Media Advertising

Office messaging app Slack is changing its logo because it says the current one "pained" the company and was "simply awful." It will no longer use the colorful hashtag that it used when it launched in 2013 and has instead designed a four-color logo.

Artist Rihanna has sued her father Ronald for using "Fenty," their surname, claiming he aimed to extract "millions of dollars" for his own business.

Gillette said it was time brands acknowledged the role they played in influencing culture.

The U.S. government shutdown may have an impact on product launches, because part of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) website is offline and companies therefore can't currently get new services approved ready to advertise.

Pepsi's new global tag line for its product is managing to divide the industry experts. "For the Love of It" will replace "Live For Now" in 100 countries (not including the U.S.). The soda brand is also working with pop band Now United on a jingle.

Amazon is "becoming a profit machine" and the stock will reach $2,300 by the end of the year, Loop Capital Markets' Anthony Chukumba says.

The program raises some privacy concerns in the age of data mining and detailed digital user profiles.

Poster ads by HSBC appearing in four cities in the U.K. have been questioned by some in the country for stating: "We are not an island." People on social media are divided over the advert, with some suggesting it is anti-Brexit.

Technology giant Facebook is in for another tough year as marketers ramp up their scrutiny of the platform, according to Pivotal Research analyst Brian Wieser who has reaffirmed his "sell" rating on the company's stock.

"Advertising has to have a role in society, it has to offer a value exchange back," says Good-Loop founder Amy Williams. "If it is just there to sell more crap you don't need, it's not doing anything useful, therefore it'll just get ignored."

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the marketing world reached $33 billion in 2018, an increase of 144 percent on the previous year, according to consultancy R3. Technology companies rather than agency holding groups were the biggest spenders.

Small niche streaming services like Dust are finding loyal audiences that they hope to pull away from Netflix and Amazon.

In a note to investors, Citron Research called Twitter "the Harvey Weinstein of social media" based on a Amnesty International study.