As Twitch Changes Revenue and Exclusivity Rules, New Opportunities Abound

When wellness brand Liquid I.V. flowed into the gaming category with creator sponsorships on Twitch, it was entering uncharted territory in its 10-year brand history. Liquid I.V. felt its brand was endemic to gaming and saw Twitch as a massive opportunity to reach games through livestreaming, as the Amazon-owned platform averaged 2.78 million concurrent viewers…

Marketers Can Take a Page Out of Human Resources’ Book to Manage a Brand’s Reputation

While experts have long advocated for eliminating silos within companies, the marketing and human resources teams have historically never had much reason to collaborate. In fact, they’re kind of polar opposites: One is distinctly external while the other is internally focused. Now, however, HR priorities like recruitment, retention and relationships are increasingly becoming key marketing…

How Hubilo’s Senior Marketer Flourishes Amid Constant Change

Marketing careers are often crucibles, trials by fire through which multifaceted talent learns to shine. And that heat only intensifies when blended with social media, events and startup culture. Rachel Moore, senior marketing director at event tech company Hubilo, thrives amid them all–she began in social marketing and moved into a dynamic career as a…

Airlines Rethink Holiday Travel Strategy After This Summer’s Hard Lessons

The travel industry spent much of 2022 selling passengers on its comeback. Now after a summer of staff shortages, delays and cancellations, airlines are trying to redirect passenger expectations in time for holiday travel. The outlook seemed far more promising earlier this year. Booking.com, Expedia, Turkish Airlines and Vrbo all bought Super Bowl ads, while…

When the Research Says No, but Your Instincts Say Yes

In October 1989, NBC executives received the test results for a new sitcom–and they were bleak. The show was simultaneously “ordinary” and “unbelievable,” “familiar” and “disorienting.” As a result, “no segment of the audience was eager to watch the show again.” Most networks passed on it, including NBC. Still, there were a handful of executives…

Meet the Winners of the 2022 Adweek’s Readers’ Choice: Best of Tech Partner Awards

As the competitive world of ad tech and mar tech continues evolving against a backdrop of unsettling economic circumstances, delivering the best performance is top of everyone’s mind. That’s why when we asked you, our Adweek readers, to vote on our fourth annual Adweek Readers’ Choice: Best of Tech Partner Awards–which recognizes the top advertising…

Infographic: What’s Driving People Back to Shopping Malls

Don’t count out the American shopping mall. A new report from foot traffic analytics firm Placer.ai looked at malls nationwide to discover what amenities are luring back customers, from unexpected retailers to entertainment destinations. In August 2021, York Galleria Mall in Pennsylvania replaced a defunct Sears store with a Hollywood Casino by Penn Entertainment. The…

As the NFT Frenzy Fades, Brands Recalibrate Their Strategy

A $180,000 image of a Taco Bell taco, an $800 virtual Pringles can, a $265 piece of Charmin toilet paper. In summer 2021, as prices of major cryptocurrencies swelled to record highs, it seemed like branded nonfungible tokens (NFTs) were inescapable and regularly commanding head-scratching sums. Crypto companies billed their digital ownership model as a…

Infographic: Not Texting? You’re Missing Out on Sales

Knowing what to say in a text message can be confusing enough when you’re not trying to make a sale. But you can’t afford to go without a strategy when promotional texts have an average clickthrough rate of 36% versus 4.5% for email, according to Klaviyo. The unified customer platform unlocked many more SMS marketing…

Talent Issues Force Agencies to Stay Selective, Leaving Brands With Fewer Options

When Angela Laubmeier, vp of corporate brand strategy at Lincoln Financial Group, led a creative review late last year, she found that 29 of the 48 agencies on her initial list declined to participate in the request for proposal process. That number was staggering–but not unexpected. Most marketers knew an influx of RFPs had oversaturated…

Publishers Expand Parenting Content to Entice Child-Rearing Millennials

When the first wave of digitally native publishers launched in the early aughts, they initially aimed to attract an audience of millennials by creating content–cat videos, adulting fails, life hacks–that resonated with young adults of the era. Now, more than a decade later, much of that millennial audience has found itself in an entirely new…

Web3’s Environmental Trade-Offs Raise Concerns Among Marketers

Early on Sept. 15, dozens of Ethereum developers gathered on a Zoom call hosted by nonprofit Ethereum Foundation. The purpose of the call was to celebrate the successful architecture upgrade, or “merge,” from a type of blockchain known as “proof of work,” which has been running since 2015, to a new blockchain called “proof of…

A Women’s Soccer CMO’s Path From Starting Lineups to Startups, and Back Again

On a slow night at The Sports Bra, a pub in Portland, Ore., dedicated to women’s sports, Julie Haddon is working off the clock. The CMO of the National Women’s Soccer League is peppering pub owner Jenny Nguyen with suggestions about potential future partnerships between the fledgling bar and the NWSL: playoff events, a pop-up…

Sue Bird and Sylvia Fowles Both Dominated the WNBA, but Only One Scored With Brands

Nine combined Olympic gold medals. Six WNBA championships. Twenty-one All-Star appearances. One WNBA MVP. Sue Bird and Sylvia Fowles, two of the most decorated and prolific basketball players in WNBA history–and both among Adweek’s 2022 Most Powerful Women in Sports honorees–each said goodbye to their professional careers a few months ago, choosing to retire at…

Adweek’s Most Powerful Women in Sports Are Breaking Barriers and Shattering Glass Ceilings

After two years of pandemic delays, cancellations and general upheaval, sports–and its rabid fan bases–are finally seeing a return to normal as we close out 2022. With sky-high ratings across all networks, expanding women’s sports leagues and the explosion of sports betting, this has been a game-changing year in the space–with Adweek’s 2022 Most Powerful…

The Adweek 50: Honoring Media, Marketing and Tech’s Indispensable Behind-the-Scenes Stars

Behind every successful brand–and its CEO–stands the person who keeps the organization running smoothly and efficiently. That’s why we dedicate our Adweek 50 award every year to those working behind the scenes to drive growth in big ways at their respective companies, bringing recognition to those who may be overlooked today but will be running…

What Beyoncé Teaches Brands About Being Truly Purpose-Driven

“Purpose-driven” brands? What a crock. For the past five years or so, purpose-driven anything–be it brands, marketing, companies or what have you–has found itself squarely affixed within the zeitgeist of our industry, the talk of today’s most prominent marketing thought leaders. But what is there to debate? Should brands be purpose-driven? Of course they should,…

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%…

Infographic: How Influencers Really Feel About Sponsored Content

If it feels like you’re seeing more sponsored content in your social feeds, it’s true: 51% of influencers are creating more branded posts this year versus 2021, with 30% posting sponcon more than once a week. Those are just some of the findings in a survey of 550 influencers by SheSpeaks, the largest community of…

As Green Steel Revs Up to Change the Auto Industry, Are Carmakers Ready for the Race?

The eyes of the car-buying public are usually trained on the flashy new offerings at the New York International Auto Show or, more realistically, on whatever models are on the lot at the nearby dealership. So it’s a good bet that few Americans took note of a virtual event that Volvo Group held in Gothenburg,…