Asda's ambition to be viewed by brands and media agencies as a publisher akin to the "Guardian" will see it launch its own private ad exchange in the coming year, but this will not threaten traditional media owners, according to industry experts. Asda's Senior Director of Marketing Innovation and Revenue, Dom Burch, exclusively revealed to The Drum last week that it is selling unsold ad units programmatically -- through Google's DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP) ad server and Rubicon's supply-side platform -- across its major Web sites.

Facebook's "conversion lift" service is an effort to allow advertisers to measure the business driven by ads on the social network as it continues to grow its digital ad services. "Conversion lift," introduced on the company blog, will attempt to measure impact by using advertisers' conversion data from a Facebook campaign to compare people who have seen the ads to those that have not. The brand claims this will determine the additional business lift brands gain from placing ads on its platform.

"The Guardian" has overhauled its site to sell advertisers on reader attention, not clicks, in an environment designed to improve the chances of branded content being seen. The publisher, aware that it needs to prove advertising effectiveness beyond clicks, is increasingly leaning toward time-based metrics to push its inventory. Its site has been relaunched with this shift in mind, blending images, video and text in a "container" format that allows for more flexibility in terms of how content and ads are laid out online.

Netmums founder Siobhan Freegard has today launched Channel Mum, the UK's first multichannel YouTube network for motherhood vloggers and mum-focused creators, and announced a pilot collaboration with Panasonic. Hoping to capitalise on the trail blazed by teen YouTube stars, the channel aims to target the YouTube-savvy millennial mums by presenting the honest face of parenting, while connecting young mothers watching the content with the brands they like.

Commuters across the capital received a shock yesterday morning -- when Sky Atlantic set loose a life-sized polar bear on the streets of London to promote its new Arctic crime drama "Fortitude." The 8-ft fully animated polar bear was seen roaming parks, landmarks and underground tube stations today as the TV network promoted its new series. Designed to be realistic, Sky Atlantic said the bear took 19 designers two months to construct. Is being operated by two character actors from famous West End show "War Horse."

Procter & Gamble (P&G) has pledged to continue its drive to improve marketing efficiencies after warning today that total sales would fall up to 5% over the current financial year ending June 30. P&G, which produces two-thirds of its sales outside the U.S. and UK household products such as Fairy Liquid and Ariel, blamed the fall on the strengthening dollar. It also anticipates full-year net sales to fall up to 4% despite previous projections expecting them to remain flat. P&G is looking to divest up to 100 of its brands.

Twitter has announced that with the lead-up to the general election it will allow political parties to target specific postcodes for local campaigning. For the first time Twitter will provide advertisers with the ability to use its geotargeting product, which allows ads to be targeted to individual postcodes and local constituencies. The product has been launched with a view to giving political parties the opportunity to campaign more effectively in the lead up to the general election, according to a Twitter blog post.

Newcastle Brown Ale has joined forces with 37 other brands for the Super Bowl, cramming them all into a tongue-in-cheek ad that pokes fun at the hype surrounding advertisers' efforts to exploit the popular event. Instead of shelling out millions of dollars on an ad for next month's game, the brewer has ingeniously convinced 37 companies to share the cost. Billed as the first crowdfunded Super Bowl ad, Newcastle Brown's the "Band of Brands" spot follows a couple around a house as they humorously call out each brand.

"Breaking Bad" fans in need of a fix can get their long-awaited re-up in the UK on 9 February, when the first episode of prequel "Better Call Saul" will be available on Netflix. The 10-part series will go on the video on-demand service a day after it airs on cable channel AMC in the U.S., with the second episode up on 10 February and every Tuesday after that for the next eight weeks. Bob Odenkirk is back as the man who puts "criminal" in "criminal lawyer," as is Jonathan Banks as Mike Ehrmantraut.

Mark Read, the chief executive at WPP Digital, has been named the global chief executive at Wunderman, replacing Daniel Morel. From 1 February Read will step down from the WPP board to focus on his "increased executive responsibilities" for Wunderman. He will remain chief executive of WPP Digital. He was appointed to the additional role of global chairman at Wunderman in June last year but will relinquish that title. Morel will become the non-executive chairman of the agency network.