International round-up: Adidas launches personalised app and P&G promotes ‘love over bias’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSWyrR4gXkw&feature=youtu.be

P&G promotes ‘love over bias’ in US campaign for Winter Olympics

Procter & Gamble is continuing its long-running ‘Thank You, Mom’ campaign in the US with a new spot that imagines what the world would be like if it was always seen through a mother’s eyes. Called ‘Love over bias’, it reflects the stories of real athletes and challenges and prejudices they might have faced.

The six vignettes in the film include a girl who comes from a culture where women are not encouraged to be competitive, a boy who dreams of competing in a sport that his parents struggle to afford, and children who see no one in the sport they love that looks like them.

They are inspired by real athletes including Gus Kenworth, a 2014 Olympic medallist and one of the first to be openly gay, medal winner Elana Meyers Taylor who was one for the first women to pilot a mixed gender four-person bobsled and Zahra Lari, the first Emirati figure skater to compete internationally.

It shows how mums see the potential of their child regardless of prejudice and encourages people to talk about bias and how it can limit people’s potential.

It comes on the back of a recent survey distributed to Olympians by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on behalf of P&G, which found 55% felt prejudice or judgment from others growing up. More than half (53%) said their mum was their strongest supporter.

The campaign is part of wider efforts by P&G to use the power of advertising to get people talking about important issues such as bias.

“At P&G, we aspire to create a better world for everyone – a world free from bias, with equal representation, equal voices and equal opportunity,” says Marc Pritchard, P&G’s chief brand officer. “When the world is more equal, society is better and it leads to economic growth. Unfortunately equality is limited by biases, and we recognise we can use our voice to be a force for good and shine a light on the bias that limits human potential. We hope to promote open discussion, influence attitudes, and ideally change behaviour.”

Adidas eschews TV for new app focused on personalisation

Adidas has reinforced its decision to dump TV advertising in favour of digital with the launch of a new personalised app. The app, unveiled at Dreamforce and live in the US, offers a complete online store, personalised news feed and a chatbot.

It will show up customised product recommendations and tailored content such as articles, videos and blog posts based on products each user is interested in. For example, those that have said they are interested in running will be shown relevant products and content, while those who buy Adidas lifestyle products will receive updates tailored to that.

“The app gets to know the consumer’s sport and style preferences and learns from his or her behaviour and interaction with Adidas across all our digital touch points,” Godsey said, according to AdNews.

“The most relevant news stories, articles, blog posts, videos and events announcements are surfaced to engage with the consumer on what they are passionate about. It will take into account preferred sizes and colours and shows availability based on the consumer’s country location.”

READ MORE: Adidas shuns TV ads; launches new app focused on personalisation

Starbucks features same-sex and mixed race couples in Christmas cup ad

https://youtu.be/53EgSWqQOwE

An animated video to promote Starbucks’ festive cups in the US, looks to spread Christmas joy as well as a message of diversity.

The video begins with the statement ‘The holidays means something different to everyone’ before featuring a selection of modern families celebrating the season.

The wintery scenes that follow show a same-sex couple going in for a kiss, and a mixed-race couple walking in a park hand-in-hand, as the brand again looks to take a stand on important issues.

“Each year during the holidays, we aim to bring our customers an experience that inspires the spirit of the season and we will continue to embrace and welcome customers from all backgrounds and religions in our stores around the world,” a Starbucks spokesperson told CNBC.

Earlier this year the coffee chain announced it would be hiring 10,000 refugees over the next five years across the 75 countries it operates in, in response to President Trump’s travel ban. And in 2015 chairman and CEO Howard Schultz publicly supported the Supreme Court’s ruling on marriage equality in 2015.

READ MORE: Starbucks all-inclusive red cups holiday ad features same-sex and mixed-race couples

Australia looks to axe gambling ads on radio during live sport

Australia wants to ban gambling and betting ads from live sports on radio during the day following a review by Commercial Radio Australia launching today.

A draft proposal suggests ads, such as those that discuss odds for betting, will no longer be permitted between 5am and 8.30pm from five minutes before to five minutes after a live sports broadcast.

Under the new proposal gambling ads would only be permitted during breaks in play at other times.

The new rules will come into play from 18 March if accepted.

READ MORE: Radio to turn off gambling ads during live sports

PayPal launches digital payments in India

Digital payment brand PayPal has launched a domestic operation in India, taking on established players like Paytm and Amazon Pay in the Indian market.

PayPal has offered cross border payments in India for nearly a decade and claims to control a third of India’s B2C export payments.

READ MORE: PayPal starts payment services in India