Advertising
1. Samsung's ad agency Cheil has taken a stake in UK-based creative agency Iris Worldwide. No terms of the deal were disclosed, but Cheil does have the option to increase its "significant" stake to 100% in the next five years.
2. Sony has moved quickly to remove an innuendo-ridden ad from its European PlayStation YouTube channel. The ad, to promote the PS4's Remote Play, was presumably removed due to its sexist connotations.
3. The UK's biggest newspaper The Sun claims it has doubled its number of paid-for digital describers year on year to 225,000 users. However, The Sun's total paid-for sales (which includes copies of the print newspaper) are still down 2.2% on 2013.
4. Coca-Cola milk doesn't immediately sound too appealing, but the company says its new milk product will "rain money." The drink is called Fairlife and will sell for twice the price of regular milk when it hits US store shelves in December.
5. Here's a shocking stat that shows why Budweiser is in serious trouble. A recent company study found that 44% of drinks aged between 21 and 27-years-old have never tried the brand.
6. Meet Sparc, which has used neat design and branding to turn itself in the "Apple store of marijuana shops." The company serves up to 400 customers a day in its trendy San Francisco medical marijuana dispensary store.
7. It's going to be tough for web video contenders like Facebook, Vessel and Yahoo to pry away top YouTube stars, according to the WSJ's CMO Today. One prominent YouTuber told the title, "I don't think I'd ever leave YouTube," while another said: "YouTube will always be my base, these other places are all to help push my YouTube stuff."
8. Adweek explores how MailChimp is reaping the rewards from the runaway success of the "Serial" podcast, which has been streamed more than 5 million times. Each episode begins with a 20-second callout to the email vendor, and data shows people are talking about the ad on social media.
9. 7up, the second largest PepsiCo drink brand, has undergone a global brand refresh, The Drum reports. The transformation is being accompanied by a campaign that aims to celebrate people who fit the brand's "original and refreshing" identity.
10. French city Grenoble plans to ban all outdoor ads and replace them with trees and "community spaces," The Telegraph reports. The city's 326 advertising signs will be removed between January and April next year and its contract with JCDecaux will be terminated as they no longer "correspond to the expectations of the inhabitants who want to reclaim public space," the the city's mayor's office said.