As the Mobile Messaging War Heats Up, Kik Tries to Win Over Marketers With GIFs

Twentieth Century Fox wants to talk to teens the way that they do with their friends, so it's using GIFs to chat with them on mobile messaging app Kik. The film studio and agency Trailer Park are launching a campaign today for the sci-fi flick Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, the sequel to 2014's Maze Runner based on T.S. Nowlin's book trilogy. In the movie, a group of boys are stuck in a maze, and the only way out is to go through a series of challenges given out by a secret organization called WCKD. To play off of the movie's twisting plot, Fox is using Kik's Promoted Chats to let fans talk to a bot version of the WCKD character. The bot offers text-based information and a total of 12 GIFs that walk users through a series of challenges to help them get out of the maze. Like the movie's story, the app's messaging can go several ways. "It kind of feels like one of those choose-your-own adventure books that you may have played as a kid, but played out in a much more modern way," said Paul Gray, Kik's director of platform services. Fox's campaign is the first time that a brand has used GIFs on Kik, Gray said. It's also the first work to be born from the technology Kik gained when it acquired GIF messaging app Relay last year. "One of the things we're always trying to work on is developing storytelling and combining that with emerging technology," said Glenn Sanders, group creative director at Trailer Park. "The story that we wanted to tell actually matched up... Continue reading at 'AdWeek'

[ AdWeek | 2015-08-06 00:00:00 UTC ]

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On my radar: Alexandra Shulman’s cultural highlights

The editor of British Vogue and novelist on Bill Clegg’s Did You Ever Have a Family, Sally Clarke’s recipes and David Hockney’s early drawingsAlexandra Shulman OBE has been editor-in-chief of British Vogue since 1992, making her the longest-serving editor in the magazine’s history. She was born... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-09-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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IAB Explores Its Options to Fight Ad Blockers, Including Lawsuits

As the digital media and advertising industries come to grips with the rise of ad blocking, so is one of the industry's more prominent organizing bodies.A month before Apple revealed in June that later this year it would enable ad blocking on its mobile Safari browser, the Interactive... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2015-09-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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New York Times backs down after complaint by Mario Vargas Llosa

Paper says use of Mail Online article was ‘at odds’ with its ‘journalistic standards’Mario Vargas Llosa, the Nobel prize-winning author, has slammed the New York Times for publishing what he called “slanderous and perfidious” gossip that, it transpired, was culled from the Daily Mail’s... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-08-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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As the Mobile Messaging War Heats Up, Kik Tries to Win Over Marketers With GIFs

Twentieth Century Fox wants to talk to teens the way that they do with their friends, so it's using GIFs to chat with them on mobile messaging app Kik. The film studio and agency Trailer Park are launching a campaign today for the sci-fi flick Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, the sequel to... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2015-08-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Two Roads snaps up Volpe self-published memoir

Two Roads has acquired an originally self-published memoir by the general manager of Opera Holland Park. Michael Volpe’s Noisy at the Wrong Times was chosen by The Bookseller’s Caroline Sanderson as an Independent Author pick in April, and was named by the Sunday Times as one of its “100... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-07-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Local World profits rise to £43.6m

Daily Mail and Trinity Mirror, shareholders in local newspaper publisher, to share £25m after adjusted profits for 2014 go up 12%Local World reported a 12% rise in adjusted profits last year to £43.6m, netting shareholders the Daily Mail and Trinity Mirror more than £25m to share.David... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers at Cannes: Sleepless Nights, Chilled Ros and Meetings, Meetings, Meetings

Media executives said it's not unusual to book a dozen or so meetings during the day and then hit five or six parties at night. As for sleep? You can do that when you get stateside."It's a beautiful place, but it's no vacation," said Jon Steinberg, North American CEO of The Daily Mail. "It's... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2015-06-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Libraries urged to innovate to raise money

Libraries have been urged to find a new ways of raising money – such as offering paid-for holiday clubs in the school holidays - if they want to stay afloat. A report by community organisations network Locality, funded by Arts Council England (ACE), calls for libraries to look for new ways to... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jilly Cooper's Riders: why the toned-down cover?

Small but ‘unsexy’ adjustment to the jacket art for a new edition of horsey bonkbuster has provoked a startlingly big fussThere is a scandal going on in the world of books this week. And it’s not Philip Larkin’s distaste for literary parties, nor the depressing research showing that books about... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-06-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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JK Rowling vindicated over Daily Mail's false claims, high court told

Harry Potter author’s lawyer says allegations left her ‘distressed’, but she is ending her libel case after receiving an apology and substantial damagesAuthor JK Rowling has been “fully vindicated and her reputation restored” following the Daily Mail’s apology for alleging she wrote a “sob... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-05-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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5 Big Things Marketers Need to Know From Facebook's Developer Conference

Facebook is revealing its latest technology to the world this week at its annual Facebook Developer Conference in San Francisco. And while the show is geared at developers, a good chunk of the news should apply to brands and publishers that regularly use the platform, particularly with mobile... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2015-03-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Watch the Digiday Publishing Summit live

The Digiday Publishing Summit will stream live today from Vail, Colorado, starting at 6:30 p.m. EST. Sessions will cover how publishers adapt to technological change. Today's sessions focus in particular on the shift to mobile. Neil Vogel, CEO of About.com, will speak to how it is making mobile... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2015-03-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Obituary: Charlie Hart, Kensington General Manager, 62

Charlie Hart, general manager at Kensington Publishing Corp., died suddenly on March 4 at the age of 62. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-03-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Why the future of digital publishing is like cable TV

The future of platforms like Facebook and Twitter is like cable providers, and publishers will be like networks, publishing content directly on platforms -- and relying on the platforms, to a large extent, for monetization. Jon Steinberg, CEO of North America of Daily Mail, sees Snpachat... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2015-02-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Thrillist CEO Ben Lerer: Publishers Must Find Revenue Sources Beyond Advertising

For Thrillist, remnant advertising is non-existent and ads aren't sold programmatically. Instead, the digital publisher embraced ecommerce. That business is now three times the size of its ad business. Continue reading at AdAge.com Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2015-02-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Duffy leaving Tesco for Daily Mail

Tesco’s book buying manager Paul Duffy is set to leave the supermarket in a few weeks’ time. The Bookseller can report that Duffy, Tesco’s head of buying for newspapers, magazines and books, will soon join the Daily Mail as the company’s head of retail sales and trade marketing. A spokesperson... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The ebook industry needs to make reading more social

The music, film and TV industries have all undergone radical transformations over the last fifteen years. In contrast, the publishing industry is only now feeling the full force of technological change. Ebooks and ereaders are changing consumers' reading habits and throwing up serious questions... Continue reading at Betanews

[ Betanews | 2014-11-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Court ruling secures future for Germany's Suhrkamp

A ruling by the District Court in Berlin has put an end to one of the most acrimonious power struggles in the history of German publishing and secured the future of one of the country’s best-known literary publishers - Suhrkamp.  The company can finally now go ahead with much needed reforms,... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-10-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In the Name of Content Marketing, Leo Burnett to Share Client Work With Huffington Post

The rise of content marketing and native advertising occasionally makes for strange bedfellows, as in a recent alliance between ad agency Leo Burnett and digital publisher The Huffington Post, which the companies plan to announce Monday.Under the agreement, HuffPost Partner Studio, the... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2014-10-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Canon’s New Camera Ads Focus on People, Not Products

As smartphones continue to erode sales of cameras and equipment, traditional brands are building digital platforms that double as marketing assets. Today, Canon launched the multi-year "See Impossible" campaign, shifting the marketing focus away from products and onto customers' stories. ... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2014-10-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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