The week in brief
Advertising Week Europe draws to a close
This year’s conference came to an end last week, after a roster of the industry’s best-known names gathered to discuss themes including native advertising, programmatic buying and the importance of young talent. Among the stars in attendence were Idris Elba, James Corden, and Sainsbury’s outgoing chief executive Justin King.
UM London bags new Coca-Cola account
Coca-Cola Enterprises, the UK distributor of brands including Appletiser, Fanta and Sprite, awarded its media planning and buying account to UM London last week in a deal worth £5m. UM beat competitors Vizeum and MediaCom to win the account, and will initially be tasked with a reappraisal brief for Appletiser.
Havas planning up to six acquisitions
Speaking to a room packed with Advertising Week Europe delegates, Havas Worldwide chairman and chief executive Yannick Bollore said the firm has four to six acquisitions in the pipeline. He continued, “When we think about buying a company, our strategy is not to be the bigger group in terms of scale – it’s to be the best company for connecting people with brands.”
Tobacco firms’ anger over plain packaging
UK tobacco firms reacted angrily to news that plain cigarette packaging rules will be introduced. British American Tobacco said, “We believe plain packaging fails to respect our minimum guaranteed rights on trade mark protections”.
Tesco expands into adtech
Tesco’s data science division Dunnhumby has acquired the Berlin adtech company Sociomantic Labs for an undisclosed amount. The move will help Dunnhumby increase its tailored marketing to shoppers.
Ad of the week
Nike’s World Cup marketing has kicked off with the launch of its new Risk Everything TV campaign. Created by Wieden + Kennedy, the ad shows football superstars Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo under intense media scrutiny as they prepare for the start of the tournament, ending with the phrase “pressure shapes legends”.