Hello and welcome to another weekly dose of OMD FWD, where most of our highlights come from the USA. As Trump continues to rock the world with his Muslin ban, tech giants including Google Microsoft and Facebook stand up for their existing employees and future talent. Meanwhile, Dove UK launch their #AlternativeFactsCampaign.
The Superbowl has also dominated recent headlines with Lady Gaga using 300 Intel-powered drones during halftime. With so much hype and exposure, it’s no wonder brands want to get a slice of the action, despite the $5M price tag! Don’t miss the best and worst from Superbowl TV ads in 2017.
HEADLINES
- Tech giants including Google, Microsoft and Facebook rally against Trump’s Muslim ban amidst fears for existing employees as well as the future of progressive thinking in the USA
- Instagram launches Snapchat-esque ‘disappearing’ photo and video functionality
- Dove UK brilliantly trolls the Trump administration’s attitude towards suspect information with their #AlternativeFacts campaign
INSIGHTS
COOL
DEEP READS
As ever, please tag and share anything you spot with #OMDFWD.
It has been a significant couple of weeks for our understanding of the developing TV landscape. The convergence of TV and Internet technologies has been spoken of as some kind of future event for the past 15 years or so. Now, more than ever, we can understand it as something that has happened and will continue to develop.
The over the top global TV platforms continue to scale.

Netflix announced a global partnership with Liberty Global giving access to a further 30m homes worldwide driving growth beyond the current 29m subscriptions outside the USA. Additionally, RBC Capital Markets reported that 42% of UK internet users used Netflix to watch TV/Movie content in the past 12 months, compared to 54% for YouTube and 62% for the BBC iPlayer.
In terms of high-profile content, Amazon announced a launch date of November 18 for ‘The Grand Tour’ maybe the most prominent global reach show to date for an OTT platform. Twitter streamed their first live NFL Thursday night football match between the NY Jets and Buffalo Bills. In the VR space, the first VR Emmy went to the Oculus Story Studio. We are now witnessing premium content propositions, in virtually every genre, being made available through these new platforms being launched every few weeks.
On the other side of the convergence coin, the traditional broadcasters and platforms have been taking advantage of new technology led opportunities. At IBC in Amsterdam, Sky recently discussed the launch of Sky Go UK inventory sold via the Videology platform on a programmatic basis enabling brands to access content such as live English Premier League outside of traditional broadcast.
At IBC a range of new TV screens were launched that go beyond 4K into High Dynamic Range, Wide Colour Gamut and Ultra HD. Content in these cutting edge formats is more likely to be initially delivered over IP rather than broadcast.
It is not just a zero-sum game, these platforms drive each other.

Nielsen in the US report that increased viewing of related content on YouTube drives viewing of a TV show. Consumers are happy to bounce between platforms, especially on the same device, to create a more personalised experience. Measurement of this behaviour is now a global scale challenge requiring new methodologies for TV measurement, in-store attribution and cross-device targeting.
We can now see a path to better monetisation of video impacts delivered over IP. No longer are they something that is hard to measure, scale and trade. Consumers have taken to new platforms and formats, especially younger and more affluent consumers. Global platforms are creating and distributing some of the most high profile and sought after inventory. Brands can now also access that high-quality content through a range of new buying mechanisms.
Convergence has positive impacts on TV, we just need to frame the opportunity a little differently.
This was very much the focus of discussion amongst the media and advertising community at IBC. It is now especially relevant to have a deep understanding of many audience segments. Through conditional insight, testing different hypotheses and experimental design, we can recognise brand differentiators through value creation mechanisms. A clear measurement framework that operates across devices, platforms and approaches is now the most critical challenge to deliver on the opportunity of the post convergence TV/AV landscape.
OMD IS ONCE AGAIN THE MOST MEDALED MEDIA AGENCY IN CANNES
OMD has once again proved to be an indomitable force as we were hailed as the most awarded media agency network, earning a total of 63 lions across many different categories. Winning 3 grand prix, 9 gold, 16 silver and a staggering 35 bronze. OMD has again without doubt stolen a march on its competitors at one of the most prestigious creative events in the industry.
OMD’s accolades were awarded for work across a broad spectrum of client categories – including automotive, CPG, financial services, media, retail, sports goods and technology – by OMD agencies across the globe. On top of being the most awarded media agency in the Media category, OMD also topped the ranking in 7 further categories including Digital Craft, Creative Effectiveness, Cyber, Integrated, Film, Film Craft and Health & Wellness.
OMD WINS SPAN GLOBE AND CATEGORIES

- OMD SWEDEN – SLOW DOWN GPS, IF INSURANCE (6 TOTAL – 1 GOLD, 1 SILVER, 4 BRONZE)
- OMD SWEDEN – THE ORGANIC EFFECT, COOP (4 TOTAL – 1 GRAND PRIX, 1 GOLD, 1 SILVER, 1 BRONZE)
- MG OMD UK – TINY DANCER, JOHN LEWIS INSURANCE (3 TOTAL – 1 GOLD, 2 BRONZE)
- OMD SWEDEN – THE FISH, KLARNA (2 TOTAL – 2 BRONZE)
- OMD SWEDEN – THE CHEESE, KLARNA (1 TOTAL – 1 BRONZE)
- OMD SWEDEN – THE SWIM, KLARNA (2 TOTAL – 2 BRONZE)
- OMD UK – HUMANS, CHANNEL 4 (2 TOTAL – 2 SILVER)
- MG OMD UK – THE MAN ON THE MOON, JOHN LEWIS (2 TOTAL – 1 SILVER, 1 BRONZE)
- MG OMD UK – MONTY’S CHRISTMAS, JOHN LEWIS (1 TOTAL – 1 GRAND PRIX)
- OMD UAE – DATE NIGHT, HENKEL (1 TOTAL – 1 SILVER)
- OMD UAE – SUNDAY STROLL, HENKEL (1 TOTAL – 1 SILVER)
- OMD UAE – BARKING PUPPY, HENKEL (1 TOTAL – 1 SILVER)
- OMD UAE – I CAN TEACH YOU TOO, DUBAI CARES (1 TOTAL – 1 BRONZE)
- OMD ITALY – DACIA FAMILY PROJECT, RENAULT ITALIA (1 TOTAL – 1 BRONZE)
- OMD GERMANY – KEYS OF HOPE, DEUTSCHER CARITASVERBAND / CARITAS INTERNATIONAL (1 TOTAL – 1 BRONZE)
- OMD ITALY – BUSINESS BOOSTER, RENAULT ITALIA (1 TOTAL – 1 BRONZE)
- OMD UK – HUNTED, CHANNEL 4 (1 TOTAL – 1 BRONZE)
- MG OMD UK – A GROUND-BREAKING CAMPAIGN TO COMBAT LONELINESS, JOHN LEWIS (1 TOTAL – 1 BRONZE)
- OMD UAE – CHAMPIONS HIJACK, GO SPORT (1 TOTAL – 1 BRONZE)

- OMD USA – THE SUPER BOWL DUNK, GATORADE (5 TOTAL – 1 GOLD, 1 SILVER, 3 BRONZE)
- OMD USA – GE PODCAST THEATRE PRESENTS THE MESSAGE, GE (3 TOTAL – 2 GOLD, 1 BRONZE)
- OMD USA – IN-A-SNAP, LOWE’S (3 TOTAL – 1 SILVER, 2 BRONZE)
- OMD USA – NYT VR, THE NEW YORK TIMES, NYT VR, T BRAND STUDIO, GOOGLE, GE, MINI (1 TOTAL – 1 GRAND PRIX)
- OMD USA – THE LADY GAGA + INTEL PERFORMANCE, INTEL (1 TOTAL – 1 GOLD)
- OMD USA – COLOR BARS, APPLE (1 TOTAL – 1 SILVER)
- OMD USA – INTEL WINTER X GAMES 2016, INTEL (1 TOTAL – 1 BRONZE)
- OMD USA – RAINBOWS, DORITOS (1 TOTAL – 1 BRONZE)
- OMD USA – PEPSI + EMPIRE PARTNERSHIP, PEPSICO (1 TOTAL – 1 BRONZE)
- OMD USA – HISTORY OF SOUND, APPLE (1 TOTAL – 1 BRONZE)

- OMD NEW ZEALAND – UNFORGOTTEN SOLDIERS, SKY TELEVISION NEW ZEALAND (7 TOTAL – 3 SILVER, 4 BRONZE)
- OMD NEW ZEALAND – HELLO, NZ TRANSPORT AGENCY (1 TOTAL – 1 GOLD)

- OMD COSTA RICA – #LEYDEMIERDA (#SHITLAW), TERRITORIO DE ZAGUATES (2 TOTAL – 1 SILVER, 1 BRONZE)
- OMD DOMINICAN REPUBLIC – END THE SILENCE, LA SIRENA (2 TOTAL – 1 GOLD, 1 SILVER)
Mainardo de Nardis, Global CEO, OMD Worldwide said, “We are thrilled and proud to have been awarded and recognised once again for our commitment to stronger, smarter and better work for our clients. Creativity remains at the core of everything we do at OMD and as the landscape changes in our industry we have the agility and the talent to lead and equally make our clients leaders in their categories as well. We wish to thank all of our incredible clients that make this possible – and our people, without whom none of this would be possible”