Smita Reddy

Peter Adams of Marketing Dive: Disney deepens CTV strategy with new shoppable formats, ‘advergaming.' Disney is trying to level up its connected TV (CTV) strategy with new ad formats that integrate games and shoppable features. The gamified offerings, or “advergaming” formats, are coming exclusively to Hulu and ESPN as part of a partnership with BrightLine. A trivia game and beat-the-clock challenge are available at launch, with Topgolf acting as charter advertiser of the latter. Disney also worked with artificial intelligence firm Kerv on three formats, called Sync, L-Bar and Impulse, that use a mix of QR codes, graphics and product carousels to drive transactions via CTV. Target and Nespresso tested Impulse for campaigns running earlier in the spring. https://buff.ly/3VkiDQW via @marketingdive

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A new Nielsen report sheds light on the fastest-growing consumer demographic in the U.S. According to Jackie Liu of The Pollack Group, Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander audiences are a diverse powerhouse influencing culture and commerce. The report reinforces that understanding AANHPI communities requires nuanced insights beyond surface-level generalizations through data-backed trends and unique media habits. Jackie shares top takeaways on communicating authentically to diverse Asian audiences. Discover proven strategies for success by exploring the full report at the link below. 👇

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PRWeek's great 2024 Business Report highlights the key challenge facing our industry. Communications is more important than ever. Comms and policy leaders are being asked to play far larger roles as business partners supporting ever more stakeholders. So why did the industry suffer so much in 2023 after many years of growth? As an sector, we are not adapting fast enough to the needs. Organizations are desperate for help but also under tremendous financial strain. They now need both senior level counsel and advisory support as well as deep domain expertise to actually produce. By and large, our industry is still split by this chasm - between strategic and tactical. Clients cannot afford to separate these, either in time or money. At Bully Pulpit International our goal is to bridge this divide, building a team that can both 'think and do' at the highest levels. It's not always easy. Last year was a challenge. But if you share this vision for the future, please check out some of our open roles: https://lnkd.in/dGQwJUSG

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🥐 A little food for thought from Eleanor Hawkins. 🥐 This story illustrates both the necessity for and tension between comms and marketing. Brand reputation is critical. It takes just one misstep to cause irreparable harm (or at least significant damage) to a brand. The good news is that a healthy partnership between marketing and comms leaders, along with connection to the whole org, can impart strength and creativity within an organization.

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Winning with Culture! Group Black is your key to unlocking measurable brand growth. Let’s discuss how we can do it for you.

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Election turbulence is a threat to marketers during these perilous and polarized times. Here are nine ways brand managers and communicators can protect budgets, avoid scams and reach customers in a noisy and cluttered market.

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Thank you to PRNEWS for publishing my piece on lessons brands and communications leaders can learn from the recent fallout at NBC News and the pitfalls of binary thinking. "This debacle is one of many scenarios that remind us of why deliberate, well-coordinated and consistent internal communications are even more important in today’s climate where sensitive information leaks are becoming commonplace." If you're so inclined, you can read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/eSjSG26d

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How often do you leverage old-school approaches like direct buying, contextual advertising, and brand lift studies? See why legacy strategies like these are making a comeback as advertisers adapt to signal loss 👇 #DigitalAdvertising #Adtech

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In a world where millennial and Gen Z insights dominate the conversation, at BCW Global we are looking beyond, and thinking about how Gen A will shape the future of communications. We surveyed 1,000 members of this generation (and their parents), to uncover what they think about the world we live in, their values, expectations, and the influence they'll have in a not so far away future. Gen A's size and economic impact underscore the urgency to pay attention to tomorrow's consumers, today. Read more in the PRovoke Media article below, and access the full report here: https://lnkd.in/dfP2drUB

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Bravery + Business = How brands and agencies are stepping into the future. That’s one of the standout themes from last week’s AdForum Summit. Here’s how it's being put into practice:   ✅ Creative Bravery in Action Quality Experience distinguished between “beautiful creative” and “beautiful advertising” that connects to the brand and drives real business outcomes. Uncommon Creative Studio's approach, “Creating Acts not Ads,” captures this idea perfectly. ✅ Bold Doesn’t Need to Be Risky Quality Experience also emphasized that so-called “brave” creative isn't actually risky if it's well-researched and insights-driven: “It’s not big audacious work. It’s work that captures your audience in a way that’s relevant in 2024.” Qulture noted that everyone’s feed is now tailor-made to them, so the only way brands can reach their audiences is by aligning with their interests and affinities. ✅ Creative That Sparks Conversation As [Ai]magination noted, with AI enabling brands to produce 50x more content, the big idea and strong storytelling become crucial for standing out. Ogilvy talked about “earned-first creative” and other firms touched on this same point. It's not just about garnering impressions; it's about driving meaningful conversations that translate into business success. (See: Ogilvy PR's Michael Cera for CeraVe campaign leading up to and capitalizing on the brand's first Super Bowl spot). ✅ Harnessing Tech for Humanity Put aside for a moment everything you’ve heard about how AI is going to take over humanity. Marketers are already using tech for good. Take, for example, Kiki, a virtual human who interprets emergency broadcasts for natural disasters in Japan and makes important news available to Japanese Sign Language speakers. It doesn't stop there...the platform is available for licensing to other organizations. What are your thoughts on balancing creative bravery with business outcomes? How are you navigating this intersection in your work?

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Consumers who once demanded convenience now require consistent, multi-channel experiences that cater to them at every point. Brands must have a clear, audience-appropriate, and channel-specific voice across all platforms -- Dara A. Busch, 5WPR https://odwpr.us/4aLW8uP

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Arc was the most-awarded commerce agency at this year’s REGGIE Awards. 9 times. Reality: When you choose a life in marketing, you don’t always get to market things (brands, services, ideas) that directly align with your personal values. This year’s award-winning work created in partnership by Arc and Unilever: - Amplifies multicultural voices - Eschews perfection - Promotes family connection and positive self-worth in young women - Provides affordable, healthy meal options to families Do these align with my personal values? Yes. Yes. Yes. And…Yes. It thrills me to see this work connect with people, build businesses, perpetuate good in the world, and receive recognition for all of it. #IrresistibleCommerce #REGGIE #award #Unilever #ClientPartner #arcww

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Key Lessons Learned from Edelman’s 14-Year Citizenship Journey               When PRWeek named Edelman recently as the agency dynasty of the last 25 years, it praised our “commitment to creating movements, not moments” and cited our global citizenship movement launched in 2010. That acknowledgment is noteworthy. Not just because I have led our CSR Program since its inception. Or because my dad, Daniel Edelman, was a visionary about citizenship when establishing our agency 72 years ago. Rather, the recognition reveals today’s reality. Every company must develop and embrace an integrated CSR strategy, not just ad hoc programs to help protect our planet and make societal progress. For one thing, high expectations from stakeholder groups underscore the value of sustainability efforts. Our respected Edelman Trust Barometer finds that 70% of more than 32,000 global respondents want to work for a company that addresses societal issues. For another, a CSR strategy already is all but mandatory for big and small businesses. The European Union’s CSRD begins phasing in ESG reporting requirements this year for U.S. and global entities. A citizenship strategy becomes transformational on several fronts. It becomes an integral part of a company. Our journey provides a roadmap for developing a comprehensive CSR strategy. Four key lessons learned:    It’s an evolutionary, not a revolutionary, path. When we began, I thought we just needed to launch a few programs to generate early successes. But the programs morphed into much more. For instance, we initially reported four sources of GHG emissions – paper, business travel, electricity, and water. Now, we have added purchased goods and services, employee commuting, and waste, among others as part of our Science-Based Targets initiative. Embed CSR and sustainability into the corporate culture. Achieve this by moving away from siloed citizenship-related programs, consolidating them over time, and integrating them strategically into your culture. We've experienced 10 transformations that we highlighted in our fiscal 2023 citizenship report. Employ data and measurements. They’re critical to drive action and inform strategy. We established a proprietary Citizenship Score to manage and report our activities across global offices. Set goals and report your progress against them. Incorporate a mix of short-term objectives and long-term goals. For example, we set a goal of eliminating single-use non-PET plastics by the end of this fiscal year on June 30. At year-end 2023, 94% of our offices had stopped buying plastic bottles. A long-term goal seeks to achieve at least 15% of our addressable spending with diverse suppliers in the U.S. by the end of fiscal 2025. Developing and embedding CSR and sustainability into Edelman’s culture has been transformational for us as it will be for any other company. I have given you a glimpse of our ongoing CSR journey. I look forward to hearing your stories. 

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S/O to Whitney Alexander's Substack for this fantastic ADWEEK spotlight. As a 40+ woman, I am definitely feeling the lack of focus by most consumer brands, ironically, when I'm the most willing (and able) to spend more for quality. Only 5-10% of marketing budgets are earmarked for an over-50 audience, BUT: 💰 Women drive 70-80% of all consumer purchasing, either through buying power or influence  💸 And women older than 50 drive $15 trillion in spending power—which is 27% of all consumer spending in the U.S. 🤑 By 2030, women are expected to control much of the $30 trillion in wealth that is soon to transfer from baby boomers to younger generations—namely millennials, who will all be in their mid-30s to late-40s by then [GASP]. The article lists General Motors, Buick and L'Oréal as exceptions, who else do you think is doing a good job at this? https://lnkd.in/ee_ssgGD

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WE is the AI agency and our latest findings show there's a gap between expectation of deployment vs. an actual plan to deploy and use amongst companies more broadly. How is your company using and adapting this tech today? #AI #PR #Comms

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Comms Pros know - more than most - words matter. But sometimes, we use language that undermines our value. In-house stakeholders aren’t “clients.”  → We’re shoulder-to-shoulder partners. P&L centers shouldn't be called “The Business.”  → We're part of the business, not a subordinate function. Reinforcing an "us'" and "them" mindset is a disservice: It positions us as a less strategic function and makes us less effective. Ultimately, our job is to protect & promote brands and reputations. - Our roles are critical. - Our opinions are essential  - Our voices / expertise truly matter. We're Strategic Partners, not Service Providers.

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From early adoption to ethical applications, three of WE’s leaders - Nitin Mantri, Laura Gillen and Tiffany Cook – unpack our latest #WEBrandsinMotion research, on how brands must bridge the AI expectation gap, with PRWeek.

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With the #IPO market starting to show signs of thawing, we've launched our IPO Readiness Communications Playbook. If you're a comms team starting to gear up for the big moment, check it out here for some useful insights and tips. ⬇️ https://bit.ly/4aSzuAU #Communications #IPOreadiness

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🎙️ Want to supercharge your B2B engagement through #influencers to generate real commerical return? Tune in to our podcast with Amy Searle and PepsiCo's Mike C. on leveraging #B2Binfluencers to reach #trade and #retail audiences effectively. A big thank you to Maja Pawinska Sims and PRovoke Media for the coverage! 🙏 #Podcast #Marketing #B2B #InfluencerMarketing #RetailMarketing #TradeMarketing

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