Direct-to-consumer sales at Skullcandy are up more than 100% year over year. That doesn’t mean the audio, headphone and earbud company isn’t feeling the effect of the coronavirus situation like most everyone else. “Of course we are, “ said CMO Jessica Klodnicki. But the uptick validates Skullcandy’s long-term strategy to diversify its sales channels. It […]
Project management software maker Basecamp does not mess with Facebook and Google. “We vote with our dollars for the world we want to see, and we don’t want to see a world ruled by a handful of companies,” said head of marketing Andy Didorosi. Basecamp avoids online consumer tracking, which is “creepy,” Didorosi said. Facebook […]
During a time of economic uncertainty, should a CMO put her brand on the sidelines? Or should she increase media investment – especially if buying ads is cheap? NerdWallet’s CMO Kelly Gillease has been in the midst of that marketing calculus as the brand recalibrates its strategy for the rest of 2020. “We decided that […]
Consumer electronics sales are usually a bellwether of consumer confidence and the broader economy. But this year, all bets are off. Although worldwide mobile phone shipments have been declining for several years largely due to market penetration and higher prices, the drop in 2020 is expected to be far more extreme, down to 1.57 billion […]
A pandemic isn’t exactly how obé Fitness, a startup providing at-home workout classes, expected to achieve hockey-stick growth. But with gyms closed and people cooped up at home, obé Fitness’s membership increased by a factor of 10. For co-founder Mark Mullett, the disease that’s caused this surge has also cost a steep personal toll. “To […]
Social media use is up, but advertiser demand is down – and that dynamic means brands that are spending right now can get a lot of quality reach for low prices. CPMs on social are down on average between 15% and 30% across the board, according to five media buyers that spoke with AdExchanger. Facebook […]
Pinterest would’ve had a pretty decent first quarter if it wasn’t for … the coronavirus, of course. But engagement is at an all-time high, and the immediacy of what people are searching for is changing, said Arthur Sevilla, Pinterest’s head of global vertical strategy. The shift first became noticeable in early April. “It’s gone from […]
Anyone down for a road trip? Travel brands including Disney Resorts, Wyndham and Hilton are looking toward regional and local travel experiences as a way to generate some demand as the coronavirus plays out. “We’re retooling our approach to go-to-market … to be much more about local business and, in the beginning, drive to business,” […]
April 20 – or 4/20 – the biggest day on the cannabis enthusiast’s calendar, was a muted affair this year. But despite canceled events and socially-distanced smoking, the demand was still there, said Cory Rothschild, SVP of brand marketing at Cresco Labs, a publicly traded multistate cannabis company based in Illinois, where recreational weed became legal on […]
One month ago, 24% of ad buyers had paused their campaigns, according to an IAB survey on how COVID-19 has impacted spend. That number has since increased to 37% of buyers, according to the trade org’s latest survey. Overwhelmingly, those who are now pausing their spend had not yet decided whether or not to do […]
Quick-service restaurants have only recently embraced online pickup and delivery. These new systems are now being adopted at a breakneck pace as the coronavirus forces the world to shift to contactless delivery. COVID-19 is accelerating existing QSR trends around use of technology to enable contactless delivery, said Yum! Brands CEO David Gibbs during the company’s […]
Brands launching campaigns in response to the COVID-19 crisis must tread carefully. Consumers largely don’t want to hear about irrelevant products or buy nonessential items during a recession. They can also see right through brands with COVID-19 responses that don’t offer something relevant. That leaves brands balancing the need to distribute important information without coming […]
Chas Cahn, senior director of marketing at PepsiCo, usually spends his days focused on product innovation and promotion for restaurants, venues, retail locations and nutrition programs at K-12 schools. But with large-scale closures due to the coronavirus, Cahn is turning his attention to a marketing campaign for a new PepsiCo-led promotion that aims to help […]
At the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, DTC sleepwear brand Lunya had to furlough staffers, shut down retail stores and lay off part-time workers to break even through the downturn. “It was painful pivoting,” said Lunya’s Founder and CEO, Ashley Merrill. But there were bright spots. Lunya’s business is more than 80% ecommerce. The company […]
The Ad Council said Thursday it has launched a programmatic private marketplace (PMP) for public service announcements related to the COVID-19 pandemic. This initiative is its first major foray into donated programmatic media, though it has experimented with targeting audiences on social and specific publishers. The Ad Council coordinates public service advertising campaigns for a […]
Brands that haven’t gone dark still need a steady flow of creative, but production shoots are on hold. So with everyone practicing social distancing, brands are repurposing stock assets and using influencers as content creators. “People are looking for any cost-effective solution that gets them high quality ads,” said Alex Collmer, CEO of creative automation […]
From 2008 to 2009, we had The Great Recession. In 2020, thanks to the coronavirus, we’re living in The Great Uncertainty. But one thing is certain: Ad spend will tumble. “It’s always a safe assumption that in a declining economy you also see a deceleration in ad spending,” said Brian Wieser, global president of business […]
Between March and June, brands said they’re spending 33% less on digital media, and 39% less on traditional media, as the vast majority adjust spending for the first half of the year. The IAB surveyed nearly 400 senior decision-makers at brands and agencies in the past week. Seventy-four percent of them anticipated a coronavirus-related downturn […]
The economy might be tanking, but hey, cannabis sales are on the rise and Denver-based Spherex is riding the wave. “The dispensaries are starting to look like the toilet paper aisle,” said Dan Gardenswartz, CFO of Spherex, a company that produces cannabis concentrates and products, including a THC and CBD-infused sparkling water called Phyx. Spherex […]
The coronavirus outbreak has caused marketers to rethink their 2020 budgets, delay campaign launches, sit out conferences and experiment with remote work. Despite this disruption, we’re still largely in wait-and-see mode in terms of how the virus will impact operations in the United States. Here’s the quick lowdown on how COVID-19’s warpath through the world […]
Intermarché, the third-largest supermarket chain in France, distributes close to 970 million printed circulars a year. Beyond requiring beaucoup papier, “a lot of younger people simply don’t read them anymore,” said Anne-Marie Gaultier, Intermarché’s CMO. And that’s if they even receive them. It’s difficult for Intermarché to know if its flyers are making it into […]
Todd Ballard, GoPro’s CMO, has his work cut out for him: Encourage people to buy action video cameras when nearly half the humans on Earth already have access to a sophisticated, high-quality camera embedded directly in their phone. Once a darling of Wall Street, GoPro’s stock has mainly been on a downward spiral, with a […]
Ad buyers aren’t thrilled about Google Chrome’s decision to phase out third-party cookies, but they’re thankful it’ll take about two years; Safari and Firefox didn’t extend such a courtesy. During that time, most buyers intend to rebuild their targeting and measurement strategies. But Google’s proposed Privacy Sandbox solution is still too theoretical for there to […]
Throw a brick and you’ll hit a 2020 marketing prognosticator, but in a way there’s only one cohort whose predictions matter in this industry: the marketer, who sets strategy and writes all the checks. So we asked six leading brand marketers the following question: “What will be the biggest challenge and opportunity for marketers in […]
The direct-to-consumer food space is hugely competitive. You’ve got the meal kit delivery guys such as Hello Fresh, Plated and Sun Basket; the online grocery delivery folks, including FreshDirect and Peapod from Stop & Shop; and Grubhub, DoorDash and Uber Eats for people who can’t be bothered with meal prep. And then there’s Hungryroot, a […]
Ever fall down the YouTube rabbit hole or mindlessly scroll through the news feed and then suddenly wake up 30 minutes later with no idea where the time went? Of course you have – and so has Tim Armstrong, former CEO of Oath (now Verizon Media) and AOL. The current business model of the internet is […]
Most of the information brands have about influencers is flawed. “There’s no validating evidence from the platforms,” said Casey DePalma McCartney, head of PR, influencer marketing and digital engagement at Unilever, at an ANA conference in New York on Thursday. “The biggest issue is validation of the data.” Since Unilever sparked an industry conversation about […]
The single malt scotch category calls to mind images of cigar-puffing captains of industry sitting on expensive leather chairs in exclusive smoke-filled clubs. The Glenlivet is looking to change that perception with a marketing strategy focused on attracting new customers with a progressive attitude, said Sona Bajaria, VP of marketing at French multinational wine and […]
For years, Pandora Jewelry sat comfortably at the top of its category. And then it noticed a disconcerting mystery: a drop-off in customer consideration. “People know us,” said Charisse Hughes, CMO at Pandora Jewelry. “The question is, why aren’t they buying?” Hughes has been leading a two-and-a-half year effort to get to the bottom of […]
Mondelēz takes a better-safe-than-sorry approach to programmatic. Sex, drugs, news, violence – any content that could lead to a negative association with one of its brands goes on the block list, said Jennifer Mennes, North America media director for Mondelēz International. But the initiative wasn’t always efficient. Mondelēz was running post-bid measurement and paying for blocked […]
