The 10 Things In Advertising You Need To Know Today
1. Sainsbury's much-trumpeted Christmas ad failed to translate into ringing tills. The UK supermarket posted its worst Christmas results in more than a decade.
2. London's transport agency has blocked Uber's ads from its website. The Mayor of London has reviewed Transport for London's advertising policies after complaints were raised about the Uber ads from London black cab and private hire drivers.
3. A YouTube star just got her own primetime show. Comedian and blogger Grace Helbig is getting a series on the E! network. Another sign the value of YouTube stars is set to soar this year.
4. Twitter's co-founder has posted on Medium to try to explain that Instagram isn't bigger than Twitter - it's different from Twitter. Ev Williams was recently quoted as saying he "doesn't give a s***" whether Instagram has more users than Twitter.
5. Verizon has moved to squash speculation that it is buying AOL. CEO Lowell McAdam seems more interested in partnering AOL than buying the company outright.
6. These are the most popular Instagrammers in the world. Everyone from Gareth Bale to Kim Kardashian.
7. A bunch of companies are betting on "connected cars" this year, but most people don't even know what they are. Based on data charted by BI Intelligence, over 80% of the ~14,000 US drivers surveyed, who all owned a car from 2009 or later, said they were unfamiliar with the "connected car" concept.
8. Teenage girls the world over are going to go insane: Justin Bieber is the new face - and pretty much other visible body part - of Calvin Klein. Hollywood Life has the pictures and a video.
9. Facebook's VP of global marketing solutions has spoken to Adweek about the company's plans for Oculus Rift. It's in an experimental stage now, but marketing applications are coming soon.
10. Anheuser-Busch is to air three-and-a-half minutes of commercials during this year's Super Bowl, the Wall Street Journal's CMO Today reports. It will air two spots for Budweiser and one for Bud Light.