What a difference a year makes. In 2017, the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, was an anxious affair, taking place under the darkening cloud of Brexit, creeping nationalism and economic volatility. Optimism was in short supply as world leaders, both corporate and civic, pondered their place in an era of eroding trust. Perhaps they’ve…
Austin Russell, founder of Luminar Tech, and Michael Fleming, CEO of Torc, took the stage late in the day at the Autos2050 conference I attended in Washington, D.C., last week. Austin is a 22-year-old wunderkind whose company is building the future of transportation with LiDAR–a detection system that works on the principals of radar, but…
“I’m only watching for the ads.” We’re used to hearing this on Super Bowl Sunday, that annual bright spot for an industry in the throes of transformation. But during the rest of the year, consumers swat ads away like mosquitoes–skipping them on TV, blocking them on the web, dreading them on mobile. Imagine a friend…
If things hadn’t been following the same tired, now decade-old script, my face would’ve matched the 30 seconds of air during the second quarter of Super Bowl LII–blank. Just how many of the more than 100 million in the U.S. watching the game had a mobile device either in hand or within four feet? My…
Dear chief marketing officers: If you haven’t received the news flash yet, one of your top three tasks to ensure your survival in 2018 and beyond is to develop an Amazon strategy. Let’s start with what we know: The digital duopoly of Google and Facebook, which according to WPP’s Group M ended the year 2017…
With linear TV audiences more fragmented than ever, the Super Bowl is one of the last remaining TV events that still draws large audiences at scale. Last year’s showdown between the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons not only corralled 111.3 million television viewers, but it was also the most talked-about television program on social…
Around the world, people are increasingly conscientious about the products they buy, the services they choose and the food they put on their tables. More and more purchases are increasingly motivated not just by price and product, but by the values and purpose of the company behind the brand. Lately, it seems purpose-driven advertising is…
Data, the new, sexy buzzword formerly known as the old, unsexy buzzword has in many ways been pitched as the great equalizer. After all, we can all buy the same set of stats and figures. Data is literally a commodity. As such, there’s a temptation to commoditize all firms that use it. But to do…
Looking back on it now, it’s clear that 2017 was a momentous year for marketing. Artificial intelligence moved from hype to driving unprecedented personalization. Companies began breaking down silos, recognizing that delivering a connected consumer experience requires teams working together. The past year was also paramount for data management, with companies tapping insights to better…
Mark Zuckerberg recently shared that Facebook is revamping the news feed to prioritize content from friends over content from brands, businesses and publishers. Facebook’s stock price dropped 5 percent immediately following the announcement. This change should not be taken lightly. While Facebook does update its news feed algorithms regularly, as Adam Mosseri, Facebook’s news feed…
With Super Bowl LII fast approaching, there’s no doubt that creatives have been putting their heads together to come up with what they hope will be the year’s most talked-about Super Bowl commercial. However, in today’s world, it’s not enough to simply develop a compelling spot for game day. As the role of digital and…
Last week, Mark Zuckerberg announced a massive shift in what Facebook’s 2 billion users will see on their news feeds: fewer posts from businesses and media companies, and more from friends and family. It’s a change that Zuckerberg says is a direct result of community feedback that “public content–posts from businesses, brands, and media–is crowding…
When data-driven analysts prognosticate about industries like mobile advertising, they tend to be very … well, data-driven. They look at increases in ad spend in certain areas, movements from big companies in the space or investments in certain technologies. While there is certainly a place for data in understanding what’s next for mobile creative, some…
Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Facebook are investing in AI-enhanced devices that provide answers when we ask questions. We’re at the beginning of a big year for voice-based marketing as these companies double down on these investments and brands experiment with new customer experiences powered by voice. According to our recent survey of 1,000 consumers, 73…
As Election Day 2016 approached in the United States, thousands of specifically targeted Americans began seeing racially, politically and religiously charged ads on Facebook with headlines like “Don’t Mess With Texas Border Patrol” and “Satan: If I Win, Clinton Wins!” The ads spanned the spectrum of divisive American issues. Some promoted far-right positions while others…
Back in the early days of digital advertising, portals and ad networks stepped in where websites struggled. They were able to aggregate sites and audiences to achieve much more scale, leading to better forecasting, larger audiences, pricing efficiencies and bigger buys. Some websites stayed independent, but most became part of something larger. Enter demand-side platforms…
As global leaders gather in Davos next week to try to create a shared future in a fractured world, what’s the role of marketers and creative agencies? In this era of seismic disruption, technology is overturning entire business models and transforming the way that customers live, buy and think. Marketing today requires thinking well beyond…
“Is it going to look good in a selfie?” The answer to this question can make or break a modern brand. With good reason, too: the way a product is going to be discovered, shared, talked about and bought is today more important than the product itself. Modern beauty brands figured out that, as long…
I’ve seen the rise of mobile and omnichannel retail from within the industry. Ten years ago, when I worked at Walmart.com, Amazon was becoming a powerhouse beyond books and Walmart was redesigning its delivery network in response to rising ecommerce sales. When I was at Apple in 2011, the company was redefining the concept of…
Kicking off the tech industry calendar, the Consumer Electronics Show is a prime opportunity for innovators to make their mark on often-crowded marketplaces, or to introduce their goods to valuable new audiences. So it was surprising to me that this year, retail innovation was a somewhat underwhelming affair in comparison to the buzz around other…
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