The 10 Things In Advertising You Need To Know Today
1. There's already a huge gold rush to fill the Apple Watch with ads. But don't believe the hype (yet.)
2. Viral news publisher Super Cray has become the latest in a raft of companies suing Google's AdSense for loss of revenue. The company claims it built up $535,000 in AdSense earnings, which was due to be paid in October last year. But Google allegedly suspended Super Cray's account because its advertising layout "encouraged accidental clicks."
3. Newcastle Brown Ale can't afford a Super Bowl ad so it hired a "Parks and Recreation" star to make an appeal for cash. Aubrey Plaza calls on other brands to help chip in for Newcastle's Super Bowl campaign in the latest video from the brewer.
4. Yahoo has shut down the Right Media ad exchange. Yahoo has folded it into its wider Yahoo Ad Exchange.
5. Burger King has a new tactic to win over McDonald's customers. It is being extremely aggressive on price.
6. One of the most talked-about CEOs in retail has suddenly stepped down. Nasty Gal CEO Sophia Amoruso is handing over the reins, but she will stay on as executive chairman.
7. Microsoft is proposing using Kinect to recognize shoppers in stores. Microsoft says using the motion controller will provide a more "personal selling experience" and it is also proposing providing retailers with a cart attached to a location-aware tablet, which would allow for contextual ads and promotions as shoppers passed particular shelves.
8. The Advertising Association has downgraded its UK ad spend growth forecast for 2015, Campaign reports. Growth has been revised down from 6.5% to 5.7%, reflecting a "more cautious outlook for UK GDP and concerns over the Eurozone in 2015."
9. The Daily Mail tells The Wall Street Journal's CMO Today that its move to place a full-page ad in the New York Times to tout its programmatic advertising offer has already seen a strong response from advertisers. He said the ad was modeled after Don Draper's "Why I'm Quitting Tobacco" letter from the HBO series "Mad Men."
10. Shazam is integrating beacon provider Gimbal's software to allow advertisers to recommend songs based on a user's location, The Next Web reports. Advertisers could beam out their jingles as a user walks into a store, for example.