5 things you need to know this week

From ex-Man United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar’s journey into marketing to Warburtons teaming up with the Muppets, here are five things you need to know from the week of marketing.

1. How Edwin van der Sar went from goalkeeping giant to marketing director

Going from saving the penalty that wins the Uefa Champions League for Manchester United to marketing director isn’t the most conventional career move. However, Edwin van der Sar isn’t a fan of conventions.

In an interview with Marketing Week this week, the ex-goalkeeper said: “I wanted to stretch myself and learn something entirely new when I retired. I could have made lots of money being a club ambassador at United and getting jet legged while endorsing beer but I wanted to aim for something different.”

Now in the marketing director hot seat at his former club Ajax, the Dutchman says he’s aiming to expand the club’s brand into Asia and take learnings from Manchester United’s successful sponsorship model.

He added: “Fergie [Sir Alex Ferguson] knew how to build a great team. When I look at my marketing team I want a Gary Neville, a Ryan Giggs, a Paul Scholes and a Ronaldo around me, as when you’re surrounded by great people you have a better chance of winning something.”

Facebook Mobile

2. Facebook’s ad tech boss on viewability, VR and becoming ‘the mobile superbowl for brands’

Facebook’s ad tech boss Dave Jakubowski is leading the social media giant and its advertisers into mobile.

Heading up Facebook’s Atlas Advertising Suite, which it acquired from Microsoft in 2013, Jakubowski has played a central role in evolving the Atlas platform from desktops and cookies to becoming smartphone focused.

And, among discussing topics such as ad blocking and virtual reality, he said that Facebook is focused on becoming the ‘superbowl of mobile’ for advertisers.

“I remember in my school years when the superbowl ads crossed that line and suddenly became super entertaining,” he told Marketing Week.

“That buzz the Super Bowl gained for advertising is what we are seeing happen in native mobile right now. We have 45 million SMEs and for them Facebook can offer a Super Bowl moment every single day.”

Warburtons_newad

3. Warburtons predicts even more celebrity tie-ups as it launches £25m Muppets campaign

Following a high-profile campaign starring Hollywood actor Sylvester Stallone, bread brand Warburtons has turned to the Muppets to promote its new ‘Giant Crumpets’.

The ‘Giant Crumpet Show’ campaign stars all the Muppets’ characters, including Kermit the Frog, The Swedish Chef, Fozzie Bear, Statler and Waldorf, Sweetums and Miss Piggy.

The 120-second ad is part of a £25m integrated campaign, the brand’s largest to date.

“We suspected that a lot of people might expect us to do another Sylvester Stallone advert, or include a similarly famous actor like Arnold Schwarzenegger,” said Warburton’s marketing director Mark Simester.”We wanted to make sure that when the second ad landed, people would be really surprised so that’s why we turned to the Muppets.”

Britvic_ad_banned

4. Britvic rapped by ASA for ‘unclear’ Instagram ad

Britvic was the latest retail giant to land in trouble with the ASA this week, following an Instagram ad that showed reality TV star Millie Mackintosh promoting one of its products.

It was banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) after not making it clear the video was actually an advertisement.

The regulatory body explained: “We considered consumers needed to be aware that they were viewing marketing content prior to engagement, meaning that they should know that they were selecting an ad to view before they watched it.

“We therefore considered it was not a sufficiently accurate label for the ad, even if the meaning had been immediately apparent to consumers.”

The news comes only three months after the ASA and Committee of Advertising Practice launched new guidelines to explain how brands should act when partnering with vloggers.

lidl

5. Lidl signs multimillion pound deal to become official supermarket for England’s football team

In a surprising move, Lidl was announced as the lead grassroots sponsor of the Football Association (the FA), the Football Association Wales (FAW) and the Scottish Football Association this week.

The German discounter will in turn provide professional coaching for the Brits and has committed itself to offering 1.5 million opportunities for children to get involved with football annually.

The brand will also become the official supplier of water, fish, fruit and vegetables for Wayne Rooney and co as it aims to cement its position as a mainstream retailer.

Ryan McDonnell, Lidl’s UK purchasing director, said the partnership with the FA to become England’s official supermarket, a role previously held by Tesco, will provide the discounter with exposure on a “national level.”

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