Gymshark’s First Physical Store Is a ‘Cathedral’ to Its Brand

Gymshark is bringing the online, offline. The British brand’s first bricks-and-mortar space has just crashed into London’s Regent Street, featuring racks, a “sweat room,” green juices, VIP personal shopping and more. “I want to create a 100-year brand here,” Gymshark chief executive (CEO) Ben Francis as he gave Adweek a tour of the space. “I…

Andrew McKechnie Steps Down as Verizon Chief Creative Officer

After six years as Verizon’s chief creative officer, Andrew McKechnie is leaving the telecom brand, a company representative confirmed. McKechnie’s departure comes after Verizon CMO Diego Scotti has made a number of “strategic changes” on the creative front. Under the marketing department’s new direction, the Creative Marketing Group that McKechnie oversaw will be joining forces…

Brands Approach Halloween With a Revitalized Energy as Pandemic Dark Cloud Lifts

The leaves are changing, temperatures are dropping, and everywhere you look are ghosts, ghouls, skeletons, black cats, boogeymen–and marketers conjuring up some wicked fun of their own. While Halloween has spiritual significance, the mainstream associations with the holiday are rooted in consumerism. A National Retail Federation survey showed Halloween spend is projected to rise 5%…

How Rick and Morty’s Drive-Thru Activation With Wendy’s Became a Viral Sensation

In the realm of irreverent brands, Wendy’s stands apart from its fast-food peers. The brand’s marketing has real bite, taking its tweets viral so often that when it coined National Roast Day in 2018, other brands lined up for the QSR brand to crack jokes at their expense. Meanwhile, fans of Adult Swim’s Rick and…

Media Plan of the Year Awards: Celebrating the Year’s Most Innovative Strategies

The industry has long moved past the idea that advertising only exists in a handful of silos, like TV, print and radio. Savvy marketers can use anything as a canvas for an ad, such as the ice of a hockey rink, footprints or eggs. It takes innovative strategists to develop unique media plans that can…

The Real Brand Behind Game of Thrones’ Coffee Cup Gaffe—No, Not Starbucks—Never Cashed In

Forget about White Walkers. Game of Thrones’ final season was really all about Khaleesi’s flat white. When a modern-day coffee cup found its way in front of Emilia Clarke’s Daenerys Targaryen in Season 8 of HBO’s fantasy series, the image went viral instantly. Some viewers thought it was hilarious that a $15-million-per-episode show had such…

Yungblud’s Chewed Gum Becomes Treasure in 5 Gum Partnership

Chewing gum has pretty limited use: You unwrap it, chew it, spit it out, and throw it away. (Well, except if you’re MacGyver, who has been known to fix a blown fuse with a gum wrapper.) British rocker Yungblud and sugar-free 5 Gum have found a new use for spent chewing gum: jewelry. It doesn’t…

Pow! The Vitamin Shoppe Is Slapping Superheroes on Protein Powders

In the 2017 action film Wonder Woman, the leading lady of DC Comics’ pantheon got quite a workout. For two-and-a-half hours, she jumped off cliffs, outran machine-gun bullets, threw a tank in the air and singlehandedly defeated a battalion of soldiers. Gee–wonder what she had for breakfast. Well, starting this week, ordinary mortals can at…

Brave Commerce Podcast: The Changing Landscape of Consumer Habits

On this week’s episode of Brave Commerce, Sucharita Kodali, vp and principal analyst at Forrester, joins hosts Rachel Tipograph and Sarah Hofstetter to discuss financial business strategy and consumer spending habits. Kodali shares her thoughts on how consumers are spending despite inflation, the post-pandemic commerce landscape and how habits will change over the next year….

How Heineken 0.0 Became America’s No. 1 Nonalcoholic Beer

As alcohol companies adjust to the rising prominence of Dry January, another month of people encouraging each other to take a break from the bottle is emerging: Sober October. These chunks of the calendar don’t exist in isolation, however. Interest in abstaining from alcohol appears to be growing all year long. On Reddit, visits to…

Pio: The Creation of a Tech Brand Saving SMBs Space and Time

“We believe that the internet should not evolve to become one big mall called Walmart or Amazon. We really want to give the small brands rocket fuel so that they can compete with the best technology,” explained Magne Hattland, vp and head of Pio, a fully automated ecommerce fulfillment service from Norwegian storage company Autostore….

This Party Doesn’t Start Until the Ocean Spray Cranberry Sauce Jiggles

The holiday season comes with no shortage of dinner table favorites, but few are as beloved as the classic canned cranberry sauce. In its latest holiday-ready work, Ocean Spray Cranberries aims to illustrate that it’s not just a favorite side but a party starter. Ocean Spray has launched the “Power Your Holidays” campaign for this…

It’s ‘Return to Anxiety’ for B-to-B CMOs’ 2023 Planning Season

Wasn’t this supposed to be the start of the second Roaring Twenties? CMOs have gotten no respite as various crises have accumulated over the past two years. Hope for a light at the end of the pandemic tunnel faded when supply chain troubles persisted. This year, inflation and the worsening economic outlook have placed 2023…

Inside J&J’s 4-Month Process of Developing the Kenvue Brand

Almost from the day that Robert, Edward and James Johnson began making first aid kits for work gangs laying railroad track in the late 1800s, Johnson & Johnson has been virtually synonymous with personal care products. Over the ensuing decades, J&J has also grown into the country’s largest pharmaceutical company and is today among the…

Take Me Out to the Dispensary: MLB Scores Marketing Deal With CBD Brand Charlotte’s Web

Sneakers, snacks, beverages and even office equipment have been mainstays of sports marketing for years. But now, Major League Baseball has cracked a new one: cannabis products. MLB scored an alliance with CBD maker Charlotte’s Web this week. The deal marks first partnership between one of the Big Four pro sports leagues and a cannabis…

Virgin Media Rides into New Era With Highland Cow on a Triumph Bonneville

“Why Walk When You Can Ride?” that’s the question Virgin Media is asking in an overhauled brand campaign, which marks a shift in tone and strategy for the British telco. The internet provider has invested in a refreshed creative platform to demonstrate its commitment to connectivity, reliability, and swiftness; pivoting away from previous campaigns, which…

Peloton Is Slashing Marketing. Can It Survive Without Clearer Branding?

After a year of financial struggles, and deeper recessionary fears looming, Peloton is seeking to get its bottom line in shape with a familiar tactic for tough times: It’s issuing massive budget cuts–starting with the marketing department. According to CEO Barry McCarthy, Peloton is laying off 500 staffers after suffering six consecutive quarterly losses, according…

Publicis Sapient Captures Its Impact in 3 Documentary Films

It only took about five days for the Publicis Groupe digital consultancy Publicis Sapient to get funding, retain Oscar-winning director Ben Proudfoot and begin pre-production on three documentary-style films that promote its services. It eschewed the typical processes. There was no brief, RFP, concepts or reviews. Publicis Sapient just asked Proudfoot to go find the…

Pepsi Relaunches International Strategy With Star-Studded Soccer Spot

Pepsi is investing in a refreshed international brand strategy called “Thirsty for More” which will see it position itself as the soda of choice for young, adventurous consumers. The drinks giant said in a statement it’s hoping to appeal to a demographic it called “Generation Thirsty” with a new creative north star that will unify…

This Former Netflix Executive Is Starting His Own Ethnographic Marketing Agency

Myles Worthington never dreamed of starting a business. Raised by a single mother who had the same job for 35 years, the marketing executive felt he was never conditioned to be a business owner or entrepreneur. That all changed late last year. While he was at Netflix as head of global audiences, brand and editorial…