Hello and welcome to your weekly FWD.
“While my background is in tech, I have a deep-rooted belief in the power of creative ideas. This mix combined with start-up mentality, agility and entrepreneurialism, will unlock opportunities to deliver work that makes a difference for our clients.” – Guy Marks
Following the exciting announcement earlier this week that start-up founder Guy Marks will be taking the helm of OMD EMEA, this issue is dedicated to stories where tech and creativity meet…
Google opens new avenues in China through a long-term agreement with Tencent, Amazon has finally opened its checkout-free shop, and Spotify can now help you adopt a dog with the same music tastes as you!
One to watch: tackling one of the industry’s big mysteries, BuzzFeed’s Publisher Dao Nguyen gives a TED talk on the secret to making content that people love.
HEADLINES
INSIGHTS
COOL
- Are we about to see the launch of an ‘iTunes equivalent’ for VR music?
- Barking mad? You can now adopt a dog with the same music tastes as you
- This messaging app only works when you have less than 5% battery life, and you can only chat to strangers
DEEP READS
If you find anything interesting, please share using #OMDFWD
Hello and welcome to your weekly OMD FWD! Have you ever thought about watching a TV trailer and creating your own narrative? Director Steven Soderberg has created an iOS app with multiple scenes to determine your own storyline, leading up to the show’s launch.
Elsewhere, Harvard Business has looked into how future sales will be impacted as Artificial Intelligence becomes increasingly more sophisticated. If you take Amazon as an example, consumers currently purchase around one in twenty recommended items. However as this improves over time with more data, shopping behaviours and future business models will alter. Are businesses equipped for this change in strategy?
In contrast, Silicon Valley leaders are disconnecting themselves from their smartphones with a growing fear that so-called ‘continuous partial attention’ could lead to a lower IQ. Fear not, if this is the response from tech geniuses who got us hooked in the first place, we’re sure they will save us over time!
HEADLINES
INSIGHTS
COOL
DEEP READS
As usual, please share anything you find interesting using the hashtag #OMDFWD
Hello and welcome to your weekly OMD FWD! Have you ever thought about watching a TV trailer and creating your own narrative? Director Steven Soderberg has created an iOS app with multiple scenes to determine your own storyline, leading up to the show’s launch.
Elsewhere, Harvard Business has looked into how future sales will be impacted as Artificial Intelligence becomes increasingly more sophisticated. If you take Amazon as an example, consumers currently purchase around one in twenty recommended items. However as this improves over time with more data, shopping behaviours and future business models will alter. Are businesses equipped for this change in strategy?
In contrast, Silicon Valley leaders are disconnecting themselves from their smartphones with a growing fear that so-called ‘continuous partial attention’ could lead to a lower IQ. Fear not, if this is the response from tech geniuses who got us hooked in the first place, we’re sure they will save us over time!
HEADLINES
INSIGHTS
COOL
DEEP READS
As usual, please share anything you find interesting using the hashtag #OMDFWD
Unusual things are happening this week, from people freezing for the mannequin challenge and UFO emoji’s, to futuristic vending machines appearing in towns to sell spectacles (but after the result of the recent US election, we should be prepared to no longer be surprised). If you are lucky enough to be strolling down the road and catch sight of one of these unusual-looking vending machines, you could be forgiven for thinking that you have walked onto the set of Despicable Me 3, but draw a little closer and you discover that this vending machine is in fact a very cool bit of tech. Left unattended the machine is just “sleeping”, but motion sensors wake it up as you approach. You are met by a big digital eye that interacts with you…it’s not a Minion, it’s a vending machine and it wants to sell you a device for $130 – The Snapchat Spectacle. Whether this new product will become more popular than the Google Glass is still to be decided; however, there are certainly some interesting opportunities for brands wanting to reach an audience of Snapchat loving millennials.
HEADLINES
INSIGHTS
COOL
- You will never have seen a vending machine quite like the Snapchat Spectacle offering
- OMG! Here is the latest set of planned emojis to be rolled out
- Pinterest has a mighty useful ‘tried’ button to share when you have sampled or experienced previously
DEEP READS
- Not the deepest of reads, but here are best Mannequin Challenges to date
- While you can’t get much more ‘native’ Google search ads, Google has partnered with native content ad partner to shift landscape and expand native offering
- A look at how Buzzfeed and Twitter used the existing strength of their platform to showcase election content
Share anything you see through the week with the hashtag #OMDFWD
Already spend a lot of time on Facebook? With the launch of Workplace by Facebook, this could potentially increase. As some people spend time on Facebook to distract themselves from work, what about using the social platform for work? With competitive pricing, Facebook is on a mission to prove this is a place for business and not just sharing comedic memes. “If you can use Facebook, you can use Facebook Workplace” says Ryan Holmes, CEO of Hootsuite. The advantage of this to Facebook is that their customers will need zero to little welcome training as they will already be familiar with most of the user interface and functionalities. The same cannot be said for other collaboration tools and systems. As social media platforms and pricing models evolve, we’ll have to wait and see how users respond to these recent developments in the workplace and what the impact will be for marketers.
HEADLINES
INSIGHTS
COOL
DEEP READS
Share anything you see through the week with the hashtag #OMDFWD
The annual tech and innovation fest, Dmexco gets under way in Cologne this week. This year’s tantalising premise is that, “Digital is everything — not every thing is digital.” Why? Because digital marketing is about to get personal, according to OMD Europe global account director, Steve Blakeman. OMD Germany will be hosting a rather grand presence this year with a stand in the main exhibition area (Hall 7 B-041), which will showcase OMD alongside other OMG agencies. Mainardo de Nardis, our Global OMD CEO, will be taking to the main stage to discuss the changing marketing agency landscape at 11:45 am GMT on September 15th, 2016 which you can livestream. Earlier that morning, Blake Cuthbert will be taking part in the Mediatel breakfast panel where experts will discuss expanding the reach and delivering new customers with digital advertising. Don’t worry if you won’t be able to make it to the event, we will be bringing you live updates across our @OMD_EMEA social accounts.
HEADLINES
INSIGHTS
COOL
DEEP READS
As ever, share what you spot using #OMDFWD
With deals from the NFL and MLB already on the books, Snapchat has locked up another sports partnership: A deal with NBC to show Olympics highlights from the 2016 Games in Rio inside the app’s Discover section. Snapchat will be given exclusive behind-the-scenes footage at the games and in return with give NBC access to its super-young user base. But with the NBC partnership not being exclusive they can partner with other social platforms, and that’s exactly what they’re trying to do. With conversations already in place with Facebook and Twitter what does this mean for Snapchat and their levels of exclusivity?
HEADLINES
INSIGHTS
COOL
DEEP READS