This Agency Exec Finds Comfort in Controlling Expectations

For Pereira O’Dell chief growth officer Mona Munayyer Gonzalez, using her professional voice always felt more like an earned privilege than an inherent asset. When she tried to move forward on a project by presenting a list of opinions from people across the agency, her former boss paused and reminded her that she wasn’t being…

Southwest Airlines Prides Itself on Being the ‘Love Airline’

In February of 1973, The New York Times reported a story out of Texas known as the “$13 war.” It pitted the magisterial Braniff International Airways against a scrappy upstart called Southwest. In essence, Braniff was ticked off because its fares were set by the Civil Aeronautics Board, whereas those of Southwest–which had three planes…

This Collide Sport Marketer Also Finds Time to Play Ball

At Walker Stadium in Portland, Ore., keeping signs for Leatherman, Jacobsen Salt, Migration Brewing and Planned Parenthood surrounding the field is typically the only way Parker Huffman rounds the bases. But every so often, he stops driving in sponsors to take his own turn at bat. Huffman is the general manager for the Portland Pickles,…

People Don’t Actually Like Streaming Services More Than Linear TV

It’s not headline news anymore that people are watching content on streaming platforms at an increasing rate while cutting back on cable and satellite. During the second quarter of 2023, U.S. adults spent 37% more money on the likes of Netflix and Disney+ compared to the same time three years prior, according to Epsilon, a…

Initiative US CEO Stacy DeRiso: Client Retention Is Impossible Without Happy Employees

When Initiative U.S. CEO Stacy DeRiso joined the IPG media agency in 2021, it was an “interesting time” to assume the role, she mused. The agency had just secured the T-Mobile business–a $1.2 billion account. Amid the “great resignation,” Initiative retained a surprising number of its employees. But as new business came in, many employees…

Brands Beneath the Stars: Marketers Help to Reinvent the Drive-In

At the first patented drive-in theater in America, which opened in 1933 near Camden, N.J., guests paid $1 per carload for a lo-fi affair with speakers mounted to a 50-foot screen and an ad campaign that said, “The whole family is welcome, regardless of how noisy the children are.” How times have changed, with the…

Amazon Prime Day Eyes Consumers’ Shifting Shopping Habits

After nine years of Amazon hosting its Prime Day retail holiday, the question is not just what it means for holiday shopping in 2023, but also what it means for the shopping calendar in the years that follow. Originally meant to tout Amazon Prime memberships and sell Amazon-branded electronics and other items, the now two-day…

For Carmelo Anthony, Community Makes the (Business)man 

When NBA superstar Carmelo Anthony announced his retirement in May after 19 seasons in the league, he closed the chapter on a storied career. “Melo” amassed a trophy room full of honors: He’s a 10-time NBA All-Star, one of the league’s top 10 all-time scorers, the player with the most Olympic medals (three gold, one…

How Allison Wolf Reroutes Ad Dollars to Fund Social Change

When Allison Wolf entered the workforce, promoting altruism in advertising felt more like an oxymoron than a feasible career arc. But after shadowing colleagues who used marketing spend on inclusive media, she realized brands can covertly contribute to social change when they promote their products in the right places. Not long after joining WPP’s Mindshare…

Debunking Retail Media’s Myths as It Enters Its 2.0 Era

In March, Gap closed its retail media network (RMN), GPS Media, after just one year. For some, the closure of such a short-lived project signaled that the bubble had burst on the frothy growth of retail media networks, a channel forecast to be worth more than $106 billion by 2027 in the U.S., according to…

Lessons Learned: Slow and Steady Won the Digital Marketing Race for DigiShopGirl’s Founder

In 2012, at the start of the DTC boom, Katya Constantine founded DigiShopGirl Media. The digital agency used two relatively new technologies at the time–digital media and programmatic advertising–to turn startups into household names. Some of her star clients have now included luggage brand Away, Rent the Runway, skin care firm Starface and weight-loss program…

Off the Clock: Social Media Specialist by Day, Pop Star by Night

Despite its reputation as a haven for live music, the city of Austin, Texas, had arguably not produced a proper pop musician until Jes?s Acosta launched Sobbrs in late 2016. At the time, the city had cultivated a thriving atmosphere for psych-rock foursomes and singer-songwriter soloists. But Acosta, now the senior art director at creative…

Infographic: Summer Vacations Are Back (on a Budget)

It’s officially summer, according to the calendar, but is summer officially back? Data from GroundTruth, a data analytics and media company, shows visits to American tourist attractions were up 187% in May compared to the same month last year. Likewise, trips to national landmarks and concert venues have also increased. “The growth in these categories,…

It’s Not Hype to Call the OXO Salad Spinner Revolutionary

Twenty-five years ago this month, a revolutionary new machine for the home appeared, capable of generating an impressive 1,100 revolutions per minute. Absent any other details, one might venture it’s an exercise bike. Or perhaps a washing machine or a DVD player. It’s none of those things, actually, though the washing machine comes closest. In…

The Brand Home Is the Flagship Store’s Next Evolution

Brand experiences go through hype cycles like any other marketing strategy. There was the era of the flagship store, when the likes of Nike, Apple and Topshop blazed a trail of destinations that heightened the shopping experience. Then the pop-up merged brand and retail to provide entertaining, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it occasions to wow customers. Now, we have…

Small-Business Marketers Invest Big in AI and Automation

Big business-to-business firms often get their hands on artificial intelligence first, but their smaller counterparts need the technology just as much. A report from data and analytics firm Integrate found that 38% of b-to-b marketers are facing budget cuts in 2023, while 40% are eliminating staff. While those budget cuts are decreasing field and event…

Why Marketers of Color Are Quitting Their Jobs

Ample research has documented the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) for business. We know that marketing organizations and creative agencies with diverse workforces enjoy better business performance, innovation, creativity, and decreased attrition and related hiring costs. Yet three years since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, a period marked by ambitious DEI pledges…

Publishers Turn to Livestreaming to Once Again Tap Video Budgets

As linear television viewership continues to decline, advertisers’ appetite for reaching live audiences has only grown in proportion. To capitalize on this opportunity and tap into lucrative video budgets, publishers including Cond? Nast, Penske Media Corp. (PMC) and Overtime have all recently launched or expanded their livestream video capabilities. The uptick of interest in the…

Walmart CMO William White Keeps the Essential Retailer Relevant

After seven years leading marketing for rival Target and a prior tenure at Coca-Cola, William White joined Walmart in May 2020 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. It would be a baptism of fire for any professional, but the veteran marketer mined his CPG and retail experience to help his new company navigate unknown…

UPS’ Kevin Warren Transformed the Stodgy Brand Into Something ‘Unstoppable’ 

When Kevin Warren took on the role of UPS CMO in 2018, he faced a head-scratcher of a problem. The company was losing market share with small- and medium-sized businesses despite their dependence on a shipper like UPS. Warren’s team surveyed customers, including a persona test, and discovered that customers pegged UPS as an older,…