James Sowden

Want to know how Pinterest has evolved and Why are they appealing to Gen Z Shoppers? Have a read of the article below👇🏼 Thanks to Melissa Ryan & the Agency Team at Pinterest! #dentsu #pinterest #performancemarketing #socialmedia

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Everything Gavin Bridge says here about the opportunity for FAST (Free Ad Supported Streaming TV, eg Tubi) is why streaming platforms are a partnership and ultimately exit opportunity for MakeLoveNotPorn, because our 'human curation layer on top of the internet' offering represents the partner/investor Holy Grail - how to monetize sex, safely: 'FAST services shouldn’t shun brand extensions from adult brands, especially given the interest in the genre and their higher than average adoption of FAST. .. At the end of the day, capitalism will ultimately see that the most money to be made is made, and it is for reasons like this that I think what’s outlined here will happen sooner than later.' https://lnkd.in/etq9KYJe

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As marketers, we often look for differences between audiences and groups, overlooking the common ground that unites people. Hearst UK's deep dive into Gen X reveals an incredibly valuable and influential cohort with many intergenerational commonalities that would appeal to Gen Z too. In this blog post, I outline some of the ways in which Gen X are redefining middle age. I also look at some of the values and behaviours they share with Gen Z, and share some best practices for engaging both generations simultaneously and effectively.

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'Proprietary Media' (or 'Principal) is a hot potato in our industry right now. A new report from the Association of National Advertisers is a great, in-depth guide to the pros and cons, with very good recommendations for advertisers. Here I go into the cons and cons and argue that it is bad for everyone and ultimately the Media Agencies themselves. I call it 'unprincipled' media. As the WFA meets in Toronto for Global Marketer Week the health of the advertising industry should be on the agenda. Advertisers may not be able to solve issues such as climate change, but they can take actions with a more immediate impact on the well-being of the people who service their needs through how they spend their money. The news piece contains the ANA report can be found here https://lnkd.in/geKeFjBX All comments welcome, as ever.

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The media effectiveness road map brought to you by Analytic Partners’ Paul Sinkinson & the brilliant Tara Coverdale. Talk to us about accessing the full report which covers: ➡️ OOH’s contribution to ROI ➡️ Most effective media mix ➡️ Performance of classic and digital ➡️ Retail media ➡️ Regional ➡️ Creative ➡️ OOH for Brand, launch, conversion ➡️ Demo vs buyergraphic

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Debunking the myths of out-of-home (OOH) advertising ➡️ Contrary to what some believe, OOH remains a powerful tool for brand visibility and engagement, especially during the summer months. With its ability to reach diverse audiences and drive consideration and action, OOH is a versatile channel that can achieve multiple objectives in a brand's media mix. Let's set the record straight and harness the proven power of OOH advertising! #OOH #TalonOOH #Advertising

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#QSR brands may be locked in when it comes to social and YouTube ad campaigns, but the truth is that they’re falling short when it comes to a hugely underserved segment. @Gregory Wester, SVP at Digital Turbine sits down with Modern Restaurant Management (MRM) magazine to uncover surprising report findings about the “Mobile Gaming-First” market and what brands can do to tap into this valuable new audience. https://lnkd.in/gVx8TxNn #ClientWin 

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This is hysterical…and scary accurate. As someone who grew up in the agency world and has received reems of feedback on my own work, is equally guilty of commenting on drop-shadows (sorry Bill), and is now client-side and has fed back to many agencies, I can relate to both struggles: 1) It’s hard to receive feedback graciously. I find it helps to prepare for it and then interpret it through a simple lens: feedback represents expectations and familiarity. It is important to present work through those lens, even if your intention is to go beyond them. 2) It is even harder to give feedback. The desire to return to what we know or what we expect is innate. Breaking from those expectations opens up your mind to new thinking. These days, my mantra is: “examine newness with care.” If it makes me or my target audience uncomfortable it's probably tapping into something new, so examine that with care. https://lnkd.in/gEZKCayj #uncovertheunexpected

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The brilliant Karen Correia da Silva and Chris Grimwood are running a webinar that is a must see for anyone trying to build brand engagement in a socially drive world. Quick description here: There is no doubt that social media has disrupted the advertising world.   But with broadcast media in decline, and eyeballs shifting to the small screen, many brands fall into the trap of posting cutdowns of their TV ads on social.   Brands need to do more to survive online.   Join Iris at our latest virtual event, The Cutdown Killers, for a peek behind the curtain at what is really working on social in 2024. What to expect: The importance of creating an ecosystem of content that aligns, but is different to, your ATL marketing Brands who are pivoting successfully from broadcast to social Tangible steps for social media success in any CMO’s marketing mix   When: Thu, 27 Jun 2024 14:00 - 15:00 BST Where: Online   If this sounds like something you'd love to know head here (https://lnkd.in/eaPXHt84) to book your spot.

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Let's unpack this "18-month long pitch" (there's almost no one that should be celebrating). Lego's Marketing Team cannot make a decision and clearly is horribly aligned internally. There is no reason why it should take this long to select a media agency. Especially when so much of the budget is digital (~75%). My guess is the regions couldn't agree, the CMO couldn't pull them together and the CEO should be wildly concerned about how much time and money was wasted on this review. Publicis probably gave away the farm to win this. An 18-month pitch is not a battle of titans trying to edge each other, like the famous 11 hour Isner/Mahut Wimbledon Match. This is likely painful negotiations both internally at Lego and with Publicis/the other agency participants. It also sets a horrible precedent for future reviews and agency employees should be concerned. Also don't forget, the best of the best get staffed on these reviews... participating in a pitch like this risks your best talent. Every Publicis client should be concerned. Since Publicis likely gave away the farm to win, they are going to look for it somewhere else. Every client of the losing agencies should be concerned. They spent millions in aggregate to pitch this, they are going to look for it somewhere else. Lego's HR team should be concerned. Their new office in Boston is attracting quite a bit of interest from talent. If it takes this long to make a decision, it's going to be a concern for new applicants. This kind of pitch process is a big part of what is destroying the ad agency model. These Lego clients should be ashamed of themselves and the rest of the ad community should hold them to task. There is only one winner... the pitch consultant. And they should be grateful they are not listed in this press release. No brand client should ever hire them again. (and if you're curious... I've won pitches this big on the agency, held reviews this size as a client, and managed some as a consultant.) #adagency #mediaagency #RFP #Lego

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This is a great episode of uncensored CMO featuring Scott Galloway who in my mind is a credible voice in the world of culture and advertising - I recommend the whole thing, but the key part begins at about the 30-minute mark - where he speaks to two important topics: 1. The number one most important skill to have is storytelling - I know, it's an overused term and it seems everyone is a storyteller but if you know how to write and tell a compelling story it truly is a superpower -- 2. The era of "brand building" is dead - -our culture has transitioned fully from one where companies had to spend millions (through a limited number of channels) to convince people to buy their mediocre products to one with unlimited channels where quality is king - it is quite simple to discover products of quality through all the online tools available to us. Fascinating stuff that is sure to spark debate. https://lnkd.in/dKqW-8xC #advertising #storytelling #UncensoredCMO #ScottGalloway

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I attended the D&AD festival last week with TwentyFirstCenturyBrand and I initially came away a little nervous about the state of commercial creativity. Some of the judges shared that the creative was lacking this year. One judge noted ‘I rarely saw something that felt new and disruptive’, another talked about how contrived brand and artist collaborations had become. A few of the talks themselves were so shameless in their self/brand-promotion, I’m pretty sure A.I. had written them. Overall, it felt like the festival was not just a reflection of our uncertain times, but of our paralysing anxiety and fear of the uncertainty. I understand the feeling. I’m scared too. And I know it can be hard to go up on stage and offer a truly new perspective when all the balls are up in the air. The talks that stood out to me though were the ones that highlighted how to take advantage of moments like this. The people and brands who saw the swirl, conflict, and chaos as invitations to imagine something better. Like Lisa Smith from JKR and Leslie Sims from Impossible Foods, who repositioned plant based meat to ‘meat from plants’ and demonstrated how challenging dominant narratives in culture can unlock limitless innovation. Or Sinéad Burke from Tilting The Lens who questioned why ‘accessibility’ is even the end goal for brands attempting to be more inclusive. Why can’t products for people with disabilities function and deliver on craft, beauty, joy? Or the great Peter Saville who acknowledged the everlasting tension between commercial and creative, but urged us all to follow the brief, not the rules. We are undergoing a heightened amount of stress and trauma at the moment. These speakers (and many others) sought to remind us that we are all capable of creating awesome things in times of crisis. They instilled in me a renewed hope for the future of commercial and creative excellence, and I’m very excited to see where we go from here. #twentfirstcenturybrand #brandstrategy #creativeexcellence #marketing #commercialcreativity

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Starting to see more and more digital political campaign ads as we draw closer to the 2024 primaries? Here is a little insight on why and how candidates are harnessing the power of Targeted Advertising. https://lnkd.in/g2nEnuaE

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Trust is advertising has improved albeit from a very low base. Although media remains at 26% and on par with government (which given the current state of UK politics certainly says something). Trust is the hardest to build and the easiest to loose. We talk about it a lot with the clients we work with as it's so essential for brands. Advertising quality remains a key driver "Chiefly, whether a consumer finds an ad enjoyable is most important to creating trust. Other main reasons cited for trusting ads include whether the ad provided useful information, whether there existed a clear value exchange for viewing the ad and whether it made some social contribution" On the other hand, bombardment remains the biggest challenge to it "The feeling that ads are not only seen too frequently but also get in the way of enjoying the content they are bought against. Additional distrust drivers include whether ads target vulnerable groups, issues related to data privacy and targeting, and advertising deemed “unhealthy” to people or the environment. So good to know things are improving, but essential with the rise of AI and automated creative that we keep the user experience of the consumer as a priority. Otherwise the small gains will evaporate in a flash. It's something we've been really leaning in on at DAIVID 🦩helping advertisers measure creative quality quickly and at scale so they can measure all of their content. For our media partners we are helping with best practice creative playbooks for new formats that get the UX right.

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A fascinating insight study coming from Vox Media’s Insights team exploring the intersection of wealth and financial well-being amongst Gen Z. If you’d like to hear more DM us and we are happy to share the full survey! #VoxMedia #publishing #digital #genz #finance

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Do you believe that segmenting media into brand v performance is "the most unhelpful bit of language the industry has come up with"? Its for sure that the ProfitAbility 2 study has come up with some really interesting debates and suggesting that instead of looking at performance versus brand, marketers should be considering the three dimensions of effectiveness being scale, efficiency and time is definitely one of them. #mediaplanning #results

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In the words of Dan Black, Teads’ CTV Pulse is the culmination of a deep dive into the 'shift factors' affecting consumer content consumption, marketers willingness to commit shifting ad dollars and the driving factors for agencies looking to help advertisers move into CTV. Please click on the link below and have a read. #CTV #bestinglass

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