Need a quick catch-up on the hottest marketing and PR news? We’re here to help! Check out the must-read news stories you need to know this week.

The Top 20 Indy PR Firms

Business research organization Expertise recently announced its list of the top 20 PR firms in Indianapolis. They scored 212 agencies in the Indy area on 25 variables across five categories, including reputation, credibility, experience, availability and professionalism. The variables were scored and compared to arrive at their top 20 performers. Check out the full list here – and keep an eye out for a familiar name 🙂 : https://www.expertise.com/in/indianapolis/public-relations-firms

A New Tech-Savvy Macy’s

This holiday season, Macy’s plans to roll out cashierless shopping in all their retail stores. Like many other brick-and-mortar department stores, Macy’s has struggled to keep up with changing trends and online shopping giants, such as Amazon. Now, the brand hopes to differentiate itself by alleviating one of the biggest shopping headaches: checkout lines.

Macy’s new “Scan, Pay, Go” mobile app feature will allow customers to scan items’ barcodes as they shop and simply pay online through the app. They also plan to add augmented and virtual reality experiences to their furniture and beauty departments. Would a cashierless checkout encourage you to go back to in-store shopping? Check out the full article here: https://www.adweek.com/digital/how-macys-is-reinventing-itself-as-a-tech-savvy-omnichannel-retailer/

Amazon Becomes Third Most Popular Digital Ad Platform

This year, Amazon has surpassed Microsoft and Oath to take the No. 3 spot in digital advertising revenue. They are projected to generate $4.61 billion in 2018, representing 4.15 percent of U.S. ad share. Amazon was originally expected to earn just $2.8 billion in ad revenue this year. Technology giants Google and Facebook still hold the top two spots, holding 37 and 20 percent of ad share, respectively. Find out more information here: https://www.marketingdive.com/news/amazon-leaps-ahead-to-become-no-3-digital-ad-platform-emarketer-says/532689/

Papa John’s –> Papa Johns

In August, Papa John’s officially filed to change their name from Papa John’s to Papa Johns. The name change follows recent controversy involving the pizza chain’s founder, John Schnatter. Schnatter served as spokesperson as well as chairman of the board, but was removed from all branding and advertising this year after his racially charged comments were brought to light.

Removing the apostrophe from the name is a small grammatical change but makes a big statement to distance the brand from Schnatter. Papa John’s will also debut a new logo and branding when the change takes effect next year. Do you think simply removing an apostrophe is enough to repair the brand’s image? Read on here: https://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/papa-john-s-cooking-a-apostrophe-logo/314976/

#Regram

A long-anticipated sharing option may be on the way for Instagram users. The app’s new feature, supposedly called “seamless sharing,” would allow users to share other posts into their news feed. The feature would function similarly to Facebook shares or Twitter retweets.

The new “regrammed” aspect would likely change the way the newsfeed looks and would certainly impact engagement, a huge plus for brands using Instagram. Seamless sharing is still reportedly in testing stages, so it’s possible it still may never see the light of day. Would you use the new photo sharing feature, or do you think it would just clutter the newsfeed? Check out more details here: https://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/instagram-is-testing-a-regram-resharing-feature/