The Drum
John Lewis' GBP7m campaign for Christmas 2016 has dropped, and it stars a boxer dog called Buster who loves his owner's new trampoline. Each year the John Lewis Christmas campaign is highly anticipated. Set to a cover of "One Day I'll Fly Away," the ad features a little girl who loves to jump and her pet dog who likes her new Christmas present even more than she does.
Marketing Week
On-demand food delivery app Deliveroo is looking to expand the number of data scientists working at its London headquarters from 150 to 300 as it scales for international growth. CEO and co-founder William Shu explained that he is searching for individuals with skills in building algorithms as he looks to expand beyond 100 cities and 16,000 restaurants globally.
The Telegraph
Apple has added a discreet way to call the police or ambulance into its next iPhone update, which is set to be released in the coming weeks. Pressing the power button (the one that locks and unlocks the phone) five times in a row will dial the emergency services number, as well as alerting a designated emergency contact and giving them their current location.
Campaign
The multimillion campaign from J Walter Thompson London stars Jennifer Saunders, Ewan McGregor, Billie Piper, Strictly judge Bruno Tonioli and outgoing Bake Off host Mel Giedroyc, voicing a handbag, kidswear, lingerie, a coffee machine and a men's bag, across six 10- and 20-second executions. Debenhams described the campaign as an "evolution" of its campaign platform.
Campaign
The new division, Oliver Media, will focus on ensuring that all campaign media planning is based on real-time data insight to support the delivery of relevant content for brands. Oliver sees programmatic media capability as the next step in its evolution as an in-house agency partner that can solve a number of client challenges.
The Telegraph
Facebook has admitted that until now its Messenger chat bots have been somewhat rudimentary. The company, which launched chat bots for Messenger back in April, purposefully prevented users from discovering businesses within the app because the technology wasn't ready, a top executive has said.
Campaign
The taxi-hailing app announced yesterday that it would close its service after weeks of turmoil that brought the company to the brink of bankruptcy. One UK insider, who asked not to be named, told Campaign that staff had only been informed of Karhoo's closure last night. The source added that they had not been paid for the last six weeks and staff had been "let down."
The Guardian
Sky is planning to close 60 of its worst-performing stores, putting 170 jobs at risk. The broadcaster has a network of 260 Sky stores across the UK, providing a physical presence to promote its range of TV, phone and broadband services to consumers. Sky is proposing to shut 23% of its nationwide network, focusing on the stores that are not profitable.
Marketing Week
Facebook is rolling out ads on its news feed that open directly into Facebook Messenger chats, giving brands the opportunity to go from mass targeting to one-to-one conversations in a single click. The development will offer consumers a native brand experience, mixing customer service and storytelling in a way that also benefits the bottom line, according to the social network.
The Drum
Toblerone has rolled out a new product design in the UK, ultimately reducing the shape of the iconic bar, and as a result, delivering less chocolate for the RRP. The company, owned by US food manufacturer Mondelez, took to Facebook to alert the public that it was faced with a choice -- raising prices or reducing the volume of chocolate on two of its products.