Hasta La Creative!

When militants seized the Philippine city of Marawi last year, thousands of residents were forced from their homes to avoid the fighting. The government retook the city, but not before many lives were changedincluding those of mothers who gave birth while displaced. For an annual “National Breakfast Day” promotion in which it tries to showcase uplifting stories, McDonald’s Philippines and a journalist visited the evacuees, or “bakwit,” for a video that appears among promotions for shoes, smartphones and Persil ProClean on this week’s Viral Video Chart.

As always, the rankings below reflect both organic views initiatied by curious viewers and paid advertising online. Previews for movies and video games are excluded so they don’t overwhelm the chart.

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Continue reading at AdAge.com

Over the past decade, our media has transformed, and with it, consumer habits. Generations Y and Z are more interested in marketing to each other than paying attention to traditional formats. Experiential activations find success among the younger crowd, but are typically site-specific, limiting reach. For agencies, augmented reality (AR)–with 2016 breakout Pokemon Go–is emerging…

When militants seized the Philippine city of Marawi last year, thousands of residents were forced from their homes to avoid the fighting. The government retook the city, but not before many lives were changedincluding those of mothers who gave birth while displaced. For an annual “National Breakfast Day” promotion in which it tries to showcase uplifting stories, McDonald’s Philippines and a journalist visited the evacuees, or “bakwit,” for a video that appears among promotions for shoes, smartphones and Persil ProClean on this week’s Viral Video Chart.

As always, the rankings below reflect both organic views initiatied by curious viewers and paid advertising online. Previews for movies and video games are excluded so they don’t overwhelm the chart.

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Continue reading at AdAge.com

As the publishing business struggles, independent titles with shoestring budgets and strong points of view are growing.

Let’s start with a couple definitions. Blockchain is a technology that enables an anonymous, decentralized record of transactions. Imagine a public chain of information in which each link is a single transaction, viewable by all but impossible to change once it has been formed. And keep in mind, Blockchain is not Bitcoin. Bitcoin is built…

Remington Outdoor, the 200-year-old maker of rifles, handguns and bullets controlled by Cerberus Capital Management, filed for bankruptcy over the weekend, after the election of a “true friend” to the White House ironically wound up stifling sales.

The chapter 11 filing in Delaware bankruptcy court Sunday came with a revised plan to eliminate $620 million in debt, pay most creditors in full, and hand over most of the company to a group of lenders. Remington, which makes weapons for military, law enforcement, and hunting customers, had already outlined a plan on Feb. 12 to file for bankruptcy and give control to lenders including Franklin Resources Inc. and JPMorgan Asset Management.

The filing came after a weekend of marches across the U.S. seeking tighter laws to fight gun violence. Remington said in court filings that its efforts to finance a turnaround were complicated by parties who were reluctant to lend to a gunmaker. After approaching 30 potential lenders, financial adviser Lazard Freres & Co. found “the vast majority” indicated “they were reluctant.” Eight parties who entered into further discussions later declined, and one outside lender who had agreed to provide a $100 million bankruptcy loan changed its mind, according to the filing.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

The deadline for early-bird entry to the Marketing New Thinking Awards will expire in two weeks’ time.