Image caption
Prince Mohammed bin Salman, right, warned against trying to appease Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Iran has accused the Saudi crown prince of being « immature » after he described the Iranian Supreme Leader as the Hitler of the Middle East.
In a war of words between the two regional rivals, Iran’s foreign ministry said Prince Mohammed bin Salman should « ponder the fate » of regional dictators.
The prince, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, has taken a hard line on Iran.
« We learned from Europe that appeasement doesn’t work. We don’t want the new Hitler in Iran to repeat what happened in Europe in the Middle East, » he said, referring to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
His remarks drew a strong response from Tehran.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi accused the « adventurist » crown prince of « immature, inconsiderate, and baseless remarks and behaviour », the semi-official Isna news agency reported.
« I strongly advise him to think and ponder upon the fate of the famous dictators of the region in the past few years now that he is thinking of considering their policies and behaviour as a role model, » he said.
Media captionWill Saudi Arabia go to war with Iran?
Relations between the two powers have become increasingly strained.
Saudi Arabia has been widely blamed for exacerbating Yemen’s humanitarian crisis by imposing a blockade on the country.
Saudi Arabia has also warned against Iran’s growing influence in Iraq, where its proxy militias have played a key role in defeating so-called Islamic State, and in Syria, where it has militarily helped President Bashar al-Assad gain the upper hand in the civil war.
Media captionFive things about Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
Both countries have also accused one another of trying to destabilise Lebanon, where the pro-Saudi prime minister leads a coalition including the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement.
The prime minister, Saad Hariri, recently announced – then suspended – his resignation, accusing Iran and Hezbollah of sowing strife, while Iran accused Saudi Arabia of engineering the crisis.
PARIS — Police in Paris say a tiger escaped from a circus in the city and roamed the streets of the French capital for « some time » before being killed.
Police said that the big cat was « neutralized » by a staff member from the circus near a bridge over the River Seine, about 1.24 miles from the Eiffel Tower.
Police authorities tweeted « all danger is over » alongside a tiger emoticon.
A Paris police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the tiger had been loose for « some time » Friday but said there had been no reported injuries or casualties.
Residents in the 15th district where the tiger was shot circulated photos of the beast’s limp corpse on social media, many angry that it had been killed.
Michael Flynn and his son, Michael G. Flynn, arrived at Trump Tower in New York on Nov. 17, 2016. (Carolyn Kaster/AP)
The juiciest possible meaning of a decision by Michael Flynn’s legal team to cut off communication with President Trump’s team is that Flynn, the former White House national security adviser, is about to roll over and provide incriminating information about Trump or members of his inner circle to special counsel Robert S. Mueller III.
The New York Times reported on Thursday that “the notification led Mr. Trump’s lawyers to believe that Mr. Flynn — who, along with his son, is seen as having significant criminal exposure — has, at the least, begun discussions with Mr. Mueller about cooperating.” That’s a logical conclusion because, as the Times’s Michael S. Schmidt, Matt Apuzzo and Maggie Haberman explained, “it is unethical for lawyers to work together when one client is cooperating with prosecutors and another is still under investigation.”
Norman Eisen — President Barack Obama’s White House ethics czar, now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution — tweeted that personal experience with Mueller leads him to believe that Flynn could implicate Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner or even the president himself.
I negotiated a cooperation deal for a target with Mueller’s office when he was US Atty and lemme tell ya, he’s not gonna give one to Flynn unless he implicates someone up the ladder. That means Kushner, Don Jr., or Big Daddy. They are all having indigestion tonight. https://t.co/8SNzelLuBp
One more thing I learned about Mueller. When I was at State he was at FBI we worked together on an investigation, he loves surprises. Kushner, Donnie Jr. and the rest of the Trump crime family better keep their overnight bags handy. Pack shoes with no laces guys. https://t.co/oYOh9yIWBt
Trump should be nervous, but he need not hit the panic button yet. Here’s why:
As The Washington Post’s Carol D. Leonnig and Rosalind S. Helderman pointed out in their report on Flynn’s move, “even if Flynn has begun discussions with Mueller’s office, there is no guarantee he will ultimately reach a deal with prosecutors.” Mueller might demand more information than Flynn is willing to give or Flynn’s knowledge might prove unworthy of favorable treatment by Mueller. It’s hard to know whether a deal involving Flynn could hurt Trump when we don’t know whether there will be a deal at all.
Could Flynn merely offer incriminating information about himself, in an effort to protect his son? Not likely, said Jeffrey S. Jacobovitz, a partner at Arnall Golden Gregory in Washington who specializes in white-collar criminal defense.
“I don’t think Mueller would offer him a deal, if that were the case,” Jacobovitz told me. “I think it would have to be some higher-ups that Flynn would be able to provide information about.”
Someone higher up does not necessarily mean the president or a member of his family, however. An alternative target: Paul Manafort, the former Trump campaign chairman, against whom Mueller already has secured an indictment.
“That would be valuable because Manafort, at this point, is still going to trial,” Jacobovitz said, adding that Mueller “would take all the help he can get” in that case.
Trump has effectively turned his back on Manafort. On the day Mueller announced charges against the man who once headed Trump’s campaign, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters that the indictment “has nothing to do with the president, has nothing to do with the president’s campaign or campaign activity.”
Don’t expect the president to feel too bad if the result of Flynn’s possible cooperation with Mueller is more trouble for Manafort.
It also is possible that Flynn could spill damaging information about Trump that is unrelated to collusion with Russia.
“It could be related to obstruction,” Jacobovitz told me, pointing to James B. Comey’s claim that Trump asked the then-director of the FBI to drop its investigation of Flynn.
That would be bad for the president, but it would not indicate that his campaign aided Russia’s effort to meddle in the presidential election. It would not, in other words, undermine the validity of Trump’s victory, which seems to be Trump’s primary concern about Mueller’s probe.
With the catchy music and Lala Land-like lively dance, Marketing for a moment thought it’s another in-flight safety video, the latest battleground where airlines try hard to grab attention.
The answer is, because it is a video launched by Hong Kong Airlines earlier this week to celebrate its recent opening of the new VIP Lounge Club Autus and A350 Aircraft, as well as promoting its celebration sale.
From what we can see, the 11-year-old company is further extending its social media narrative to build a young, lively and cool identity, one which differentiates from the established Cathay Pacific, across all channels – and apparently nothing is cooler than dancing on the aircraft.
“We’re being talked about again as an armed forces,” he said as a few club members lingered outside. “We’re really winning. We know how to win. But we have to let you win. They weren’t letting you win before.”
He continued extolling the victories during a second event at a Coast Guard station in Riviera Beach. The first lady, Melania Trump, joined him to hand out sandwiches in the station’s mess hall. The first couple had also provided assortments of fruit, muffins and cookies to the service members, some of whom were about to go out on patrol.
Mr. Trump, the master marketer, spoke of the Coast Guard in terms few presidents have used. “I think that there is no brand — of any kind, I’m not just talking about a military branch — that has gone up more than the Coast Guard,” Mr. Trump told the service members, citing what he described as the organization’s successful response to Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria this year. “Incredible people, you’ve done an incredible job, and I love coming here and doing this for you today.”
He noted orders for new military equipment, including Coast Guard cutters, Navy ships and Air Force planes, including one that is “almost like an invisible fighter.”
The president then returned to old holiday habits, leaving to spend a few hours at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach before returning to Mar-a-Lago, the club he owns, in an unusual fall rain.
The menu was to include traditional fare — turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes with marshmallows — as well as local produce, red snapper, Florida stone crab and a variety of baked goods, cakes and pies, according to a summary provided by Stephanie Grisham, a spokeswoman for the first lady.
Mr. Trump’s time at Mar-a-Lago and his surrounding golf courses was not, the White House told reporters, merely leisure, but was filled with meetings and phone calls, a schedule that Mr. Trump emphasized on Twitter on Wednesday.
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“Will be having meetings and working the phones from the Winter White House in Florida (Mar-a-Lago),” he wrote on Twitter before spending a few hours at his West Palm Beach golf course. Officials declined to say with whom the president spoke.
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In the years since Mr. Trump renovated Mar-a-Lago, the former estate of the cereal company heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post, into an upscale club and resort, he has relished spending parts of the holiday season there, said Anthony P. Senecal, Mr. Trump’s former butler, who worked at the resort for more than 20 years. This visit was the president’s first to the club since April.
“He’s coming home,” Mr. Senecal said in an interview. “He’s going to be overjoyed that he’s at Mar-a-Lago, that he’s near the golf course, that he’s going to see a lot of friends that he hasn’t seen in a great while.”
While the living room Christmas tree and menorah are usually not up yet, the week of Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the Mar-a-Lago holiday season, after the club’s annual summer closing for repairs and historic restoration, Mr. Senecal said.
Families congregate to enjoy the traditional Thanksgiving fare, and Mr. Trump generally circles the room, which is decorated with seasonal flowers, to greet the club members, who pay thousands of dollars for membership. The president, Mr. Senecal recalled, prefers white turkey meat, mashed potatoes and gravy, and usually his signature two scoops of vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce.
“Thanksgiving is a joyous time,” said Mr. Senecal, who said he had declined a Thanksgiving invitation this year because of medical issues. (Last year, Mr. Trump called Mr. Senecal “obviously a very troubled man” after the discovery of Facebook posts in which Mr. Senecal had called for the execution of Barack Obama.) “There’s never been any other place. Wouldn’t know what to compare it to.”
It is unclear how different the social season at the club will be this year, especially after several charities canceled events over the president’s response to the racially tinged violence in Charlottesville, Va., according to The Washington Post. But Peter Brock, a local real estate developer and a member of the club who has spent parts of the holiday season there in the past, said Mr. Trump’s ascendancy to the presidency had only elevated his star presence on the grounds.
“The bottom line is, he is always enthusiastic about coming home and seeing what he calls his people,” Mr. Brock said. “And for the most part, we are his people.”
But holiday or not, Mr. Trump is not one to pass up an opportunity to deliver a jab. In 2013, he offered these greetings on Twitter: “Happy Thanksgiving to all — even the haters and losers!” And on Thursday, he took aim at some of his favorite targets: the reporters trailing him for the duration of his Florida stay.
“I’ll ask the press to get out, and I’ll say, ‘You’re fired,’” Mr. Trump said as reporters were ushered out of the Mar-a-Lago teleconference. “And, by the way, media, happy Thanksgiving, I must say.”
While the Navy did not formally give up hope of finding the crew, relatives began referring to their loved ones in the past tense. If the sailors perished, it would be the deadliest submarine catastrophe since the sinking of the Kursk — a Russian vessel brought down by a misfired weapon in 2000 — and the Argentine military’s largest loss of life since the Falklands War of 1982.
The disappearance and likely loss of the vessel, the San Juan, could turn out to be the greatest national tragedy to unfold under President Mauricio Macri, who came into office nearly two years ago vowing to invest in Argentina’s underfunded armed forces.
Even before the latest news, frustration at Mr. Macri had been mounting.
“Instead of spending on other matters, why don’t you spend on something truly important, like the life of all our relatives,” an unidentified woman asked Mr. Macri on Monday when he traveled to the resort city of Mar del Plata, according to a video of the meeting that was posted online.
Using submarines that have been in commission since the early 1980s “is taking a gamble on the life of our people,” she said.
Argentina has spent less than several of its neighbors on defense since the end of military rule in 1983. Despite Mr. Macri’s promises, the effort to repair and replace the country’s aging planes and ships is in a nascent phase.
Last year, Argentina spent about 1 percent of its gross domestic product on the military, lagging behind neighbors like Chile, which spent 1.9 percent, and Brazil, which spent 1.3 percent, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
“Argentina’s armed forces began to atrophy after the end of the military rule,” said Dan Wasserbly, the Americas editor of IHS Jane’s, a defense-industry publication. “It’s been a pretty long-running trend where they have talked about investing, adding resources and building up the readiness of a once-formidable military, but they haven’t been able to do that.”
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The San Juan, a German-made diesel-electric vessel, was built in 1983 and first put into commission in 1985. It was put back into service in 2014 after a retrofit, and had been scheduled to return on Sunday to its home base at Mar del Plata, about 250 miles south of Buenos Aires.
Even as a multinational search effort combed the seas last weekend, braving stormy weather and 22-foot waves, analysts at the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization in Vienna began considering whether the steady stream of information from monitors that track sound and earth movements across the world may have picked up clues about the missing vessel.
The organization, which is usually focused on picking up signs of nuclear tests, undertook the analysis on its own initiative.
Our hydroacoustic network detected an unusual signal near the last known position of #missing San Juan #submarine. The signal from an underwater impulsive event was detected 15 Nov 13:51 GMT, Lat -46.12 deg; Long: -59.69 deg. Details data shared with Argentinian authorities. pic.twitter.com/SU5XHiICb4
Mario Zampolli, a hydroacoustic engineer at the organization, said he and his colleagues began poring over data from the two nearest sensors to the search area over the weekend. Picking up evidence of a relatively small explosion in the ocean requires manual analysis of data and custom-designed software, Mr. Zampolli said in an interview.
“We try to determine that it doesn’t come from a natural event such as volcanic activities, whales or an earthquake,” he said. The organization shared its findings with the Argentine ambassador in Vienna on Thursday, after concluding that it was “similar to other water explosions observed previously.”
That finding was broadly in line with an assessment the United States shared with Argentina on Tuesday night.
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Cmdr. Erik Reynolds, a spokesman for the United States Navy, said American analysts had ascertained that a sound registered in the ocean off the coast of Patagonia was a “hydroacoustic anomaly” that had not been caused by natural events.
“That was not a natural sound you hear in an ocean environment,” he said.
After piecing the two assessments together, and finding that they both pointed to an explosion in the area where the submarine was known to have been, Argentine military officials decided to break the news to relatives. Minutes later, a forlorn-looking navy spokesman, Capt. Enrique Balbi, addressed reporters.
Captain Balbi said there was no evidence that a battery malfunction, which the captain of the San Juan reported shortly before the submarine went silent on Nov. 15, was related to the explosion. The Argentine Navy disclosed the battery problems, which it characterized as a routine mishap, on Monday.
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That piece of sobering news soured the mood here after a weekend that had seemed more hopeful. On Saturday, Argentina’s defense minister said there were records of satellite phone calls placed from the submarine that day, suggesting the crew was alive. The following day, however, with little explanation, the Navy had to acknowledge that no such calls were tracked.
Argentine and outside experts have said that even if the San Juan was intact, its crew would probably have only enough oxygen to survive seven to 10 days.
On Thursday, as a sunny morning gave way to a chilly, cloudy afternoon, about 25 people gathered outside the fence of the naval base to pray a rosary. A few friends and relatives of crew members said they were still holding on to a glimmer of hope. But for most, grief was starting to take hold.
“He was my first love,” said Jesica Gopar, the wife of a crew member, Fernando Santilli. “If he can somehow hear me out there, all I can say is I love him and that his son will have a bright future because we have many people who are helping us.”
Ms. Gopar said she had largely stayed away from the base in recent days. But on Thursday she woke up “with the feeling that something had happened.” So she drew up a sign to honor Mr. Santilli and his comrades and headed to the base to add it to the messages of hope and flags pinned up on the outer fence.
“I came to put up a sign, only to find out I am a widow,” Ms. Gopar said.
Correction: November 23, 2017
An earlier version of this article misidentified the agency that supplied corroborating information about an explosion near an Argentine submarine. It was the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization, not the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Lawyers for Mr. Flynn and Mr. Trump declined to comment. The four people briefed on the matter spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly.
A deal with Mr. Flynn would give Mr. Mueller a behind-the-scenes look at the Trump campaign and the early tumultuous weeks of the administration. Mr. Flynn was an early and important adviser to Mr. Trump, an architect of Mr. Trump’s populist “America first” platform and an advocate of closer ties with Russia.
His ties to Russia predated the campaign — he sat with President Vladimir V. Putin at a 2015 event in Moscow — and he was a point person on the transition team for dealing with Russia.
The White House had been bracing for charges against Mr. Flynn in recent weeks, particularly after charges were filed against three other former Trump associates: Paul Manafort, his campaign chairman; Rick Gates, a campaign aide; and George Papadopoulos, a foreign policy adviser.
But none of those men match Mr. Flynn in stature, or in his significance to Mr. Trump. A retired three-star general, Mr. Flynn was an early supporter of Mr. Trump’s and a valued surrogate for a candidate who had no foreign policy experience. Mr. Trump named him national security adviser, he said, to help “restore America’s leadership position in the world.”
Among the interactions that Mr. Mueller is investigating is a private meeting that Mr. Flynn had with the Russian ambassador and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, during the presidential transition. In the past year, it has been revealed that people with ties to Russia repeatedly sought to meet with Trump campaign officials, sometimes dangling the promise of compromising information on Mrs. Clinton.
Mr. Flynn is regarded as loyal to Mr. Trump, but he has in recent weeks expressed serious concerns to friends that prosecutors will bring charges against his son, Michael Flynn Jr., who served as his father’s chief of staff and was a part of several financial deals involving the elder Mr. Flynn that Mr. Mueller is scrutinizing.
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The White House has said that neither Mr. Flynn nor other former aides have incriminating information to provide about Mr. Trump. “He likes General Flynn personally, but understands that they have their own path with the special counsel,” a White House lawyer, Ty Cobb, said in an interview last month with The New York Times. “I think he would be sad for them, as a friend and a former colleague, if the process results in punishment or indictments. But to the extent that that happens, that’s beyond his control.”
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Mr. Flynn was supposed to have been the cornerstone of Mr. Trump’s national security team. Instead, he was forced out after a month in office over his conversations with the Russian ambassador, Sergey I. Kislyak. Mr. Flynn’s handling of those conversations fueled suspicion that people around Mr. Trump had concealed their dealings with Russians, worsening a controversy that has hung over the president’s first year in office.
Four days after Mr. Trump was sworn in, the F.B.I. interviewed Mr. Flynn at the White House about his calls with the ambassador. American intelligence and law enforcement agencies became so concerned about Mr. Flynn’s conversations and false statements about them to Vice President Mike Pence that the acting attorney general, Sally Q. Yates, warned the White House that Mr. Flynn might be compromised.
The conversations with the Russian ambassador that led to Mr. Flynn’s undoing took place during the presidential transition. When questions about them surfaced, Mr. Flynn told Mr. Pence that they had exchanged only holiday greetings — the conversations happened in late December, around the time that the Obama administration was announcing sanctions against Russia.
While Mr. Pence and White House press officers repeated the holiday-greetings claim publicly, Mr. Flynn and the ambassador had in fact discussed the sanctions. That invited the idea that the incoming administration was trying to undermine the departing president and curry favor with Moscow.
Mr. Trump sought Mr. Flynn’s resignation only after news broke that Mr. Flynn had been interviewed by F.B.I. agents and that Ms. Yates had warned the White House that his false statements could make him vulnerable to Russian blackmail.
Since then, Mr. Flynn’s legal problems have grown. It was revealed that he failed to list payments from Russia-linked entities on financial disclosure forms. He did not mention a paid speech he gave in Moscow, as well as other payments from companies linked to Russia.
The former F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, has testified before Congress that Mr. Trump asked him to end the government’s investigation into Mr. Flynn in a one-on-one meeting in the Oval Office the day after Mr. Flynn was fired. Mr. Trump’s request caused great concern for Mr. Comey, who immediately wrote a memo about his meeting with the president.
And investigators working for Mr. Mueller have questioned witnesses about whether Mr. Flynn was secretly paid by the Turkish government during the presidential campaign. Mr. Flynn belatedly disclosed, after leaving the White House, that the Turkish government had paid him more than $500,000.
Mr. Flynn’s firing was, in some ways, the first domino that set off a cascade of problems for Mr. Trump. After the president ousted Mr. Comey, news surfaced that the president had requested an end to the Flynn inquiry, a revelation that led to Mr. Mueller’s appointment. That, in turn, raised the profile of an investigation that the president had tried mightily to contain.
Here Marketing Week looks at some of the core issues that brands should consider around video marketing. Jump to:
Creating a video marketing strategy
Choosing a video format
Choosing the right screen size
Autoplay and no sound
Measuring video
Video on a budget
Creating a video marketing strategy
Devising an effective video strategy is no mean feat. Although the barriers to entry are lower for brands compared to other media channels such as TV or cinema, marketers must think carefully about the type of video content they produce, the audience it is aimed at and the platforms on which it is shared.
Although marketers can create and publish videos with relative ease, they should aim to take a scientific approach to their video strategy. For publisher Time Inc that means looking at the data rather than doing things on a hunch.
The publisher has also experimented with a range of different video formats across its brands. Look magazine, for example, creates tutorials and has used shoppable Facebook Live videos to help monetise partnerships with brands like Asos and Benefit Cosmetics.
Creating a recurring series of content is another way to build audiences. For example, one video in the #MumWins series created by Time Inc’s Good to Know site attracted 49 million views on Facebook.
From a 15-minute series to six-second Snapchat clips, the sheer volume of video formats and channels available means marketers need to carefully consider how video works for their specific brand. These are the options:
Long-form video
As the home of long-form video content, YouTube is a favourite with brands looking to break the conventions of TV schedules and go direct to consumers. Buzzfeed attracts seven billion global views each month so is firmly of the belief digital shows can break through at scale. In fact, one in six people in the UK currently subscribes to one of BuzzFeed’s Tasty food channels on YouTube.
Beauty brand Benefit, meanwhile, opts for YouTube when it wants to generate the mass awareness needed to promote a new product. However, quantity doesn’t beat quality. Head of digital marketing for Benefit UK and Ireland, Michelle Stoodley, says the brand attempted to do one video a week on YouTube last year but didn’t quite appreciate the work involved, the time needed and the budgets so now believes less is more.
Short-form video
Whether it’s a six-second Snapchat clip or a polished, high-end Instagram Stories campaign, marketers are increasingly adding short-form video to their media mix. This means marketers are experimenting with how to use the screen space to make a real impact.
The square format of Instagram and the vertical nature of Snapchat can both present a challenge when it comes to figuring out assets, however. But despite the issues with viewability and impact, Mondelez’s digital and social media manager, Pollyanna Ward says it has taught the brand that when it comes to creative, there is no one-size-fits-all approach, which is a valuable lesson.
User-generated content
Content created by brand fans, influencers and staff has been a big success for Benefit. To coincide with the roll-out of its mascara Roller Lash in 2015, Benefit created a montage video featuring user-generated content (UGC) posted by consumers.
It gets store-based employees involved in creating tutorials, which the brand says consumers respond well to.
Livestreaming is currently being tried, tested and launched via various platforms. Twitter announced its plans for a 24/7 live video stream in April, Facebook and YouTube continue to try and grow their live offering and other players in the market are proving their worth.
Brands can advertise against live video streams to reach a desired audience but increasingly it’s a way for brands to create their own live content.
Aside from creating this content with Google, Facebook and Twitter, other platforms are emerging that offer the tools to take control and brand a video experience rather than having to use the existing platforms and all that comes with them.
One example is Telefónica’s livestreaming tool Xtreamr, which is designed to help brands, content producers and TV broadcasters create interactive live experiences for audiences via a web tool and mobile app.
Stories
Airbnb used Instagram Stories to build awareness of its Airbnb Experiences offer.
Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook all offer a ‘stories’ function on their sites. Stories originated with Snapchat in 2013 and allows users of the social media platform to play a series of ‘snaps’ or videos in one sequence. Instagram and Facebook followed suit in 2016 and 2017 with their own not dissimilar versions of the feature.
A report in TechCrunch found that view counts on Snapchat Stories dropped by 15-40% after the launch of Instagram Stories, and posting volume declined as well so there is much competition in this area. These functions are now open to brands to create their own stories and Instagram seems to be stealing a lot of the limelight.
Brands need to ensure they are thinking about creating content specifically for screen size to make sure it is relevant to the device, particularly mobile.
Teads’ research, conducted with Ipsos, shows that mobile-optimised square video formats drive 66% more completed views than horizontal creative when viewed on mobile devices.
It also shows that outstream vertical and square formats are the least intrusive of all mobile ads, driving a 39% enhancement in user experience. Vertical formats achieve 83% higher ad recall than the horizontal format, with square ads achieving 60% better ad recall.
Autoplay and a lack of sound
It’s no longer a viable option for brands to simply repurpose TV ads for use on other channels. A 30-second TV ad might work OK as a pre-roll but its message could be lost if it is autoplayed in a news feed or on social media.
Understanding users’ context is also key. This means thinking about how a video is being viewed, which is often without sound. While it does present a challenge it also gives marketers the opportunity to be creative and design content specifically without sound.
Measuring video
Many marketers are scratching their heads when it comes to understanding how to successfully measure video effectiveness, with many relying too heavily on completion rate.
Measurement is still not sophisticated, with some suggesting the fact Facebook and Google partner with Nielsen means the standard ad recall and impact on perception video metrics are too much like above-the-line measures so not fit for purpose.
Collecting data like impressions, video views or average completion rates does not in itself prove that customers or prospects have remembered, enjoyed, felt persuaded by or done anything different because of a branded video.
Instead marketers should be asking questions around whether video views lead to brand or product advocacy, argues Andre van Loon, research and insight director at We Are Social, as well as if they were successful in reinforcing existing attitudes or behaviours, or creating new ones, and if a brand’s videos impacted on consumers’ purchase intentions or increased sales.
Brands need to make sure they achieve the right look and feel, while at the same time making a big impact. Here are some straightforward tips to make the most of a small budget when making video:
Plan your video
It is easy for brands to dive straight into filming without any consideration of the video’s message, timing or desired outcome. Planning ahead means the project will be less likely to go over budget, helping brands avoid expensive reshoots and wasted investment.
Brands should firstly define their goals and what they want the video to achieve. Clarity on the video’s key messages will ensure marketers stay on track. Each piece of video content should also include a call to action, which acts as an instruction for the viewer and helps to provoke an immediate response. If the goal is to drive traffic to a website or sign people up to a newsletter, then define this at the outset and build a call to action into the video that looks to achieve this.
Be resourceful with video equipment
Be it your phone or a professional DSLR camera, making video has never been more democratised, with influencers shooting quality video straight from their bedrooms with little kit or money.
Re-use old video
Re-editing past video footage is a cost-effective method of getting more bang for your buck – don’t avoid using footage just because it is old. Videos can also be freshened up with new music and by working with the frames from a different angle to produce something new.
Avoid video pitfalls
Some brands create a piece of video content just for the sake of it, while others take a one-size-fits-all approach, placing the same video on every social media platform.
To avoid these problems, make video social media ready. In practice, this means personalising video for the chosen social media platform and understanding each channel.
It’s also important to identify each social media platform’s optimal video format. The horizontal video aspect ratio that was once the gold standard for social and online video has been proven less effective in engagement than vertical and square videos, especially thanks to Snapchat.
TOKYO — Eight people have been rescued and are in “good condition” after a U.S. Navy transporter plane carrying 11 crew and passengers crashed into the Pacific Ocean off Japan, the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet said Wednesday.
The search for the remaining three people is continuing.
This is the latest accident to befall the 7th Fleet, which is based in the Japanese port of Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, and has endured multiple collisions at sea this year, including two involving guided-missile destroyers that left 17 sailors dead.
The C2-A Greyhound aircraft was on a routine flight from Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in southern Japan to the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier, which is in the Philippine Sea on exercises with Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force.
It crashed at 2:45 p.m. local time Wednesday, the 7th Fleet said in a statement. The cause of the crash was not immediately known and an investigation would be carried out, it said.
The eight who were rescued were transferred to the Reagan for medical evaluation. They were later described by the Navy to be in “good condition.”
The Reagan crew and Japanese forces were conducting search and rescue operations Wednesday afternoon and trying to recover the remaining crew and passengers. “We are monitoring the situation. Prayers for all involved,” wrote President Trump in a Twitter post.
“The Maritime Self-Defense Force is currently searching with U.S. forces,” Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said, according to public broadcaster NHK. “We received information from U.S. Forces that the cause is possibly engine malfunction.”
Onodera voiced concern about the frequency of aircraft accidents involving U.S. forces, saying he would ask the American military to take more care with safety. This was an apparent reference to last month’s crash on Okinawa, when a transport helicopter caught fire during a training flight and crashed just 300 yards from houses. No one was injured.
The C-2 is a twin-engine cargo plane designed to transport people and supplies to and from aircraft carriers. It crashed 93 miles northwest of Okinotori island, about halfway between Okinawa and Guam, according to the Okinawa Defense Bureau.
The 7th Fleet has been carrying out exercises linked to the recent rise in tensions with North Korea. This month, for the first time in a decade, it carried out a three-carrier strike exercise in the sea between Japan and the Korean Peninsula — a show of force that North Korea has decried as warmongering.
Wednesday’s crash is the latest in a string of accidents to befall the 7th Fleet this year.
Ten were killed when the USS John S. McCain collided with an oil tanker near Singapore in August, and seven died when the USS Fitzgerald ran into a much heavier container ship off the coast of Japan in June.
The month before, the guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Champlain collided with a South Korean fishing vessel off the Korean Peninsula and the guided-missile cruiser USS Antietam ran aground in Tokyo Bay in January.
Most recently, a Japanese tug lost propulsion and drifted into the USS Benfold, another guided-missile destroyer, during a towing exercise just last week. No one was injured on either vessel and Benfold sustained minimal damage, the 7th Fleet said in a statement on Nov. 18.
The 7th Fleet has about 50 to 70 ships assigned to it and is responsible for an area that spans 36 maritime countries and 48 million square miles in the Pacific and Indian oceans, according to the Navy.
The admiral in charge was removed from his position after his commanders lost confidence in his ability to lead and the Navy’s top admiral ordered a fleetwide review of seamanship and training in the Pacific after the McCain collision.
A survey of sailors on the USS Shiloh, a cruiser, released last month painted a damning picture of life in the 7th Fleet, where sailors say they are overworked and undertrained.
“I just pray we never have to shoot down a missile from North Korea,” one sailor lamented, according to the Navy Times, “because then our ineffectiveness will really show.”
The crew members described dysfunction from the top, suicidal thoughts, exhaustion, despair and concern that the Shiloh was being pushed to sail while vital repairs remained incomplete, the paper reported.
President Trump began the day before Thanksgiving on Twitter, calling out those who he claims have not, in fact, given him their proper thanks.
His target, again: LaVar Ball, who Trump had previously called “very ungrateful” for the president’s help in resolving a shoplifting charge in China for his son, LiAngelo, and two other University of California at Los Angeles basketball players.
It had been nearly two full days since Trump last mentioned the elder Ball by name — and in the intervening hours, Ball had been on CNN, saying that he had nothing to be thankful for when it came to his son and his president.
“How’d he help? If he helped, I would say thank you,” Ball told CNN.
As for who had helped free LiAngelo Ball from China, the president said Wednesday: “IT WAS ME.”
It wasn’t the White House, it wasn’t the State Department, it wasn’t father LaVar’s so-called people on the ground in China that got his son out of a long term prison sentence – IT WAS ME. Too bad! LaVar is just a poor man’s version of Don King, but without the hair. Just think..
…LaVar, you could have spent the next 5 to 10 years during Thanksgiving with your son in China, but no NBA contract to support you. But remember LaVar, shoplifting is NOT a little thing. It’s a really big deal, especially in China. Ungrateful fool!
LiAngelo Ball and two other UCLA men’s basketball players were arrested for shoplifting while in Hangzhou for a tournament. They returned to the United States last week and were summarily suspended by their team.
“You’re welcome,” Trump tweeted at the trio upon their return to the United States, urging Ball, Cody Riley and Jalen Hill to “HAVE A GREAT LIFE!” He also suggested that they “give a big Thank You to President Xi Jinping of China.”
Trump said last week that he had personally intervened in the case with his Chinese counterpart, asking Xi to help resolve the case.
When the president returned from a 12-day trip through Asia, he wrote on Twitter: “Do you think the three UCLA Basketball Players will say thank you to President Trump? They were headed for 10 years in jail!”
Enter LaVar Ball, who was asked by ESPN about Trump’s role in securing his son’s release.
“Who?” Ball said. “What was he over there for? Don’t tell me nothing. Everybody wants to make it seem like he helped me out.”
Trump fumed, tweeting Sunday: “I should have left them in jail!” (The White House later said Trump wasn’t serious, calling it “a rhetorical response to a criticism by the father.”)
But the following night, the outspoken Ball went on CNN and took aim at the president.
“You heard what he tweeted,” he told anchor Chris Cuomo. “He tweeted that cause he’s mad at me, ‘I should have left their asses in jail.’”
Ball said insisted that Trump has overstated his role in freeing the three Americans and added that if he would thank anyone, it would be Xi.
But, he added: “I don’t have to go around saying thank you to everybody.”
The State Department typically takes the lead on cases involving U.S. citizens who are arrested abroad, and the U.S. Embassy in Beijing was aware of the case, officials said.
Trump raised the arrests during a two-day state visit to Beijing, arriving after the three freshman players were accused of stealing sunglasses from a Louis Vuitton store next to the team’s hotel.
“The basketball players, by the way — I know a lot of people are asking — I will tell you, when I heard about it two days ago, I had a great conversation with President Xi,” Trump said after boarding Air Force One in Manila at the conclusion his Asia trip. “What they did was unfortunate. You know, you’re talking about very long prison sentences. [The Chinese] do not play games.”
When asked specifically whether Xi was helping to resolve the matter, Trump said last week: “Yes, he is. And he’s been terrific. President Xi has been terrific on that subject.
“But that was not a good subject. That was not something that should have happened.”
The sunglasses in the Louis Vuitton store in Hangzhou are priced at or around 4,900 yuan ($750).
According to Chinese law, anyone stealing goods worth between 4,000 and 7,000 yuan faces between one and two years in jail, although the sentence can be mitigated if they confess, show remorse and pay compensation.
Tim Bontemps in Los Angeles, Simon Denyer in Beijing and Kyle Swenson and Cindy Boren in Washington contributed to this report, which has been updated.
