The ad business, like most people who aren’t fortunate enough to produce raw energy or weapons, is facing a more than testing 2023.
The media is no exception and, just like our bigger rivals, MAA has to chart its way through such difficulties and keep to our aim of being free – something of a rarity in today’s online world.
Over the past few years donations from our readers – individuals and companies – have played a vital role and this is an appeal to those and others: don’t forget to keep supporting us if you can.
You can donate one-offs, how much or how little is entirely up to you, or, most usefully, regular amounts.
For 2023, the Groupe is currently predicting organic growth of 3% to 5%. That is well above the flat predictions currently given by analysts due to the macroeconomic environment, said Sadoun. “We feel very confident that we will be able to build on our three-year momentum,” he said.
He added that the new business pipeline is currently good, particularly in the media sector. However, he said, “There are fewer creative pitches every day, because clients prefer to add partners or reduce partners on a project basis than completely and radically changing agencies in most cases.”
The company tried not to pass on any inflationary costs to its clients in 2022; for 2023, it expects to pass on inflationary costs at a maximum of 1%, said Sadoun.
The performances of Epsilon and Sapient, which recorded organic growth of 12% and 19%, respectively, were also major contributors to the Groupe’s full-year results. Data and technology now represent a third of the Groupe’s revenue, with increases coming from clients across the board, said Sadoun. The data and tech businesses were also helping its media and creative activities gain traction, he added.
“We are capturing a disproportionate share of our clients’ spend in first-party data in digital media, in commerce and in business transformation,” he said. “But this is also having an impact on our media and creative business. By putting Epsilon and Sapient at the heart of our model, so we can boost our media and creativity through data and technology, we can present ourselves not as a communications partner but truly as a transformation partner for our clients, which is even more important in the difficult economic times we are going through.”
While media grew strongly in 2022 on the back of new business wins such as Mondelēz’s $500 million media account, PepsiCo’s media in China, LVMH’s media in the U.K. and France and Anheuser-Busch InBev’s global media, creative activities resulted in single-digit growth. Sadoun said this was still an “achievement” and above the industry average. The company’s biggest creative win last year was the global business for Standard Chartered bank.
“Our ability to bring data and technology together to produce dynamic content is truly a game changer when it comes to creative,” he said.
At the fictitious course featured in the 1980 comedy “Caddyshack” it’s new members day. Teeing off are Serena Williams and actor Brian Cox, basketball players Nneka Ogwumike and Jimmy Butler. Soccer legend Alex Morgan, former NFL quarterback Tony Romo and boxer Canelo Álvarez also appear.
Yes, Serena’s caddy is Michael O’Keefe, who played Danny Noonan in Caddyshack. The viral sensation dubbed “Michelob Ultra Guy” also appears in the ad, wearing the same hat and t-shirt he wore when he was spotted drinking a Michelob at the PGA Championships.
Ad Age is extending the deadline to complete submissions for its inaugural Web3 Marketing Trailblazers award—applicants now have until Monday, Feb. 6. at 5 p.m. EST to enter. The new deadline was set to accommodate a swell of interest from top brands, ad agencies and tech startups that want to be considered for the honors.
The Web3 Marketing Trailblazers award is designed to identify the most outstanding, talented individuals who are adopting the most advanced technologies to guide brands and consumers into the future. Ad Age has been scouring the landscape to profile these individuals, of all levels, in the Web3 Marketing Trailblazers feature coming this spring.
Plus, the inaugural class of honorees will each receive a new type of trophy—a digital award authenticated on the blockchain. It’s the first time Ad Age will hand out digital tokens of appreciation in one of its honors, and the winners can showcase the award on their social media profiles, including LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.
Minero, an Austin-based, women-led multicultural creative studio, is creating the digital award, which can be displayed as NFTs on the recipients’ social pages.
Carl Sagan once said that ‘to read is to voyage through time’. In this short, a man starts an exciting trip after reading something interesting in The Happy Reader.
The Happy Reader is a bookish magazine for avid readers, a collaboration between Penguin Classics and Fantastic Man.
The film was directed by Dutch Director Johan Kramer, shot on 35mm film by young Director of Photography Katja van den Broeke and choreographed by Nicola Balhuizen Hepp of The Movers.
Johan Kramer: “It’s one of my favorite things in life and a desperately needed escape: having a coffee on my own in a lively place with something nice to read. Since the launch of this amazing magazine, I’ve been a fanatic happy reader of The Happy Reader and I consider this film as a nice tribute to this initiative to promote reading”.
God-Is Rivera, Shannon Washington and Gabrielle Wesley are among the communications industry leaders honored in ColorComm’s third annual recognition of Black women in the communications sector.
The 28 executives—one for each day of Black History Month—are being recognized for work at their respective companies and for behind-the-scenes efforts to improve the communities they serve.
Honorees include Rivera, the former Twitter executive who is now VP of inclusive marketing at Disney; Washington, U.S. chief creative officer, R/GA; Wesley, chief marketing officer, Mars Wrigley; Kim Godwin, whose appointment as president of ABC News in April made her the first Black woman to lead an American broadcast news network; and Candi Castleberry, who as VP of global diversity, equity and inclusion at Amazon, who is tasked with helping the company meet goals such as increasing the number of Black and women leaders.
Like Godwin, many honorees are the first Black women to hold their positions at their respective companies.
This Black History Month, Invisible Collective founder Justin Polk and Invisible-represented director Carl Jones celebrate the launch of their inspired and painstakingly co-directed original series for Major League Baseball (MLB.) A contemporary retelling of the Negro Leagues’ history and legacy, the series Undeniable – Stories from the Negro Leagues shines a light on the Leagues’ impact on the game of baseball, including its most legendary players, its historic female ballplayers, and the Negro Leagues’ influence internationally.
Undeniable is MLB’s first-ever animated series, and a key initiative among several meaningful efforts by MLB, as well as Major & Minor League Clubs, to celebrate Black History Month. The creative and live-action production for the series was spearheaded by Polk, a passionate baseball fan. To bring “Undeniable” fully to life, Polk partnered with Carl Jones (“The Boondocks,” “Black Dynamite”) and his animation studio Martian Blueberry, whose ability to highlight underrepresented stories is showcased through the exquisite and detailed comic-strip style animation for the project.
“There was no one else for this job,” said Polk. “Carl’s already a part of the Invisible family, and as the owner of one of the only Black animation studios in the industry, he helped Invisible tell these diverse stories from a place of authenticity.”
The road to Undeniable began in 2020, when Major League Baseball decided it would officially begin treating the approximately 3,400 players of the Negro Leagues, which operated between 1920 and 1948, as Major Leaguers, making their stats and records part of MLB history. “After I found this out, I reached out to Major League Baseball to ask them if they were going to do a campaign in celebration,” said Polk.
In response, MLB asked Polk to pitch them ideas for a project, which resulted in three animated shorts covering the history-spanning legends Jackie Robinson and Monte Irvin, trailblazing women in the league like Toni Stone, and the international impact of the league. Polk originally discovered these stories through Bob Kendrick, President of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and a keen baseball historian who would frequently tell these stories to museum patrons. Naturally, Kendrick was tapped to narrate the project as well.
Polk then linked up with Jones and Martian Blueberry for the animation. Over 12 weeks, Jones and his team created Undeniable from traditional hand-drawn 2D animation, and worked in collaboration with MLB to get the detail in the animation exactly right — everything from the right color blue on the Indianapolis Clowns’ uniforms to the cultural accuracy of the player’s physical features was considered in production.
“These are Black and Brown legends who were up against a tremendous amount of adversity and still found a way to overcome and become the icons that they are. We face similar obstacles as Black creatives in Hollywood, where there’s a lack of diversity all around,” said Jones. “Invisible and Martian Blueberry are aligned in our mission statements, and as Black-owned companies, we are specifically focused on telling our stories in an authentic way. Which requires a lot of attention paid to our cultural nuances—to how we talk, walk, dress, and move.”
With this extraordinary level of care, passion and artistry, Polk and Jones convey the weight and vibrancy of the Negro League history in Undeniable and make history themselves. “This project was important to me in so many ways: as a baseball fan, as a supporter of the history of the Negro Leagues, and as a Black man,” said Polk. “I’m so proud that Major League Baseball and the Negro League Museum put their trust in Invisible to share these remarkable stories.”
Watch episode one of Undeniable: Women of the Negro Leagues
Press stills and bios for co-directors Justin Polk and Carl Rogers available to download here.
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The three Undeniable episodes – all approximately five minutes in length – will air during Black History Month:
February 1st 2023 (National Girls & Women in Sports Day) – Women of the Negro Leagues
Featuring Toni Stone, Connie Morgan and Mamie “Peanut” Johnson
February 8th 2023 – International Impact
February 15th 2023 – Jackie Robinson & Monte Irvin
Episodes will be featured on YouTube Kids, MLB’s Official YouTube page, MLB.com/originals and the MLB.tv, MLB app, with additional promotional support from MLB Network and MLB Social Media.
Watch the trailer for Undeniable – Women of the Negro Leagues:
https://ift.tt/gcd7Kqr
MLB Social will publish content throughout the month that aims to celebrate and educate on the profound impact Black players, coaches, executives and personnel have had on the evolution and growth of the game. MLB will highlight Negro Leagues and Major League stars of the past, also looking forward, elevating the voice of current Black leaders throughout the sport. There will be Instagram Live takeovers, longer-form video content and unique art – all meant to celebrate Black excellence and its impact on Major League Baseball.
Official MLB press release for Undeniable: https://ift.tt/7BS1Nzd
Credit List:
Client: Major League Baseball
Chief Operations & Strategy Officer: Chris Marinak
EVP, Chief Marketing Officer: Karin Timpone
SVP, Creative and Content Marketing: Scott Weisenthal
VP, Creative Studio: Geoff Proud
Director, Projects, Creative and Content Marketing: Gordon Lessersohn
Director, Production: Matt Mantyla
Producer: Palmira Ríos Segura
Project Manager: Gemma Kaneko
Project Manager: Danielle Skowronek
VP, Social Responsibility: April Brown
Director, Community Affairs: Kevin Moss
Created by Justin Polk, Beau Abbott and Bryan Abbott
Production Company: Invisible Collective
Live Action Director: Justin Polk
Executive Producer: Sam Kelly Jr.
Director of Photography: Adam Bial
Writers: Justin Polk, Beau Abbott and Bryan Abbott
Animation Studio: Martian Blueberry
Animation Director: Carl Jones
Executive Producers: Love Barnett, Omar McClinton and Carl Jones
Animation Supervision: Vini Wolf and Agenor Furigo Neto
Coordinators: Ana Carolina Antunes
Animation Editor: Alaric C. Martin
Art Director: Diego Molano
Animation Compositors: Ryan Cunningham, Danyell Dean
Music Composition by: Mark Iacone
Sound Post-Production: Fiddle Leaf Sound
Sound Design and Mix: Ben Freer
Color and Finishing: Guide Era VFX
Colorist / Flame Artist: Evan Guidera
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About The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum:
The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum is the world’s only museum dedicated to preserving and celebrating the rich history of African-American baseball and its impact on the social advancement of America. The privately funded, 501 c3, not-for-profit organization was established in 1990 and is in the heart of Kansas City, Missouri’s Historic 18th & Vine Jazz District. The NLBM operates two blocks from the Paseo YMCA where Andrew “Rube” Foster established the Negro National League in 1920.
@nlbmuseumkc
About Invisible Collective:
A production partner built for the future; conviction is built into the mission statement of Invisible Collective. Since 2019, the nimble creative production company has delivered on their mission around inclusivity championing often overlooked, innovative, and premiere talent by working with some of the biggest brands to create dynamic and authentic campaigns that speak to viewers from across the globe.
@_weareinvisible
About Martian Blueberry:
Martian Blueberry was co-founded by animation veteran Carl Jones, who has provided Peabody Award Winning and NAACP Image award-nominated writing, directing, and animation for various studios and networks across the entertainment spectrum. With a primary focus on animation, we aim to supply the increasing global appetite for diversity and inclusion, by using our wealth of experience, production knowledge, and industry resources, to accelerate the company’s advancement into the forefront of the global marketplace. We’re a young, blossoming, vertically integrated company that offers full-service animation capabilities, specializing in high-end 2D/3D animation, visual effects, and design. Serving a variety of entertainment endeavors including advertising, episodic tv, films, NFTS, WEB3, and music videos. MB is a collective of progressive minds with innovative ideas and talent that reach far beyond the boundaries of tradition.
@wearemartianb
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MLB Press Contact: Steve Arocho or Aby Goodman
(212) 931-7800
@MLB_P
Invisible Collective Press Contact: Olia Ougrik at Raconteur LA
olia@raconteur.la
Martian Blueberry Press Contact: Jesse Metres and Simone Smalls at Strategic Heights
