Adidas is on a journey to shift from marketing efficiency to marketing effectiveness, admitting a focus on ROI led it to over-invest in digital and performance marketing at the expense of brand building.

The sports brand’s global media director, Simon Peel, explains that four years ago the company didn’t have any econometrics, its attribution modelling was based on last-click and it didn’t do any brand tracking. It also focused on efficiency over effectiveness, leading it to look at specific KPIs and how to reduce their cost rather than what was in the best interests of its brands.

This focus on efficiency was one of a number of issues that needed sorting at the company in order to drive long-term growth. It also had an over-supply problem, meaning its products were too often sold on promotion and creating price sensitivity. Plus, it had multiple agencies, inconsistent measurement and a business set-up that meant its main divisions were competing against each other and creating friction on messaging and creative.

“All the basics that exist to tell you how much you should invest in marketing didn’t exist,” Peel told the EffWeek conference this week.

Over the past four years, Adidas has been working to change this. Under a new marketing playbook – dubbed ‘Creating the new’ – and a renewed focus on generating brand desire, Adidas introduced a new campaign framework with emotional, brand-driving activity at the centre. This was an attempt to connect with consumers around major campaigns three or four times a year, while at the same time Adidas ran advertising with a rational message.

Adidas also had a performance budget linked to ecommerce in the belief that digital ads drove digital sales. Adidas was keen to drive online sales because it is the most profitable part of its business.

“We had an understanding that it was digital advertising – desktop and mobile – that was driving those sales and as a consequence we were over-investing in that area,” said Peel.

Mark Ritson: Adidas’ CEO is failing his brand with his exclusively digital mindset

At the same time, Adidas brought in an econometric model. That helped it discover that where it had thought loyal customers were driving sales, and it was therefore investing in CRM, in fact 60% of revenue came from first-time buyers.

Adidas also found that its business units were not just driving their own sales. It thought that football advertising would drive football sales but found in reality that all advertising drove general Adidas sales.

Plus, while Adidas thought only performance drove ecommerce sales, in fact it was brand activity driving 65% of sales across wholesale, retail and ecommerce, while performance also drove wholesale and retail sales.

This was a problem because Adidas’s advertising split was 23% into brand and 77% into performance. Yet work by Les Binet and Peter Field recommends the split be 60:40 in brand’s favour.

We had an understanding it was digital advertising driving ecommerce sales and as a consequence we were over-investing.

Simon Peel, Adidas

“The reason for that is short-termism because we are trying to grow sales very quickly,” said Peel. He added: “We had a problem that we were focusing on the wrong metrics, the short-term, because we have fiduciary responsibility to shareholders.”

Those wrong metrics were caused by Adidas’s four attribution models – Google Last Click, Google Custom, Adobe and Facebook – as well as a focus on short-term, real-time measurements that focused on ROI and return on ad spend (ROAS).

That led Adidas to over-invest in paid search, for example, an error it uncovered in its Latin America market when a breakdown at Google AdWords and therefore inability to invest in paid search didn’t lead to a dip in traffic or revenue coming from SEO.

“It told a very digitally focused story, that you should invest in paid search, online display. But when you look at econometric modelling it tells you something very different,” said Peel.

What the econometrics told Adidas was that it should invest in video, which hadn’t shown up before because it didn’t do well in last-click attribution, as well as TV, outdoor and cinema to drive ecommerce.

Adidas is now working on what the right media and attribution model is for it. Peel believes that will involve econometrics as well as a test-and-learn approach.

“We are just walking, we have a long way to go. We do overly focus on digital attribution, but we are improving,” he concluded.

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The Australia Institute, a left-leaning think tank, released a report based on the averages from the last three polls of Senate voting intentions from market database service Dynata.

The report predicted that despite a massive months-long advertising campaign Palmer’s UAP will struggle to secure a single Senate seat on May 18. 

Despite a multi-million dollar advertising campaign Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party could miss out on Senate seats leaving One Nation and Centre Alliance holding the balance of power after the May 18 election

‘Despite United Australia Party’s growth in popularity and their significant ad spend, One Nation are still most likely to win the sixth seat in Queensland,’ the report stated.

‘The possibility remains for Clive Palmer to be a dark horse.’

Current polls have the UAP on 3.3 per cent in Queensland, 3.6 per cent in South Australia and 2.9 per cent in Western Australia. 

The low figures indicate that Palmer’s United Australia Party wont garner enough votes to secure a Senate seat in any of those key states.  

The report predicted the best Senate outcome for Labor would be 28 seats, seven to nine seats for the Greens and 32 to 34 seats for the Coalition. 

‘Our analysis shows the crossbench will remain large and diverse,’ the report read. 

The Greens are expected to secure Senate seats in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria  in the upcoming election 

Ben Oquist, the executive director of the Australia Institute, said it would be very unlikely for either of the major parties to secure a Senate majority. 

‘Neither Labor nor the Coalition is anywhere near securing a Senate majority, the crossbench including the Greens and Centre Alliance will remain diverse and powerful in the 46th Parliament,’ he said.

‘South Australia and Tasmania could be the crucial states in determining the final make-up and dynamic of the Senate.’ 

One Nation looks to have a chance of securing one of the final two senate seats left in Tasmania while the Greens, One Nation, Centre Alliance and the Liberal Party will contest for the final two seats in South Australia

One Nation looks to have a chance of securing one of the final two senate seats left in Tasmania while the Greens, One Nation, Centre Alliance and the Liberal Party are in the contest for the final two seats in South Australia. 

One Nation’s Malcolm Roberts is on track to secure a Queensland Senate seat with a vote of 10.7 per cent, 18 months after he was disqualified for being a dual British citizen.  

The Centre Alliance could also secure a South Australian seat with a vote of 6.2 per cent.

This could see former MP Skye Kakoschke-Moore elected to the Senate at the expense of Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young less than two years after she too was disqualified for being a dual citizen. 

The results of the institute’s research lead them to conclude a Labor and Greens coalition would likely not be enough to secure a Senate majority.

‘Meaning that the Labor government will be dependent on Centre Alliance or One Nation to pass its reform agenda,’ the report stated. 

The same Senate fate would also be likely for the Coaltion which would also require them to rely on minor parties to pass legislation through the upper house. 

‘The Coalition faces a possible ‘nightmare’ scenario where they will need all non-Labor, non-Greens crossbenchers,’ the report stated. 

The results of the institute’s research lead them to conclude a Labor and Greens coalition would likely not be enough to secure a Senate majority

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If you’re on the hunt for a new role – or career entirely – you might want to take a look at Aldi’s recruitment website, which has some incredibly generous opportunities.

The discounter is currently on the look out for new area managers with a starting salary of more than £44,000 a year, rising to £76,000 after five years.

It’s after those with a keen interest in retail management – and is willing to pay thousands for your commitment.

Once qualified, you will manage and maintain several branches in your area – which can be anywhere in the UK.

The 12-month programme offers extensive training, looking after a store for three weeks after the first quarter of the year where you will plan the rota, manage orders and indeed your own team.

As part of the role you will be expected to meet sales targets and liaise with the wider business to carry out new initiatives. You may even end up travelling to Europe, the US or Australia to work in stores there.

The job ad said: “You’ve probably heard a lot about the Area Manager Programme by now – that we give our graduates a fantastic package (including an Audi A4 or a BMW 3 series) and that it’s ‘really hard work’. These are true.

“But there’s so much more. We’re also a responsible employer who thrives on giving graduates unparalleled exposure, training and support.

“Throughout the year, you’ll learn the ins and outs of store life, before discovering what it takes to lead your own Area.”

It said it could be the start of an exciting career where you can work your way into the senior ranks of Aldi.

Candidates need to be “hardworking, eager to learn and driven” as the role is fast-paced and varied.

You also need to have a 2:1 degree in any subject –  although there are entry routes based on experience too.

After the year is up, you will be in charge of your own area of three to four stores.

The starting salary is £44,000, which then rises to a whopping £76,495 after five years. 

When you apply for the programme, you will be asked to select your first and second choice regions.

Applications and more information on all of Aldi’s positions can be found on Aldi’s recruitment website: www.aldirecruitment.co.uk/graduates .

The post Aldi is advertising lots of new jobs and they could earn you up to £76,000 a year – Mirror Online appeared first on Theclickers.

The unique role, which has been advertised on Linkedin, asks those considering applying to make sure they don’t ‘fear carbs’ and are naturally passionate about food.

Other essential qualities include ‘five years’ experience in garlic bread consumption’ as well as an ‘understanding of the pizza and garlic bread relationship’.

Whoever is lucky enough to land the job will be paid $30 an hour for seven and a half hours and will taste a range of extra foods in addition to the toasted bread.

Pizza chain Domino’s is looking for a keen foodie to taste test its garlic bread and the lucky applicant will be paid 

‘We’re looking for someone a little bit crunchy, but mostly warm and soft on the inside, to help taste test our World-Famous Garlic Breads at Domino’s Headquarters in Brisbane,’ reads information on the ad.

Those applying should know they’ll be spending the day at Domino’s HQ testing a range of treats and ‘providing important feedback to the team’.

If the applicant isn’t located within driving distance of the offices, the company is offering return domestic flights and one night’s free accommodation. 

Those applying should know they’ll be spending the day at Domino’s HQ in testing a range of treats and ‘providing important feedback to the team

What skills do you need for the job? 

An understanding of the pizza and garlic bread relationship may help you land the gig

* Minimum of five years’ experience in garlic bread consumption

* Has a detailed understanding of the pizza and garlic bread relationship

* Has working taste buds

* Has burned their fingers at least once not being able to wait for the garlic bread to cool down

* Has a history of reviewing other people’s food choices (solicited and/or unsolicited).

Source: Domino’s via Linkedin 

Interested foodies should get their applications into Domino’s by Monday 7 October 2019

The ad lists a particular set of requirements for those considering the job which includes ‘working taste buds’ and ‘history of reviewing other’s food choices’. 

Additionally, by way of proving your dedication, it helps if you’ve burned your fingers ‘at least once waiting for garlic bread to cool’.

Although no specific personality traits are asked for, the tongue-in-cheek ad requests the ideal candidate ‘does not identify as a vampire’ and ‘understands the perfect ‘crunch to softness’ ratio. 

Interested applicants will need to complete an online survey as well explaining in 200 words or a 30 second video why they are the perfect candidate.

‘Get creative! But no loafing around – applications close Monday 7 October 2019, so be quick!’

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Australian pizza chain Domino’s is advertising for a garlic bread taste tester

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A woman advertising faggots at her café called Fanny’s says Google removed the post – because it was ‘offensive’.

Jo Evans-Pring, 63, was promoting her award-winning funky retro music diner ‘Fanny’s Rest Stop Café’.

Self-confessed technophobe Jo turned to pal Chris Barnbrook for help – and the pair set up a website, Facebook page – and even began paying for adverts on Google.

Within just a few weeks, the mum-of-four, of Newport found that her business sales were soaring once again.

But one day after Jo posted a picture of faggots with peas and onion gravy on her website, she got an email from Google stating the advert had been removed.

In the email, Google cited their content policy explaining not to post anything that could be construed as “inappropriate and offensive content”.

Jo said that she was “absolutely startled by what’s happened” and claims “the world’s gone totally mad if people are getting worked up over that”.

She claimed: “People need to spend their time dealing with real problems, not things like whether or not the word ‘faggots’ when selling that meal is hateful.

“There comes a time where businesses need to reinvent themselves, and – after eight years of running the shop – I decided now was one of those times.

“I’m a complete technophobe, so I asked Chris to take care of posting stuff on the Internet for me.

“We set up a website, and a Facebook page, to attract the locals to the café .

“Fanny’s has been doing really well because of the Internet campaign. We’ve noticed a big change in the past couple of weeks.

“People have been coming from a little further afield because we’re paying for adverts when they google for places to eat.

“They’ve loved coming to Fanny’s because it’s fun and retro.

“I posted an advert on the website for Fanny’s faggots with peas and onion gravy, a pretty traditional meal and one of my favourites, on the 27th.

“But the next day I got an email from Google saying they’d removed a post of ours, and then referred us to their posting contents policy.

“Me and Chris had a look, and realised they’d moved the faggots one – and we couldn’t think it was for any reason other than it having the word ‘faggots’ in it.”

Fanny’s Rest Stop Café was even awarded a Certificate of Excellence 2019 prize, and has been scoring a consistent four-and-a-half stars, on TripAdvisor.

Faggots is a traditional dish, long popular in the English Midlands and South and Mid Wales, made from minced off-cuts and offal.

But the word ‘faggot’ was misconstrued by Google administrators to refer to the pejorative term of abuse referring to gay men.

Jo’s email read: “Your post was taken down.

“Recently, a post was removed from your Business Profile. To help ensure your posts create a positive experience for users, please review our content policy.”

Google can unilaterally remove content its administrators deem “inappropriate and offensive” – according to its content policy.

Their content policy page states: “Published content cannot promote hatred or incited violence against individuals or groups based on ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, veteran status, sexual orientation or gender identity.

“Content cannot be used to harass or bully individuals, including direct physical threats or exposing private information that could be used to carry out implied threats.

“Content that contains obscene, profane or offensive language or gestures.

“Images or video published on this service shouldn’t include nudity or sex acts.

“Content cannot include profanity, slang terms that are sexually graphic and offensive, terms that are common signals for pedophilia, content that promotes pedophilia, bestiality, sexual violence or content that promotes escort services or other services that may be interpreted as providing sexual acts in exchange for compensation.

“Links to adult content are not permitted.”

Chris said: “I thought it would be ideal to promote the café to locals who might not have heard of Fanny’s Rest Stop Café.

“Not initially realising the power of Google and social media, Jo decided to invest a small amount in online promotion.

“This all worked very well and her business has been flourishing since.

“But after we posted the picture of the faggots dish, we got that Google mail saying they’d taken the content down.

“After going over their content policy, the only thing I could see was that it might have been thought of as obscene, profane, or offensive.

“We thought it might be for the word ‘faggots’ – which we felt was a bit ironic, as the café anyway is called Fanny’s.

“We were more amused by this more than anything else, but we’re finding it a little concerning now for what this means for businesses if words are policed.

Jo, who admits finding the row initially funny, has become infuriated by the decision, saying: “We were totally sidelined by it, to be honest.

“At first, we found it kind of funny. But ultimately we’re both furious by the decision.

“I don’t really associate the word ‘faggots’ with anything offensive, and yet someone has made a decision that’s affecting my livelihood.

“Thinking of all the nasty stuff that’s on the Internet, why are they wasting their time with Fanny’s Rest Stop Café?

“We’re just asking – what’s the world coming to?”

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Amid dire warnings over shortages of fuel, food and medicines under no deal, Michael Gove is expected to launch a publicity blitz to get businesses and the public ready for the looming prospect of a disorderly departure from the EU.

The campaign will begin as Westminster prepares for a string of extraordinary Commons clashes, as rebel MPs seek to block a no deal Brexit before Boris Johnson suspends parliament for more than a month.

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It will kick off with billboards and an improved government website, with TV and radio advertising to follow in the build up to the 31 October Brexit deadline.

Ministers have even ordered mugs and t-shirts with the ‘Get ready’ slogan, as proposals to use the infamous Vote Leave slogan, ‘Take back control’, were rejected for being too partisan, according to The Times.

Mr Gove, the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, will address MPs on Tuesday for the first regular update on the state of no-deal preparations.

The prime minister declared his plans for a publicity campaign during the Tory leadership contest, saying: “What we will do, is we will encourage people in a very positive way. From the get-go, we start saying, ‘Look, what do you need, what help do you need, what reassurances do you need?’

“And we make sure that everybody understands all the risks and eventualities, and it’s by doing that . . . in a really wholehearted and systematic and confident way, that you, of course, minimise any disruption that might take place in the unlikely eventuality of you having to come out on WTO terms.”

It comes as Mr Johnson pledged to “up the tempo” on talks with Brussels as he warned rebel MPs they would not be forgiven by the public if they thwart Brexit.

He told Sky News: “I’m afraid that the more our friends and partners think at the back of their minds that Brexit could be stopped, that the UK could be kept in by parliament, the less likely they are to give us the deal that we need.

“That’s why I really hope that MPs will allow the UK to do a deal and get ready for a no deal Brexit.

“Everyone can see what the risk is now if we frustrate that mandate. If we stop the UK from leaving on October 31, if that’s what parliamentarians end up doing, it will do lasting damage to people’s trust in politics.”

Thousands of people are expected to take to the streets over the weekend to protest the prime minister’s decision to suspend the sitting of the Commons for more than a month.

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The cup that showed up in the first airing of season eight’s episode four of GoT was actually a plain cup from the on-site food service referred to as craft services, CNBC reported. However, fans assuming it was a Starbucks drink lit up social media. 

Chief executive officer of marketing company Hollywood Branded Stacy Jones said that the approximate value of all the discussion amounted to $2.3billion in commercial value.

Critical mention, a PR subscriptions service, counted 10,627 mentions of Starbucks and ‘Game of Thrones’ across the internet and in television and radio broadcasts.

A coffee cup showing up in the latest episode of Game of Thrones has generated an estimated $2.3billion worth of free advertising for Starbucks, and it wasn’t even the company’s beverage. Daenerys Targaryen, played by Emilia Clarke, is pictured in the scene with the coffee cup in front of her on a table

In the latest In the episode titled ‘The Last of the Starks,’ a coffee cup is clearly visible on a table in front of Daenerys Targaryen, played by Emilia Clarke, just before the 17:40 mark. it was actually a plain cup from the on-site food service referred to as craft services, but fans assuming it was a Starbucks drink lit up social media

In the episode titled, ‘The Last of the Starks,’ a coffee cup is clearly visible on a table in front of Daenerys Targaryen, played by Emilia Clarke, just before the 17:40 mark. 

The conspicuously out-of-place cup, which can be seen for about two seconds, was spotted by ‘GoT’ fans shortly after the episode aired. 

As of Monday morning, it was on Twitter’s top 10 trending topics. Also trending on Twitter was the hashtag ‘Starkbucks,’ a nod to the unexpected blending of House Stark and the Seattle-based coffee chain.

Starbucks, the world’s biggest coffee chain, had its own take on the unexpected publicity in a series that is watched by more than 30 million people in the United States alone.

‘TBH we’re surprised she didn’t order a Dragon Drink,’ the company said on Twitter, referring to its summer menu addition of a bright pink fruit and coconut milk beverage that contains the tropical dragon fruit, also known as pitaya.

‘This is a once-in-a-lifetime collision of opportunity for Starbucks,’ Jones said.

‘But really, this is just the tip of the iceberg, because what isn’t being monitored or estimated is the word of mouth and social media on top of this.’

Social media mentions for Starbucks and ‘Game of Thrones,’ or some variation of a reference to the series, monitored by analytics company Talkwalker numbered in six-digit figures.

Within 48 hours of the show’s airing the topic had been mentioned 193,000 times on Twitter, in online forums, blogs and on news websites. 

Game Of Thrones fans joked Sansa Stark (played by Sophie Turner, at right) was the ‘coffee cup culprit’ as viewers shared an image of Turner holding a matching beverage on Wednesday, standing alongside Bella Ramsey, who played Lyanna Mormont

Fans joked on Wednesday that it was Sophie Turner, who plays Sansa Stark, who was responsible for the errant coffee cup making an appearance in the show.

Bella Ramsey, who played Lyanna Mormont, shared an image of herself standing beside Turner, who appeared to be holding a cup that matched the one spotted in front of Clarke in Sunday’s episode.

Dan Hill, CEO of Hill Impact, told CNBC that the actual value of the mishap is immeasurable. 

‘It’s impossible to put a real figure on how much free advertising Starbucks gets out of the situation, but it’s in a totally different category than product placement because it was accidental, which makes it more valuable,’ Hills said.

‘I know people assign a value to these things, “more than $1 million in public relations,” but I think it’s all hogwash — too hard to quantify. Plus this one will live on as a meme, so I guess you could say it’s a gift that will keep on giving.’

The eighth and final season of ‘Game of Thrones’ has broken records for HBO, with more than 38 million American watching the season premiere episode that was broadcast on April 14.

The Emmy-winning series, an adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ series of novels, comes to a conclusion on May 19.

In Sunday’s episode, the coffee cup was apparently later edited out for streaming versions, but as Hill said, even as the series draws to a close, the memes will live on the internet forever.

Chief executive officer of marketing company Hollywood Branded Stacy Jones said the approximate value of all the discussion amounted to $2.3 billion in commercial value. In Sunday’s episode, the coffee cup was apparently later edited out for streaming versions, but even as the series draws to a close, the memes will live on the internet forever.  The characters of Wildling Tormund Giantsbane (Kristofer Hivju), Jon Snow (Kitt Harrington) and Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) are shown in the scene with the coffee cup

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Finally, children won’t have to look at bloody or brutal games on the way to picking up their assault rifles. Thank god. We’re safe.

Last Saturday, a man opened fire on Walmart customers in El Paso, Texas, killing 22 and wounding 24 others. Hours later, another gunman killed 9 more in Dayton, Ohio. As has become frustratingly the norm in these occurrences, the finger of blame hasn’t been pointed at, say, the mass proliferation of guns in the country, or (in El Paso’s case particularly) the rise in hostile anti-immigration sentiment.

Not at all. Following the tragedies, President Trump placed the blame on mental illness and “gruesome and grisly video games”.

It looks like Walmart caught the memo.

Freelance writer Kenneth Shepard has been circulating literature internally released by Walmart. The letter, “Immediate Action: Remove Signing and Displays Referencing Violence,” instructs employees to take down displays showing violent movies, hunting videos and footage of violent video games.

Apparently Walmart is telling its employees to take down displays that show violent video games, specifically shooters, as well as movies and hunting videos. pic.twitter.com/2N3t4B86tf

— Kenneth Shepard (@shepardcdr) August 7, 2019

It also instructs staff to take down demo console units, noting Xbox and PS4 stands as those more likely to be offering violent play. It’s unclear how many stores are affected. However, an anonymous source told Vice that this is indeed official literature being distributed by the retailer.

“I immediately threw it away because it’s obviously a way to shift the blame from the real problem regarding the mass shootings. I didn’t get to confirm this yesterday but they aren’t doing anything about the sales of guns and ammo in the store.”

USA Today was able to confirm that (predictably) the store’s gun sale policy has not changed. Of course.

The games industry has its own problems with guns and violence. Publishers often fund arms manufacturers through licenses after all. But it’s hard to see a move to erase all mention of violence from a store – without withdrawing the sale of weapons themselves – as anything but an attempt to wash over the tragedy.

Guns are fine, says Walmart. Just don’t think about what they do.

The post Walmart ditches advertising for violent games, but guns are still in stock appeared first on VG247.

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McConnell’s camp was furious Thursday after Twitter temporarily suspended the @Team_Mitch account after it posted profane video of threats by a protester against the Kentucky senator.

The foul-mouthed protests occurred outside McConnell’s Louisville home, at a time when the powerful Senate leader is under pressure for blocking gun control legislation dealing with background checks and a potential assault weapons ban. 

Protesters held a weekend event outside his home, yelling out ‘murder turtle’ and holding signs labeling him ‘Massacre Mitch.’

McConnell had recently experienced a fall, shattering is shoulder. 

Scroll down for video 

McConnell is at home recovering from a fractured shoulder after a fall while the Senate is in recess.  Protesters want him to respond to the Dayton and El Paso shootings

Richard Walters, the chief of staff of the Republican National Committee, tweeted Thursday that the party and the Trump campaign stand with McConnell and the Senate campaign arm and that ‘any future ad $ either organization was planning to spend with @Twitter has been halted until they address this disgusting bias.’

It is unlikely the McConnell campaign would have spent much on Twitter ads in August. However, the Trump camp had ‘forecast’ between $300,000 and $500,000, according to the New York Post.

But McConnell campaign manager Kevin Golden complained that McConnell’s account should be blocked ‘for posting the video of real-world, violent threats made against Mitch McConnell,’ The Hill reported. 

A campaign source told DailyMail.com the block was still in effect as of Thursday. 

The Senate GOP’s campaign arm blasted the move and announced it was suspending Twitter ads – although it did not say how much it had planned to spend in August.

‘Twitter’s hostile actions toward Leader McConnell’s campaign are outrageous, and we will not tolerate it,’ National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesman Jesse Hunt said, Politico reported. ‘The NRSC will suspend all spending with Twitter until further notice. We will not spend our resources on a platform that silences conservatives,’ Hunt said.  

 Wrote Parker Hamilton Poling, executive director of the National Republican Campaign Committee: ‘I have directed the @NRCC to immediately halt all spending with @Twitter until they correct their inexcusable targeting of @Team_Mitch. We will stand firmly with our friends against anti-conservative bias.’

During the protests, local Black Lives Matter leader Chanelle Helm can be heard saying McConnell ‘should have broken his little raggedy, wrinkled-(expletive) neck,’ the Louisville Courier-Journal reported, identifying Helm.

A man then makes reference to a voodoo doll, prompting Helm to say: ‘Just stab the m—– f—– in the heart.’ 

McConnell’s camp aired profane video that included threats from protesters outside his home

Fox News also ran footage of the protest

Earlier this week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s re-election campaign team tweeted out this image of five tombstones, including one that read ‘R.I.P. Amy McGrath’ and had the death date listed as the 2020 elections. McGrath is is McConnell’s Democratic challenger for the election

LOUISVILLE, KY – AUGUST 06: Activists demonstrate outside the office of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on August 6, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. Protestors from Kentucky March For Our Lives held a candlelight vigil and called on McConnell to pass legislation expanding background checks for firearms purchases in the wake of shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio

Rep. John Yarmouth (D-KY) speaks to activists outside the office of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on August 6, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky

McConnell has embraced the ‘grim reaper’ label applied by his opponents

Twitter blocked a tweet and posted its policies online

A man then makes reference to a voodoo doll, prompting a protester to say: ‘Just stab the m—– f—– in the heart’

Twitter said the account was blocked because it ‘violated our violent threats policy, specifically threats involving physical safety.’  

 It was just the latest social media clash for the McConnell camp. 

 On Tuesday, McConnell’s campaign trolled Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez after she voiced fury at a viral image of a life-sized cutout of her being pawed at and choked by his supporters.

‘Team Mitch in no way condones any aggressive, suggestive, or demeaning act toward life-sized cardboard cutouts of any gender,’ McConnell campaign spokesman Kevin Golden said in a statement to DailyMail.com.

McConnell’s camp noted that staffers for then-President Barack Obama’s staffers behaved similarly with a cutout of Hillary Clinton 11 years ago, while other chalked outrage over the incident up to ­hypersensitivity. 

The picture was publicly posted by a vocal Mitch McConnell supporter from Kentucky who tagged his campaign team on Instagram. 

‘These young men are not campaign staff, they’re high schoolers and it’s incredible that the national media has sought to once again paint a target on their backs rather than report real, and significant news in our country,’  Golden said.   

On Monday, McConnell’s campaign team posted a photo of tombstones featuring the name of his Democratic opponent Amy McGrath.

His ‘Team Mitch’ re-election campaign team tweeted out the image taken at a campaign event at Fancy Farm, Kentucky over the weekend. 

The image featured five tombstones, including one that read ‘R.I.P. Amy McGrath’ and had the death date listed as the 2020 elections. 

Merrick Garland, who was President Obama’s final nominee to the Supreme Court but was upended due to McConnell, and Kentucky’s Democratic Secretary of State Alison Lundergarn Grimes also appeared on the tombstones. 

The final two featured ‘socialism’ and the ‘Green New Deal’.   

McGrath, McConnell’s Democratic challenger for a seat up in 2020, is a former Marine fighter pilot of Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran. 

She lashed out at the Republican after his campaign team posted the tombstone photo soon after the deadly massacre in El Paso, Texas. 

‘Hours after the El Paso shooting, Mitch McConnell proudly tweeted this photo. I find it so troubling that our politics have become so nasty and personal that the Senate Majority Leader thinks it’s appropriate to use imagery of the death of a political opponent (me) as messaging,’ she tweeted. 

‘It’s symptomatic of what is wrong with our system. I’m fine with the ordinary rough and tumble of politics, but this strikes me as beyond the pale.’

Democrats are demanding McConnell bring the Senate back into session to respond to the El Paso and Dayton massacres. 

Twitter’s action comes amid a new White House push to try to combat perceived bias from Big Tech. Politico reported Wednesday that White House aides are developing a possible executive order to deal with the issue, which Trump raised at a summit with conservative online personalities.

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After almost 30 years at the helm, the unassuming Tony Cullingham has sailed a small practical course in advertising into near-mythical status. What’s his secret – and what’s his future in a digital world?

If advertising is a form of sorcery, and many would have you believe it is, then magic is made just off the A411 in West Herts College. Tony Cullingham’s Watford Advertising Course has run almost entirely unchanged in curriculum since 1989, periodically destroying the confidence of young graduates who think they have talent only to build them up again into substantive, employable creatives.

Watford’s list of alumni reads like an illustrious who’s who of the industry; past students include Grey’s Caroline Pay, Mr President’s Jon Gledstone, Lucky Generals’ Danny Brooke-Taylor, CHI&Partners’ Yan Elliott, 18 Feet & Rising’s Anna Carpen and Saatchi & Saatchi’s Rob Potts. The Creative Circle’s chief executive, Jeremy Green, recalls an audience audibly gasping when a roll call of Cullingham’s protégés was read aloud at the organisation’s awards last year.

Roughly 15 students are taken on each year after completing a seemingly bizarre test, which, Pay remembers, reduced her to tears with questions such as ‘What does the future hold for jelly?’ and ‘Why should you never underestimate a handsome bear?’ They undertake five months of rigorous training before being let loose on placements in the agencies of London, in order to develop and showcase their skills at the heart of the job market.

In training Cullingham still uses the same analogue methods that he developed pre-internet. Briefs come in fast and ideas are dashed, hard. Work is more likely to end up at the bottom of a bin than dashed in red pen, and crying is par for the course at the beginning of each new school year.

“Tony has this great but intimidating line about working your brain harder than any formal education ever has,” recalled alumnus Paddy Fraser, creative director at CP&B.  “And he’s right. Our heads hurt like fuck for the first few months. The man rewires your brain. And does it whilst gleefully destroying your ideas daily.”

When it comes to the daily pitching rounds, Cullingham pins all the work to the board and tears down every idea that doesn’t meet the brief he set an hour ago. Out of 100 bright ideas, he’s happy to leave – on average – just one pinned to the board.

Sometimes he doesn’t leave any.

“The advertising world is tough,” Cullingham says. “The students have to produce a lot of ideas quickly and they have to be good. The ability to bounce back is important. I need students that can be rejected five or six times a day and go, ‘so what?’”

While screens proliferate modern agency life, the course’s director is a paper evangelist. Each cohort goes through stacks of the stuff due to Cullingham’s belief that creatives need to cut themselves off from all communication technology in order to generate good ideas.

“Creativity is best when you lock yourself away from your phone, so you’re not getting email alerts or texts from your friends,” he asserts. “Paper and a pen in your hand – that’s all you need.

“Technology should only come into being when your idea demands it. It’s also a good inspirer – when you’re not thinking you can use [the internet to] watch films and view art. But it creates lazy creative, and I think should be churning out energetic creatives that don’t rely on technology to develop ideas or look to be inspired in that way. Inspiration comes from life. That’s what they should be engaged with.”

This dedication to analogue borders the religious, and as time goes by and the course’s curriculum remains essentially unaffected by the course of time, it’s difficult to marry the digital workplaces most students will enter into with an education delivered on Post-It Notes and reams of A4.

Grappling with the new technological skills that marketers now require is a challenge most acutely felt by academic institutions, according to Douglas West, a professor of marketing at King’s College London, who believes training courses are “slightly on the back foot, in that the industry reacts much more quickly than we can react”.

“It takes us about a year to plan a course, test the market for a course and sort out the content, and it takes a second year to market that course and make sure that we have the appropriate people teaching the course,” he said, when giving oral evidence to Parliament’s Select Committee on Communications. “The course will start in the third year. So our planning cycle for MScs and degrees and so forth is, inevitably, on the back foot.”

Cullingham – who teaches the course himself with only the support of one part-time tutor – does not have to worry about finding teachers. There’s also no need for him to test the waters with new content because his course is underpinned by a set of immovable, almost ideological truths that he hopes will go unchanged in spite of digital’s entrenchment in marketing.

“I like to think every single one of my students finds work very easily and that’s because there’s still the demand out there for ideas people,” he says. “I find the demand for my students is greater than it’s ever been, because there are more channels out there, more companies ­and more creative leaders that want ideas people.”

Constantly talking up the value of the ethereal idea does, of course, tend to veer into idealism. And there are the pragmatists in advertising – usually of the suited variety – that deem his methods to be out-dated in a time of data analysis and multitudes of developing digital channels.

“I think some people see me as irrelevant,” Cullingham says, when asked what he reckons the London ad scene makes of him. “They think I’m old fashioned and traditional and I’m not very good with digital media and I’ve been doing the job for too long. Some think that I don’t have any liking for craft, which is completely rubbish.

“But some people see me as really relevant, and I’d rather be at two ends of the spectrum. Anything in between is not right for me – that’s average.”

Watford alumnus Ben Tollett, now Adam&Eve/DDB’s executive creative director, counters that while the methods in the classroom may be theoretical, “Watford students spend most of their time inside agencies like ours, learning on the job, working on live briefs”.

“So I don’t really see how the course could be any more bang up to date,” he says, “unless Tony has invented a time machine that he’s using to send his students to work in the Soho ad scene circa 1989.”

Looking ahead, the course of steady Watford’s future will be dependent on external factors. Cullingham has honestly admitted in the past that the scheme is receiving fewer applications than it used to, attributing the drop off to the rising costs of living in London. He’s also posed the idea of an industry funding system that would help those who struggle with the £4,000 fees and rent in the capital finance the course.

But now, his tone is one of unambiguous frustration.

“This year I have 12 students and I’m falling below my break even target, which is 16,” he says via email, a few months after first speaking to The Drum. “Kids just don’t have the dosh. Kids from Swansea, Glasgow and Hartlepool have even less dosh.

“I’ve always tried to recruit students from less privileged backgrounds [because] that’s what the industry needs and that is the audience I want to see in front of me. But that creates huge problems for me – I have some students this year who can’t afford the train fare to get to London for an agency workshop.”

Cullingham also believes plans to make his course more international are being scuppered by the Home Office’s student immigration policy.

“I actually recruited an Indian chap from Mumbai, a Russian and a Singaporean but they couldn’t get visas,” he recalls. “I think there’s a real problem at the moment in terms of my goals and trying to make the industry more diverse. I try and look worldwide for creative talent but that’s been constrained at the moment.”

The Creative Circle’s plans to launch a free ad school have “put the worry worms” in the “Watford head” of the industry veteran. He’s been debating running a part-time option or a Skype course in order to adapt to today’s economic climate.

For the first time in nearly 30 years, Cullingham has found himself in an “adapt or die” situation.

Yet he almost certainly has the backing to do more than lessen the offering’s intensiveness, which many believe is the key to the course’s success; he has a venerable sweet shop of the UK’s finest creative talent to tap up, should he want to.

Perhaps Cullingham’s problem is he feels more comfortable promoting his alumni than he does himself. His suggested angle for this very article was about the talent he has worked with – not his role in engineering their success – and he doesn’t even keep a headshot on file.

“Tony is one of the most under-appreciated overachievers in the industry,” according to Stuart Harkness, former pupil and 72&Sunny’s executive creative director in Amsterdam. And while the tutor remains modest regarding his obvious talent as an educator, he doesn’t hold back when reeling off the list of students he’s proud of.

So in some way, it’s up to the industry to rally behind and save Watford. But if it doesn’t, Cullingham has an immaculately droll plan B.

“If all else fails I’ll run a clown school,” he says. “Apparently, there’s a worldwide shortage of clowns.”

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