Best Free Online Marketing Guide For Online Entrepreneur

Transfer Deadline Day, the most buzzworthy of football days in the media, sees hardcore fans glued to the feeds of Sky Sports News. To mark the importance of mobile comms in both negotiating and breaking the deals, the sports broadcaster has partnered with WhatsApp.  The Facebook-owned messaging app sponsored the Transfer Deadline Day segments on live TV, further pushed on social. It is using the spot to highlight its View Once feature, an image that disappears after just a glance.  Today, WhatsApp has been reacting to news breaking on the channel in real-time, solidifying the platform as the place to discuss the biggest moments in football.  Social influencer Harry Pinero is leading the activity with a Transfer Deadline treasure hunt to look for clues, leads, predictions, opinions and exclusive behind-the-scenes news, all broadcast live near football stadiums in London. He’s being led by hints sent to his phone on WhatsApp using the View Once feature in a series...

India-born Yes Bank is betting big on the merger of banking with music, and has recently launched its first-ever sonic identity to refresh the brand. The Drum has a chat with the bank’s chief marketer Jasneet Bachal on what went into launching the audio branding, and how the bank plans to deploy the unifying power of sound to appeal to audiences across communities and cohorts.  Banking – unlike many other consumer-facing categories – has unique challenges, with trust playing a huge role for the category. Building that trust is a complex journey, and bank brands have been deploying various marketing tools at hand to create the positive buzz – these range from onboarding film stars and sports personalities as endorsers to launching emotional or humor-laden ads.    One of the emerging trends being deployed by brands is sonic branding, where brands are putting music to work to create the distinct unique selling point (USP) for their offering. One such ex...

Tide and NFL have teamed up to encourage consumers to save energy and reduce their carbon footprint by doing their laundry on cold. The NFL has pledged to switch a million pounds of laundry to cold, while Tide is giving away a talking washing machine. Just ahead of football season, Tide and NFL have announced a new sustainability-focused collaboration. Launched today, the new #TurnToCold campaign encourages the NFL’s fans to wash their laundry on the cold setting with Tide to cut energy costs and reduce emissions. The brand marketing campaign, which was created by Saatchi & Saatchi, debuts today with a series of TV spots as well as digital and social efforts. The films star Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan — aka Matty Ice — alongside two other aptly-named celebrities: hip hop star Ice-T and American actor and TV host “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Together, the crew, dubbed “Tide’s Cold Callers” aim to convince NFL fans that washing their laundry on cold using Tide is just as ef...

Welcome to So You Want My Job? Each week we ask the people working in some of the industry’s coolest roles about how they got where they are. Along the way, we dig into their philosophies, inspirations, processes and experiences. Hopefully our interviewees can inspire you to pursue (or create) a job that’s just as exciting. This week we talk to Dana Marineau, chief marketing officer at Rakuten Rewards. What did you want to be when you were growing up? Does your job now resemble that in any way? My childhood dream was to become a news anchor. I was obsessed with watching the news and inspired by women anchors such as Connie Chung and Barbara Walters. I would beg my parents to let me stay up late to watch them. I held on to that dream all the way until college. But once I took a few journalism classes, I learned something about myself that ruled it out as a career – I absolutely hated being on camera. I realized that what attracted me to journalism was storytelling and crafting a...

AB InBev, the multinational brewer behind Budweiser and Stella Artois, has been experimenting in the virtual world with its first NFT purchases. The company’s global head of innovation explains how the metaverse, cryptocurrencies and blockchain horse racing can boost beer sales. Beer is not enough for Budweiser. Earlier this month, the king of beers pivoted from alcohol to art with the purchase of its first non-fungible token artworks (NFTs). The pieces, created by artist Tom Sachs , were displayed as the profile picture on Budweiser’s Twitter account, and were an ‘entry point’ for the brand into the world of digital art collecting, according to Lindsey McInerney, global head of technology and innovation at AB InBev, the company which brews Budweiser, Stella Artois and Corona. McInerney joined the company in 2019 and was given a brief to bring new technologies and ideas to the international brewer last year. “A place I’ve been spending a lot of time in is ’Web 3’, and the techno...

Rapper Lil Nas X has teamed up with skateboarding legend Tony Hawk to showcase his skating skills (sort of) and prove that there’s no bad blood between the two after they both dipped into the ‘blood marketing’ trend – and garnered very different reactions.  Earlier this week the Industry Baby rapper called out the disparity in the backlash received for their consecutive crimson campaigns, subsequently making the phrase ‘nah he tweakin’ go viral. Blood, sweat and tears Last year Lil Nas X was embroiled in a lawsuit with Nike, and faced backlash on social media, over the release of his ‘Satan Shoes’ – a collaborative project with art collective MSCHF on 666 pairs of sneakers that each contained a drop of human blood in the soles. Not happy its Air Max 97s had been modified, Nike filed a high-profile trademark infringement lawsuit against the rapper, which resulted in the shoes being recalled. In a similar vein, Hawk recently tapped into this trend and donated his blood to w...

Another week, another wave of senior appointments and departures at brands, agencies and media owners. Check out our global round-up of who is moving where (and why it matters) below, then head over to our  People on the Move  hub to see who else has been moving up the career ladder. Over the past seven days we’ve seen changes at Patreon, Vauxhall, Empire, Croud and MediaCom China. If you’re looking to make your next move, remember to subscribe to our bi-monthly newsletter, Working it Out,  which gathers up the best new marketing vacancies and helps you get interview-sharp. Got a People on the Move story or tip-off for us? Send it to  peopleonthemove@thedrum.com  for consideration before next Tuesday. Brands Creator platform Patreon has announced it has appointed Avi Gandhi as head of creator partnerships . Gandhi will oversee and grow the creator partnerships team, helping creators to understand how best to use their Patreon page.  Vauxhall...

Nike has become the latest major company to offer extra time off for staff following the pressures of working amid the Covid-19 pandemic.  At its headquarters in Oregon, US, the sportswear brand will be “powering down” for a week as senior leaders are encouraging all office staff to ignore work and de-stress in aid of their mental health. In a post on LinkedIn, Nike’s senior manager of global marketing science Matt Marrazzo announced that the time off had been mandated following a “rough year”, and acknowledged the “traumatic events” employees have been working through. He said: “It’s not just a ‘week off’ for the team, it’s an acknowledgment that we can prioritize mental health and still get work done.” The move follows in the footsteps of other businesses, including Bumble and LinkedIn, that are offering extra time off due to ‘burnout’ and the wider, negative effects of remote working and working amid the pandemic.  What is Nike doing? Nike has given head office...

Another week, another wave of senior appointments and departures at brands, agencies and media owners. Check out our global round-up of who is moving where (and why it matters) below, then head over to our  People on the Move  hub to see who else has been moving up the career ladder. Over the past seven days we’ve seen changes at Patreon, Vauxhall, Croud and MediaCom China. If you’re looking to make your next move, remember to subscribe to our bi-monthly newsletter, Working it Out,  which gathers up the best new marketing vacancies and helps you get interview-sharp. Got a People on the Move story or tip-off for us? Send it to  peopleonthemove@thedrum.com  for consideration before next Tuesday. Brands Creator platform Patreon has announced it has appointed Avi Gandhi as head of creator partnerships . Gandhi will oversee and grow the creator partnerships team, helping creators to understand how best to use their Patreon page.  Vauxhall Motors ...

Popular marshmallow-studded cereal brand Lucky Charms has released a handful of sprightly songs by Lucky the Leprechaun. The effort is aimed at driving new awareness of an old favorite. The hottest new artist of 2021 might not be Olivia Rodrigo after all. General Mills-owned cereal brand Lucky Charms has today announced that its chipper mascot Lucky the Leprechaun has dropped his debut album. With Lucky’s “Magically Delicious” album, available exclusively through Spotify, Lucky Charms looks to boost both sales and awareness of the classic cereal brand. “Lucky Charms has inspired families to create magical moments together for decades, and now we’re bringing families even closer through the power of music,” General Mills senior marketing manager Mindy Murray tells The Drum. “We’re not only dropping an earworm, but we’re using eight songs, each with a different genre, as a fun way to inspire families to dance and sing along, while teaching them about the unique powers of Lucky’s charms...

Serena Williams has switched from tennis hero to superhero after starring in a Wonder Woman 1984 -themed ad for DirecTV. Having a ball with her latest role, Williams is shown time travelling back to the decade that taste forgot, wielding a blinged-up tennis racket instead of a magical lasso as she serves justice to out-of-control tennis bots. Former player John McEnroe has a less glamorous role, however, after his tennis whites are soiled by a wayward shot from an exploding tennis ball machine, splattering him with ketchup. Get Your TV Together is DirecTV’s unique take on a golden collision of sport and movies, reflecting the dual nature of a satellite television service that specializes in both on-demand movies and live sport. Devised by TBWA\Chiat\Day LA, the ostentatious mash-up is a prelude to further genre collisions in future, with Williams contracted to appear as other film favorites in her role as a standard-bearer for the service. Speaking to Muse by Clio,  agency...

Marketers cannot fake it until they make it in the video game industry, explains Satori Kawamura, the director of brand partnerships at Mana Partners. If they do, she says, sophisticated players will see straight through any attempts to exploit them, and communities will respond accordingly.  In our increasingly digital world, video games are generating more revenue than movies and music combined. As the gaming industry grows up, the cost to acquire players is dramatically increasing. But unlocking true engagement requires much more than marketing dollars. The quest to build stronger and more creative branded gaming collaborations involves daring to step outside of our comfort zone and look beyond traditional agency thinking. It‘s a notoriously tricky balance and set of skills to master. But when done correctly, the highest levels of brand collaborations coincide precisely with the best gaming experiences. At Mana Partners, we quickly learned that bringing people f...

Channel 4 is facing criticism for an advert that suggests people who sit in certain spots on a bus ‘love being naked’. The advert promotes Channel 4’s controversial late-night TV program Naked Attraction, which sees contestants select a date having only seen their naked body from the neck down. Running on the side of double-decker buses, the creative to promote the show points up to passengers potentially sitting in window-side seats, suggesting they ‘love Naked Attraction’, ‘hate Naked Attraction' or ‘love being naked’. Twitter user Tracy King , a freelance producer and writer who has previously served in marketing roles at companies including Trinity Mirror, slammed the “creepy” campaign in light of the shocking number of sexual assaults that take place on public transport. According to data from YouGov published last year , over a third of women and 12% of men have experienced sexual harassment on London transport services.  “In general you have to be very careful with adve...

In this edition of Recruiter’s Corner, Pree Rao, head of Egon Zehnder’s North American chief marketing officer’s practice, offers his thoughts on how marketers can use their existing skills in conquering their careers. He touches on the most common mistakes marketers make when looking for a job; offers three insights for elevating the role of marketing within your existing company; and concludes with one North Star marketers should always keep in mind. The three most common mistakes marketers make when conducting a job search: 1. Not getting lower on the organizational funnel. As a marketer, you inherently understand that the end game is conversion and advocacy. The same is true of your job search. Figure out who is relevant at your target companies and what your messaging is to them. Then figure out which audiences are untapped and tap into them. Sometimes the talent acquisition folks at companies don’t get pinged often. Ping them so you become a warm lead. Or maybe there’s so...

Channel 4 is facing criticism for an advert that suggests people who sit in certain spots on a bus ‘love being naked’. The advert promotes Channel 4’s controversial late-night TV program Naked Attraction, which sees contestants select a date having only seen their naked body from the neck down. Running on the side of double-decker buses, the creative to promote the show points up to passengers potentially sitting in window-side seats, suggesting they ‘love Naked Attraction’, ‘hate Naked Attraction' or ‘love being naked’. Twitter user Tracy King , a freelance producer and writer who has previously served in marketing roles at companies including Trinity Mirror, slammed the “creepy” campaign in light of the shocking number of sexual assaults that take place on public transport. According to data from YouGov published last year , over a third of women and 12% of men have experienced sexual harassment on London transport services.  “In general you have to be very careful with adve...

One of the main reasons that B2B businesses digitize is to automate marketing and diversify sales. However, one of the main obstacles to digital transformation is the cultural adoption of an e-commerce mindset, notably by sales and marketing. In this blog we outline five major changes you should consider as you navigate your business toward digital maturity. This will affect everyone in your organization, but sales and marketing will probably be impacted most, so this will the focus of our blog. 1. Sales and marketing as one team Historically, sales and marketing have worked separately, especially in B2B organizations. Typically, these departments operate in silos with very little synergy and collaboration between them; rather, the relationship is often marked by friction and uncertainty, as each team pursues different goals and strategies.   Loading... No doubt, the modern sales organization is as much about marketing as it is about digitizing numerous touchpoi...

Each week, we ask agency experts for their advice on real problems facing today’s marketing practitioners . Last week it was reported that holding company IPG is mandating its staff provide either proof of vaccination , or a negative Covid test, before they are permitted to return to its offices (which are currently open part-time). But what about the rest of the industry? Has the Delta variant changed in-office protocols? Which agencies are asking that only vaccinated staff come in? How do you solve a problem like... making staff feel safe enough to return to the office? Show me entity :: 38452 Aimee Young, senior L&D partner, Oliver A lot of the discussion around hybrid working boils down to organizational culture and trust. ‘If I can’t see my people, then how do I know what they’re doing?’ doesn’t really wash – what have they been doing for the last 18 months if not productively working from home and demonstrating absolute resilience in the face of an unp...

30-second summary: Breaking the status quo while intriguing and interesting, takes some serious marketing chops if you’re a challenger brand Senior marketers from challenger brands Yazzo and Vital Farms outline three trends that will pack a punch for your 2022 digital strategy If challenger brands went to high school, they’d be the ‘John Benders’ for you Breakfast Club aficionados, the ones who rock a metal t-shirt while their peers roll the cuffs on their khakis, who sit care-free on the lawn rather than jostle for a seat at the cool-kids table. You always knew they would do something enviable because they see the world differently and embrace the risk of being unique. When you get your start by breaking with the status quo, it often becomes a defining aspect of your nature. And that’s what makes challenger brands so intriguing for the rest of us to watch, and yes, follow. These brands take bold, smart risks to innovate and break through. Non-conformity with ‘ what is’ perme...