Summary: 50% of consumers go straight to Amazon when searching for a product. We skip Gooogle altogether. In fact, Amazon is now the third biggest beneficiary of advertising dollars in the US behind Google and Facebook. Mark Power, CEO of Podean, sat down with Dave Currie, CEO of Winmo, on another episode of the B2B Sales Show to provide more context into what advertisers, sellers, and marketers should know through this monumental shift.
Announcer: You are listening to the B2B Sales Show, a podcast dedicated to helping B2B sales professionals, master the art and science of selling. If you want to hear what successful sales leaders and individual contributors are doing to break into new accounts, close more deals, and drive revenue for their organizations, you’ve come to the right place. Let’s get into the show.
Host, Dave Currie: So what’s the big deal about Amazon advertising? This is certainly a topic that is close to home for many of us in the advertising industry. Demystifying it is the purpose of today’s podcast. We’re going to be joined here in the studio by Mark Power, the founder and CEO of Podean, the Amazon advertising experts. So welcome to the show, Mark.
Mark Power: Thanks Dave. Really happy to be here.
Currie: So there’s been, as you and I have talked about over the last several months, there’s a lot of mystery that surrounds Amazon and more specifically mystery around Amazon advertising and the potential impact that’s having in the marketplace. So Mark, tell us a little bit about, from your perspective, how does this come about and what this means for the future of advertising?
Power: Yeah, well it’s actually quite unbelievable, just the size and scope of Amazon’s advertising business now. Just to put it in perspective for everyone, in 2018 it was a $10 billion revenue business. Which I think in the world of Jeff Bezos, when you start to become a $10 billion business, all of a sudden you’re on his radar, but for us in the advertising industry, that is a formidable force. That means a lot of brands and companies are spending money on that platform.
Power: So it’s taken them about seven to eight years to get to that. And a lot of those dollars though have been spent by sellers on the Amazon Marketplace.
Currie: Right? And those are the types of companies that as consumers, we’re all too familiar with.
Power: Exactly. There are people who they might be third party sellers who are selling a range of different products who are using Amazon sponsored ads platform to bid for our attention, okay? And just the same as Google Ad Words. Amazon has taken that model and applied it to their marketplace. But essentially the vast majority of the dollars has been within that pay click space in the search space.
Power: So Amazon is now more than 50% of product search in that world of Google, really, so they’ve taken over Google for product searches. So more people in the U.S. in particular now use Amazon to search for products than they do Google. So then Amazon is taking dollars to promote various folks based on their algorithm, promote various products based on, the bid, how profitable it is for Amazon. There’s a whole range of factors, but there’s a huge amount of dollars going into Amazon’s platform. But over the last few years that has really accelerated and the growth has been quite unbelievable to the point where Amazon is now the third biggest beneficiary of advertising dollars in the digital space.
Currie: Certainly a shift that we’ve seen in the press and I think that what’s most interesting to listeners is sort of, okay, so what’s really changed and what does it mean for more traditional advertisers and brands as they’re entering this new marketplace?
Power: Yeah. Well traditionally, if you’re a seller, you used to go and put your products on Amazon and then the search bar would be your friend where someone would look for a particular product or your brand and up, up you come. Advertising comes along, all of a sudden people can be against you. You’ve got competitors trying to bid to the same words.
So it’s really a pay to play platform, all right? So if you’re not prepared for that, you can be in a world of hurt very, very quickly where people are bidding against your brand. You’ve got companies who are more advanced on the marketing side who are actually winning, even though it’s your category traditionally off the marketplace.
Power: So there’s a lot of challenges, which it would take us a long time to really get through all those challenges. There are lots of resources out there for sellers and brands to explore on how to do that. And there are lots of partners, like agencies like ours. We help companies with that. But where Amazon’s going is it’s way more than just that place where you search for products.
Power: It now has a very vast display and video serving ability. So what that means is Amazon allows you to just like you would using Google and other platforms, allows you to essentially serve display ads, serve video using the Amazon data to target people so it knows exactly what I’ve been buying for the past several years whilst I’ve been buying on Amazon and brands can now use that data to then target me or target any of us with particular ads that are relevant for us at particular stages of a journey, not just on Amazon’s owned and operated properties, but on the third party partners that they also have.
Power: And that might be large ad networks or large publishers that they’ve now partnered with and that that data is really the secret sauce of Amazon’s advertising.
Currie: Yeah, I think it is. We’ve talked about in the past, it’s one of the areas of true attribution that Facebook and Google can’t really get to, which is that final purchase data to really [crosstalk 00:05:32].
Power: It’s incredibly powerful and it’s a marketer’s dream. The marketer’s dream is not just to have performing marketing and sales, but it’s to know where their dollars are going and what those dollars are returning. Because a marketer, to be able to go to a chief financial officer or a CEO and say, “look at the performance that we’ve delivered and the sales that we’ve delivered” and be truly accountable for those, there’s a lot of messiness that currently in this world of digital and offline marketing that you’ve got to organize, but at least with Amazon, every dollar you put in, you have a good chance to understand what dollars you’re getting back. And that’s quite unique from a platform perspective.
Currie: It’s got to be somewhat of a threatening proposition to those who may be listening that are in ad sales or more of a traditional agency model where they don’t have the tools and capacity to be able to compete with this new marketplace. So what do you see, when you’re talking to, “Look Mark, you’ve come out of the network agencies and so forth, and you’ve worked with brands directly and you still do today.” What are some of the challenges that more traditional frameworks of agencies and ad units or you know, how are they competing in this space?
Power: This is a really interesting topic. I’m writing a book right now called, “Amazon for CMO’s, and one of the topics in this ever-changing world that we live in, right? And unfortunately, it’s not just that this world of digital is just all of a sudden so… It’s maturing and it’s also very complex to navigate. But we’re now in a world of all guns. So only a year or two ago, brands didn’t have to worry about Amazon because if they didn’t sell on Amazon, they’re like, “Oh, I don’t really care.” But now Amazon is a formidable, very, very vast advertising platform and opportunity that they need to get their head around. But it’s another walled garden where your targeting Amazon customers, not your customers.
Power: Just like Facebook, you’re using, you’re putting money into Facebook or you’re putting money into Google, but they’re Google users, their Facebook users. Now you’re spending a growing amount of your budget on Amazon, but it’s Amazon’s customers and Amazon’s not going to give you those customers back. So it’s more power to the platform, but it will become addictive just like Facebook and Google did just because the data is so powerful and the eyeballs are there.
Power: And so that’s a challenge. But you’ve also got, as we move towards this, so what I call a multi-walled garden management sort of scenario. Soon you’re going to have, AT&T has its own ad tech stack. Soon you’ve got Verizon actually becoming a serious player, which they actually already are. Disney, Netflix will start actually serving ads no matter what they say. The only way that they’ll be able to really scale in the future and grow in the future with advertising. So there is this walled garden world and at the moment though, Amazon is the flavor of the month of the year, just because it’s new. And even if you don’t sell on Amazon, you can actually harness the power of its data to serve the right message to the right person at the right stage of their buying journey.
Currie: And are you finding, in your experience, working directly with brands that those who have traditionally sold through retail channels or retail partners and more suited towards selling their products to someone else’s customer set versus someone who may have a direct to consumer model?
Power: That’s an interesting question. Some retailers are a little bit too late. They’ve left Amazon to partners to manage, or third parties to manage and other distributors and all of a sudden they’re too late and their brand is all over the place and they don’t have control of their brand and control of their product.
Currie: Who’s doing it right?
Power: You’ve got some good traditional players who grew up on Amazon, the GoPro’s of the world, Fitbit’s of the world. They’ve realized early on that their electronics in their category is a very important one for Amazon. Some CPG’s like Unilever’s and Procter and Gamble’s, they’re finally realizing after several years that we’re now buying groceries and staples on Amazon. It’s not like the grocery, we’re getting things delivered and so there are categories that are a little bit late to the party, but at least they’re realizing it. When I advise CMO’s and senior folks, there is only one failing strategy whether you sell on Amazon or not.
Power: And the only failing strategy is to not have a strategy. So you need to have some form of strategy as to how you partner with Amazon in the future because it is not just a marketplace. It is now an extensive set of properties, it is an extensive place full of content, whether it be audio content, voice experiences through to Amazon Prime and everything that comes with that. Like Amazon just is just continuing to expand and touch just many parts of our day to day, touch many parts of society, and embed itself in our culture. And for a brand to ignore that and say, “Sorry, I don’t sell on Amazon so I don’t need to worry about it.” That is a failing strategy and that’s something that we’re advising everyone is just to think what is the future, and how do we partner with them better?
Currie: Yeah. I think it’s what we’re seeing is from a sales intelligence perspective at Winmo is that we’ve got hundreds of users or ad sales reps growing in the Amazon ecosystem on an annual basis, which sort of is a key indicator that they’re continuing to invest in building out the infrastructure of the advertising platform, or media type, media properties side of their business. So you can even go as far to say that their delivery trucks, you’re starting to see ads be placed on the boxes. It’s huge. It’s beyond digital. It’s gone into out-of-home and that’s just the tip of the iceberg, right? You’re seeing it on TV as well.
Power: Yeah. It’s going to change the TV landscape. The TV landscape is already changing, right? Which is great for everybody, really, who wants to sit in front of the nightly news and watch another five or six pharmaceutical ads, okay? Really like why not some targeted advertising whilst we watch TV, or something that’s specific to me or my family and why do we need to watch linear ads anyway? Why can’t we have more interactive ads that do cool things, right? So I am all for TV, traditional linear TV ads to be disrupted but Amazon is way bigger than just digital and TV.
Power: It’s also got things called treasure trucks, which you know brands can partner with them to go to places and find new customers with offers and special deals. They’ve got a very extensive set of solutions for the automotive industry, which I’m working in right now where you can partner with them and use their whole infrastructure to help give people, give certain brands within your portfolio, put it in the hands of consumers, and one example is with automotive you can organize through their Prime Now Platform, a test drive of a particular car within two hours.
Power: If the automotive group is signed up to that. Now that’s… Who wants to go to a car dealer anymore? I don’t, I’d rather the car to come straight outside and Amazon to manage that whole experience and the reason why brands are putting their trust in Amazon is that Amazon knows how to reduce friction. It’s customer-obsessed and just like Uber and just like other successful companies, when you reduce the friction for a consumer, they will be passionate about you. They will make your life easier.
Currie: I couldn’t agree more. Look, we’ve just gone through Amazon Prime Days, we’re in the midst of summer and it’s one of their most successful days of all time, one of the biggest retail days of all time.
Power: Huge.
Currie: Any initial feedback that’s come back from Amazon as a partner, as to some of the categories that really popped?
Power: Well, it’s funny. I think the interesting thing is this recent Prime Day has been very successful, but you really do need to be a big boy to play the game. And just because Amazon, it’s about scale. So the bigger the brand, the bigger the budget, the more love Amazon gives you. So if I went to Amazon, which I did with some mid-sized clients, what’s their advice? Spend more, spend more on advertising, have enough inventory available, but you need to spend more to make sure that inventory sells. But that’s their attitude. It’s pay to play on the platform. They’re now A very, very sophisticated sales machine. They make a lot of money, they’re going to make more, but it is a pay to play platform.
Power: You can do some cool things, but everything that is designed to do is to make more money for Amazon, okay?
Currie: So I guess one of the questions on everyone’s lips is going to be, so this is where Amazon is now, there’s been a rapid progression in both the platform and the advertising side of the business. I mean, the obvious question is what’s next?
Power: Well just think of a Google competitor, a true Google competitor. Okay. Yes, Facebook’s only social and it’s got some incredible properties and messaging and Instagram and et cetera, but actually it’s pretty good that we’ve got a Google competitor coming. Like how, I don’t think a single person, this thing, this podcast has not had to spend with Google in some way or their business is not… It’s essential to the marketing mix so to actually have a formidable competitor with the resources and scale of Amazon to come along and overnight say, “Hang on, we’re not just going to take you on with a product search.”
Power: What do you think next? I think they may take them on with full search. So you might actually use in the future an Amazon browser or an Amazon search bar, or use Alexa to search for things like a restaurant as you’re walking down the strip for the tee times of the golf course on the weekend, it might become way, way more integrated into your life than just buying certain things. But then you’ve also got, they’ve recently bought Sizmek, which is an ad serving platform.
Power: Amazon’s going to have a formidable end-to-end tech stack and one thing they’ll have over Google is once you put that dollar in, you’ll be able to know what comes back. But that’s a good thing because we need competition in the market because it helps us with our budgets, it helps those two big companies be more accountable, but I think competition’s good.
Power: But where things are really exciting is in voice. And when you think of Alexa, don’t just think of Alexa as voice-enabled soon it will just be Alexa is your persona and your artificial intelligence-driven persona that sits in the Amazon ecosystem.
Currie: Right. And we’re starting to see Alexa go be installed into new model vehicles in 2020 and so forth as well. You’ve basically got the two voice, or three-voice sides with Google, Apple, and Amazon all competing for that dash space.
Power: Exactly And not only will Alexa know what we’ve bought, and what we do, and what kids we’ve got, and what things are in my life. But it will really start to know what I am and what I like in content and lots of other things. And Alexa won’t just be something enabled through Echo devices.
Power: It would literally be my virtual being within the Amazon ecosystem and beyond. And that’s quite powerful. And in-car, Alexa, powering in-car experiences is going to be very powerful as well. Or I think we will forget just, Americans, I think a huge amount of our time is spent in-car. So there’s a huge opportunity to make that a better experience and Alexa is really leading the charge there. So I think there is just going to be a lot of action in this space and Amazon actually coming into, not disrupt advertising, but to shake it up a bit, to shake it up a bit to sort of make the Google sort of, “Oh golly, you know, I can’t just sit on this incredible …” It’s been a duopoly.
Power: Having that sort of competition’s great. And it’s also going to be great to see where things go when it comes to sort of how Amazon lets its customers, in the form of brands, use data that is traditionally been fully proprietary to Amazon, how it shares that data. I think there’s going to be some good developments in that because I think Amazon will start to loosen up its grip on data as long as they have the… because of all the platforms out. Amazon is the most brand-safe and that’s something we didn’t touch on today is the brand safety mechanisms and the guidelines Amazon has set is really strict so all the problems that Google and Facebook have had and are currently still having, aren’t existing in Amazon because they’ve been so customer-obsessed, kept that customer data under lock and key, but in the future I think they’re going to be able to do a lot more with it when they collaborate with brands.
Currie: Mark, we’ve talked a lot about the advertising side of Amazon’s business, but there’s also the up and coming and fast-moving side of their business-to-business application. Can you talk to us a little bit about that? What’s going on with that?
Power: Well, the business-to-business side of Amazon up until now has been, “Okay, how can we facilitate better commerce between companies that sell business-related items and collateral and stationery and all sorts of things like that to other businesses”, right? But where there’s a huge opportunity for Amazon is to reduce the amount of friction between business-to-business commerce, just generally. The amount of friction and trying to shorten sales cycles, trying to make the whole contract and exchange of legal documents and all these things. Just how to make that a more fluid and frictionless process.
Power: I see Amazon as a big conduit to changing and disrupting the traditional business-to-business sort of our landscape with applying Amazon methodologies and that whole customer obsession to the world of business and they say I think a couple of trillion dollars is the business-to-business market as if Amazon doesn’t have its sight set on that. It does. It’s already stated it does, but it just hasn’t gone hard into it yet. It definitely would have teams right now over in Seattle or elsewhere, really working out the plans and methodically making sure that they’re testing and learning and seeing and partnering with the right folks.
Power: But you start to make a dent in that multi-trillion dollar business and business-to-business commerce. I cannot give you what the vision looks like yet because it’s still something I’m exploring. But that is just breathtaking when you think about it. Imagine if Amazon came in and said, “We’re going to make the whole world of business-to-business an easier place for people to transact and do business in”, and who knows what that’s going to look like. But I wouldn’t put it past them to heavily disrupt a lot of the areas of business-to-business over the next few years including…
Power: And then the same goes for medical and insurance and other areas that they’re wanting to attack.
Currie: Yeah, I think it’s pretty safe to assume that having no strategy is not a strategy for anyone in a business setting in today’s environment, whether that be in the advertising and marketing sector of the economy or any B2B and commerce factor of the economy both here in the U.S. and globally moving forward. Mark, that’s been incredibly insightful. Thanks so much, mate, for spending a bit of time and sharing with us some of the expertise that you’ve accumulated over the years and putting to work with your agency Podean. Really appreciate your time today.
Power: Thanks, Dave. And yeah, thank you, everyone, just keep your eyes and ears open about this world because there’s a lot to learn from the way Amazon does its business and there’s a lot of opportunities out there with it too.
Currie: Great. Mark, how can someone get ahold of you if they want to ask more questions or if they’ve got a topic that they really just like your perspective on?
Power: Oh, just reach out on LinkedIn. Mark G. Power is my name, or go to podean.com. P-o-d-e-a-n- .com and you can find me there.
Currie: That’s great. Thanks very much, mate.
Power: Thanks, Dave.
Announcer 2: Looking for a smarter way to find relevant and actionable sales leads each day and a better way to open new doors with advertisers, marketers and their agencies? That’s where Winmo can help. Recognized and trusted by your peers as the most comprehensive, accurate, and widely used advertising database available. Winmo is your only source for exclusive sales leads that are curated by analysts and delivered to you each and every morning.
Announcer 2: See what your industry peers are using to beat you to the sale. Start receiving the actionable leads you need to start owning the sales leader board now. Step up your sales game and win more by requesting a custom demo of Winmo today. Go to www.winmo.com/B2Bsalesshow.
Announcer: You’ve been listening to the B2B Sales Show to make sure you don’t miss future episodes with sales leaders, professionals, and thought leaders. Subscribe to the show in your favorite podcast player. Thank you so much for listening. Until next time.
The B2B Sales Show is a podcast dedicated to helping B2B sales professionals master the art and science of selling. If you want to hear what successful sales leaders and individual contributors are doing to break into new accounts, close more deals, and drive revenue for their organizations, you’ve got to check out their content!
5 Brands Bringing Agency Responsibilities In-House
in Ad Sales, Marketing Techby Anna CrochetAs the advertising industry evolves, brands are looking for more ownership of their data and measurement. In order to cut costs and provide more transparency into where dollars are being allocated, more and more national brands are bringing marketing management in-house.
According to Digiday research, 38% of those surveyed said having increased control over their marketing functions was the greatest benefit of an in-house agency.
In addition, 78% of marketers now handle at least some operations internally. Over the last three years, 26% of programmatic buying has gone in-house, such as these 7 major brands.
We’ve collected five brands that have already made the jump, at least partially, in-house and insights and information on each brand’s decision to do so. Most in-house trends we’re seeing stem from a desire to work in a more nimble and responsive fashion in order to better serve customers and clients.
1. AB InBev Launches In-house Agency Amid Spend Decreases
In an effort to better understand their consumers, AB InBev built a creative in-house agency, Draftline, in order to produce creative that is more local and personalized with more agility. There are currently 50 employees working at the agency handling TV production, packaging, outdoor, radio, email marketing, data collection and programmatic media buying for all 42 of AB InBev’s US brands.
Our in-house team of researchers reported the in-house shift will help Draftline create more personalized and local marketing and help connect consumer data to creative works. According to US CMO Marcel Marcondes, the in-house shift also allows AB InBev to “free up time” so it can focus on other agencies it works with.
Draftline is likely intended to help AB InBev cut costs, and will focus on branding efforts to help save the legacy of AB InBev’s most popular brands. With more marketing on the horizon along with likely increases in spend, sellers and martech readers should begin engaging decision-makers as soon as possible.
Request a Demo for Access to AB InBev Decision-Maker Contact Info
2. GSK Consumer Healthcare Moving Media In-house Amid Spend Decreases
GSK Consumer Healthcare (GSKCH), the entity that formed in January after GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer merged their global consumer healthcare businesses, moved it’s media planning in-house, reported May. According to our team of in-house researchers, GSKCH is now considering moving digital buying functions including programmatic and search in-house.
These in-housing efforts won’t completely eliminate GSKCH’s use of agencies, and they plan to continue to work with agencies that are willing to evolve and work in a transparent fashion.
This shift in-house will allow GSKCH to cut costs and reinvest and buy in-house according to VP of media Scott Grenz. These efforts will lead to improved customer experience and spend increases. Spend increases are also likely under GSKCH’S expanded licensing and collaboration agreement with Zymeworks, as well as it’s improved marketing team. GSKCH typically spends the most during Q1 and Q4.
Request a Demo for Access to GSK Decision-Maker Contact Info
3. Electrolux Moves Digital In-house Amid Spend Increases
Electrolux, the home appliance maker known for brands such as Frigidaire and Eureka, partnered with agency MightyHive in order to move it’s digital media in-house according to February reports. It will begin the shift in North America and then expand to different regions across Europe and Latin America.
After this shift is complete, VMLY&R will shift to TV media duties and VML will continue it’s responsibility as creative AOR. This shift will help Electrolux cut costs, anywhere between a third and half of the $1.5M it spends on its relationship with VMLY&R.
Electrolux ran a programmatic test campaign last December and will take advantage of the benefit of programmatic buying in-house. Keep an eye on Electrolux’s top spending periods (Q2 and A4) and new products. Spend has been going up and will continue to do so throughout 2019, and marketing efforts should also increase since the company has an expanded team and greater control over its digital marketing.
Request a Demo for Access to Electrolux Decision-Maker Contact Info
4. P&G Shifts Some Media Work to Carat, In-House Amid TV Increases
P&G continues to test its agency model, which saw Dentsu’s Carat and the in-house team receive a larger piece of media, reported January. The internal team is responsible for the oral care business duties.
As part of the agency testing, P&G is also giving it’s brands the option to take operational work including planning, digital buying, search, and programmatic in-house. While our in-house team of researchers doesn’t have any reports on brands taking action on this freedom, it’s definitely a factor to keep on your radar.
P&G’s in-house efforts began in an effort to improve efficiency and cut costs. For these reasons, it’s likely more work will be taken in-house. However, it seems unlikely P&G will ever completely cut out media agencies. Their media roster is changing and will likely continue to change. The brand sees spikes in spend throughout the year, particularly throughout H2.
Request a Demo for Access to P&G Decision-Maker Contact Info
5. Cars.com Takes More Digital Media Work In-House Amid Successful Campaign
Last year, Cars.com made a move in-housem reported December 2018, in order to be more nimble and responsive to the industry and strengthen relationships with partners according to senior consumer marketing management and reporting Jenny Chan.
Duties taken in-house include paid social, typical display work, and digital and programmatic buying, all of which were previously handled by OMD’s Chicago office. Cars.com’s top spending period is typically Q1, so some last-minute ad revenue may still be available. It tends to invest the most in TV, digital, print and social media channels.
Request a Demo for Access to Cars.com Decision-Maker Contact Info
List Partners Claims Inc. 5000 for the Seventh Time
in Breaking Newsby Anna CrochetThe success continues as List Partners, our parent company, has been named one of Inc Magazine’s 5000 fastest growing companies in North America for the seventh time in a row.
List Partners is home to Winmo, Catapult and AAR Partners as well as legacy brands The List Online, AdDataExpress, REDBOOKS, and Access Confidential.
The Inc. 5000 list tracks companies based on the previous three years of revenue growth. To qualify for the list, companies must be U.S. based, privately held, and independent, not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies. Revenue in the first year of tracking must have been at least $100,000, while revenue in the most recent year of tracking must be at least $2 million.
We’re incredibly proud of this accomplishment. The past year has been filled with a slew of acquisitions across REDBOOKS, Access Confidential and AAR Partners, giving us an even bigger platform to service the media and advertising industry.
In the year ahead, we don’t plan to slow down. Our dedicated team thrives in a fast-paced environment and loves helping our incredible clients win new business time and time again.
Take it directly from them:
5 UK Decision-Maker Shifts You Should Know About
in UKby Anna CrochetWhen it comes to winning new business, knowing when to reach out (and to who) is essential. Over the years we’ve found that changes in leadership are the number one signal for an agency review and evaluation of current systems and strategies in place. In fact, according to our CMO Tenure report, the sweet spot for engaging marketing executives is within 3-12 months of starting their new role.
New hires are typically supported with increases in spend and a bolstered marketing team as well. Decision-makers on the move signal a brand is getting serious about its investments in advertising and marketing expansion.
In order to take the grunt work out of your prospecting, we’re bringing you five brands with shifts in leadership to pursue now:
1. Sky Loses Top Marketer to Disney Amid Spend Decreases
According to sources, Sky lost UK&I CMO Luke Bradley-Jones earlier this month. He is expected to take a senior role at Disney, though the exact position has not yet been announced. A replacement for Sky’s vacant role has not been announced, and they may choose not to fill it.
Bradley-Jones is not the only executive departure. COO and CFO Andrew Griffith departed in July and a replacement has not yet been named.
Agency and Martech Opportunity: Along with these major shifts, Sky also brought on a number of lower-level personnel. These personnel are likely to review agency relationships, especially if a replacement for Bradley-Jones is named. However, agencies are encouraged to reach out for project-based or digital work considering creative, media, PR, and social media were retained in 2018. Focus pitches on differentiating Sky from its competitors, especially BBC, EE, and Disney.
Media Seller Opportunity: Sky typically uses omnichannel strategies to reach a wide range of customers. Main channels include cinema, digital, direct email, door drop, outdoor, press, radio, TV, earned and social media, experiential and sponsorship. Spend has seen decreases, but these may reverse with new leadership in place.
Request a Demo for Access to Sky Contact Info
2. Manolo Blahnik Promotes CMO Amid First Digital Display Push
Luxury shoe brand Manolo Blahnik promoted Carla Filmer from global communications director to CMO, effective July. Prior to working with the shoe brand, Filmer was employed with Louis Vuitton UK and L’Oreal.
Agency and Martech Opportunity: Readers are encouraged to approach the brand now. Filmer may decide to revamp her department with new hires and could potentially call for reviews, so it’s imperative to get in touch sooner rather than later.
Manolo Blahnik recently purchased Italian women’s shoe manufacturer Calzaturificio Re Marcello, so watch out for other expansions and mergers. Keep an eye out for strategy shifts under the new leadership as well. Keep in mind the target demographic consists of a wide array of consumers.
Request a Demo for Access to Manolo Blahnik Contact Info
3. Make It Cheaper Loses CMO, Adds New Members to Marketing Department
Make It Cheaper, the platform to help consumers and businesses find affordable utilities, recently lost CMO Sam Reynolds to Zero Deposit. A replacement has not been named yet. Along with this shift, Head of Digital Lilia Dikova was recently hired along with Chief Customer Officer Glyn Britton.
Agency and Martech Opportunity: With all the shifts in leadership, agency and martech readers are encouraged to reach out to see what work is available. Reviews are likely within the coming 12-18 months.
Media Seller Opportunity: Sellers who have to ability to attract businesses and people with a need for an easier way to handle utilities should reach out for revenue.
Request a Demo for Access to Make It Cheaper Contact Info
4. Actegy Health Strengthens Marketing Team, Hires Two Marketing Directors
Medical goods company Actegy Health hired Lee Smith as it’s marketing director, effective March, to oversee the marketing function. Two directors were also brought on the team in an effort to support Smith. Several other lower-level shifts followed as well.
Agency and Martech Opportunity: These personnel are likely to review agency relationships, so reach out now in order to remain top-of-mind. Focus pitches on boosting the Revitive brand as well as differentiating the brand from other circulation products.
Media Seller Opportunity: There’s a good chance we’ll see spend increases under the new hires in order to support their efforts. The company’s top spending periods fluctuate, so focus on planning period Q3 and buying period Q2. With a diverse demographic, omnichannel approaches are most effective.
Request a Demo for Access to Actegy Health Contact Info
5. In-Game Advertising Co Bidstack Group Hires CMO, CCO to Continue Growth
Bidstack Group, a provider of native advertising for the global video games industry, hired Simon Gosling as it’s CMO in July. In the new role, he will work to improve the company’s positioning and inform clients about offerings.
This shift was followed by the hire of Rob Dembitz as chief commercial officer, effective July. He will work to create clear commercial strategies to further position Bidstack as a leading in-game advertising group. On top of those appointments, Bidstack recently hired sales VP Lewis Sherlock, client services and operations head Grace Cooke, products head Mortiz Natalini, creative director Will Stewart, and marketing director Vanessa Yu.
Agency and Martech Opportunity: This new leadership is likely to review agency relationships, so agencies and martechs should reach out. Focus pitches on helping Bidstack become the leading global provider of in-game programmatic advertising. Bidstack is currently trying to reach that goal through expanded offerings and acquisitions.
Media Seller Opportunity: With growth objectives and expanded leadership, Bidstack is likely to see spend increases. Increased marketing will be necessary in order to stay top-of-mind in the growing in-game advertising market. Competitors include Playwire Media, Electronic Arts, Double Fusion, Engage Advertising, and Giftgaming. Sellers are encouraged to reach out. Keep in mind no top spending period has been established, and spend is high throughout the year. The target demographic consists of game publishers and developers as well as advertising agencies, brands and programmatic advertising platforms.
Request a Demo for Access to Bidstack Group Contact Info
H2 Opportunities Up for Grabs
in Ad Sales, Agency New Business, Marketing Techby Anna CrochetSelling is all about timing – pitching to a prospect when they’re ready to buy. However, the window of opportunity can be slim and with so much competition reacting to the same industry news, it can be challenging to stand out.
Lucky for you, our in-house team of researchers tracks industry movements and provide daily sales predictions based on shifts. In this post, we’re bringing you five H2 opportunities that are likely to result in agency changes, media spending shifts, and new martech investments.
What do they all have in common? Each brand has new leadership in place, signaling agency reviews are likely to take place within the next 3-12 months.
Act fast on opportunities with the following 5 brands:
1. BJ’s Restaurants Plans Q3 Spending Boost
In a recent Q2 earnings call, execs of BJ’s Restaurants announced that the company’s focus remains largely on guest experience. The chain plans to expand to reach at least 425 locations nationwide. Marketing spend in Q2 totaled roughly $6 million, which is expected to increase in Q3.
Media Seller Opportunity: In addition to guest experience, BJ’s prioritizes delivery, takeout, catering, menu innovation, cause and targeted digital marketing. BJ’s focuses specifically on California markets, but sellers local to new locations in New Jersey and Connecticut will likely have the advantage. Expect continued heavy investments in social, influencers, promotional events, and PR. These efforts will be bolstered by the recent hire of financial planning and strategy VP Tom Houdek.
Agency and Martech Opportunity: Murphy O’Brien was named BJ’S PR AOR earlier this year. Since reviews tend to follow one another, look out for media, digital, and creative work to come available soon. Competition will include DDB San Francisco, which has handled creative since 2016, reaching average agency tenure (3-4 years).
Request a Demo for Access to BJ’s Restaurants Decision-Maker Contact Info
2. Harley-Davidson Plans Marketing Increase Amid Target Demographic Shift
According to a recent Q2 earnings call, Harley-Davidson has “increased investment in marketing and product development by 43%” in order to reach today’s market. The company is testing several different concepts regionally before rolling them out nationally. Expect marketing investments to continue to rise. The company’s current More Roads initiative is geared towards reaching adult millennials and Gen-X.
Media Seller Opportunity: Sellers are encouraged to continue reaching out, considering recently-tapped creative AOR Droga5 will likely release work by the end of 2019. The company is looking to expand its female customer base, as well as break into multicultural audiences. Top spending fluctuates, so look for year-round revenue tied to new products. The brand typically invests in broadcast, digital, outdoor, print, radio and earned media.
Agency and Martech Opportunity: After the hire of Droga5, media and digital work may still be available. Those with automotive experience are encouraged to reach out, particularly since reviews tend to follow one another. MullenLowe Mediahub has handled media duties since 2016, right around average agency tenure of 3-4 years.
Request a Demo for Access to Harley-Davidson Decision-Maker Contact Info
3. theSkimm Names First CMO Amid Digital Display Increase
TheSkimm, an online publication geared towards female millennials, has named Pat Shores it’s first CMO effective July. Shores joins other recent hires: data and analytics VP Lizzy Wong (March), social media director Liat Kornowski (June), communications SVP Lizzie Wolff (May) and ad product and planning director Michelle Simon (April).
Media Seller Opportunity: The company recently launched a daily podcast and acquired Purple, a texting platform. With no top spending period established, sellers should reach out to secure revenue throughout the year through digital and earned media channels.
Agency and Martech Opportunity: A new CMO hire is the number one trigger of agency reviews. Reach out soon to get on Shore’s radar. Her hire signals theSkimm is investing more in marketing, especially with a bolstered team to support her efforts. Media duties seem to be handled in-house.
Request a Demo for Access to theSkimm Decision-Maker Contact Info
4. Garden Fresh Restaurants Names CMO Amid Millennial Shift
Garden Fresh, the operator of restaurants Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes, hired Nicole Bushnell as it’s new CMO in June. Most of her experience lies in brand development. The company also lost marketing insights director Sami Bisharat in June, however next steps have not been announced.
Agency and Martech Opportunity: These leadership shifts follow the February hire of creative AOR LO:LA. Since reviews tend to follow each other, agency and martech readers with restaurant experience in particular should reach out for work. Competition will likely include media AOR Global Media Group.
Media Seller Opportunity: Garden Fresh has implemented new programs in order to reach millennials and increase sales. There will likely be a heavy marketing push in order to accomplish these goals, which will be supported by spikes in spend. Sellers are encouraged to reach out to Bushnell. Garden Fresh doesn’t have a top spending period, and those with high millennial reach will have the advantage. Keep an eye on the first campaign from LO:LA, which is supposed to launch later this year across digital, in-store, print and social media.
Request a Demo for Access to Garden Fresh Restaurants Decision-Maker Contact Info
5. Belk Hires CMO to Replace CCO, Continues Digital Shift
Belk saw Julie Cary, chief customer officer of less than a year, depart in May to pursue opportunities elsewhere. The department store promoted Jacob Hawkins to CMO in order to replace her.
Agency and Martech Opportunity: While this isn’t an outside CMO hire, agency shakeups are still likely. Mcgarrybowen was named creative AOR in May, and keep in mind reviews tend to follow one another. There have also been numerous shifts in personnel in addition to Hawkins. Focus on media and digital work. Competition for digital will include iCrossing, who has been on the account since 2014. Focus pitches on assisting Belk with reversing it’s declines as well as focusing on a millennial demographic.
Media Seller Opportunity: A campaign created by mcgarrybowen is quickly approaching and set to launch in the new year. Sellers should reach out in order to secure revenue. Also keep an eye on top spending period Q4. Those near Belk’s 16 locations will likely have the advantage. Spend has been increasing and will likely continue to do so with new personnel in place and a focus on rebranding efforts. Most increases will likely go to digital and social to better target millennials.
Request a Demo for Access to Belk Decision-Maker Contact Info
(Podcast) Amazon is Seizing the Market — Why Sellers & Marketers Should Care
in Podcastby Ayanna GantSummary: 50% of consumers go straight to Amazon when searching for a product. We skip Gooogle altogether. In fact, Amazon is now the third biggest beneficiary of advertising dollars in the US behind Google and Facebook. Mark Power, CEO of Podean, sat down with Dave Currie, CEO of Winmo, on another episode of the B2B Sales Show to provide more context into what advertisers, sellers, and marketers should know through this monumental shift.
Announcer: You are listening to the B2B Sales Show, a podcast dedicated to helping B2B sales professionals, master the art and science of selling. If you want to hear what successful sales leaders and individual contributors are doing to break into new accounts, close more deals, and drive revenue for their organizations, you’ve come to the right place. Let’s get into the show.
Host, Dave Currie: So what’s the big deal about Amazon advertising? This is certainly a topic that is close to home for many of us in the advertising industry. Demystifying it is the purpose of today’s podcast. We’re going to be joined here in the studio by Mark Power, the founder and CEO of Podean, the Amazon advertising experts. So welcome to the show, Mark.
Mark Power: Thanks Dave. Really happy to be here.
Currie: So there’s been, as you and I have talked about over the last several months, there’s a lot of mystery that surrounds Amazon and more specifically mystery around Amazon advertising and the potential impact that’s having in the marketplace. So Mark, tell us a little bit about, from your perspective, how does this come about and what this means for the future of advertising?
Power: Yeah, well it’s actually quite unbelievable, just the size and scope of Amazon’s advertising business now. Just to put it in perspective for everyone, in 2018 it was a $10 billion revenue business. Which I think in the world of Jeff Bezos, when you start to become a $10 billion business, all of a sudden you’re on his radar, but for us in the advertising industry, that is a formidable force. That means a lot of brands and companies are spending money on that platform.
Power: So it’s taken them about seven to eight years to get to that. And a lot of those dollars though have been spent by sellers on the Amazon Marketplace.
Currie: Right? And those are the types of companies that as consumers, we’re all too familiar with.
Power: Exactly. There are people who they might be third party sellers who are selling a range of different products who are using Amazon sponsored ads platform to bid for our attention, okay? And just the same as Google Ad Words. Amazon has taken that model and applied it to their marketplace. But essentially the vast majority of the dollars has been within that pay click space in the search space.
Currie: Certainly a shift that we’ve seen in the press and I think that what’s most interesting to listeners is sort of, okay, so what’s really changed and what does it mean for more traditional advertisers and brands as they’re entering this new marketplace?
Power: Yeah. Well traditionally, if you’re a seller, you used to go and put your products on Amazon and then the search bar would be your friend where someone would look for a particular product or your brand and up, up you come. Advertising comes along, all of a sudden people can be against you. You’ve got competitors trying to bid to the same words.
So it’s really a pay to play platform, all right? So if you’re not prepared for that, you can be in a world of hurt very, very quickly where people are bidding against your brand. You’ve got companies who are more advanced on the marketing side who are actually winning, even though it’s your category traditionally off the marketplace.
Power: So there’s a lot of challenges, which it would take us a long time to really get through all those challenges. There are lots of resources out there for sellers and brands to explore on how to do that. And there are lots of partners, like agencies like ours. We help companies with that. But where Amazon’s going is it’s way more than just that place where you search for products.
Power: It now has a very vast display and video serving ability. So what that means is Amazon allows you to just like you would using Google and other platforms, allows you to essentially serve display ads, serve video using the Amazon data to target people so it knows exactly what I’ve been buying for the past several years whilst I’ve been buying on Amazon and brands can now use that data to then target me or target any of us with particular ads that are relevant for us at particular stages of a journey, not just on Amazon’s owned and operated properties, but on the third party partners that they also have.
Power: And that might be large ad networks or large publishers that they’ve now partnered with and that that data is really the secret sauce of Amazon’s advertising.
Currie: Yeah, I think it is. We’ve talked about in the past, it’s one of the areas of true attribution that Facebook and Google can’t really get to, which is that final purchase data to really [crosstalk 00:05:32].
Power: It’s incredibly powerful and it’s a marketer’s dream. The marketer’s dream is not just to have performing marketing and sales, but it’s to know where their dollars are going and what those dollars are returning. Because a marketer, to be able to go to a chief financial officer or a CEO and say, “look at the performance that we’ve delivered and the sales that we’ve delivered” and be truly accountable for those, there’s a lot of messiness that currently in this world of digital and offline marketing that you’ve got to organize, but at least with Amazon, every dollar you put in, you have a good chance to understand what dollars you’re getting back. And that’s quite unique from a platform perspective.
Currie: It’s got to be somewhat of a threatening proposition to those who may be listening that are in ad sales or more of a traditional agency model where they don’t have the tools and capacity to be able to compete with this new marketplace. So what do you see, when you’re talking to, “Look Mark, you’ve come out of the network agencies and so forth, and you’ve worked with brands directly and you still do today.” What are some of the challenges that more traditional frameworks of agencies and ad units or you know, how are they competing in this space?
Power: This is a really interesting topic. I’m writing a book right now called, “Amazon for CMO’s, and one of the topics in this ever-changing world that we live in, right? And unfortunately, it’s not just that this world of digital is just all of a sudden so… It’s maturing and it’s also very complex to navigate. But we’re now in a world of all guns. So only a year or two ago, brands didn’t have to worry about Amazon because if they didn’t sell on Amazon, they’re like, “Oh, I don’t really care.” But now Amazon is a formidable, very, very vast advertising platform and opportunity that they need to get their head around. But it’s another walled garden where your targeting Amazon customers, not your customers.
Power: Just like Facebook, you’re using, you’re putting money into Facebook or you’re putting money into Google, but they’re Google users, their Facebook users. Now you’re spending a growing amount of your budget on Amazon, but it’s Amazon’s customers and Amazon’s not going to give you those customers back. So it’s more power to the platform, but it will become addictive just like Facebook and Google did just because the data is so powerful and the eyeballs are there.
Power: And so that’s a challenge. But you’ve also got, as we move towards this, so what I call a multi-walled garden management sort of scenario. Soon you’re going to have, AT&T has its own ad tech stack. Soon you’ve got Verizon actually becoming a serious player, which they actually already are. Disney, Netflix will start actually serving ads no matter what they say. The only way that they’ll be able to really scale in the future and grow in the future with advertising. So there is this walled garden world and at the moment though, Amazon is the flavor of the month of the year, just because it’s new. And even if you don’t sell on Amazon, you can actually harness the power of its data to serve the right message to the right person at the right stage of their buying journey.
Currie: And are you finding, in your experience, working directly with brands that those who have traditionally sold through retail channels or retail partners and more suited towards selling their products to someone else’s customer set versus someone who may have a direct to consumer model?
Power: That’s an interesting question. Some retailers are a little bit too late. They’ve left Amazon to partners to manage, or third parties to manage and other distributors and all of a sudden they’re too late and their brand is all over the place and they don’t have control of their brand and control of their product.
Currie: Who’s doing it right?
Power: You’ve got some good traditional players who grew up on Amazon, the GoPro’s of the world, Fitbit’s of the world. They’ve realized early on that their electronics in their category is a very important one for Amazon. Some CPG’s like Unilever’s and Procter and Gamble’s, they’re finally realizing after several years that we’re now buying groceries and staples on Amazon. It’s not like the grocery, we’re getting things delivered and so there are categories that are a little bit late to the party, but at least they’re realizing it. When I advise CMO’s and senior folks, there is only one failing strategy whether you sell on Amazon or not.
Power: And the only failing strategy is to not have a strategy. So you need to have some form of strategy as to how you partner with Amazon in the future because it is not just a marketplace. It is now an extensive set of properties, it is an extensive place full of content, whether it be audio content, voice experiences through to Amazon Prime and everything that comes with that. Like Amazon just is just continuing to expand and touch just many parts of our day to day, touch many parts of society, and embed itself in our culture. And for a brand to ignore that and say, “Sorry, I don’t sell on Amazon so I don’t need to worry about it.” That is a failing strategy and that’s something that we’re advising everyone is just to think what is the future, and how do we partner with them better?
Currie: Yeah. I think it’s what we’re seeing is from a sales intelligence perspective at Winmo is that we’ve got hundreds of users or ad sales reps growing in the Amazon ecosystem on an annual basis, which sort of is a key indicator that they’re continuing to invest in building out the infrastructure of the advertising platform, or media type, media properties side of their business. So you can even go as far to say that their delivery trucks, you’re starting to see ads be placed on the boxes. It’s huge. It’s beyond digital. It’s gone into out-of-home and that’s just the tip of the iceberg, right? You’re seeing it on TV as well.
Power: Yeah. It’s going to change the TV landscape. The TV landscape is already changing, right? Which is great for everybody, really, who wants to sit in front of the nightly news and watch another five or six pharmaceutical ads, okay? Really like why not some targeted advertising whilst we watch TV, or something that’s specific to me or my family and why do we need to watch linear ads anyway? Why can’t we have more interactive ads that do cool things, right? So I am all for TV, traditional linear TV ads to be disrupted but Amazon is way bigger than just digital and TV.
Power: It’s also got things called treasure trucks, which you know brands can partner with them to go to places and find new customers with offers and special deals. They’ve got a very extensive set of solutions for the automotive industry, which I’m working in right now where you can partner with them and use their whole infrastructure to help give people, give certain brands within your portfolio, put it in the hands of consumers, and one example is with automotive you can organize through their Prime Now Platform, a test drive of a particular car within two hours.
Power: If the automotive group is signed up to that. Now that’s… Who wants to go to a car dealer anymore? I don’t, I’d rather the car to come straight outside and Amazon to manage that whole experience and the reason why brands are putting their trust in Amazon is that Amazon knows how to reduce friction. It’s customer-obsessed and just like Uber and just like other successful companies, when you reduce the friction for a consumer, they will be passionate about you. They will make your life easier.
Currie: I couldn’t agree more. Look, we’ve just gone through Amazon Prime Days, we’re in the midst of summer and it’s one of their most successful days of all time, one of the biggest retail days of all time.
Power: Huge.
Currie: Any initial feedback that’s come back from Amazon as a partner, as to some of the categories that really popped?
Power: Well, it’s funny. I think the interesting thing is this recent Prime Day has been very successful, but you really do need to be a big boy to play the game. And just because Amazon, it’s about scale. So the bigger the brand, the bigger the budget, the more love Amazon gives you. So if I went to Amazon, which I did with some mid-sized clients, what’s their advice? Spend more, spend more on advertising, have enough inventory available, but you need to spend more to make sure that inventory sells. But that’s their attitude. It’s pay to play on the platform. They’re now A very, very sophisticated sales machine. They make a lot of money, they’re going to make more, but it is a pay to play platform.
Power: You can do some cool things, but everything that is designed to do is to make more money for Amazon, okay?
Currie: So I guess one of the questions on everyone’s lips is going to be, so this is where Amazon is now, there’s been a rapid progression in both the platform and the advertising side of the business. I mean, the obvious question is what’s next?
Power: Well just think of a Google competitor, a true Google competitor. Okay. Yes, Facebook’s only social and it’s got some incredible properties and messaging and Instagram and et cetera, but actually it’s pretty good that we’ve got a Google competitor coming. Like how, I don’t think a single person, this thing, this podcast has not had to spend with Google in some way or their business is not… It’s essential to the marketing mix so to actually have a formidable competitor with the resources and scale of Amazon to come along and overnight say, “Hang on, we’re not just going to take you on with a product search.”
Power: What do you think next? I think they may take them on with full search. So you might actually use in the future an Amazon browser or an Amazon search bar, or use Alexa to search for things like a restaurant as you’re walking down the strip for the tee times of the golf course on the weekend, it might become way, way more integrated into your life than just buying certain things. But then you’ve also got, they’ve recently bought Sizmek, which is an ad serving platform.
Power: Amazon’s going to have a formidable end-to-end tech stack and one thing they’ll have over Google is once you put that dollar in, you’ll be able to know what comes back. But that’s a good thing because we need competition in the market because it helps us with our budgets, it helps those two big companies be more accountable, but I think competition’s good.
Power: But where things are really exciting is in voice. And when you think of Alexa, don’t just think of Alexa as voice-enabled soon it will just be Alexa is your persona and your artificial intelligence-driven persona that sits in the Amazon ecosystem.
Currie: Right. And we’re starting to see Alexa go be installed into new model vehicles in 2020 and so forth as well. You’ve basically got the two voice, or three-voice sides with Google, Apple, and Amazon all competing for that dash space.
Power: Exactly And not only will Alexa know what we’ve bought, and what we do, and what kids we’ve got, and what things are in my life. But it will really start to know what I am and what I like in content and lots of other things. And Alexa won’t just be something enabled through Echo devices.
Power: It would literally be my virtual being within the Amazon ecosystem and beyond. And that’s quite powerful. And in-car, Alexa, powering in-car experiences is going to be very powerful as well. Or I think we will forget just, Americans, I think a huge amount of our time is spent in-car. So there’s a huge opportunity to make that a better experience and Alexa is really leading the charge there. So I think there is just going to be a lot of action in this space and Amazon actually coming into, not disrupt advertising, but to shake it up a bit, to shake it up a bit to sort of make the Google sort of, “Oh golly, you know, I can’t just sit on this incredible …” It’s been a duopoly.
Power: Having that sort of competition’s great. And it’s also going to be great to see where things go when it comes to sort of how Amazon lets its customers, in the form of brands, use data that is traditionally been fully proprietary to Amazon, how it shares that data. I think there’s going to be some good developments in that because I think Amazon will start to loosen up its grip on data as long as they have the… because of all the platforms out. Amazon is the most brand-safe and that’s something we didn’t touch on today is the brand safety mechanisms and the guidelines Amazon has set is really strict so all the problems that Google and Facebook have had and are currently still having, aren’t existing in Amazon because they’ve been so customer-obsessed, kept that customer data under lock and key, but in the future I think they’re going to be able to do a lot more with it when they collaborate with brands.
Currie: Mark, we’ve talked a lot about the advertising side of Amazon’s business, but there’s also the up and coming and fast-moving side of their business-to-business application. Can you talk to us a little bit about that? What’s going on with that?
Power: Well, the business-to-business side of Amazon up until now has been, “Okay, how can we facilitate better commerce between companies that sell business-related items and collateral and stationery and all sorts of things like that to other businesses”, right? But where there’s a huge opportunity for Amazon is to reduce the amount of friction between business-to-business commerce, just generally. The amount of friction and trying to shorten sales cycles, trying to make the whole contract and exchange of legal documents and all these things. Just how to make that a more fluid and frictionless process.
Power: I see Amazon as a big conduit to changing and disrupting the traditional business-to-business sort of our landscape with applying Amazon methodologies and that whole customer obsession to the world of business and they say I think a couple of trillion dollars is the business-to-business market as if Amazon doesn’t have its sight set on that. It does. It’s already stated it does, but it just hasn’t gone hard into it yet. It definitely would have teams right now over in Seattle or elsewhere, really working out the plans and methodically making sure that they’re testing and learning and seeing and partnering with the right folks.
Power: But you start to make a dent in that multi-trillion dollar business and business-to-business commerce. I cannot give you what the vision looks like yet because it’s still something I’m exploring. But that is just breathtaking when you think about it. Imagine if Amazon came in and said, “We’re going to make the whole world of business-to-business an easier place for people to transact and do business in”, and who knows what that’s going to look like. But I wouldn’t put it past them to heavily disrupt a lot of the areas of business-to-business over the next few years including…
Power: And then the same goes for medical and insurance and other areas that they’re wanting to attack.
Currie: Yeah, I think it’s pretty safe to assume that having no strategy is not a strategy for anyone in a business setting in today’s environment, whether that be in the advertising and marketing sector of the economy or any B2B and commerce factor of the economy both here in the U.S. and globally moving forward. Mark, that’s been incredibly insightful. Thanks so much, mate, for spending a bit of time and sharing with us some of the expertise that you’ve accumulated over the years and putting to work with your agency Podean. Really appreciate your time today.
Power: Thanks, Dave. And yeah, thank you, everyone, just keep your eyes and ears open about this world because there’s a lot to learn from the way Amazon does its business and there’s a lot of opportunities out there with it too.
Currie: Great. Mark, how can someone get ahold of you if they want to ask more questions or if they’ve got a topic that they really just like your perspective on?
Power: Oh, just reach out on LinkedIn. Mark G. Power is my name, or go to podean.com. P-o-d-e-a-n- .com and you can find me there.
Currie: That’s great. Thanks very much, mate.
Power: Thanks, Dave.
Announcer 2: Looking for a smarter way to find relevant and actionable sales leads each day and a better way to open new doors with advertisers, marketers and their agencies? That’s where Winmo can help. Recognized and trusted by your peers as the most comprehensive, accurate, and widely used advertising database available. Winmo is your only source for exclusive sales leads that are curated by analysts and delivered to you each and every morning.
Announcer 2: See what your industry peers are using to beat you to the sale. Start receiving the actionable leads you need to start owning the sales leader board now. Step up your sales game and win more by requesting a custom demo of Winmo today. Go to www.winmo.com/B2Bsalesshow.
Announcer: You’ve been listening to the B2B Sales Show to make sure you don’t miss future episodes with sales leaders, professionals, and thought leaders. Subscribe to the show in your favorite podcast player. Thank you so much for listening. Until next time.
The B2B Sales Show is a podcast dedicated to helping B2B sales professionals master the art and science of selling. If you want to hear what successful sales leaders and individual contributors are doing to break into new accounts, close more deals, and drive revenue for their organizations, you’ve got to check out their content!
5 RFPs to Keep on Your Radar
in Agency New Businessby Anna CrochetBeing responsible for driving agency new business is no easy task. One day you can land a big deal and business can be booming and then the next day you could lose an account and find yourself scrambling for new opportunities to add to your pipeline. It’s a never-ending loop.
An essential way to keep your pipeline up to par is to monitor and respond to relevant RFPs. This three-letter acronym is typically a bright flashing signal that indicates potential opportunity for your agency.
RFP, or Request for Proposal, has become an essential way that agencies find new sales opportunities for their business. But, with RFPs taking up a lot of your team’s time, and the win rate being less than 5%, it’s more important than ever to make sure you’re finding the right opportunities that are in your wheelhouse of expertise.
To help you find the RIGHT RFP for your agency we’ve provided these 5 opportunities that you should act on now:
1. Texas Governor’s Office Issues RFP for Canada Service Region Tourism, PR, Marketing Services
Due Date: August 29
Opportunity: The state of Texas, Office of the Governor looks to raise awareness of Texas as a premier travel destination in the Canada Service Region. The primary focus will be on marketing and PR strategies used to target consumers, with a secondary focus on assisting with the Travel Texas PR and marketing activities.
Scope of Work: The OGG is part of the executive brand of Texas state government, and therefore will not relinquish control over PR and marketing decisions to the contractor. Upon approval, the work includes:
Contract Terms: Begins September 11, 2019 and ends August 31, 2020
Budget: Not disclosed
Contact: Spencer Cummings (spencer.cummings@gov.texas.gov).
2. Sandy Springs, GA issues RFP for Destination Marketing Strategy Services
Due Date: August 23; questions due August 14; pre-bid conference August 9
Opportunity: Sandy Springs Hospitality & Tourism’s board of directors and professional staff are seeking a consultant to assist with the creation of a plan to carry the organization through the next three to five years. According to RFP documents, brand development is not a goal of the strategic plan.
Scope of Work:
Budget: Not disclosed
Contact: Dezirae Gaines, (purchasing@sandyspringsga.gov)
3. Montana’s Department of Natural Resources & Conservation Issues Marketing RFP to Promote State Wood Purchases
Due Date: August 23, pre-proposal conference call August 14 & must contact Procurement Officer by email by August 13 to receive phone number and password
Opportunity: Montana issued a marketing RFP for a contractor to implement tactics of a marketing plan to promote the use and purchase of state wood products.
Scope of Work:
Contract Terms: Start date September 23, end May 13, 2020
Budget: Not disclosed; Private sponsorship dollars or direct funding for production materials will be vital
Contact: Gwen Ungerman, Procurement Officer ungermang@mt.gov.
4. Kansas’ Larned State Hospital Issues RFP for Billboard Advertising
Due Date: August 20
Opportunity: The project is for Larned State Hospital to contract OOH billboard advertising. If you are interested in bidding on this transaction, you must specifically be invited to the event. In order to receive an invitation, contact Amanda Clayton 24 hours before the official finish date in order to attend.
Scope of Work:
Budget: Not disclosed
Contact: Questions concerning clarification to the bid event must be submitted to Procurement Officer Amanda Clayton who can be reached at the following:
5. Florida’s Miami Parking Issues RFP for Mural Advertising Services
Due Date: September 10, questions due August 27 and mandatory pre-bid meeting August 13
Opportunity: The City of Miami Department of Off-Street Parking, also known as the Miami Parking Authority, intends to implement a mural advertising service on the east-facing wall and potentially the south-facing wall of the Cultural Center Garage, located at 90 SW 1st Street in Miami.
Scope of Work: The mural advertising is intended for the Cultural Center Farage, known as G-2 and will require:
Budget: Estimate aggregate cost of $25,000 or more
Contact: Submit any questions to Procurement@MiamiParking.com
Not only does Winmo help you identify RFPs, we also alert you of other important new business triggers like decision-maker shifts, product launches, spending shifts and more. Request a demo today and see for yourself!
6 Brands Making Big Marketing Investments
in Marketingby Anna CrochetScoring deals is all about timing- pitching to brands and companies when they’re ready to spend. Finding that golden window of opportunity isn’t easy, particularly with so much competition.
Proactive prospecting requires you and your sales team to be aware of shifts that suggest opportunity. When a brand bolsters it’s marketing team and sees spikes in spend to support these efforts, expansion is on the horizon. This creates a need for assistance in those expansion efforts, creating opportunity and available revenue.
How can Winmo help? Winmo tracks these changes so that you don’t have to. Our team of in-house researchers provides daily reports on brands making big marketing investments so that you can spend less time prospecting and more time selling.
The following brands are ramping up marketing investments now:
1. Athleta Names CMO to Prepare for Growth, Launches Campaign
Athleta promoted Sheila Shekar Pollak to CMO, effective October, to replace incumbent Andrea Mallard. Prior to serving as the company’s CMO, Pollak’s most recent position was VP of Marketing.
Several other promotions followed this shift in leadership in an attempt to prepare Athleta for growth since GAP will need to majorly leverage the brand to stay afloat. Athleta is the only non-struggling brand under its portfolio and will focus on new store openings as well as a heavier focus on marketing with new personnel in place.
Agency and Martech Opportunity: Changes in leadership are the number one new business trigger, so agency and martech readers should reach out for work. Rise Interactive is on digital, YARD is on creative and PHD is on media, so expect those agencies among your competition. Focus pitches helping Athleta stay top-of-mind amid competition like Lululemon, so it can take advantage of the growing athleisure market. Our in-house team reported on this opportunity in April, with a 9-12 month window for agency shifts.
Media Seller Opportunity: Sellers are encouraged to focus on planning period Q1 and buying period Q4. Athleta targets women, especially millennials because of its purpose-driven nature. The majority of Athleta’s budgets are currently allocated to digital, though it also uses print, partnerships and experiential.
Request a Demo for Access to Athleta Decision-Maker Contact Info
2. Chewy Announces Focus on Pharmacy, Customer Experience after IPO
Online pet retailer Chewy just went public and according to execs in the first earnings call, the company’s primary focuses include promoting pet health and preventative care. The company just recently opened a pharmacy and launched My Prescriptions in an effort to support these goals.
Chewy also plans to improve the customer experience through product and tech initiatives such as their mobile app. Users now have the ability to receive push notifications, and Chewy plans to continue to increase personalization and security efforts.
Chewy plans to begin investing more in brand marketing, and currently uses data-driven strategies across channels. These efforts have seen spend increases, which are expected to continue. Recent IPO funding will likely be used for operating expenses, which includes marketing.
Media Seller Opportunity: Since spend is going up and expected to continue doing so, sellers should reach out. The company does not have a top spending period but instead spends highly throughout the year. It uses an omnichannel strategy to reach a wide audience, but those with high reach among millennials will likely have the advantage.
Agency and Martech Opportunity: With increased funding, Chewy expanded its marketing team recently as well. The company may bring on agencies to support large growth goals, so those with e-commerce experience in particular are encouraged to reach out. Focus pitches on supporting the company’s new spend strategies.
Request a Demo for Access to Chewy Decision-Maker Contact Info
3. Bass Pro Shops Hires New CMO
Bass Pro Shops has appointed a new CMO, Jamie Sohosky. Her start date is to be determined, she is currently serving as the VP of marketing of Walmart, one of several VP titles she has held.
In the new role, Sohosky plans to lead omnichannel marketing strategies to optimize customer interaction with digital, social media, promotions, events, sponsorships, partnerships and other channels.
Media Seller Opportunity: According to Adbeat, digital display spend for the past year has increased $40K. Bass Pro Shops spends throughout the year, but historically Q1 and Q3 have seen the highest spend. Spend in the past has also increased throughout the year, reaching its peak in Q4 likely due to the Hockey World Cup in November. Most of their stores are found throughout the Southeast, Northeast, and eastern side of the Midwest. Sellers are encouraged to reach out now for Q4 ad space.
Agency and Martech Opportunity: With Sohosky’s new leadership, look out for an agency or creative review within the next 12-18 months. Competition will include current AORs for media buying and planning are Buntin for the brand Tracker Boats & out-of-home media and Spark Foundry for TV, radio, digital and search. Kuhl Swaine is still the AOR for creative and social.
Request a Demo for Access to Bass Pro Shops Decision-Maker Contact Info
4. Norwegian Cruises Possibly Moved Media Account, Creative Next?
Our in-house team of researchers received news that Norwegian Cruise Lines has moved media from Omnicom’s OMD, who has been on the account since summer of 2015.
Media Seller Opportunity: For the first six months of 2019, iSpot reports that the cruise line has spend $19 million on national TV ads, spread out throughout the year in five roughly 25-day flights. This is a significant increase over the spend throughout the same period last year, which reached $1 million. Top shows suggest the target demographic consists of Boomers.
Agency and Martech Opportunity: While the status of the cruise line’s media account is unknown, BBDO was hired as creative AOR around the same time OMD won media work. A creative review is likely to launch within 12-15 months, so don’t hesitate to begin reaching out to decision makers.
Request a Demo for Access to Norwegian Cruises Decision-Maker Contact Info
5. Papa John’s to Invest $80M in Marketing, Focus on Brand-Building
Papa John’s continues to struggle as same-store sales decreased by 6.9% in Q1, causing them to evaluate marketing strategies in place. According to an earnings call, Papa John’s plans to focus on limited time products, loyalty and promotion more highly on it’s ingredients, and continue to roll out the Loyalty Program moving forward.
According to reports, Papa John’s also plans to invest an additional $80 million into marketing in Q3. Majority of these funds will go toward the national marketing fund and support the brand. Future brand initiatives include Shaw, who recently became a board member and brand ambassador.
Media Seller Opportunity: With lots of marketing investments on the horizon, sellers are encouraged to reach out for revenue. Try to join planning conversations in Q1 and buying conversations in Q4, which also typically see spikes in spend. The target demographic consists of mostly male millennials. Papa John’s typically works through outdoor, print and radio channels.
Agency and Martech Opportunity: Endeavor Global Marketing picked up creative in August, Havas Media Group picked up media in October, and Powell Tate picked up PR in August as well. However, agency shifts are not out of the question considering the brand’s recent struggles and the hire of Brandon Rhoten as the new CMO in April. Focus pitches on helping Papa John’s reverse struggles and bolster the brand.
Request a Demo for Access to Papa John’s Decision-Maker Contact Info
6. Firestone Tires Launches Campaign, Aims to Widen Target Demo
Firestone, the brand owned by Bridgestone Americas, launched a campaign called “Try ‘Em Yourself” in order to promote the brand’s 90 day buy and try guarantee. The digital video series began running in early June.
Media Seller Opportunity: There may still be time to secure last-minute revenue for the campaign, so sellers are encouraged to reach out. Then, look out for planning period Q4 and buying period Q3. Firestone typically targets men, but has recently attempted to expand its demographic to millennial and Gen-Z.
Agency and Martech Opportunity: After shuffling it’s marketing leadership, Bridgestone is likely to to make agency changes within the coming 12-18 months. Competition will most likely include Periscope on creative and media and Levelwing on social.
Request a Demo for Access to Firestone Tires Decision-Maker Contact Info
2019 Digital Advertising Trends
in Marketingby Anna CrochetAs we hit the halfway point in 2019, the digital advertising industry continues its evolving journey. Global online ad spend is set to grow 4.7% this year, up from the 4% forecast in December 2018.
Sources predict that U.S. digital ad spend will increase 19.1 percent this year, to $129.3 billion, while traditional advertising will fall 19 percent, to $109.5 billion. That means digital will account for 54.2 percent of the total, an even larger realm of opportunity to capitalize on in order to secure ad revenue.
In an effort to address one of the most dynamic years the digital advertising industry has seen, we’re highlighting new data and major trends throughout 2019 including:
We’re also highlighting where Winmo comes in to help businesses capitalize on these trends. Our in-house team of researchers provides daily insight into agency relationships, media planning and buying periods, and predictive sales intelligence within our platform in order to make connecting with national advertisers and their agencies a breeze.
Take your research to the next level with these six digital advertising trends indicating new possibilities for you and your team throughout the remainder of 2019:
1. Programmatic Explosion
Building on the success of out-of-home advertising, digital out-of-home is an unbeatable offering. The motion DOOH ads prove to be capturing the attention of viewers even more effectively. According to sources, DOOH ads are twice as likely to be seen and are 2.5 times more impactful than static OOH ads. With technology advancements on the horizon, more brands are presented with the opportunity to participate in the DOOH movement.
For the first time, DOOH overtook traditional OOH in 2019. This means a more dynamic experience as opposed to more static messaging. Major brands such as Mercedes Benz are trialing programmatic DOOH, a trend that other brands will likely understand the value in and follow their lead. DOOH and programmatic is on the rise, and at a rapid pace. The trend is pretty clear as major players decide to get on board.
2. In-House Revolution
With an already significant impact on online advertising, the in-house programmatic shift continues. Two out of three marketers are planning to bring their programmatic efforts in-house by 2022, so the revolution in this space is certainly one to pay attention to, if you’re not already.
What exactly does the move in-house mean for online advertising? It removes silos, streamlines workflows and reduces production costs. According to studies, 38% of businesses mentioned cost efficiency as an incentive to switch in-house. This industry’s in-house trend leaves more room for innovation and advancement in the online advertising realm.
Looking for national advertisers who have brought some of their programmatic in-house? Winmo customers can quickly identify these brands, and their key decision-makers. Take a look here: t 7 Major Brands That Have Brought Programmatic In-House.
3. Video Steals the Show
According to studies, video has been crowned victorious as predicted in 2019. Digital budgets are increasing in order for advertisers to get in front of their customers. Reports show 74% of U.S. consumers over the age of 13 watch streaming or online video at least weekly, and 41% watch daily.
Mobile and social serve as the main channels through which this content is consumed however, video is highly effective regardless of the medium. In general, video banner ads have proven to perform better than ads without, making it a trend you won’t want to miss in 2019.
Through Winmo’s Adbeat integration, sellers have the ability to see standard, native and video campaigns across both desktop and mobile – complete with spend data – to qualify opportunities and tailor your outreach.
4. AI is All Over
Artificial Intelligence has been on the table for a few years now, but it continues to grow at an amazing pace, just like we predicted. While most platforms have a certain level of AI already built in, the possibilities continue to expand.
AI serves a lot of areas, such as the ability to detect sophisticated ad fraud patterns. It also analyzes over 80 dimensions at a time compared to traditional models with the ability to analyze activity in one to three dimensions simultaneously. Additionally, an Appier study proved AI-based models are producing a 3.6% higher return on advertising spend in comparison to other models.
This trend opens up doors for marketers to focus on their customer and determine ways to deliver relevant and engaging ads. Spending less time searching for the information, AI allows advertisers to focus on the deliverables and initiatives that truly matter most.
5. Diversifying Reach
In 2019, brands are making a huge effort to diversify their reach and make an impression on as many consumers as possible. The goal is to make a brand voice that is clear and consistent in whatever channels are possible for distribution, and effective. As brands look to speak to a variety of audiences and expand reach by branching out into new markets, a sales intelligence tool is essential.
Within Winmo, profiles are populated with the latest and greatest opportunities to ensure your pipeline is full of qualified opportunities. Not only does our in-house team of researchers provide verified contact information for key decision-makers on accounts, they also report on industry news so you can craft the perfect pitch.
Winmo’s Adbeat integration, mentioned above, also serves as a way to identify new opportunities and revenue streams. Adtech companies can qualify opportunities by programmatic activity across standard, native and video formats for desktop and/or mobile device to focus on targets buying what they’re selling. Ad networks and other programmatic players can additionally use this data to identify vendors spending with competing networks, but not with them. The result? An easy path to low-hanging fruit and increased market share.
6. Omnichannel Approach
Omnichannel capabilities allow customers to interact with businesses throughout their journey in lots of different ways. With the goal of creating a seamless experience across all channels, 62% of companies have, or plan to have an omnichannel marketing strategy.
With the average digital consumer owning 3.2 devices, it’s crucial to keep them engaged and interested over time. Advertisers are making an attempt to be present and relevant wherever their users are, so expect the omnichannel trend to continue to rise.
Not only do Winmo analysts track trends in digital advertising such as these, but they also translate them into quick reads you can act on. Whether you’re looking for a tool to diversify your reach or a resource to inform you where brands are spending (and when), I’d highly recommend trying Winmo for yourself. Request a demo today.
Prospecting Alert: Top 10 TV Advertisers
in Ad Salesby Anna CrochetUpfronts might be over, but if you sell TV advertising, prospecting is a year-round job. TV continues to be a big hit among audiences and advertisers alike. U.S. TV ad spending was up by 3.1% in 2018, finishing the year at $72.4 billion, a trend that is likely to continue upward.
We’re breaking down the big guys – the top 10 TV advertisers with a minimum media spend of $200 million in the realm of Network TV. These brands are making significant investments, and often top Network players translate to top OTT spenders as well, so whatever delivery medium you represent, these are the behemoths to keep your eye on.
Not only are we listing top TV advertisers and their historical spend, we’re including top networks and top show data for the past 30 days, courtesy of our partnership with real-time TV measurement leader iSpot.tv, plus select opportunity alerts from our prospecting publication WinmoEdge.
This data, coupled with up-to-date client and agency decision-maker rosters, is what gives Winmo users a leg up on pitching and ultimately winning more TV revenue. Ready to take a look?
Here are the top 10 TV advertisers in no particular order:
1. Verizon Wireless, Inc
2018 Total Media Spend: $634.77 M
Network TV: $355.71 M
Company Revenue: $130.86 B
Location: Basking Ridge, NJ
BONUS: Notable Prospecting Trigger:
Reported in March, Verizon selected Hans Vestberg as the replacement CEO. The company also promoted Frank Boulben to SVP of consumer marketing and products, effective January.
Agency and Martech Opportunity: While none of these new personnel are a CMO, agency changes are still likely. Those with telecommunications experience should reach out. Competition will likely include Zenith Media, McCann New York, and The Community. Focus pitches on differentiating Verizon from competitors such as AT&T and Sprint. In addition, focus on bolstering Verizon Media, Verizon’s new 5G offerings, and it’s new subscription box.
Media Seller Opportunity: Verizon rolled out it’s “Real Good Reasons” campaign in March in an effort to showcase more diversity and appear more authentic. Focus on top spending periods Q1 and Q4. Verizon’s demographic consists of men age 35+, and main channels are out-of-home, experiential, print and radio.
Request a Demo for Access to Verizon Wireless, Inc Decision-Maker Contact Info
2. AT&T, Inc
2018 Total Media Spend: $1.04 B
Network TV: $451.96 B
Company Revenue: $170.76 B
Location: Dallas, TX
BONUS: Notable Prospecting Trigger:
Media Seller Opportunity: AT&T has a very wide deemographic, so those with high ROI, wide-reaching, omnichannel strategies should keep the brand on your radar. AT&T runs through all channels (TV, digital, social, earned, experiential, out-of-home, print, radio, cause marketing and sponsorships). Spend typically spikes in Q1 and Q4.
Reported in January, overall spend had seen declines, but will likely pick back up throughout the year. AT&T has plans to leverage content gained from its WarnerMedia acquisition, particularly with a new streaming service set to launch in Q4. Spend is also expected to ramp up for the 5G offering as well.
Request a Demo for Access to AT&T Decision-Maker Contact Info
3.Verizon Communications, Inc
2018 Total Media Spend: $938.51 M
Network TV: $440.55 M
Company Revenue: $130.86 M
Location: New York, NY
BONUS: Past 30-day iSpot TV detail:
4. T-Mobile USA
2018 Total Media Spend: $691.81 M
Network TV: $314.83 M
Company Revenue: $343.24 B
Location: Bellevue, WA
BONUS: Notable Prospecting Trigger:
Media Seller Opportunity: Top spending periods are typically Q1 and Q3-Q4. According to January reports, main focuses going into the year are “underpenetrated segments, such as new geographies, 55+, Military, and T-Mobile for Business” according to CEO John Legere.
In order to target those “underpenetrated segments,” T-Mobile has seen a decrease in TV spending in lieu of increases to digital, out-of-home, radio and print. Spend declines are expected to reverse themselves since T-Mobile started the year with several new hires in order to bolster their marketing efforts.
Agency and Martech Opportunity: Media has been out of Blue 449 since 1998, public relations has been out of Porter Novellie since 2001, and digital has been out of Publicis Hawkeye since 2015. With these relationships far past agency tenure (3-4 years), reach out to new personnel to secure potential work.
Request a Demo for Access to T-Mobile Decision-Maker Info
5. McDonald’s Corporation
2018 Total Media Spend: $610.71 M
Network TV: $257.25 M
Company Revenue: $21.02 M
Location: Chicago, IL
BONUS: Notable Prospecting Trigger:
McDonald’s announced that global CMO Silvia Lagnado will depart in October to pursue opportunities elsewhere. She will not be replaced, but the chain did just promote Colin Mitchell to global marketing SVP. He will take over some of her responsibilities including global marketing, insights, and menu innovation. The rest of Lagnado’s duties such as brand development, media, merchandising and customer relationship management will likely be split between the regional CMOs.
Agency and Martech Opportunity: With these major shifts as well as lower-level personnel hires, there’s a possibility for agency changes within the next 12-18 months. Agency and martech readers with QSR experience in particular are encouraged to reach out. Focus pitches on assisting with recent spend shifts and keeping McDonald’s top-of-mind among competitors Wendy’s, Burger King, and Arby’s.
Media Seller Opportunity: McDonald’s has been spending more on local marketing recently, and is currently still in the middle of a local media review. Local sellers are encouraged to reach out with this new focus, and keep in mind strategy may differ based on region but overall national focus will remain. The chain focuses on a millennial and Gen-Z demographic, making new technology, new menu items, expanded delivery, and increased personalization high priority.
Request a Demo for Access to McDonald’s Decision-Maker Contact Info
6. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company
2018 Total Media Spend: $882.31 M
Network TV: $384.43 M
Company Revenue: $31.95 B
Location: Mayfield Village, OH
BONUS: Past 30-day iSpot TV detail:
Request a Demo for Access to Progressive Casualty Insurance Contact Info
7. GEICO Corporation
2018 Total Media Spend: $1.5 B
Network TV: $509.86 M
Company Revenue: $247.54 B
Location: Washington, DC
BONUS: Past 30-day iSpot TV detail:
Request a Demo for Access to GEICO CorporationDecision-Maker Contact Info
8. Walmart Stores, Inc
2018 Total Media Spend: $576.59 M
Network TV: $250.8 M
Company Revenue: $514.41 B
Location: Bentonville, AR
BONUS: Notable Prospecting Trigger:
Reported in May of this year, Walmart acquired adtech startup Polymorph Labs in order to help advertisers streamline the process for targeting audience segments. Walmart has been attempting to shake up its strategy and improve digital marketing efforts in order to better compete. The retailer also moved online ad sales and analytics in-house.
Media Seller Opportunity: Walmart has been increasing millennial and Gen-Z engagement with new campaigns, e-commerce offerings, and partnerships. These initiatives have resulted in spend increases that are expected to continue. With spend increases and new initiatives to secure revenue from, sellers should reach out. Spend is high throughout the year, but typically spikes during Q3 and Q4.
Agency and Martech Opportunity: CMO Barabara Messing and CCO Janey Whiteside have only been on the job for less than a year, so agency and martech readers are encouraged to reach out. Competition will include Haworth Marketing & Media, Golin, Swirl, Witeck Communications, and Publicis’s Walmart shop.
9. State Farm Insurance Companies
Total Media Spend: $514.75 M
Network TV: $231.38 M
Location: Bloomington, IL
BONUS:Past 30-day iSpot TV detail:
Request a Demo for Access to State Farm Insurance Decision-Maker Info
10. Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc
2018 Total Media Spend: $312.04 M
Network TV: $208 M
Company Revenue: 280.7 B
Location: Plano, TX
BONUS: Past 30-day iSpot TV detail:
Request a Demo for Access to Toyota Motor Sales Decision-Maker Contact Info
Want more insight on TV advertisers? Winmo allows you to search brands spending in Network TV, Cable TV, Spot TV, even Spanish Language stations, filter by planning or buying period timeframe, and navigate directly to the brand and agency teams responsible for their budgets. Request a Demo today to build your prospect list!
5 Summer Campaign Launches Sellers Need to Know About
in Ad Salesby Anna CrochetSummer isn’t a dead zone for sales, and we’ve got the opportunities to prove it. Our team of in-house researchers work to keep track of daily campaign launches and where the opportunity lies for you.
Rather than attempt to keep up with the rapid pace of industry news, Winmo transforms news stories into actionable opportunities for you and your team.
As a sneak peek of what our platform has to offer, we’re bringing you five summer campaign launches presenting revenue up for grabs for you to pursue right now:
1. Multi-generational Broadcast Opps: Duracell Launches New Creative Campaign
In order to support the launch of Duracell’s new Optimum battery, Creative AOR Wieden + Kennedy (New York) released a new comedic campaign under the tagline “Extra Life. Extra Power.”
Media Seller Opportunity: One of the most successful investors in history, Warren Buffett, has owned Duracell since 2014. This means the company is consistently generating predictable, consistent revenue, making potential spending dollars more consistent as well. Sellers are encouraged to keep an eye on Duracell and begin to open broadcast and digital space for Q4. Everyone needs batteries, creating an expansive audience for Duracell. Sellers with experience in the Spanish TV space are encouraged to reach out as well.
Request a Demo for Access to Duracell Decision-Maker Contact Info
2. Millennial Media Opps: Constellation Launches Campaign for Kim Crawford, Plans More Campaign Launches
Constellation Brands launched a campaign for its Kim Crawford wine brand. The “Make It Amazing” campaign was crafted by creative AOR Calvary and features TV spots running through networks such as Bravo, E!, Food Network, FX, HGTV, TBS, and Travel Channel AMC to name a few. The campaign uses digital, social media, dynamic displays at retail, strategic partnerships, consumer sampling as well as experiential.
Media Seller Opportunity: According to Wine Industry Advisor, the campaign will run through February 2020, so sellers will be able to secure last-minute revenue until then. Keep in mind the Kim Crawford target demographic is primarily women, but Constellation as a whole typically targets millennial men. Spend is historically highest during Q2 and Q4, and also keep other campaign launches on your radar as Constellation makes an attempt to strengthen and build their portfolio.
Keep an eye out on spend increases to support the summer selling season, a majority of which will likely go to the beer portfolio to fuel growth in this area. The dollars will most likely go toward Corona Premier and Modelo in particular. While there is a focus on the beer portfolio, don’t let this hinder you from reaching out to other brands under the Constellation umbrella.
Agency and Martech Opportunity: With an expanding team and spend increases, agency and martech readers with alcohol experience are encouraged to reach out. Expect competition from media agency Horizon and Constellation’s slew of creative agencies: Cramer-Krasselt, Edenspiekermann, Roundhouse, MUH-TAY-ZIK l HOF_FER, Upshot, Trinity Brand Group and Cavalry.
Request a Demo for Access to Constellation Decision-Maker Contact Info
3. Gen-Z Media Opps: Sprite Evolves Hip-Hop Marketing Strategy With New Campaign, Increases Spend
Sprite’s “Thirst for Yours” campaign kicked off three weeks ago with a media event and panel at the BET Experience in Los Angeles, but it centers around TV spots that showcase aspiring rapper Kodie Shane along with aspiring fashion designer Seth Giscombe. The campaign was created by Wieden+Kennedy and will also use social media, influencers, outdoor and experiential activations.
Media Seller Opportunity: While there may not be revenue still tied to this specific push, sellers are encouraged to keep an eye on the “Thirst for Yours” banner considering it is a multi-year initiative. Keep an eye out for revenue during planning period Q3 and buying period Q2. Those with a high reach among a millennial audience will likely have the advantage since the target age ranges from 13-24.
Spend increases are expected to continue with new leadership in place as well as to support the more environmentally friendly bottle promotion.
Request a Demo for Access to Sprite Decision-Maker Contact Info
4. Outdoor Media Opps: Spotify Launches Outdoor Campaign in Promotion of LGBTQ+ Community
Spotify recently launched an interactive out-of-home campaign in partnership with Clear Channel. The digital billboards consist of a “Yes” in conjunction with the Pride flag in an effort to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community. The campaign is slated to run through August across 15 cities including London, New York, Madrid, and Paris. According to reports, the campaign was created internally.
Media Seller Opportunity: While there may not be revenue to secure specifically from this campaign, sellers should keep an eye out for similar interactive out-of-home campaigns in the future. Sellers are also encouraged to keep an eye out for dollars tied to top spending periods Q2 and Q4. Keep an eye out on new products like Spotify Lite and upcoming podcasts as well. Spotify’s main demographic consists of both millennials and Gen-Z.
According to reports, spend has increased and will likely continue to do so considering Spotify is making a major effort to expand it’s marketing leadership.
Agency and Martech Opportunity: New hires in place are likely to review current agency relationships, so agency and martech readers are encouraged to reach out. Competition will include UM, NYC on media and creative is typically handled in-house.
Request a Demo for Access to Spotify Decision-Maker Contact Info
5. Review Imminent: Long John Silver’s Promotes CMO, Launches Campaign
Long John Silver’s promoted Stephanie Mattingly to CMO, effective June, to replace incumbent Angela Sanders. To fill the marketing VP vacancy, LJS promoted Christopher Caudill.
Agency and Martech Opportunity: Although promotions aren’t as large of a signal for agency reviews compared to outside hires, agency and martech readers are still encouraged to reach out for work. We recommend focusing on PR, digital, and media buying work since Baldwin& won creative and media planning in December 2017. Media buying is out of ICON International while PR is out of RunSwitch. Focus pitches on differentiating LJS from competitor Captain D’s, as well as reversing sales declines.
Media Seller Opportunity: In an effort to combat struggles, LJS is shifting towards experiential and digital tactics. Dollars should still be available from the “Fishmas in July” campaign that launched via TV, streaming audio, and paid social in order to reach younger consumers. Also look for dollars tied to busy seasons such as summer, Lent and Christmas. Lastly, LJS has been updating its menu so keep an eye out for revenue tied to that as well.
LJS typically holds planning conversations in Q3 and buying conversations in Q2. Those with the ability to work using omnichannel strategies led by digital and social will have the advantage. The chain’s target demographic consists of mainly millennials and Gen-Z.
Request a Demo for Access to Long John Silver Decision-Maker Contact Info