Unilever is the latest business to fall foul of ad regulators for making “unclear” claims relating to the environment. Cleaning product brand Persil has been hit with an ad ban for a TV spot which ran in the U.K. as part of its longstanding “Dirt is Good” campaign. The ad focused on the product’s sustainability…
Random deals don’t cut it for retail customers these days. Kohl’s, among other retailers, learned that lesson this summer. During its August Q2 earnings release, company executives cited inflation and middle-income shoppers’ economic anxieties for sales dropping 8.5%. Investors were warned that demand was likely to remain “soft” for Kohl’s roughly 1,100 stores, which are…
With the upcoming racing season marking its 75th anniversary, Nascar is both celebrating its past with a new throwback logo and innovating for the future. Racing fans will find a lot to appreciate amid the design elements of the new logo. The overall oval shape is reminiscent of a racetrack and was inspired by the…
After years of developing and honing a service appreciated by shoppers around the country, Instacart has recently turned its attention to another avenue for driving growth: brand building. As Laura Jones, Instacart’s chief marketing officer, put it, the shift in marketing is about “moving from transactional to inspirational.” Instacart’s latest campaign–its largest ever, in terms…
Two acronyms have been major trends in the world of sports marketing this past year: name, image and likeness (NIL) deals and NFTs. While NFTs have started to lag, one brand is banking on being able to lift them up with the help of rising college athletes. And, of course, a little nostalgia. NFT platform…
Whether you have been online dating for years or mere months, finding meaningful connections can be difficult. Once it does happens, there’s still one important breakup that users have to anticipate: the one between them and the dating app itself. But don’t feel bad for apps like Hinge, which is reminding singles that ditching its…
Sex might sell, but the truth is for sexual wellness brands, it doesn’t. That’s the issue facing a growing number of pleasure producers, which are accusing platforms like TikTok, Google and Facebook of censorship. Among them is Lelo, a Swedish-founded brand that sells vibrators, Hex condoms and more across 160 markets. Billed as the “Apple…
Essity, maker of Bodyform, Saba and Libresse, has hired former AMV BBDO boss Sarah Douglas as global brand director. Douglas departed AMV BDDO following more than two decades in March 2022 after serving chief executive officer (CEO) for two-and-a-half years. She held several positions at the Omnicom agency during her tenure, including managing partner and…
The arrival of 5G–the fifth generation wireless network–in the top right corner of our smartphones in 2019 was highly anticipated. Blazingly fast speeds would allow whole movies to be downloaded in seconds. Virtual reality would become even more real. And our phones might reliably complete a video call without crashing. However, the intervening years have…
In FIFA 22’s first six days after launching in September, 9.1 million players joined a match and 460 million games were played. The video game, which is revised and re-released annually, is one of the most popular on the market–and soon, it will undergo a major change. Though the game will look the same, its…
After 27 years as one of the world’s most recognized and iconic athletes, Serena Williams is winding down her professional career in tennis following her participation in the U.S. Open at the end of August. But as Williams, who will turn 41 in September, revealed in a Vogue essay explaining her departure from professional sports,…
Confectionary and pet food maker Mars Wrigley drew much debate earlier this year when it sought to develop a generational connection for its biggest brand M&M’s. This saw the redevelopment of the M&M’s brand mascots as a way to improve their representation. The company’s North American president Anton Vincent reveals that within four days of…
When KFC first tested faux meat at an Atlanta store in 2019, consumers responded with lines that stretched for city blocks and depleted a week’s supply of Beyond chicken-free nuggets in a matter of hours. Burger King, that same year, answered overwhelming fan demand by launching the Impossible Whopper at its 7,000-plus U.S. locations, months…
When the Philadelphia Flyers introduced Gritty in 2018, the googly-eyed orange mascot became an instant sensation. Whether motivated by joy, fear or intense bewilderment, the internet could not stop commenting on the professional hockey team’s bearded creature. Then came Murph, Nerf’s first-ever mascot. Debuting in June, Murph is an anthropomorphic character made out of 10,000…
Ryan Reynolds’ brands Mint Mobile and Aviation American Gin have no plans to launch a creative agency review. The companies can skip the cost and the hassle–probably forever–because Reynolds is the creative director of both of their creative AOR, Maximum Effort. With the actor at the center of the relationship between brands and agency, Mint…
After warning shareholders that Tinder’s revenue would fall below expectations, Match Group is shaking up the dating app’s leadership in hopes of rekindling the spark. In a case of corporate speed-dating, Tinder CEO Renate Nyborg is out. She is not being immediately replaced. Instead, Match Group, which owns the eponymous online dating service along with…
Talk to any brand executive from any type of company, and you’ll get the same answer: Successful companies have to focus on both branding and performance. But if you talk to these same leaders on background, they’ll admit it’s indeed tough to accomplish both when the economy–and along with it, consumer confidence–dips. As marketing budgets…
Only four months into its existence, Fanatics Collectibles trading card brand Zerocool is still learning the lay of the entertainment and pop culture trading card land. As it figures out what works and doesn’t work in establishing a market for culture and entertainment trading card sets, Zerocool has furthered its range in IP by acquiring…
As though Peloton didn’t have enough troubles at the moment, upscale-fitness rivals at SoulCycle just announced a head-spinning offer: Give us your neglected Peloton bike and we’ll credit you for a bunch of classes at one of our studios. Dubbed Souls Reunited, the offer (worth roughly $1,300) isn’t just an audacious grab for customers, it’s…
In February, start-up brand Voylok launched its website. A week later Russia invaded Ukraine. The brand had been working for a year to build an ecommerce platform to sell traditional boots handcrafted in Northern Russia and sold from the U.K. After the invasion, the burgeoning brand became untouchable. It is still fighting to survive five…
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