This week it’s all about new ways to talk to and understand audiences.
1. Robotic advertising
At Advertising Week's virtual AW2020, IBM announced additional artificial intelligence capabilities in IBM Watson Advertising: IBM Watson Advertising Attribution, IBM Watson Advertising Predictive Audiences, and Extensions for IBM Watson Advertising Accelerator. "Across WPP, we are committed to helping our clients navigate the disruptive trends that have been building for some time," said John Dunleavy, Global President, Eightbar, in the IBM news release. "We've seen firsthand the important role AI can play in mitigating bias and making data useful so that every constituent—brands, content owners, and most importantly consumers—can have authentic, relevant, and meaningful interactions."
2. New ad platform from The New York Times
This month, The New York Times’ advertising arm launched Pivotal, a platform that leverages knowledge from the company’s journalism, interviews, and surveys to offer brands insights into what matters to their audiences—from race to climate to gender.
3. Talking mental health
October 10th was World Mental Health Day, and several brands launched external messaging regarding mental health during the Covid-19 pandemic. Brands from Asics to Janssen have created campaigns around mental health, The Drum reports. But it’s not just external awareness. The CEO of Verizon Media wrote in the same publication that: “As leaders and managers, as co-workers, as fellow human beings, we have a renewed opportunity to reshape the narrative on mental health in our organisations, a step towards transforming how mental health is perceived in society, in our communities.”
