Agency news you need to know this week
Posted in: UncategorizedTillamook puts creative in review, Sid Lee launches an online shop, and more.
Tillamook puts creative in review, Sid Lee launches an online shop, and more.
We can’t get enough of wholesome grandmothers cooking on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram. But how do they feel about it?
The execution exemplifies everything marketers should not do when dropping NFTs, according to experts.
Founded in 1886, Avon is older than women’s right to vote in the U.K. and U.S. But for the past two decades, the brand’s sales have been lackluster as customers skipped out on door-to-door selling–first in favor of department stores, then later ecommerce. The legacy beauty brand’s recently instilled global chief marketing officer, Kristof Neirynck,…
There’s been a lot of discussion recently around text messaging boundaries and how tech giants like Apple and Google are–or aren’t–making it easier to set important limitations on how we text to benefit mental health. Getting a bunch of texts at the wrong time, like during a busy work day, can undoubtedly cause anxiety for…
Even a World Cup year couldn’t make Peacock fly. NBCUniversal’s flagship streaming service surpassed 20 million paid subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2022–a 5 million addition–driven by live sports, films and originals in Peacock’s best quarterly result since its launch in 2020. That still didn’t stop the bleeding. The cost of investing in those…
His observations about his 3-year-old daughter’s viewing habits led him to join Joan Ganz Cooney in creating a program that revolutionized children’s television.
Even though we talk about “brand” here every week, it can still seem like a nebulous concept. What is a brand? How do you figure yours out? How do you express it to others? Brand strategist Shelley R?stlund has branding down to a science. In this episode of Let’s Talk About Brand, R?stlund joins host…
Three years and 164 million subscribers later, Disney+ is leaning into marketing for adults. The streamer is rolling out a series of three new spots telling the story of people who’ve experienced the Disney brands throughout their lives–a “Life Story,” if you will. The interconnected “Life Story” ads mark the next phase of Disney+’s “Feels…
No matter how many hours I spend on TikTok and Instagram, or how young I feel compared to my peers, there’s always some word or concept that the algorithm appropriately doesn’t serve me. This is when I realize what the algorithm already knows: I am old AF. (Do people still say AF?) OK, 45 is…
Ad Age is counting down to Super Bowl LVII. In the weeks leading up to the game, which will air on Fox on Feb. 12, Ad Age will bring you breaking news, analysis and first looks at the high-stakes, Big Game commercials—all in our Super Bowl newsletter. Sign up right here to get them via email.
With Coinbase drawing so much attention last year for its QR Super Bowl spot, it’s no surprise brands are leaning into the two-dimensional barcodes this year; Michelob Ultra and Avocados From Mexico are among the brands deploying QR codes in their Big Game campaigns. But the trendier 2023 topic might be ChatGPT—and Avocados is the first brand to reveal it will use the generative AI tool in its campaign. Given how AI has taken the industry by storm recently, we are likely to see more AI mentions as brands hype their Super Bowl plans in the next two weeks.
As for Avocados, the brand will include a QR code in its ad linking to a landing page where users will be asked to press a button to initiate a process in which ChatGPT will generate a tweet that users will be encouraged to share on the game. Read more on that here.
Check out Ad Age’s Super Bowl blog for real-time Big Game updates.
When it comes to sheer attention, there is no doubt M&M’s is winning the early Super Bowl ad hype game. As documented by Ad Age this week, the brand’s move to sideline its spokescandies in favor of comedian and actress Maya Rudolph has netted headlines in publications ranging from The Hollywood Reporter to Time. Most of the coverage is fixated on the “wokeism” of the brand’s move last year to recast its characters in a more progressive light—and conservative figures such as Tucker Carlson have taken a prominent role in that sideshow.
In a tacit acknowledgment that the Rudolph stunt is maybe being taken a little too seriously by some outlets, the Mars brand on Wednesday issued a statement that, “rest assured, the characters are still our official spokescandies.” As if there was any doubt …
For a behind-the-scenes look at Super Bowl ad planning, check out Ad Age’s Super Bowl Playbook event on Feb. 7. It will feature brand leaders and agency execs behind the ads. Register here for the virtual event.
Using music stars is an oft-used Super Bowl ad play—but this year’s game seems poised to be especially musical. So far we know that Pringles is deploying Meghan Trainor; Doritos is using Missy Elliott and Jack Harlow; and Workday is including Ozzy Osbourne, Gary Clark Jr. and Joan Jett in its campaign.
Of course, the main musical attraction will be halftime entertainer Rihanna, who just nabbed an Oscar nomination for best original song for “Lift Me Up” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” The NFL announced this week that Chris Stapleton will sing the national anthem; Babyface will perform “America the Beautiful”; and Sheryl Lee Ralph will sing “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
Watch: inside Workday’s first Super Bowl commercial
Super Bowl 20 was played on this day in 1986 when the Bears blew out the Patriots in New Orleans … and all people in Chicago could talk about was the “Super Bowl Shuffle” and William “The Refrigerator” Perry.
NBC carried the game. Advertisers included McDonald’s, which unleashed Pepé Le Pew to plug the McDLT (thanks to Leo Burnett). Burger King countered with “Herb,” the nerdy character portrayed as never before trying a Whopper—until he announced during one of the chain’s Big Game ads that he had. It was part of a promotion in which BK gave away $5,000 to the first person to spot him at the restaurant. It was all a move to counter McD’s McDLT hype—which also included a Romeo and Juliet-themed spot.
“BK didn’t have a product to compete with it at the time and they wanted a great diversion,” recalled Hal Friedman, creative director at J. Walter Thompson at the time, according to Ad Age’s Super Bowl ad archive.
Of course, the McDLT was later discontinued. For fans of the sandwich—whose cool side and hot side were served separately in Styrofoam—parting was sweet sorrow.
For a complete look at Big Game commercial history, check out Ad Age’s Super Bowl ad archive.
Home improvement retailer The Home Depot’s Canada arm was found sharing people’s in-store purchase e-receipts with Facebook owner Meta without the knowledge or consent of those consumers, according to Canada’s privacy watchdog. Top line An investigation by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) found that The Home Depot, via Meta’s Offline Conversions…
What’s marketing going to look like in 2023? Will anyone be spending? Will the job market hold up? Will three years’ worth of crisis fatigue take its toll on everybody? All anyone seemed to be certain about at Adweek’s Outlook 2023 event was the uncertainty surrounding the coming year. Yet across 10 sessions, marketing experts…
TikTok lets users block other users to prevent them from seeing their profile and content. Users can view all of the TikTok accounts they’ve blocked within the application’s Settings menu. On this menu, users can unblock users if they want to be able to interact with them again. Our guide will show you how to…
The layoffs will affect 274 people, the company said.
Renata Maia talks about creativity, inclusion and AI in health care marketing.