Posts made in March, 2016

on Mar 29, 2016

By John McCarthy Social media management platform Hootsuite has acquired Sales Prodigy for an undisclosed fee to bolster its social selling capabilities. With the purchase, Hootsuite users will be able to find and launch social selling opportunities and converse with prospects. Matt Switzer, vice president of corporate development at Hootsuite, said: “Many organisations have invested in social marketing and social support, but there’s a big gap in the market for social selling solutions, and we want to address it. “Companies like Palms Hotel and Marketo already use Hootsuite as part of their lead generation efforts. With the addition of Sales Prodigy, we’re bolstering our platform to Read full story › Source: The Drum...

on Mar 29, 2016

By Katie Deighton The chief executive of AG Barr has stated new plans to “substantially” reduce the portfolio’s sugar content, as well as “brand strength” and “consumer-driven innovation”, will override any negative effects the forthcoming soft drinks tax will have on the company. According to Roger White, the brand will also focus its marketing efforts on its lower and no-sugar products, following the chancellor’s budget plans to add an extra levy on high-sugar soft drinks from April 2018. The comments were made in the group’s financial results for the year end 30 January. AG Barr, which produces and markets drinks such as Irn Bru and Read full story › Source: The Drum...

on Mar 29, 2016

By Leonie Roderick The ‘Give a Fudge’ activity is part of Ben & Jerry’s ‘Don’t Get Frozen Out’ campaign to drive equal access to democracy across London and address the fact that at present one in five Londoners are not correctly registered to vote. For the campaign, the ice cream brand is teaming up with civil rights campaign group ‘Hope not hate’ to spread the message. Throughout March and April, the Unilever-owned brand will be reaching out to those not on the electoral register and encouraging them to register to vote with a sampling tour of London locations, including colleges, dishing out free scoops Read full story › Source: Marketing Week...

on Mar 29, 2016

By John McCarthy A “third party casting agency” has landed Morrisons in trouble after putting out a casting call which warned that “nobody from Liverpool” need apply. Looking for extras to front a local social media campaign, the casting call was looking for “proper working-class people, but not at all like the characters on Benefits Street”. As an added stipulation, “they should not look or sound posh and should skew towards northern accents,” claimed the Yorkshire Evening Post. Facing a backlash on social media, the Bradford-based grocer was quick to blame a third party agency for the casting call, saying: “We are angry and Read full story › Source: The Drum...

on Mar 29, 2016

By Ronan Shields Software giant Adobe and digital media powerhouse Google are increasingly encroaching upon each other’s traditional patch, in a confrontation that harbingers some of the key debates in the industry, i.e. the debate around open versus closed ecosystems, plus the collision of ad tech and martech. Last week saw Adobe throw its hat into the ring as the industry’s leading ad tech, and martech outfits attempt to help brands crack the cross-screen conundrum, with a positioning that pits it squarely against Google, in what is one of the debates of the digital industry’s evolution. The Adobe Marketing Cloud Device Co-op was launched Read full story › Source: The Drum...