Bmw

At a time when ad formats like banners and interstitials seem to be increasingly less effective, brands are trying to better balance user experience and marketing goals.

It's been 15 years since BMW Films and Fallon released "The Hire," a series of eight original short films that helped define branded entertainment, with help from a menagerie of A-list stars and directors. 

Here's a powerful statement: To underline its commitment to all Olympians ahead of the 2016 Rio Games, BMW has released "Built for Gold."Created by KBS, the spot is galvanizing, dramatic and powerful. It stars Josh George, who, drenched in sweat, advances hard under a setting sun ... in a BMW-designed performance wheelchair.

If you lose sight of supermodel Gigi Hadid in BMW's new ad, it's probably because you're too distracted by one of the automaker's sexy new M2 sports cars. The fashion celebrity and popular Instagram personality anchors a new campaign from agencies KBS and Serviceplan, built shamelessly around the fact that she's a looker, combined with a high-speed shell game.  Clad in a tight red dress and spike heels, Hadid climbs into the passenger side of one of three blue 2016 M2 Coupés, which proceed to take off. Joined by two more, the cars weave in and out of each other's lanes while tearing down a runway. 

Move over, KITT. This concept car from BMW makes you look like a broken-down jalopy.Behold, an AI-powered wheeled wonder straight out of William Gibson's wet dreams (or maybe his nightmares). In fact, BMW's Vision Next concept vehicle isn't so much a car as a high-tech traveling companion, attuned to owners' needs and desires, designed to provide maximum comfort and highly personalized rides. 

When Periscope launched to much buzz last March, the Twitter-owned app cemented 2015 as the year of livestreaming for digital marketers.

One day this fall, thanks to an Internet rabbit hole I happened to tumble down, I saw an Audi commercial, "Birth," which had come out six months earlier. That's dog years in today's world, so why did this particular ad stop me cold?

Specs Current gig Chairman, Mullen Lowe Previous gig Chairman, CEO, Mullen Lowe

To say it's a magazine cover that made history doesn't quite cut it. We're talking about a project so massive, so secretive that only eight people inside publisher Condé Nast knew about it and a security firm was enlisted to keep it under wraps.

Networks and advertisers typically spend every fall focused on the new prime-time lineups. Not this year. All eyes are on late night, and with good reason. "Outside of sports, it's the strongest area of television from an ad-supported perspective," said Chris Geraci, president of national broadcast at OMD.