Merck's latest television ad features a mother discussing its human papillomavirus vaccine, Gardasil, the first ad that does not feature a child asking parents "Did you know?" HPV is linked to cancer, and Gardasil is the only vaccine available in the US.

Philadelphia-based Dudnyk, which focuses on treatments for rare diseases, has been acquired by the Fishawack Group, a UK health care communications specialist network. Fishawack said it will keep Dudnyk's leadership team intact.

Facebook and Google captured 56.4% of internet ad spending and 24.5% ($144.6 billion) of worldwide ad dollars in 2018, according to a WARC Global Ad Trends report, and they're reducing the funds available to other media firms as, for the first time, overall ad spend drops. EMarketer recently adjusted its figures for Amazon, Facebook and Google and expects them to account for nearly 70% of digital spending in the US by 2021.

LinkedIn is adding look-alike audiences as well as audience templates and Bing search data targeting to help advertisers bolster their campaign effectiveness. The company wants to attract more advertisers, offering new features in addition to a user base that has topped 600 million members.

Leaders from Facebook, Magic Leap, Microsoft, Google and more share their thoughts on the future of virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality and the combination of them all, known as XR or extended reality. Magic Leap's Greg Rinaldi talks about using the technology to create a "Magicverse" of digital content, while Facebook's Ficus Kirkpatrick explores how brands can use AR on social to more effectively engage with smartphone users.

Marketing departments may have access to all manner of technology these days, but it won't mean much if a strong human team is not in place. Livongo's Senior Director of Growth Marketing, Patty Spiller, shares what she's learned in this regard, including the importance of giving priority to marketing experience over specific technical knowledge.

Agency and brand executives talk about the importance and challenges of brand purpose, with David & Goliath's David Angelo emphasizing that a brand must have a "core truth" that's championed top-down across the company before it can even think about embarking on purpose marketing. "[W]hen you align the truth of the brand, with the truth of the people who work on the brand with the truth of the people buying the brand's products, that's when you have an authentic brand movement that generates consumer engagement and relevance," he says.

In the waning days of his tenure, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D., is calling attention to improving the design of clinical trials in drug development. In a statement released along with the publication of several guidance documents, Gottlieb highlighted the FDA's recent efforts to change how clinical trials are conducted and regulated. "Dr. Gottlieb's initiatives on clinical trials tie in with two major themes of his tenure as Commissioner: To bring the FDA and its processes up to date with the best current science and use of newer data sources, and to make the drug development process more efficient as a means to bring more products to market," noted Jon Bigelow, executive director of the Coalition for Healthcare Communication. Read more.