Hostess Brands announced Monday morning that the Twinkies maker will be acquiring Voortman Cookies, a Canadian cookie and wafer company, from Swander Pace Capital for about $320 million. Hostess expects to close the transaction early next month. “Voortman is a leading brand with a well-defined consumer position that complements and extends the growing Hostess portfolio…
After a photo of an Oklahoma police officer’s venti hot chocolate–labeled “PIG”–went viral on Thanksgiving, a Starbucks barista was fired and a local police station is working with the coffee chain to organize a “coffee with a cop” event. “It happened at the worst possible time for them,” said David Johnson, CEO of Strategic Vision…
Two decades ago, toy inventor Ron Dubren heard giggles coming from a playground. It was a bunch of kids tickling one other. Inspired, Dubren created Tickles the Chimp. Tickles didn’t make it very far, but after Tyco Preschool combined Dubren’s invention with a Sesame Street licensing deal, the toy became Tickle Me Elmo–so popular that…
Chances are you’ve come across this scenario in a commercial: A woman, weary from the demands of modern life, finds a quiet place to recharge by indulging in a pint of ice cream or bag of chips. The moment she’s alone and able to pop off the lid or tear open the packaging, the exhaustion…
Black Friday started as one standalone day. Then came Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday, and Small Business Saturday. Stores started opening on Thanksgiving. And suddenly, Black Friday deals were dropping online nearly a full week before the day itself. But even as Black Friday madness has grown, some brands have managed to remove themselves from the…
It’s an article of faith among marketers that members of Gen Z (the age cohort that’s now between 4 and 24 years old) are digitally savvy. They are “tech natives,” we’re told. It’s even said that millennials (whom we were hailing as digital natives only yesterday) are now asking Gen-Z for tech help. This “most…
2019, like the past several years before, hasn’t been the strongest for brick and mortar retail. But for Nordstrom, it’s been a year of brick and mortar highs, with the highest of those coming in October when it opened its much-anticipated New York City flagship store. The space, which sits near Manhattan’s Columbus Circle, just…
PALM SPRINGS, Calif.–Musa Tariq has made marketer moves from Apple to Ford. But soon after he became the youngest ever Chief Brand Officer of Ford, he realized the culture wasn’t for him. Some might stay and stick it out or wait for change. Tariq left, as noted in an extremely popular episode of CMO Moves…
Brand safety and ad fraud are hardly the only headaches marketers need to reckon with. Ecommerce sites around the globe will lose roughly $10 billion to cyberattacks this year, including bot and scraping fraud, according to a new report from New York-based cybersecurity firm Cheq and researchers at the University of Baltimore. Out of the…
Diehard fans of Taco Bell have already shown their propensity to drape themselves in branded swag, from Forever 21 swimsuits to fire sauce-inspired board shorts. That fair-weather merch is packed away, though, along with the “7-layer burrito baby bunting” that some people wrapped their infants in for Halloween (you know who you are). It’s time…
Brendan Ripp, former evp of corporate partnerships at Disney Advertising Sales, is joining a new investment firm called Attention Capital working on how best to capture consumers’ attention in an increasingly crowded media landscape. Ripp will lead revenue strategy for the latest company founded by Joe Marchese, who also created the venture capital firm Human…
Amazon spent more on TV advertising than any other major retailer in the days leading up to Black Friday, according to new data from ad intelligence firm MediaRadar. After analyzing TV ad spend for nearly 300 retailers during the first two weeks of November, results revealed that Amazon leaped seven spots compared to last year,…
When Prohibition became the law of the land in 1919, the near-immediate effect (apart from taking everyone’s favorite libations away) was economic disaster. Across the country, countless companies went out of business: breweries, restaurants and taverns closed their doors. Truckers who hauled beer lost their routes. Even barrel makers laid down their mallets. Economists estimated…
EBay is selling ticket resale site StubHub to its European rival, Viagogo, for $4.05 billion in a deal set to close next year. The online auction house acquired StubHub in 2007 for $310 million. “We believe this transaction is a great outcome and maximizes long-term value for eBay shareholders,” said eBay interim CEO Scott Schenkel…
After weeks of rumors, LVMH has officially announced its intention to buy iconic American jeweler Tiffany & Co. for a whopping $16.2 billion, Adweek confirmed. The all-cash deal is set to be one of the largest luxury deals in history. That valuation means LVMH will be paying $135 per share for Tiffany & Co., the…
Charles Schwab is acquiring TD Ameritrade for $26 billion, the online brokerage companies announced this morning. Under the agreement, TD Ameritrade stockholders will receive 1.0837 Schwab shares for every TD Ameritrade share, a 17% premium over the 30-day volume weighted average price exchange ratio. “We have long respected TD Ameritrade since our early days pioneering…
It’s no longer time to make the doughnuts–this holiday season, it’s time to smell the doughnuts. Dunkin’s newest merchandise drop isn’t a white-label clothing line or a new pair of running shoes. Instead, the coffee and doughnut company partnered with Homesick Candles to create three limited-edition candles for the holidays. Justin Unger, director of strategic…
Prepping for the most significant new product launch in 30 years at Popeyes, Bruno Cardinali traveled to the chain’s Louisiana home turf, steeping himself in the area’s famous Cajun cuisine and hospitality. David Williams for Adweek Cardinali, who joined as head of North American marketing in March, says he wanted to “get to know the…
Staying ahead of the curve as a major company has never been easy, but the pace of change these days is downright breathtaking, and the stakes have never seemed higher. All the more reason to shine a light on the people who work tirelessly to deliver not just in the near term but with an…
More shoppers will buy from direct-to-consumer brands. Purchases are expected to grow in the next few years as Americans cut down on traditional retail in favor of DTC companies–especially in health, wellness and beauty (35%). Diffusion’s annual Direct-to-Consumer Purchase Intent Index revealed consumers are still committed to buying from DTC brands, but maintaining their attention…
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