Wrapup: 9 things you need to know this week

Keith Weed on new media centric planning

Unilever's global CMO talked exclusively with Campaign Asia-Pacific about the FMCG giant's new planning structure, which puts media choice at centre. Weed has introduced the “big change” to the company's 6,500 marketers around the world and is in the process of rolling it out to agencies and embedding it within teams. 

Edelman hires BBDO hand Carol Potter

Edelman hired former BBDO China president and CEO Carol Potter as executive vice-chairman for Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa in an effort to build a stronger brand offering and challenge ad agencies head-on for business.

Michael Keaton at the Adobe Summit

Adobe made several key product announcements at the summit this week, but Michael Keaton was the real star of the show. Keaton’s appearance at the keynote saw the actor describe his career and the mental processes and the strategic thinking he applies to his work. He also shared his own perspective on digital media and marketing. The actor, an avid Instagrammer, however notes the downside to so much proliferation, especially around data and information.

Twitter’s approach to Chinese advertisers

Twitter said it has already worked closely with Chinese advertisers like Huawei and Beijing Elex Technology. By putting its people here in Hong Kong, the company hopes for a much stronger relationship with advertisers—similar to Facebook.

The utility of Facebook’s Creative Accelerator

Speaking of which, Facebook’s in-house agency Creative Shop unveiled a new program designed to help brands become more effective with their advertising in high-growth markets. Facebook said it had so far utilised the Creative Accelerator program with several global brands including Coca-Cola in Kenya, Durex in Indonesia and Nestle Everyday in India.

Datatrade decides to spin off Clix

Clix has grown from an in-house specialisation at direct marketing firm Datatrade to an independent full-service agency, thanks to a rush of demand for intelligence-driven marketing from clients in China.

The (new) dirty word of advertising

For International Woman’s Day, Rebecca Nadilo, planning director at BBDO Singapore, reflected on 'femvertising' and how far the industry has come (and still has to go) in its depictions of women.

Asia has nearly as many mobile connections as people

The number of mobile connections in APAC is rapidly approaching the same number as the region’s population, according to new ‘State of Digital’ research conducted by We Are Social and the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). Current growth trends suggest that mobile-phone penetration in APAC will surpass 50 per cent in just a few months.

Ads that broke: Adidas and Earth Hour

Catch this week's ads from across the Asia-Pacific in The Work, and the weekly worldwide roundup by Ad Nut.