The Media Online’s weekly wrap of need-to-know global media news.
Duke and Duchess of Sussex lay down the media law
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s bombshell announcement that they were stepping back a senior royals heralded the launch of the couple’s own website, //sussexroyal.com/. And featuring strongly on the site was their stated opinion of the media.
Late in 2019, as they visited South Africa, the Sussex’s announced their intention of suing the Mail on Sunday, and tabloids The Sun and papers in the Mirror Group. Prince Harry was clear on why: “Unfortunately, my wife has become one of the latest victims of a British tabloid press that wages campaigns against individuals with no thought to the consequences — a ruthless campaign that has escalated over the past year, throughout her pregnancy and while raising our newborn son,” he said in a statement.
Now they have made their position clear. They will no longer take part in the age-old ‘Royal Rota’, a system which allows a group of seven news outlets (The Daily Express, The Daily Mail, The Daily Mirror, The Evening Standard, The Telegraph, The Times, The Sun) to exclusively cover events, and share their information with other media outlets that request it. “The current system predates the dramatic transformation of news reporting in the digital age,” it says.
Under the ‘media’ tab on their new website, the royal couple said they were committed to ensuring diverse and open access to their work, but access given to newspapers that have, in the Duke’s words, “bullied” his wife, will be no longer.
“The Duke and Duchess believe in a free, strong and open media industry, which upholds accuracy and fosters inclusivity, diversity and tolerance,” they said. Clearly, those in the Royal Rota are out of Royal favour.
For more, check out Sussex Royal Media.
Avon ladies to become social media influencers
The famous ‘Avon Lady’, the women who sold Avon cosmetics door to door for over a century (134 years to be precise), will be no longer. Or at least, in their current form.
New owner of the brand, Brazil’s Natura Co, which closed the $2 billion deal last week, will “turn Avon’s nearly five million representatives into online influencers who sell makeup and lotion on social media, through mobile apps and even in their own physical retail shops”, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Check out the WSJ story here.
Diversity means hiring older people too
“Agencies, in my observation, are not businesses that look favourably on people over 40.” That’s the word from CEO of The Media Kitchen, Barry Lowenthal, writing in AdAge this week. He believes “age discrimination” actually disadvantages agencies, “limiting potential…for cultivating great ideas”.
The reality, the writer points out, is that older people are more expensive, and “juniorising” teams is more profitable and cost effective. He writes: “While it might make sense from a capitalist’s point of view, I believe that diversity in all forms leads to better work environments and better ideas. And better ideas lead to success, including financial success.”
For a great read, check out the story on AdAge here.
The Media Shop picks up Starbucks account for Southeast Asia
The Media Shop, co-founded by Jessica Toh, has won the Starbucks account with a brief to “expand its presence in the digital domain, with the agency acting as a key strategist for the year of 2020”.
Marketing-Interactive.com, the online component of one of Asia’s leading media trade publications, reported that The Media Shop would “devise strategic initiatives, as well as creative approaches that resonate and elevate the level of engagement among consumers”.
Toh told the publication appointment was a “testament to the strength of independent agencies and their ability to deliver innovative marketing solutions to give brands that edge over the competition”.
For more, read the full story here.
Sir Martin Sorrell’s S4 Capital merges with Circus Marketing
Sir Martin Sorrell’s S4 Capital has expanded its Latin American footprint with its proposed merger with Mexico City-based digital agency Circus Marketing, AdAge has reported. Circus employs 350 people across its eight offices in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Columbia, Costa Rica, Chile, Los Angeles and Spain.
The move followed other S4 mergers and acquisitions, and revolves around a plan for Circus to be absorbed into Sorrell’s MediaMonks, which has already concluded deals with digital marketing agency, Firewood, customer experience specialist BizTech and production company WhiteBalance.
For more, read the AdAge story here.
