Caution, connection and comfort: A 2020 holiday trifecta

As brands engage with consumers this year, it's imperative they find useful ways to foster connection, alleviate stress and enhance experiences, writes Connelly Partners' Hillary Williams.

By Hillary Williams • Dec. 8, 2020

PS5, Xbox rollouts drive 80% jump in ad spending for video games

The video game industry spent $45 million on ads during the first two weeks of November to build excitement for the holiday shopping season.

By Robert Williams • Dec. 7, 2020

Explore the Trendline➔

Multichannel Optimization

There’s greater urgency around the need to optimize multichannel marketing efforts and unite channels including retail media, social media and others.

By Marketing Dive staff

Heartfelt, wholesome emotions dominate 2020 holiday ads, study finds

Brands are ramping up familiar tones in their seasonal spots as they look to connect emotionally with consumers at the end of a tough year.

By Aaron Baar • Dec. 4, 2020

Walgreens debuts retail media network, with revamped loyalty program front and center

The pharmacy chain follows chief rival CVS in pushing an ad engine that looks to seize on growing marketer demand for first-party data to support digital ads.

By Peter Adams • Dec. 3, 2020

Digital ads account for majority of media spending for first time, GroupM says

Google, Facebook and Amazon will be the biggest beneficiaries of digital ad growth, per GroupM's revised estimates for U.S. ad expenditures.

By Robert Williams • Dec. 3, 2020

6 months later: Activist marketing takeaways from Nike, Ben & Jerry's calls for racial justice

Analyzing brand messages supporting Black Lives Matter, Gartner found terms like White supremacy alienated consumers — but an ad's reception doesn't tell the full story.

By Peter Adams • Dec. 2, 2020

Ad spend retraction due to COVID-19 worse than expected: WARC

The "most hostile" year in four decades for advertising has hit traditional media particularly hard while online video advertising's growth is stronger than previously forecast.

By Aaron Baar • Dec. 1, 2020

PepsiCo's in-house technology informs radical shift to digital

An internal measurement system called ROI Engine has guided the marketer's recent decisions to place bigger bets on streaming and e-commerce, while saving the organization millions.

By Peter Adams • Nov. 30, 2020

Optimize your data strategy for customer loyalty

To put yourself in the best position to boost CLV, it’s important to examine the data foundation supporting your marketing efforts. Here are three ways to bolster your data strategy and keep customers happy.

By Alice Stratton • Nov. 30, 2020

Winners and losers of Black Friday 2020

Online sales, curbside and store pickup all surged as a sales event defined by the pandemic took shape.

By Ben Unglesbee • Nov. 28, 2020

CPG marketers roll the dice on new experiments amid data upheaval

In a quest to get closer to customers through data, brands are asserting their independence from walled gardens by recentering on owned experiences.

By Peter Adams • Nov. 23, 2020

Holiday ads nod to COVID-19, but depicting gatherings also works, study finds

An Ace Metrix analysis found that showing safety measures like wearing masks doesn't register a significant difference in an ad's reception.

By Peter Adams • Nov. 19, 2020

YouGov: Top brands reflect consumers' pandemic priorities

With consumers spending more time at home, the rankings reflect an emphasis on cooking, cleaning, home improvement, e-commerce and streaming.

By Aaron Baar • Nov. 19, 2020

ANA: Gender diversity in ad industry improves, while ethnic inclusion stalls

The percentage of female CMOs grew to 52% this year from 47% last year, while ethnic diversity changed little despite renewed calls for inclusion.

By Robert Williams • Nov. 18, 2020

57% of US consumers would forego marketing personalization to protect their data

Findings from The Conference Board show marketers walk a fine privacy line, as 20% of global consumers have ditched a brand over its data practices.

By Peter Adams • Nov. 17, 2020

Is the DTC brand aesthetic bad for business?

Sans serif font and bright colored backgrounds are hallmarks of digitally native brands, but it may not matter if they all look the same.

By Cara Salpini • Nov. 16, 2020

OOH ads could sway shoppers on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, study says

Among people planning to spend at least half their holiday budget on the two key shopping days, 58% report interest in ads featuring QR codes, NFC tags or text messages.

By Natalie Black (Koltun) • Nov. 16, 2020

Dentsu reinforces data's role in video creative

An expanded partnership with VidMob helps brands leverage computer vision and machine learning to optimize creative in real time across channels.

By Robert Williams • Nov. 11, 2020

40% of marketers now use shoppable video ads, underpinning 'storeless' economy

The IAB found "shoppable media" will be the fastest-growing advertising category as people buy more from livestreams and other interactive ad formats.

By Robert Williams • Nov. 10, 2020

Amazon ads have 20% higher ROI than average brand marketing, study finds

Nearly half of paid display ads on the platform impact sales elsewhere, further demonstrating the new omnichannel reality of shopping and advertising.

By Chris Kelly • Nov. 10, 2020

Heineken merges creative, data and brand experiences in agency model shakeup

Executives said Le Pub, a bespoke agency powered by Epsilon and Publicis Sapient, was inspired by operational shifts made in response to COVID-19.

By Aaron Baar • Nov. 6, 2020

Non-political ads find common ground among Democrats and Republicans, analysis finds

Despite a divided landscape, adherents of both parties favor many of the same non-political ads, including a few purpose-driven themes.

By Aaron Baar • Nov. 3, 2020

Forrester: AI, automation will shrink ad agencies in 2021

Agencies could look different in the future, boasting more entrepreneurialism and creative support not just for CMOs but the broader c-suite as well.

By Robert Williams • Oct. 28, 2020

Forrester: Marketing will shift to localized, loyalty-based efforts in 2021

Greater difficulties in tracking consumers and a weaker economy may drive strategic changes, including brands trimming budgets for sports sponsorships.

By Robert Williams • Oct. 27, 2020

Growth rate for ad spending on e-commerce sites will max out in 2020, eMarketer finds

The pandemic has accelerated the pace of brands placing ads on e-commerce sites, with the next wave of players expected to include eBay and Etsy.

By Aaron Baar • Oct. 23, 2020