WebProNews

Tag: agencies

  • Christina Hendricks Gets The Last Laugh

    If Christina Hendricks had listened to her former agency, Mad Men may not have had the character of Joan as we know her today.

    Apparently these misguided souls believed that if Hendricks took the role, she’d be committing career suicide!

    “[They said], ‘It’s a period piece, it’s never going to go anywhere. We need you to make money and this isn’t going to make money.’”

    Hendricks recounted the conflict during her interview with British news organization The Guardian.

    Both the 39-year-old actress and her manager loved the part and saw the potential in the show.

    When Hendricks refused to pass up a role she felt was right for her, the agency ended up dropping her.

    Said Hendricks, “I had been on several shows that were meant to be the big ones, that would go on forever…and they didn’t.”

    The actress then thought to herself, “why not do the one you’re in love with and take a chance on that?”

    Hendricks followed her heart right into a memorable role as the character Joan Holloway, everyone’s favorite red-haired bombshell.

    One can’t help but wonder what her former agency, the ones so convinced Hendricks was making a mistake, had to say for themselves after the fact?

    She’s spent several seasons on an award-winning show and came away one of the biggest standouts, creating a memorable character in the process.

    Odds are her former bosses are some place choking on crow feathers with a side of humble pie.

    It just goes to show that sometimes the very people charged with guiding your career are the last people you should be listening to.

    Hendricks listened to her heart and her desire for happiness and it seems to be leading her places.

    Mad Men enters its final season in 2015.

    As for Hendricks, she recently starred in the movie God’s Pocket, opposite the late Philip Seymour Hoffman. It’s directed by her Mad Men co-star John Slattery.

    Image via YouTube

  • Strata Survey Looks At Agency Ad Trends

    Strata has a new report out finding that, unsurprisingly, Facebook leads social media in advertising by agencies, with 86% saying they will likely use the platform in client campaigns. YouTube is in second place with 62% followed by Twitter at 57% and LinkedIn at 38%.

    The survey of agencies found that confidence in the ad economy is the highest it has been in the past five years. 62% of these agencies said they see business increasing this quarter compared to the same period last year, which is the highest that number has been as long as Strata has been conducting the survey.

    53% of them projected future growth to be better in the first half of this year than the last half of last year.29% are increasing their ad budgets from last year, which is the most Strata has found since 2008. 32% plan on hiring staff this year, and only 3% plan on reducing staff.

    “Ad agencies revealed an interesting dichotomy within the advertising industry; agencies are displaying high levels of confidence and are increasing their ad spend while they question the accuracy of reported Web traffic numbers and the inflated CPMs they may command,” said Strata president Joy Baer. Another interesting parallel was the optimism many agencies felt while they looked cautiously at rising ad costs as a major concern. The strength that our clients are reporting bodes well for the rest of the year.”

    As far as agencies’ plans for social media go, 49% of advertisers said they’re most likely to use Promoted Posts for their Facebook ad purchase, followed by Page Post ads (27%). YouTube is obviously the top online video site at 76%, followed by Hulu at 34%. 51%, the survey found, are more interested in streaming/online radio.

    BIA/Kelsey recently projected social ad revenues to hit $15 billion in 2018.

    Via MarketingCharts

    Image via PR Newswire

  • Facebook Studio Edge Launched To Educate Agencies On Facebook Marketing

    Facebook announced today that it is rolling out Facebook Studio Edge to agencies worldwide.

    Facebook Studio Edge is a set of learning courses designed to teach you how to get more out of your Facebook marketing. The company revealed the program back in June, but now it’s widely available.

    The program consists of 10-15 minute courses focused on specific topics, such as apps, Pages and ads. Courses are interactive, and Facebook says it will continue to update them as needed (presumably as it offers more products).

    “Whether you’re looking to go deep on topics essential to your job or to expand your horizons, Studio Edge courses cover topics relevant to a wide range of agency audiences— from creative teams to media planners and technologists,” Facebook says.

    As you complete courses, you can earn badges, which you can display next to any submitted case studies you’ve been credited on.

    You can access Facebook Studio Edge by going to the “Education” tab from Facebook Studio.

  • Google Scraps GAP, Launches AdWords Certification Program

    Google is retiring the Google Advertising Professionals (GAP) program, and replacing it with the new Google AdWords Certification program.

    "We’ve had a lot of great feedback from agencies and today we’re announcing changes designed to offer them better training and more rigorous certification in AdWords proficiency, and to lower costs for those who help advertisers get the most out of AdWords," says Penry Price, Vice President, Global Agency Development at Google. "We’re also making it easier for advertisers to find certified agency partners to work with them on digital advertising."

    AdWords Certified Partner - New Badge

    Features of the new training program include:

    – New training materials to help agencies better understand recent changes in search marketing and AdWords functionality, available via webinar series, learning center, or on-site training at Google

    – More challenging certification exams to test practical application of knowledge and best practices (rather than simple recall of knowledge)

    – Advanced-level exams to highlight competency in search, display, reporting and analysis

    – A redesigned Certified Partner badge, which includes a “Click to Verify” element so advertisers can view the partner’s profile page for additional information.

    Google has also launched Google Partner Search, which a directory that pairs advertisers with Certified Partners, as well as new AdWords API pricing.