Going (Creatively) Digital
Mall Of America Resurrects Discount Flash Sales Via Snapchat
Remember “flash sales,” those quick retail deals and discounts? Mall of America in Minnesota is hoping to revive the concept by using Snapchat to prod younger women to check out particular deals within certain of its 520 stores in the latter part of March. The Mall’s Digital Director, Emily Shannon, tells GeoMarketing that Snapchat “is a platform that works really well for flash sales because they are all about immediacy and select groups of interested users.” This plays to Snapchat’s introduction for marketers last year of geofilters, which enable mobile users to draw a location around a specific place where their friends/followers can see messages.
Get Ready For The Invasion Of The Chat Bots Thanks To Better AI Technology
Speaking of consumer tech fads we thought had seen the down side of the mountain, consider the impending comeback of chat bots, those computer programs that simulate human conversation. TIME does a deep dive on the subject and concludes that the next Rise of the Chat Bots is on the digital horizon, thanks to enhanced artificial intelligence. Originally the province of desktop computer sessions, chat bots are being rejuvenated by the rise of mobile devices and the increasing popularity of messaging apps. On Kik, a messaging app aimed at teens, users can chat up as many as 100 different bots. Overall, 16 million of the app’s 240 million registered users have had at least one conversation with a bot, according to TIME.
NBCU Now Creating Video Content For Distribution Beyond Its Platforms
NBCUniversal is ramping up its content creation business by going beyond its own network platforms while continuing to offer marketers the on-camera services of NBCU talent. The NBCU Content Studio will develop and produce content for advertising clients utilizing its creative talent, data, distribution and scale, but that content won’t necessarily appear on any of its linear or digital platforms, ADWEEK reports. The studio will tailor content for individual platforms—for example, a short-form YouTube series, a separate Snapchat activation, a podcast and linear spots—while also appearing on the advertiser’s brand platforms, mobile sites and apps. GE’s kid inventor segments called Fallonventions, which air on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, won two Clio gold awards.
Internet Advertising Bureau Offers A Primer On Achieving Ad Viewability
The Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) is offering a primer on best practices for optimizing digital advertising viewability. According to MarketingLand, the primer directly addresses three ad delivery levers: site redesign to ensure that ads are positioned optimally; latency improvements to cut down on long rendering times; and ad tech strategy and policy changes to bring tactics in line with best practices. The guidance covers best practices gleaned from small and large publishers—with varying degrees of ad-tech resources—that have led the way in getting viewability implemented and optimized. View the IAB report here.
C-Suite Moves:
Lori Wright to BlueJeans Network as Chief Marketing Officer, from TIBCO, where she also was CMO.
Steven Hardwick to Zootly as Chief Marketing Officer, from York Capital, where he ran marketing operations for the company’s consumer-facing portfolio of companies.
Richard Brandon to Edgeware as Chief Marketing Officer, from Juniper Networks, where he was VP of Worldwide Marketing.
Didier Dutronc to Sequans as Chief Marketing Officer, from Asia Business Consulting, where he was Chairman.
Michael Zimbalist to Simulmedia as Chief Marketing Officer, from The New York Times Company, where he was SVP of Advertising Products and Research & Development.
Tracy Faigin to Melody Health Insurance as Chief Marketing Officer, from the Colorado Health co-op, where she also was CMO.
Stephanie Nerlich to MDC Partners as Chief Marketing Officer, from Grey Canada, where she was President and CEO.
