Hasta La Creative!

(TrendHunter.com) Trend Hunter spoke with famed entrepreneur, investor, author, Internet personality and overall hustler Gary Vaynerchuk during his time in Toronto for the exclusive launch of his ‘Crushing It!’…

Now TV planted a highly realistic robot in a London pub to promote the second series of HBO drama Westworld.

Welcome to Ad Age’s Wake-Up Call, our daily roundup of advertising, marketing, media and digital news. What people are talking about today: For one afternoon next month, Starbucks is closing 8,000 U.S. stores to train staff on how to prevent racial discrimination. As Ad Age’s Jessica Wohl writes, the education session on May 29 “will be given to nearly 175,000 employees and become part of the company’s process for new employees.” The step comes after a viral video showed two black men at a Philadelphia Starbucks being arrested; an employee had called police after the men hung out without buying anything (which, of course, is fairly standard practice when you’re waiting to meet someone.)

Now there’s another Starbucks video getting attention, as The Washington Post reports. Shot in Torrance, Calif., in January, it shows a black man claiming he was denied entrance to the restroom while a white customer was given the bathroom code. Neither of them had ordered anything yet. The video was shared on Twitter by activist Shaun King, where it had 2 million views. (King’s message that read, in part, “Dear @Starbucks, what we are seeing is that your stores have a problem with systemic racism and discrimination.”) A Starbucks spokeswoman told The Post that the company takes the California incident “and the commentary surrounding it” seriously.

The arrests in Philadelphia have already dealt a big blow to the company’s progressive image, which is why Starbucks is taking the dramatic step of closing so many stores for an afternoon of training. Bloomberg News estimates that the closure could cost around $16.7 million in lost sales.

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It’s safe to say James Comey and Michael Wolff are not among Donald Trump’s favorite authors. But the same can likely be said of the prolific Canadian writer Margaret Atwood, whose 1985 novel turned award-winning Hulu series The Handmaid’s Tale, spoke last week at Tina Brown’s Women in the World summit about the similarities between…

Stylist, the free title owned by Shortlist Media, is partnering with fashion brand Timberland to host an event on “how to master flawless street style”.

BETC’s chief strategy officer, Russell Davies has left the role to join digital product and services studio, Ustwo London, as its first strategy director.

Spotify going public was a huge marker in the convergence of technology and music. Its transformative success has helped usher in a new era for music, one marked by growth. Finally, a music tech company is the talk of Wall Street, and tech investors can feel safe putting money back into music again. And this rising tide has raised a lot of ships. The question now is, what comes next?

With fresh momentumand its first growth in revenue in 20 yearsthe music industry is the proverbial phoenix risen from the ashes. And there’s another bright point in its future, one it’s time to take seriously: blockchain (or, if we’re slightly less serious, rockchain).

Let’s look at two major challenges facing the music industry:

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Spotify going public was a huge marker in the convergence of technology and music. Its transformative success has helped usher in a new era for music, one marked by growth. Finally, a music tech company is the talk of Wall Street, and tech investors can feel safe putting money back into music again. And this rising tide has raised a lot of ships. The question now is, what comes next?

With fresh momentumand its first growth in revenue in 20 yearsthe music industry is the proverbial phoenix risen from the ashes. And there’s another bright point in its future, one it’s time to take seriously: blockchain (or, if we’re slightly less serious, rockchain).

Let’s look at two major challenges facing the music industry:

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Dale Gall, the group chief executive of MullenLowe London, is stepping down after just 18 months in the role.