon in 2017, and all signs point to even more adopting it in the future.

A report from Tubular shows that Facebook’s live streaming activity increased by 200,000+ active users between January and June of last year, and YouTube’s live streaming service saw an increase of a massive 80%.

This is easily the biggest trend in video marketing right now, and as such, it’s important that you start working it into your own campaign so you don’t get left behind.

2. Virtual reality and 360-degree videos

Also referred to as immersive video content, video clips that can be viewed in 360-degrees on a device or feature some sort of virtual/augmented reality aspect boomed quite a bit throughout 2016. It’s been proven that people are sold on the idea of being able to completely engage themselves in different types of content, and this sort of deep engagement can be used to showcase richer and more fulfilling ad experiences as well.

Incorporating ads and marketing videos into this sort of form factor is still a relatively new endeavor, but it’s another trend that is still going strong at full speed ahead. And, with it being so young, jumping into the game now will give you an edge over competitors that decide to wait things out and see where this immersive video thing ends up.

3. Personalize your videos for your audience

With video becoming such a popular form of marketing, it means that everyone and their dog is creating some sort of video content for their marketing campaign. However, something that not everyone is truly taking advantage of is the power of personalized marketing videos.

Video personalization is specifically tailoring your video content to the audience and people who will be viewing it. The benefits of personalized video, including increased customer engagement and longer video viewing times, are far too great to overlook it.

Companies such as Nike and AT&T have already taken note of this trend and started to implement personalized video into their own campaigns, and with it working so well for big names like these, there’s no reason it won’t work for you and your brand as well

4. Carefully study and understand video analytics

We’ve had access to video analytics for a number of years now, but if you aren’t using them to their full potential in 2017, you might as well not even bother with video marketing at all.

Video analytics provide you with a deep understanding of your audience and how much of an impression your content is making, and you can use this information to help make your videos even more powerful than they currently are.

Creating and kicking out videos however you see fit is one thing, but creating videos based off of what your analytics are telling you is an entirely different ballgame — the ballgame that you should and need to be a part of.

5. Work with a professional

Handling all of your video marketing on your own end can be rewarding, but it can also be extremely stressful and tiring.

This doesn’t mean you don’t have any good ideas or video-making skills, but if you want to ensure that the content you’re kicking out is as good as it can be, it’s critical that you work with a video marketing agency to elevate your content to the next level.

With more and more people adopting video marketing in 2017, trying to stand out with quality content is more important than ever. With a trusted agency at your side, this is a very achievable and plausible goal.

Final Thoughts

There isn’t and never will be a one-size-fits-all answer to rocking video marketing, but there are tips and tricks you can follow based on what’s currently taking place in the advertising industry. By following the 5 tips described in this guide, you can be fully prepared and ready to absolutely rock your video marketing campaign now and throughout the rest of 2017.

This guest post was written by VideoRemix, a video software company that allows users to create, edit, personalize, and publish production-quality video campaigns to engage their audience.

Campaign’s daily round-up of the key things to know from the Cannes International Festival of Creativity.

IPG brand experience agency Momentum Worldwide announced new leadership of its strategy and tech teams with the promotions of Jason Alan Snyder to the role of global chief technology officer and Elena Klau to the newly-created position of chief strategy and analytics officer. Snyder and Klau will both continue to operate out of the agency’s New York headquarters.

In his new role, Snyder will “develop a new global practice group throughout Momentum’s offices, building a world-class team of technologists, producers, developers and more.” Snyder joined Momentum as chief technology officer, North America in March of 2013. Before joining Momentum, he served as head of product design at AOL and at Yahoo! Music and served as a founding member of Deutsch’s interactive group, iDeutsch. Over the course of his career, he has worked with clients including Nike, Google, Facebook, HBO, Johnson & Johnson, Proctor & Gamble and IKEA. Snyder is also an inventor and his  solar-powered lantern, Luci, won the Consumer Electronics Association’s Innovation Award in both 2014 and 2015.

“Jason Alan Snyder is one of Momentum’s not-so-secret-anymore weapons. Technology has the ability to enhance and elevate an experience more than almost any other factor, and Jason’s unparalleled expertise, strategic and creative ability, and futurist thinking helps drive our client’s and our agency’s success,” Momentum chairman/CEO Chris Weil said in a statement. “Our technology expertise under Jason has truly made our work better and our consumer experiences stronger.”

In her new role, Klau will continue to lead Momentum’s strategy, insights and analytics teams in North America, while adding new responsibilities as executive lead for the division, tasked with leading brand strategy globally. Klau joined Momentum as vice president, group director, research, measurement and analytics back in September of 2011 and received a promotion to senior vice president of the division in 2013. Before joining Momentum, she served as a research and analytics manager with Kaleidoscope Sports and Entertainment.

“Strategy and analytics are intrinsic to everything we do at Momentum—great insights before, and smart analysis after, an experience are vital to helping our clients achieve their goals,” Weil added. “Elena Klau has helped Momentum become the world’s leading consultancy agency to go along with our award-winning creative and strategic excellence. As Chief Strategy & Analytics Officer she will be leading the way as we help our clients engage with people and do more.”