Kool-Aid Man Is Missing

In a period of intense uncertainty, what bets and investments can agencies make to succeed in a new advertising world order? There may be no single answer, but we spoke with 26 shops and found a few common threads. Big holding companies continue to make multibillion-dollar bets on data and performance marketing. Predictably, investment in technology is becoming more common, but it's equally important to ensure that the right talent is in place, and deep specialization may be crucial for growth.

Read more: Discover three tried-and-true methods for achieving growth and why they're key to success.

Stocks continued to plummet due to a one-two punch of coronavirus fears and an oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia. Holding companies were not immune to the plunge, as the big five companies stocks' lost on average 7.5%. Analysts see holding companies losing revenue in out of home as quarantines and precautionary measures keep people at home and experiential activations are canceled. TV, streaming and digital could see an uptick, but the market as a whole will likely be negative and volatile.

The National Retail Federation now expects the coronavirus outbreak will have a “longer and larger impact” than previously estimated on incoming goods at 11 major U.S. ports, as factory shutdowns and travel restrictions in China continue.

Originally set to take place in New York the week of May 11-15, the One Club’s Creative Week is usually among one of the biggest events in the agency world. Now, organizers are hoping they’ll be able to garner a bigger online turnout with their COVID-19-friendly Creative Week digital alternative.

A+E Networks and AMC Networks are the latest media companies to follow Fox News Media and Comcast’s FreeWheel’s footsteps in scrapping upfront plans due to concerns about the spread of the novel coronavirus. A+E Networks will shift its live upfront event, which had been scheduled for March 25 at New York’s Jazz at Lincoln Center, for a virtual upfront presentation series beginning the week of March 23. AMC Networks will still hold conversations with clients instead of its first upfront since 2017.

COVID-19 Tracker: Keep up with the latest coronavirus news here.

Micky Onvural, CEO of menswear brand Bonobos—whose entire executive team is dominated by women—penned a op-ed arguing that success requires you to walk in other people's shoes, including those of different gender identities (not to mention other forms of diversity). "The juxtaposition of different perspectives unlocks creativity, innovation and growth," Onvural writes.

Read more: How can we foster the power that comes from men and women working together?

A recent survey of 400 full-time advertising and marketing managers compared creativity and productivity in the average workday. “To be productive and creative, we need to allow ourselves time to decompress,” says Diane Domeyer, executive director, The Creative Group. She advises marketing pros to set boundaries to have a healthy work-life balance, avoid multitasking and be mindful of energy vampires like email or social media that decrease productivity.

Explore the Data: How is does your balance of productivity vs. creativity compare?

Best of the Rest: Today's Top News & Highlights

A mere month after Mr. Peanut died, then rose again as Baby Nut, another potential disaster has struck the mascots of Kraft Heinz: The Kool-Aid Man has vanished. Kraft Heinz is encouraging concerned citizens to help locate the Kool-Aid Man, who’s ostensibly out traveling the world in search of that secret ingredient.

Explore the future of brands and transform the way they influence the world at Brandweek, Sept. 14-17th in Miami, Florida. Join the Movement early and save on your pass.

"Managers ensure that our teams have efficiencies built-in, so that when an employee gets sick, they have the ability to see the doctor and take time off without the rest of the team skipping a beat. We strive to be flexible, allowing employees to work from home when they feel something 'coming on,' which can prevent something like the cold or flu from spreading around the office in the first place."

—Simon Hill, president, FutureBrand North America

"The most important thing a manager can do is to listen to staff. If someone experiences flu-like symptoms, we recommend our employees either take a sick day or work from home. There’s a lot of understanding in the teams if someone wants to work from home, which is something we’ve worked to instill in our culture.

We've also used cloud services for a long time, and have all meetings on Google Meet as an addition to in-person meetings. That way, it’s easy to work from home and still reach all the material you need and participate in meetings."

—Anders Wahlquist, co-founder and CEO, B-Reel

Brand goes low-tech to promote corporate card with #ExpressThanks.

Advertisers get prime placement on the Popular feed and search tab.

Plus, Glamour's editor-in-chief joins us in the studio.

The radio personality discussed the power of influence at Adweek’s Challenger Brands.

Duo star in campaign for new Atlas launch from Johannes Leonardo.