Plus, Red Bull fires its North American CEO and CMO ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ 
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First Things First
 
July 15, 2020
By Jess Zafarris
 
 
What to Expect From Peacock, as NBCUniversal’s New Streamer Debuts Nationally
 

With optimistic leadership and a name that stands out (for better or worse) among other streamers, NBCUniversal's highly anticipated new ad-supporting streaming service Peacock is launching today in a highly competitive market. Launching the service on time required some serious pivoting, both in terms of content hiccups—the postponement of the 2020 Olympics and production delays, just to name two—and the logistics of managing the teams working on it. The service aims to stand out and replicate the linear experience with more traditional TV offerings that other streamers don't have, including news and sports, and thereby bring in enough viewers (an ambitious 30-35 million monthly active users by 2024) to keep advertisers interested.

So, what does the service look like post-pivot? Here's a look at what Peacock offers:

  • The heavily marketed free tier includes more than 13,000 hours of programming, including a deep library of TV shows, movies, news programming, live sports and Spanish language content.
  • The premium tier, which still has ads and costs $4.99 for most consumers, includes 7,000 more hours of programming, including next-day episodes of new NBC shows like SNL, along with originals (albeit fewer than originally planned) such as Brave New World.
  • For those who want to skip ads altogether, the ad-free tier is an additional $5 per month.
  • With a lighter ad experience than linear TV even on the ad-supported tiers, NBCU's Linda Yaccarino said Peacock will help set the stage for the “future of advertising.”

Here's everything you need to know about Peacock.

 
 
 
 
 
How Will Advertising’s New Equality Advocacy Groups Grow While Staying Grassroots?

With a rise in new advocacy groups such as Allyship & Action, 600 & Rising and Where Are the Black Designers?, racial equity and equality are growing in momentum in the advertising industry. But to keep growing, they'll have to bring in corporate sponsors—which could present challenges as they attempt to stay authentic while working within the larger system they're aiming to overhaul. We talked with the founders of some of these organizations, who emphasized the importance of choosing the right partners, leveraging the initial fanfare of the movement to gain traction and continuing to contribute to industry conversations around diversity and inclusion.

Think context: "It’s not just thinking about your industry but thinking about your impact on the world," said Adcolor's Tiffany R. Warren.

Dive deeper with an Adweek Pro Subscription, your key to the inside scoop on the marketing and advertising trends and reporting that guide the world’s top brands.

 
 
 
Burger King Wants to Change the Way Cows Eat, Reducing Emissions by 33%

Scientists have come up with a diet hack for cows—basically, feeding them lemongrass—that can reduce the animals’ methane emissions by more than a third. That's right: Fewer cow farts means a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from livestock. Burger King became the first brand to sell the better-for-the-planet beef this week, a release that was accompanied by a folksy, colorful music video directed by Oscar winner Michel Gondry.

Watch the spot, and check out behind-the-scenes shots of how it came together here.

 
 
 
Brands Should Brace for More States to Adopt Privacy Legislation

The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) is now in effect, and it gives consumers the right to request their data be deleted or opt out of those companies from selling their personal information. So far it appears that brands are complying, with those still collecting data doing so more transparently, and consumers for the most part are not choosing to opt out of providing their personal information. But experts say brands should act now because things will only become more complex and consumer behavior may change as more states adopt similar laws.

What's next? The biggest questions remain around how businesses should prioritize data collection going forward.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Red Bull Fires North American Executives Following Racism Controversy

North American executives CEO Stefan Kozak, CMO and president Amy Taylor and global head of culture marketing Florian Klaass have been laid off at Red Bull following a controversy surrounding racism at the company. After employees criticized the brand's silence about the BLM movement, they leaked a slide from a marketing team meeting that included a world map meme called "The World According to Americans" and labeled with racist stereotypes.

"We reject racism in every form": Klaass approved the meme, but in a statement to Adweek Red Bull said his departure was due to downsizing in its cultural marketing programs. 

More of Today's Top News and Highlights

 
 
 
 
 
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The Most Lovely and Surprising Ad You'll See Today Is for Viagra
 

In a departure from typical Viagra advertising styles, VMLY&R London has made a sensitive animated hero film called “Love Story,” which aims to shift the conversation around erectile dysfunction and make communication more open. Watch it here.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Adweek Promos and Events
Live Tomorrow: The Asian American Summit
 

Asian American business leaders from Google, EOS, Pinterest, Charles Schwab,TikTok and more join Adweek for the next installment of the Adweek D&I event series, the Asian American Summit, to share how they are personally navigating today's heightened discussions on race and stereotypes amidst COVID-related bias incidents within their communities, how they are leading their teams and how we can all drive meaningful and lasting change. Save your virtual seat and tune in at 12pm ET tomorrow.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
H&R Block CMO on Marketing From a Journalist Lens and Making Every Block Better
 

This conversation is timely with the tax deadline just a few days away amid the most unusual year on record. In this episode, Vinoo takes us through how he and the team pivoted in not only how they serve their customers, but also in how they work together.

 
 
 
 
 
Comic Artists Bring Dreams to Life for Audible's Release of The Sandman
 

Digital campaign turns fan-submitted descriptions into personalized art by DC illustrators.

 
 
 
 
 
A Creative Director Looked Close to Home for Help Producing a DIY Domino's Ad
 

CPB's D'Arcy O'Neill recruited his kids to star and help build the set.

 
 
 
 
 
White Castle Just Hired a New Fry Guy—and It’s a Robot
 

Flippy can deep fry potatoes, but can it save on labor costs?

 
 
 
 
 
UK Government Urges Brits to Embrace 'New Start' With Major Brexit Campaign
 

Ads by MullenLowe encourage businesses to prepare for exiting the EU in December.

 
 
 
 
 
Microsoft Creates AI That Can Generate a Realistic Singing Voice
 

The company's DeepSinger could have implications for the music industry.

 
 
 
 
 
 
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