Good morning marketers, are you running video ads right now? 

Internet traffic is up, CPMs are down, and big tech companies are pivoting to adapt to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. Like many of us, social and video platforms are up against major challenges as more people hunker down with technology behind closed doors. 

As a result, media networks in the EU – like Facebook, Netflix, Disney+, among others – have already begun reducing video bitrates and defaulting to lower qualities to compensate for the surge in traffic. The push to downgrade streaming quality has been primarily focused in Europe with regulatory mandates, but the U.S. might not be far behind – and advertisers will likely feel the impact.

When it comes to maintaining a nimble marketing operations workflow, agile expert Stacey Ackerman says it’s important to have a strong facilitator to make sure everyone is actively participating in the conversation. However, now that remote work has moved from being an option to a mandatory policy for many, some MOPs teams are having to learn on the fly how to keep their agile practices in place while the team works from home. Ackerman recommends putting a working agreement in place to outline how the team will operate, from the tools that will be used to communicate to when team members will be available online.

Keep reading for more, including a look at which marketing executives are on the move, and a mindfulness exercise to keep you grounded. 

Taylor Peterson,
Deputy Editor

 
 
 
Mindful Moment
 

We’ll be sharing daily mindfulness exercises to help us all take some time to decompress. If you have a suggestion, please email me at tpeterson@thirddoormedia.com

Kathy Bushman, Third Door Media’s director of event content recommends any yoga sequence by Rodney Yee for Gaiam Yoga. We picked a five-minute morning routine for beginners because anyone can do it, you don’t have to do the whole thing, you can do it at your deskside — plus no yoga mat required [YouTube]. 

 

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On the Move
 

TeamSupport gets a VP of marketing and communications, Groupon loses chief executives

B2B software solution TeamSupport has announced the appointment of Connie Glover as vice president of marketing and communications. Glover will work closely with TeamSupport’s CMO, Melissa Hendrick, to ignite growth, demand generation, and overall customer experience. Glover brings more than 25 years of experience as an accomplished marketing and communications professional, overseeing multi-million dollar marketing budgets and driving brand awareness for organizations, high profile individuals, consulting firms and across a wide range of industries such as higher education, interior building products and technology. She worked with Yooz, a cloud-based accounts payable automation solution, where she helped the company secure thirteen industry awards and recognitions in two years.

Groupon announced yesterday that its CEO and COO are leaving. Aaron Cooper, Groupon’s president of North America, has been appointed interim CEO by the company’s board of directors to replace Rich Williams. COO Steve Krenzer is also no longer serving in his role. Williams and Krenzer will continue as employees of the company. Groupon shares have plummeted 74% in the last year. 

Atlanta-based Blue Sky Agency has named industry veteran Mariana Costa as the agency’s new executive creative director. Costa will be responsible for leading the creative team and collaborating closely with all departments to produce fully-integrated, cross-channel campaigns for clients. With more than 20 years of brand experience, Costa joins Blue Sky from global agency VMLY&R, where she led creative development for some of the agency’s top clients, including Kraft/Heinz, Tyson Brands, and Kimberly Clark.

 

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What we're reading
 

We've curated our picks from across the web so you can retire your feed reader

Behr, West Elm design virtual backgrounds for Zoom amid WFH boom – Mobile Marketer

Starting As CMO During The COVID-19 Pandemic – AdExchanger

Google’s AI helps robots navigate around humans in offices – VentureBeat

Facebook eyes multibillion-dollar stake in Reliance Jio – Financial Times

An Event Tech Startup Is Helping Travel Companies Adapt Marketing During Crisis – Skift

Influencer Marketing in the Time of the Coronavirus – WWD

Coca-Cola GB joins brands freezing marketing spend – The Drum