Here is our round up of the news stories and industry articles that caught our eye during March 2022.
Meta and Google block ads from Russian state media
Meta, the owner of Facebook, is banning advertisements from Russian state media globally in an effort to “demonetize” their accounts.
According to Reuters, Google has also barred Russia Today and other Russian state-owned media outlets from earning money for advertisements on their websites, apps, and YouTube videos. YouTube has announced that it is “pausing” the ability of a number of channels to monetize the platform, as well as prohibiting Russian state-funded media outlets from using its ad technology to generate income on their own websites and applications.
Read the article in Marketing Week.
The Design Innovation Network hopes to put design at the forefront of innovation
A new UK-based network has launched to bring designers, innovators and business leaders closer together.
The Design Innovation Network (DIN) was developed by government agency Innovate UK KTN to guarantee that design is integrated into innovation processes rather than treated as an afterthought.
According to DIN leader and KTN director of design Abigail Hird, the new project would encourage “innovators,” such as established firms and start-ups, to embrace design as part of the development process.
Read the article in Design Week.
Just Eat on ‘clear path to profitability’ after 85% rise in marketing spend
Just Eat believes it will achieve greater profitability this year and beyond by driving “solid growth” throughout the epidemic and significantly increasing brand spending.
From €369 million (£224 million) in 2020 to €684 million (£570 million) in 2021, the meal delivery service boosted its worldwide marketing spend by 85 percent. This is the second year in a row that the company has significantly boosted its marketing spending, with a 158 percent rise between 2019 and 2020.
In addition to marketing, the corporation spent heavily in “historically underinvested heritage areas” in order to “reposition” the company for online share increases, as well as growing its delivery and restaurant network.
Read the article in Marketing Week.
“You can’t be silent”: how designers are rallying in Ukraine
Ukraine is going through an extremely difficult time. There’s a war in my beloved country. But all Ukrainians unite and help each other.
The creative industry is no exception. Just as graphic artists created posters during the Second World War, Ukrainian designers and creatives are fighting Russian misinformation and conveying our messages to the West. Many of us are doing this while sitting in shelters and basements. Including me.
Read the article in Design Week.
War in Ukraine: How brands are responding
The list of businesses that refuse to do business with Russia is expanding by the day. Following mounting customer backlash, a number of companies, including McDonald’s and Coca-Cola, have ceased business in Ukraine and publicly denounced the attack on Ukraine.
Advertisers in the region are likewise reducing their ad spending. Three out of four global brand owners have shifted, decreased, or cut advertising spending in Russia since the invasion began, according to a study by the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) of 31 global brand owners totalling $43 billion (£32.7 billion) in global ad spend.
Read the article in Marketing Week.
The emotional power of typography
For the past decade or so, Sarah Hyndman has been investigating how typography affects us, conducting tests and research on its impact on our moods and senses, and proving how letterforms have capabilities far beyond intelligibility.
Hyndman, a designer and creator of the Type Tasting company, wrote The Type Taster: How Fonts Influence You in 2015, and her enthusiasm for the topic hasn’t dimmed since then. She’s now devised an imaginative new ‘show’ of sorts, with the support of an Arts Council funding, but one that arrives to you in a little box.
Read the article in Creative Review.
Ace & Tate has created a sunglasses campaign… that doesn’t include any shades.
It’s a risky move for an eyeglasses company to develop an ad campaign with no specs or sunglasses, but the result is surprisingly evocative. It shows pleasingly unretouched images of people with their eyes screwed up when they’re caught in a beam of sunshine, along with the simple tagline: Bring on the sun.
Read the article in Creative Review.
Counter-Print delves into the process of creating logos.
Process: Visual Journeys in Graphic Design (Second Edition) is a new book from British art and design publisher Counter-Print that explores “the seldom exhibited sketching and process underlying the production of marks and logotypes.”
Process, based on the work of BankerWessel, a Swedish graphic design firm, investigates fourteen of the studio’s projects, including over 1,500 sketches and notes that provide a unique glimpse into the creative process.
Read the article in Design Week.
Jonathon Bright
Jonathon is the DWH marketing guru and handles all marketing, copywriting and social media duties. With over 25 years experience working with clients and agencies across the globe, his role is to provide all things marketing from lead generation strategies right through to writing blogs and press articles. With two Marketing degrees and a successful track record of working with sole traders, SME’s & FTSE 100 companies his full mix experience can deliver results whatever the budget.