Your rundown of the must-read marketing and advertising news is here! Check out our top stories to start off your week.

Life with Sound On

Pandora has rolled out a new advertising campaign just in time for the holiday travel season. Their campaign, called “Sound On,” is inspired by all the ways music can make every life moment better. The streaming company will release over 1,200 pieces of creative, with most of the ads posted in highly-traveled transportation hubs in the biggest US cities. Their messaging points to how music can make travel less stressful. As one ad states, instead of feeling that baggage fee, you can feel that Cardi B.

The campaign will continue throughout 2019. In addition to music, Pandora will soon expand its podcast selection. Check out the ads here: https://www.thedrum.com/news/2018/11/08/pandora-rolls-out-its-sound-brand-narrative-time-holiday-travel

Amazon’s Holiday of Play

One of the most innovative companies in the world is taking us back to yesteryear. This month, Amazon is shipping out its first holiday shopping catalog to millions of customers. The “A Holiday of Play” catalog, which will mainly feature kids’ toys, includes QR codes for many of the items so readers can quickly scan and shop on their phone.

The catalog is Amazon’s latest attempt to modernize traditional retailer strategies. They’ve opened Amazon Go convenience stores, physical bookstores and are producing private-label items to sell on their site. Will you be watching for your Amazon catalog, or do you prefer to do all your browsing online? Find out more details here: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/06/amazon-begins-mailing-printed-holiday-toy-catalog.html

NFL Partners with Fortnite

The hottest video game in the world just got hotter. Last week, the NFL announced they had teamed up with Fortnite’s creator, Epic Games, to produce NFL team outfits for the game. Fortnite players will be able to purchase the outfits and dress their character in jerseys from all 32 NFL teams. The partnership represents the first time Epic Games has teamed up with an outside company for in-game outfit purchases.

The NFL is eager to appeal to younger demographics, as their current TV audience continues to age. Do you think Fortnite is the way to win over the next generation? Read on here: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000983715/article/nfl-teams-up-with-epic-games-enters-world-of-fortnite

The Holidays Are (Literally) in the Air

What’s that sweet smell in the air? If you are in London’s Oxford Circus Underground Station, it’s just the scent of cinnamon to promote Coca-Cola’s limited-edition holiday soda. This year, Coke is revamping their long-running “Holidays are Coming” campaign with more experiential marketing as well as branded Snapchat lenses.

Coke’s new cinnamon-flavored Coke Zero, available only in the U.K., is their latest in a recent line of diet soda promotions. This year, they also debuted new Diet Coke flavors and can designs. Are you a fan of Coke’s new products, or do you prefer the originals? Let us know your thoughts. https://www.marketingdive.com/news/coke-spices-up-uk-holiday-campaign-with-cinnamon-scented-tube-station/541600/

The World’s Biggest Shopping Day

We hear a lot about Black Friday and Cyber Monday here in America, but did you know there’s a shopping day even bigger than those two combined? Yesterday was Single’s Day, the largest shopping day in the world. The Chinese holiday is celebrated each year on November 11. Within the last ten years, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has turned the holiday into a shopping phenomenon.

This year, Single’s Day generated more than $30 billion in sales in just 24 hours. We’ve got big shopping shoes to fill next weekend. Check out the full story here: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/11/alibaba-singles-day-2018-record-sales-on-largest-shopping-event-day.html