Kevin Hart Just Might Be the Hardest-Working Man in Branding

“Grind time, baby!” Kevin Hart is ready for the day. In fact, he’s pumped. On this particular morning in early September, Hart’s about to plug the hell out of his new movie, Night School, on morning radio and television in Atlanta. The comedy, which he cowrote and stars in opposite Tiffany Haddish, is about to…

How Bloomberg Media’s First Chief Product Officer Troubleshoots the Internet

Julia Beizer was a reporter at The Washington Post when her boss went on maternity leave and left Beizer as the stand-in newsroom liaison to the company’s new article page design. It was Beizer’s first introduction to the product side of the newsroom’s operation. Keeping “the seat warm” for her manager gave Beizer an opportunity…

Shake Shack Was Once a Hot Dog Cart. Now, It’s One of the Biggest Burger Joints in America

These 3 Mechanical Engineers Crafted a Marketing Powerhouse

After founding the apparel company Belong Designs straight out of college, best friends Ben Thomson, Shamus McNutt and Mark Grubbs noticed business owners peppering them with questions about their startup. Who was behind their apparel? Their website? Their logo? The answer: They’d been doing it all themselves. That’s when the trio realized they were on…

Editor’s Letter: It’s Almost Time for Brandweek

I’m filing this editor’s letter from inside the bustling and international pressroom at the 10th annual DMexco conference in Cologne, Germany. There are 40,000 people gathered here for a concentrated two-day media, marketing and technology conference as well a huge exposition showcasing all types of startups and stalwarts in the ad- and mar-tech space. Adweek…

Inside the 5 Broadcast Network Chiefs’ Plans for the Fall TV Season

Last season was another rough one for the five broadcast networks, as only NBC grew its 18-49 audience from the previous season–thanks to the Super Bowl and Winter Olympics–while the other four continued their ratings slides. But they’ll try again to reverse that trend in the 2018-19 TV season, which starts on Monday, Sept. 24….

Here’s What Ad Buyers Really Thought About Upfronts Week

Another upfronts week packed with big buzzwords and even bigger promises is in the books. Now that the major media companies have had their say about the 2018-19 TV season, it’s the buyers’ turn. Before they dove into this year’s upfront negotiations, several of them reflected (anonymously) on what they really thought about this year’s…

The CW’s Additional Night of Programming Could Shake Up Its Upfront Talks

While several TV networks are opting to reduce ad loads next season in the hopes of increasing engagement and brand recognition, The CW is not only keeping its ad breaks intact, but it’s also giving advertisers 20 percent more national inventory as it expands into Sunday night programming this fall. “This is that opportunity to…

How Red Nose Day Raised $100 Million for Children in Need, in Just 3 Years

Taking on a concept as ambitious as ending child poverty is a pretty lofty goal, but when Red Nose Day launched in the U.S. in 2015–30 years after U.K.-based nonprofit Comic Relief’s first biannual Red Nose Day–it landed a few strategic brand partnerships that would later ensure the organization’s massive success in the States. In…

Here’s What Convinced George Foreman to Put His Name on a Lean, Mean Grilling Machine

Mower’s Mary Owusu Was Doing SEO Before It Was Cool

Mary Owusu got into the search marketing game right at its start in the early aughts. Growing up, Owusu–now the vp and director of analytics and SEO at Syracuse, N.Y.-based digital and PR shop Mower–enjoyed figuring out how to fix broken electronics, leading her to believe she was destined to become an engineer. But when…

Reentering the Agency World Is Challenging for New Mothers. ‘Returnships’ Aim to Ease the Transition

During stops at renowned shops like Lowe and Partners, McCann and Grey, longtime creative director Erica Fite said she never received the kind of support that working parents really need in order to flourish in the industry. Twenty years ago, she brought her then-5-month-old son on a commercial shoot in Los Angeles so she could…

This Musical Agency Leverages Data and Taste to Find the Perfect Bands for Brands

One surefire way to ensure a successful partnership between a brand and a musical artist is by embedding the latter into the creative process. That’s something Nue Agency learned through its seven years managing and working closely with musicians. The agency started as a talent representation house in 2007 before pivoting to a creative music…

Inside Roseanne’s Triumphant Return to TV

It only took a few moments for Disney-ABC’s upfront presentation last Tuesday to morph into a full-blown Roseanne Barr lovefest. With the surprise breakout success of ABC’s Roseanne revival less than two months earlier, the network felt as if it had won the lottery–ending up with the season’s No. 1 entertainment show among adults 18-49…

The Death of the Global Chief Creative Officer

In March, JWT CEO Tamara Ingram wrote an all-staff memo to announce that she and other leaders were “reimagining the future” of the world’s oldest ad agency. Its key take-away: This future would not include global chief creative officer Matt Eastwood or anyone else holding that title. Every day brings new reports of brands building…

Infographic: Why ‘Transformists’ Are the Demographic Brands Should Be Targeting

While millennials may be the hottest demographic for marketers to target, research by Insider Inc. and Digitas says they’re not the most powerful influencers–and that we shouldn’t be focusing so much on generations in the first place. A recent study identifies a new group of people cutting across age groups and backgrounds that brands should…

How Deadpool 2’s Elaborate Campaign Transformed the Anti-Hero Into the Anti-Marketer

Candy, liquor, a convenience store chain, even frozen food, Deadpool has hawked it all with his usual grim self-awareness ahead of the May 18 release of the anti-hero’s sequel film. Twentieth Century Fox, the studio behind Deadpool 2, developed an elaborate anti-marketing marketing campaign for the witty super-mercenary, played by Ryan Reynolds, that winks at…

8 Steps to Build a Voice Skill That Aligns With Your Brand’s Vision

If you’re a producer, designing a conversational experience for voice may lead you into uncharted territory. While we can’t fully protect you from a few sleepless nights of quality assurance testing, these eight pointers may help you get to where you need to go with this new and burgeoning marketing tool. Start by identifying the…

Reviving a TV Series (Like Roseanne or Will & Grace) in a Few Not-So-Easy Steps

The strong ratings for this season’s returns of Roseanne and Will & Grace have prompted several rivals to revive other past-hit shows. “Right now, a lot of people are rushing to say, ‘Let’s dust this off, let’s remake that,'” says ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey. Already set for next season are Murphy Brown, which will…

Why Does the Internet Suck?

Ones and zeroes don’t lie like humans do. The internet is a prime example of how an infallible technology butts up against the fallibility of man. So it is perhaps unsurprising that the internet, as it stands, is broken. There’s a perverse logic here: The web fulfills the promise of a democratized media where anyone…