Mcdonald’s splits with Leo Burnett, consolidates with Omnicom

After four months of review, McDonald’s has decided to end their 35-year relationship with Leo Burnett. The global fast food chain has chosen Omnicom over Publicis Groupe’s Leo Burnett to handle it U.S. creative account.

Deborah Wahl, chief marketing officer of McDonald’s USA, said that Omnicom will be McDonald’s new partner for all the national marketing projects starting January 1, 2017. Further, she stated that Omnicom has built a “new agency of the future” with McDonald’s that has digital and data at heart allowing them to be “customer obsessed” in everything that they do.

Following the win, Omnicom will launch a separate unit based in Chicago that will make the marketing initiatives of McDonald’s. The still un-named unit will be in coordination with DDB and other Omnicom media agencies including Annalect, sparks & honey, Critical Mass, and others.

In an interview with DDB North America CEO Wendy Clark, she said pitching for one of the most iconic brands was a hard-fought win. Their main goals were to “create, operationalize, and deliver” what was briefed to them. Hence, DDB created a customized agency for the brand which constitutes all the best and brightest talents they have across all the agencies of Omnicom.

The decision of McDonald’s really reverberated in the business community, especially in advertising industry, and ended one of the most closely watched reviews in the past years. The spokesperson of Leo Burnett said that the news was very disappointing for them; however, they are proud and thankful for the chance given by McDonald’s to work with them for 35 years. Still, Leo Burnett wishes McDonald’s continued success .Two of their compelling ad campaigns for McDonald’s was “All Day Breakfast” and “I’m Lovin’ it”. Wahl mentioned in an interview that there’s still uncertainty on whether to retain the famous tag line or not, but for now it will still be used.

Earlier this year, there have been rumors that during the review, which included WWP, Omnicom, and Publicis Groupe, that WWP dropped out the race for Mcdonald’s account. Some sources say that it was because the multimillion food chain was asking the companies to work at cost. But Wahl and WPP refuted the issue and declined to elaborate on it.

Regardless of the controversies McDonald’s has faced with regard to retaining market sales, the giant fast food chain still remains as one of the biggest single advertisers in the United States.

Pokémon Go Causes Death

On August 24, 2016, the first Pokémon Go related death in Asia took place in Tokushima, Japan.

According to reports, 39-year old farmer Keiji Gooh was playing the augmented reality game while driving on the evening of August 23 and accidentally hit 2 female pedestrians – a 72-year old and a 60-year old. This first one died the following day, while the latter was seriously injured.

Japan’s Jiji Press reported this as the nation's first fatal accident involving a driver playing Pokémon Go while at the wheel. They further revealed that an estimated 80 accidents in Japan have already transpired involving modes of transportation since the app was introduced in the country last month.

As mentioned, this is not the first accident caused by Pokémon Go. In fact, since its launch in July, there have been numerous and continuous reports of traffic violations, violence, crime, and deaths linked to the game all over the globe. Since the gamers are distracted, they somehow leave the real world which makes them inattentive of what’s actually going on around them.

Regardless of the many incidents concerning Pokémon Go, Niantic, the app’s developer, absolved itself from all the possible liabilities through a disclaimer in the app’s terms and conditions. There is also a warning from Niantic that pops up every time the app is opened, reminding the players to always be aware of their surroundings.

While controversies about Pokémon Go continue to surface, authorities worldwide are making vigorous efforts to ensure the safety of the gamers like banning the said game in schools, churches, and other public places. However, Niantic should also address these issues themselves if they want to prolong the game’s success. In reality, there are a couple of positive influences that the game should try to emphasize such as people going outdoors as well as fitness and health.

Filipino Education Supported by NBA Stores Philippines

The Philippines is now home to three NBA Stores located at Glorietta 3, Mega Fashion Hall and TriNoma which are managed by the International Athletic Trading Company, Inc. (IATC). A wide selection of authentic NBA merchandise includes official jerseys, footwear, toys and other collectibles. The NBA Stores carry products from all the 30 NBA teams. They also feature renowned brands such as 2K Sports, Adidas, Spalding, and many more.

Recently, the abovementioned NBA Stores, announced the launch of a retail promotion to support Knowledge Channel Foundation, Inc. (KCFI) in providing quality education to more Filipinos.

Celebrating its 10th year anniversary, NBA Cares, the league’s global social responsibility program, have decided to donate a portion of the NBA Name & Number T-shirt sale proceeds from August 10 to September 13 of this year to KCFI. The proceeds will aid the foundation’s education program which is focused on providing multimedia learning resources for students in grades K-12 and training teachers from public schools in the National Capital Region of Luzon.

KCFI is a non-profit organization that helps empower Filipinos through educational media and is now on its 17th year of establishment. They have been successful in their attempt to provide access to multimedia learning resources to more than 5 million learners in about 6, 000 schools and learning centers all over the Philippines.

Globe partnes with Netflix

Expanding its services for its customers, Globe telecom singed a partnership agreement with the American multinational entertainment company, Netflix.

Globe formally announced its partnership with Netflix last June 24, making it the first company to offer access to the application on mobile and broadband platform. Albert de Larrazabal, the Chief Commercial Officer of Globe, said that their partnership with Netflix will give them an extensive library of TV shows and movies which customers can access whether they are at home or on-to-go. Further, he said that this way of putting together a broadband plan makes the selection process not only convenient, but enjoyable for the Filipino family.

Part of its features are the automatic recommendation of TV shows/series and movies depending on what the member watched frequently and multiple profiles within a single account. Subscribers can make up to 4 profiles which will allow them to personalize their Netflix experience.

The company offers Netflix via customized broadband plans, bundling internet access with content for TVs and other devices, including gaming consoles and even security cameras. The access to Netflix will use direct carrier billing so consumers can pay through their fixed or mobile broadband accounts like GCash Mastercard, allowing even non-credit card holders to subscribe to and have an access to 100 million hours of TV shows and movies per day.

GCash Mastercard is a reloadable prepaid card that grants customers to purchase products in retail stores or shop online in local and international e-commerce sites, and withdraw from automated machines or GCash outlets in the country or load money instantly.

Most popular: Google’s Top 10 Youtube Ads for the first half of 2016

Over the past years, it cannot be denied that advertisement has played a major role in our society. It serves as a form of entertainment, as well as life guru for the lessons that can be gleaned from it.

On Wednesday, July 27, Google announced its “Youtube Ads Leaderboard” in the Philippines for the first half of 2016. It gave recognition to the top 10 brands whose ads caught the interest of Filipino viewers. Likewise, this event served as an avenue for Google to enlighten the Filipino community, especially the ones in social media, of how online video can ignite a massive cycle of global innovation.

With a storyline that portrays a mother’s unconditional love, Nido’s A Mommy’s Sacrifice topped the leadboard. This animated short film of Nido Fortigrow served as a present to all the mothers for Mother’s Day. Advertisement like this is more prevalent in this country because Filipinos have a high regard for a close family lifestyle, and love for local celebrities and music.

Google highlighted various key trends that are present to all the ads that made it to the leadboard:

1. Most of the ads were Filipino-produced. This is the second time that local ads dominated the leadboard. It proves that ads which depict the local culture and values are more emotionally appealing and relatable to Filipino audience.
2. Seven out of ten ads were more than 30 seconds. This shows that brands are going longform storytelling, which give them opportunity to amplify audiences’ emotional engagement more.
3. Half of the ads in the leadboard have children-centric theme. Some of these ads are Bonakid’s Pre-School 3+ and Downy’s Sofia’s Fan.

Here is the complete list:
1. Nido for A Mommy’s Sacrifice | NIDO FORTIGROW | Nestlé PH
2. Bonakid for Bonakid Pre-School 3+ TVC
3. McDonalds for Tuloy Pa Rin
4. Downy for Sofia’s Fan | DOWNY Rubadubango
5. Bear Brand for SIDE A 30s TVC| BEAR BRAND Choco Milk Drink | Nestle PH
6. Whisper for Whisper All Day No Check!
7. Tide for Tide! Todo-puti na kagulat-gulat! #TideTodoPuti
8. Milo for #MomsNeverGiveUp Full Version | MILO | Nestlé PH
9. Nescafe for When Minutes Turn Into Moments
10. Knorr for “Sabaw at Pagsasama” (A Knorr Short FiIm)

Russian bank answers problem of Pokémon Go-related accidents

Russia’s largest bank and life insurer, SbérBank, is offering free Pokémon Go-related accident coverage to gamers visiting PokéStops near its bank branches across the country. Following the frequent accidents caused by Pokémon Go since its emergence, the company felt obliged to do something about it. They don’t only protect the gamers from unforeseen incidents while playing; but, they also help them catch Pokémons. All PokéStops near SbérBank branches across Russia are equipped with special modules that attract Pokémons. In effect, the players will no longer have to roam around the city to catch ‘em all. However, the said modules are only active during the office hours of SbérBank.

For Pokémon players who would still prefer to walk around the city while searching for Pokémons, SbérBank offers a free accident insurance which they can activate by visiting sberbankgo.ru where they will be asked to enter their nickname and mobile phone number.

In their press release, IC SbérBank Life Insurance head Maxim Chernin stated “As the biggest life insurance company in Russia, we feel our responsibility for the participants of Pokémon Go, the game that gains immense popularity now. Considering the number of news from around the world about players being injured while catching Pokémon, we created a special product that will be free for the players. It is also important for us that the product will help to raise the financial literacy of the population: while playing, the younger generation will be able to get acquainted with such financial tool as insurance”.

Chernin also said that SberBank’s Poké-program has another goal as well. “It is also important for us that the product will help to raise the financial literacy of the population,” she says. “While playing, the younger generation will be able to get acquainted with such financial tool(s) as insurance.”

SbérBank Life is the only insurer to offer an official Pokémon Go related policy to date.