Enjoy AdForum’s daily roundup of the latest news, trends, and notable work in the advertising industry.
It’s a Small Beer World: Anheuser-Busch InBev and SABMiller Merge in $106 Billion Deal
“Anheuser-Busch InBev is on the verge of truly becoming the King of Beers. The company, brewer of Budweiser and Stella Artois, among other brands, said on Tuesday that it had reached an agreement in principle to acquire its brewing rival SABMiller for about $104 billion. A merger, if completed, would combine the world’s two largest brewers, creating a behemoth that has annual revenue of about $64 billion and that commands 30 percent of global beer sales. Visit The New York Times for more information.
Creative Corner: Founder of Freelancer’s Union Talks Shop with President Obama
“For the American freelancer, this was a big week in Washington. Freelancers Union Founder, Sara Horowitz was invited to speak on a panel that took place during the Summit on Worker Voice at the White House, hosted by President Obama. Prior to the event, we asked you to raise your voice and help #StartTheConvo in Washington around wage theft – and the President heard #FreelanceNation loud and clear!” Read more at The Washington Post.
Ad Age’s Ann-Christine Diaz Questions Whether Cannes Lions Exposed a Content Creativity Void
For the past two consecutive years, Cannes Lions has not been able to find a winner deserving of the Grand-Prix award in the Content Creativity category. What does this say about the state of creativity in the advertising industry, and where are we headed from here? Visit Ad Age for more.
Job of the Day: Content Strategist at Grey New York
“Two things Grey has been doing since 1917: hiring forceful, energetic innovators with diverse skill sets and points of view who can put ideas into motion that lead to results, and creating famously effective work. That’s no coincidence. Smart, quick, highly motivated business-savvy people have been the backbone of Grey’s famously effective work for almost a hundred years. They are the drivers of business and creative performance that at this point in Grey’s long history have never better. Our work for DirecTV and Canon has won a total of 11 Cannes Lions in the past two years. Febreze, which won four Lions in that same time, also was awarded four Effies including two global ones. In fact, the agency’s award performance has never been better, and neither has our clients’ businesses; more than 4/5 of them reported positive growth last year. That is Famously Effective at its best.” For more details, visit Grey New York.
Agency Veterans Discuss Who Is Winning the Social Media Wars, and How
(Photo vis Jason Howie)
“Statistics and think pieces aside, one fact becomes clearer by the hour: The world’s largest social media platforms will play an increasingly larger role in the digital marketing equation moving forward. As Joe McCaffrey, head of social media at Brooklyn-based agency Huge, put it, ‘Not a day goes by that I’m not writing or seeing something new’ in the social space. The question remains: Which platforms will lead the pack, and how can agencies navigate a landscape that threatens their core business model?” Read the full story at Adweek.
From Rumor to Reality: Twitter Lays Off 8% of Workforce
“Twitter will lay off approximately 8 percent of its work force, which amounts to up to 336 employees. It’s Jack Dorsey’s first major act as 'permanent CEO,' after having been elevated from interim. He confirmed the move, appropriately enough, with a tweet.” Read more at Wired.
Prime Motor Group in Boston Nails Disruptive Advertising by Going Upside Down
“The upside down Prime Motor Group billboards dotting the landscaping around Greater Boston have become the topic of conversation for many commuters. The simple upside down blue billboards with the company’s website have been spotted on major highways to the south and west of the city. They have become impossible for drivers to miss while pictures of the billboards appear frequently on social media. “Was it a mistake?” seems to be the big question on everybody’s mind.” For more visit Boston Magazine.
Your Daily, Obligatory Article on How to Understand, and Engage, Millennials
“Millennials are not a separate species. They are loosely defined as the generation that approached adulthood around the year 2000. They might be described as a bit irreverent, arrogant, and independent. They might not dress respectfully – the same terms that were used to describe baby boomers 30+ years ago. You can bury your head in the sand and hope that the Millennial Generation will start acting like the prior generation. That approach, however, didn’t work so well in the past, and is not going to work for this generation, either.” Visit Forbes for the full story.
Agency Life: Can Yoga at the Office Reduce Stress and Unhappiness?
(Photo via Jean Henrique Wichinoski)
“Among the unique stressors Wisdom found inside the agency were deadlines and the unstructured nature of the work. Agency staffers have said these two stressors contribute to a general sense of unhappiness and uncertainty inside the industry.” Read more at Digiday.
Agency of the Week
Mullen Lowe Group: We’re a different kind of company - a global boutique network of distinctive diverse agencies, rich in local culture with both intimacy and scale, present in more than 65 markets with over 90 agencies. At Mullen Lowe Group - we work to get our clients an unfair share of attention, by always thinking like a challenger and through our hyper bundled approach - smashing together scrums of our best talent from every discipline and from all over the world.
Because today is Tuesday check out this Clearasil ad (below) by Droga5 celebrating the frustrating hilarity of life as a teacher.
