The New York Times
When Daniel Poston opened the App Store on his iPhone a couple of weeks ago, he was astonished to see an app for a new heart study prominently featured. People often learn about new research studies through in-person conversations with their doctors. But not only did this study, run by Stanford University, use a smartphone to recruit consumers, it was financed by Apple.
NYSportsJournalism.com
To coincide with the start of Nike's eight-year, $1 billion deal as the NBA's official on-court uniform provider, teams can sign jersey-patch logo deals and expand from the traditional two jersey options. Nike and the NBA have now released the City Edition, plus the stories that inspired their designs, from the Brooklyn Bridge (Nets) to Daytona 500 (Indiana Pacers) to Mardi Gras (New Orleans Pelicans) to Washington D.C. monuments (Wizards).
Brand Channel
Northwestern Mutual’s new campaign is called “Spend Your Life Living.” Debuting this weekend as part of the brand’s sponsorship of the 2018 Rose Bowl Game and participation in the 129th Rose Parade presented by Honda, it will include activations related to the brand’s sponsorship of the 2018 Rose Bowl Game and participation in the 129th Rose Parade presented by Honda.
The Drum
The only brand on the list was Wendy’s following a bet it agreed to with one user. The success came when Nevada high school student Carter Wilkerson tweeted the Wendy's account and asked how many retweets were needed to get him a year’s supply of free chicken nuggets, to which it replied 18 million. In the end, Wilkerson got more than 3.6 million retweets, but Wendy’s still granted his request.
New York Daily News
American Airlines learns fast. After a flight attendant falsely accused two basketball players with stealing blankets, the pair was booted from the flight. The airline apologized and sent the players to their destination first class. Apparently, first-class passengers had gifted the players the blankets as they made their way to coach.
NYSportsJournalism.com
State Farm needed to re-write its script after Chris Paul was traded from the Los Angeles Clippers to the Houston Rockets this past June. Paul, who has been a State Farm spokesman since 2012, now welcomes Rockets teammates James Harden and Trevor Ariza to the campaign. He also meets his new State Farm agent, Cole Perez (played by actor Oscar Nuñez), and finds that they both like bowling, barbecue and chili fries.
The New York Times
Concerned that Indian children were becoming obese from junk food, one man tried to take on the food industry there to limit children’s access to such food, to no avail. His court case attracted furious opposition from an association whose members include Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Nestle. Coca-Cola, for its part, expects the Indian market to become the company’s third largest in sales, up from sixth.
Brand Channel
Few places are busier this week than the Hertz counter at Orlando International Airport, where the iconic car rental brand is projected to rent more than at any other airport this holiday season. That made it the perfect place for Hertz to team up with Santa to spread cheer to busy holiday travelers through a video in which he picks up his “rental sleigh” to get on his way after a long day of business travel.
Washington Post
John Schnatter is stepping down as CEO two months after making disparaging comments about NFL leadership and players who protested during the national anthem by taking a knee. He blamed it on a decline in sales of his pizza. COO Steve Ritchie will take his place on Jan. 1. Schattner remains as chairman of the board. The brand is a top sponsor and advertiser of the NFL.
MarTech Today
Social media is finally evolving from shiny new toy to a serious tool for marketers, thanks to seeds planted in 2017 that more marketers are expected to reap a harvest from in 2018. As a result of increasingly sales-driven strategies, marketers may shift even more of their spending to social if social platforms prove more capable of driving business results than other channels in a brand’s arsenal.