Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Sourav Malhotra

Joe Allen: We are now better than we were with Luis Suarez

Joe Allen says Liverpool have moved on from Luis Suarez 

Liverpool have at last adapted to life without Luis Suarez, with Joe Allen going as far as to suggest Brendan Rodgers' side may even be better now.
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Thursday, February 19, 2015

Sourav Malhotra

Maxim Finally Grows Up With New Redesign

The former lad mag isn't just about sex anymore

Once-hot laddie mag Maxim is trying to shed its frat-boy image with a head-to-toe makeover that makes its official debut today.

The redesigned magazine—editor in chief Kate Lanphear's first full issue—targets an older, more affluent audience to match the magazine's core readership, which has seen its average age increase by 10 years over the past decade. "Our guy has grown up," said publisher Kevin Martinez. "He's 33, starting to make money and looking at his life differently."

Founded in 1995, the 2 million-circulation title was an early hit but has struggled to maintain relevance as young men turn to the Internet, not the newsstand (where Maxim's circulation fell 33 percent in the first half of last year), to fill their appetite for salacious pics and lifestyle content.

Last year, investor Sardar Biglari bought the title and, in an effort to revitalize the brand, hired Martinez away from his job as publisher of Details to run the magazine's advertising side. Several months later, Bilgari made the surprising announcement that Kate Lanphear, the well-respected style director at T: The New York Times Style Magazine, would become Maxim's new editor in chief.
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Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Sourav Malhotra

Why Today's Ads Need Amazing Soundtracks

Less stigma for bands, more resonance for brands [Video]


The way musicians and advertisers work together has undergone a revolution in the last decade. For starters, brands no longer get by with a friendly jingle—instead, they search for songs that tell stories, conjure memories and forge genuine connections with people.
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Friday, February 6, 2015

Sourav Malhotra

Chipotle Is Asking Fans to Write Haikus, and Some of Them Are Truly Impressive

Burritos obviously stir the soul

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Monday, February 2, 2015

Sourav Malhotra

A Boy and a Teacher Are Featured in Microsoft's Super Bowl Ads

Tech giant gets its pre-release in just under the wire

In perhaps the latest pre-release of Super Bowl ads, Microsoft this afternoon unveiled two spots just hours before kickoff.

The tech giant used in-house marketing personnel as well as outsiders to create the two real-life vignettes, "All Aboard the Brilliant Bus" and "Braylon O'Neill." (Microsoft declined to further identify who contributed to the spots but they do not involve new IPG agencies like McCann Erickson.) The work continues the empowerment message featured in last year's Super Bowl ad, which was also largely created in-house.
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