Happy's marketing news - 08.12.17
It’s been a busy week in the marketing world, here’s what has caught our eye!
Such is the hype of the Disney machine, it feels like there’s just as many people counting down the days until the release of ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ as Christmas itself. The second part in the new trilogy, The Last Jedi is expected to break box office records and will no doubt be boosted by an endless number of sponsors and brand partners. Its release comes amid a healthy period for cinema as an advertising channel. In 2016, ad spend rose 8.4% to £258m in the UK, according to the Advertising Association and Warc, which predicts spend in the channel will rise by 12.6% to around £290.5m in 2017. Growth is expected to slow next year, however. Over the last 30 years, there has been considerable growth in admissions as the summer blockbuster window solidifies itself on the UK calendar. Admissions totalled £76m in 1986, but this figure stood at £168m in 2016.
It’s that time of the year again where the annual “best of” and “worst of” charts are releases – don’t you just love them. According to Marketing Week it’s been a pretty bad your for digital and VR brands who had hoped for better things in 2017.
Google plans to stop Amazon’s Fire TV streaming devices being able to use YouTube from the start of 2018. The search giant has also blocked a workaround that Amazon introduced to restore YouTube access to a screen-based version of its smart speaker. Experts say the steps mark an escalation of a business row in which consumers have been caught up in the fallout. Amazon had previously stopped selling several of Google’s hardware products. It removed the latest Nest-branded smart home kit – including a home security system and a new version of its thermostat – from its online stores last month.
61% of brands have worked with digital influencers in the past 12 months. This compares to 57% for singers or musicians, 51% for TV actors and 49% for models. While 44% agree digital influencers will be the best option for endorsement opportunities in the near future.
Brands achieved an average return of £17.21 for every £1 spent on talent-led campaigns in 2017.
From Burger King’s Google stunt and Ikea’s response to Balenciaga’s ‘copycat’ bag to Wendy’s 2.5 billion earned media impressions, these are the campaigns that caused controversy, set out to make a statement or put humour centre stage.
