The Covid-19 crisis has developed a lexicon with phrases that were not in general circulation before but are now part of our everyday conversations. Similarly, visual icons have also been created along with a new visual language. We are now shooting temperature checks, socially distanced dining, reopenings, online schooling and virtual events. This is content…
Thus far in 2020, brands such as Peloton and Zoom have seen a boost due to quarantine, but many are devastated, shutting down completely or filing for bankruptcy. It begs the question: Should you even launch a product in 2020? Big budget bets on marketing during a recession are scarce. This period has been marked…
With coronavirus cases hitting new highs in recent weeks, the reality of bringing together millions of Gen Zers from all over the country while expecting social distancing and mask protocols to be followed is likely a fantasy. Despite the risks, universities have good reason to strive for in-person instruction. An entirely online model could lead…
Having struggled with the abrupt switch to online learning last semester, colleges will need to pivot quickly to provide the meaningful engagement students crave while simultaneously preparing them for the professional success parents expect after such a sizable financial investment. Marketing as an academic discipline and career path presents an interesting case study on how…
It’s been a few weeks since the news broke about the Trump administration considering a TikTok ban. With growing tensions between the U.S. and China, loyal TikTok users and brands are wondering when and if this could happen, and more importantly, what a world without TikTok would look like. Late last year, when its data…
Hallmark Channel is facing a boycott again. In what almost seems like a sequel to its same-sex kiss controversy earlier this year, the company has come under fire for announcing that upcoming Christmas movies would feature LGBTQ+ storylines. It’s a moment Hallmark Channel can seize to really evolve the brand–if it is brave enough to…
Gen Z would seem like a generation meant for quarantine. After all, they told us in a study three years ago that they saw little distinction between friendships in the digital world versus the real world. All forms of interaction, whether sleepovers or Xbox marathons, blended together. More than three months into the unprecedented era…
In this moment of racial reckoning, with gross inequities finally being spoken about openly, many corporate leaders are turning to their chief diversity officer as a lifeline. Some who lag behind the times are looking to hire for this role for the first time ever. Is that what this moment calls for? No. For too…
Since lockdown, we’ve been cut off from colleagues and customers alike. While goats have taken over some high streets and dolphins are back in Venice’s canals, brands are dealing with their separation anxiety by focusing on growing online communities. But how far can this take us? Can we actually build a real community online? Well,…
Throughout everyday life, we absorb everything we see around us, and the language used by our favorite brands filters down into our own vocabulary. Seeing The Dixie Chicks’ drop the “Dixie” from their name and sports teams like The Washington Redskins embrace a rebrand reinforces the fact that people are becoming more aware of the…
The pandemic forced me to rearrange my whole life, from hygiene habits to shopping patterns to family traditions. Everything feels like it has changed, and the numbers show I’m not alone. Our data shows 84% of people plan to maintain the routines they adopted during the Covid-19 crisis even after the crisis is over. This…
Remember agency-client dinners, happy hours or even in-person meetings? They’re the stuff that helps us connect as human beings–which leads to better work. But since the start of the Covid-19 crisis, we’ve had to make do without them. That’s why it’s more important than ever that we get along. “The very best work I’ve done…
Ads have grown to be more and more homogenous. Decades of the same voice in every product category isn’t working anymore and everybody knows it, especially consumers. What better way to break through and truly be part of culture than by changing the voices doing all the talking? Here’s the thing about culture: The largest…
While attending Miami University in Ohio, I had an unexpected epiphany: I learned I was Black while reading Latina magazine. One month, I was particularly excited to see Zoe Saldana on the cover–a fellow Dominican! The following month, the reader comment on the cover was: “Finally, a Black Latina on the cover!” There it was,…
While it has become commonplace for brands to post hashtags and viral images in support of political movements on social media, audiences are becoming increasingly skeptical of this type of online signaling, referring to it as a type of faux activism known as slacktivism. Many have come to view these practices as shallow and believe…
Between the Covid-19 crisis and the global spotlight on Black Lives Matter, brand content has found itself under the microscope. When the pandemic first hit, marketers had to adapt their content to continue providing valuable and relevant information without capitalizing on a serious, worldwide issue. As the BLM movement permeated the broader public consciousness in…
Over a thousand brands have pulled their ad spend from Facebook–including the likes of Unilever, Coke and The North Face–to protest the hate speech that has proliferated on the platform. Brands have protested social media platforms this way before. Nestle and others stopped spending on YouTube in 2019 after harmful comments were found on the…
The jury is still out on the long-term impact of the current Facebook advertiser boycott. Perhaps we’ve seen this movie before. Facebook gets called out for malfeasance, followed by brands pulling dollars for a while–then the dust settles, the dollars go back into the platform, and it’s business as usual. While it’s natural to question…
It’s mid-2020. Do you know where your favorite brands are advertising? It is not on Facebook and Instagram. Facebook and its affiliates had become a marketing investment must for companies both large and small. It provides targeted, efficient reach coupled with performance and has an endless pool of inventory with 1.68 billion users, depth of…
It wasn’t Kanye’s announcement that he was running for president that led to this defense of cancel culture, but it could have been. Nor was it Facebook’s role in the demise of democracy and perpetuation of hate or the empty and performative stance against racism of any kind by so many brands over the last…
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