The Marketing Plug Podcast (2024)

26/06/2023

22Squared Makes Erica Hoholick First Female CEO in Its 100-Year History

22Squared wants to prove that "empathetic marketing" doesn't have to be an oxymoron. The independent agency, which champions social justice initiatives and advises clients on purpose-driven campaigns, is now led by a woman for the first time in its 100-year history. "As the new CEO, it's so nice to be able to chart our vision...

She is the first woman to run the company in its 100-year history.

25/06/2023

Brands See Increased Sales After Arming Creators on Social With Affiliate Links

For years, Noelle Downing, a lifestyle influencer with more than 450,000 followers on Instagram, wanted to partner with brands like Urban Outfitters and Free People. But it wasn't until she turned to affiliate marketing that she sealed the deal. By posting links for products on her feed, she could prove that she could drive sales--plus,...

Though as platforms develop new tech, it could soon become outdated.

24/06/2023

This Esports Agent Credits Video Games—Not Coaching—for His Career

Greg Via broke into sports marketing by helping Michael Jordan sell Gatorade. He pulled Derek Jeter, Roger Federer, Tiger Woods and Thierry Henry together to pitch Gillette razors. But one big name explains his switch from traditional sports superstars to esports personalities: Duke Nukem. "I was a closet [gamer] when I was at Gatorade: I...

Cloud9's Greg Via ran track and field in college all the way to the boardrooms of Gatorade and P&G.

23/06/2023

It’s Not NBA All-Star Weekend Without the Marketing

The National Basketball Association and the brands in its orbit descend upon Cleveland this weekend for the NBA All-Star Game and its associated events. Here's just a sample of what's going down in C-town. Nothing But NFT Dapper Labs, the company behind NBA Top Shot, is auctioning 30 team-based NFTs as part of its NBA...

NFTs, nostalgia and video games abound as basketball's best gather in Cleveland.

22/06/2023

How Coinbase Broke the Offline-to-Online Marketing Paradigm

As it turns out, the biggest winner from Super Bowl 56 was not the Los Angeles Rams, but Coinbase and its ingenious TV ad. Marketers everywhere know that the simpler the ad the better, and Coinbase's floating QR code that nostalgically reminded us all of the DVD era was the perfect combo of curiosity-piquing, non-complicated...

The crypto platform’s ad proved that QR codes, that failed relic of early internet era, are back to stay.

21/06/2023

McDonald’s Campaign Asks Customers to Share Their Food Stories

McDonalds has begun a digital competition in the U.K. asking customers to share their stories of what they eat when they go to one of their restaurants. The marketing drive titled "My McDonalds Story' is running through the brand's app and emails asking users to create a story to be entered into a draw to...

The fast food giant is asking customers to tell them what they eat when they go to one of their restaurants

20/06/2023

Marketing Morsels: A Sweaty Old Spice Deepfake, High-Octane Skittles and More

Welcome to Marketing Morsels, a menu of delightful news items from the past week. Enjoy the assortment! Morsel #1: What Is Madewell Made Of? Clothing brand Madewell and agency Yard NYC are launching the latest set of spots in their ongoing "What Are You Made Of?" campaign. This installment features "culinary creatives" Sohla El-Waylly, Padma...

A sampling of this week's brand stunts.

19/06/2023

Bringing a Passionate PC-First Audience to Mobile

Riot Games has thrived off a player-focused mentality with its flagship global sensation League of Legends. During its 10th anniversary in 2019, the developer announced several new game genres, including its first foray into the mobile gaming space. At Adweek's Elevate: The Future of Mobile Gaming summit, Riot's global head of marketing for League of...

On using authenticity to expand the League of Legends ecosystem.

18/06/2023

Your Influencer Marketing Strategy Is Likely Outdated

Editor's note: This piece is part of our Columnist Network series, which explores the tactical thoughts and actions from Adweek's community of high-level experts. The challenge Influencer marketing has been a staple of overall marketing strategies for more than a decade, yet many brands are still treating it as an emerging way to connect to...

Community engagement is key as consumers experience product placement fatigue.

17/06/2023

What Marketers Can Learn From the New Space Race

Many would assume that the new space race--as extravagant, complex and dangerous as it is--has nothing to teach us about how to be better at marketing. But it does. It's precisely that extravagance, complexity and danger that has given rise to important lessons in how to innovate safely and inexpensively, whilst avoiding the bloated, bureaucratic...

The space race may seem expensive and fanciful, but it is built on modest innovations.

16/06/2023

5 Ways to Meet Gen Z Consumers Where They Are

Generational marketing isn't easy. Getting it right requires expert knowledge, consistent monitoring of trends and a willingness to make unexpected pivots. With five generations of consumers now in the marketplace, and with Gen Z on track to become the largest cohort of consumers in the near future--performance marketers must sharpen their pencils now or risk...

It all starts with striving for social impact.

15/06/2023

What Jim Morrison Can Teach Brands About Business Success

"Differentiate or die" is a common business mantra--or as the irrepressible Coco Chanel once said, "In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different." However, that world-famous marketing guru Jim Morrison of The Doors also once sang: "No one remembers your name when you're strange." This view isn't something that we often hear about...

A look at why standing out isn't easy for brands, or humans.

14/06/2023

Sandy Hook Families Reach $73 Million Settlement With Re*****on Over AR-15 Marketing

The families of five children and four adults killed in the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School have reached a $73 million settlement with Re*****on, the manufacturer of the AR-15 rifle used in the massacre. The settlement comes more than seven years after families filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Re*****on in 2014...

Arms maker Re*****on's advertising ran afoul of Connecticut law, plaintiffs argued.

13/06/2023

Cross-Cultural Agency BeautifulBeast Launches in Dallas and Miami

Three veteran advertising executives have launched a new agency to take advantage of the growth in cross-cultural marketing. BeautifulBeast became an official agency today, Feb. 15, with hubs in Dallas and Miami. Founded by former executives of the multicultural agency Lerma that spun off from The Richards Group, BeautifulBeast sees itself as an agency that...

The agency will launch virtually, but have hubs in Miami and Dallas.

12/06/2023

Reddit Taps Tinuiti as Its First Independent Agency Partner

Independent performance marketing firm Tinuiti became Reddit's first independent agency partner Tuesday. Tinuiti works across Amazon, Facebook, Google and streaming television platforms, and the partnership will give its clients early and increased access to Reddit resources, teams and tools, including: Dedicated creative strategy support via Reddit's in-house agency team, KarmaLab. Direct access to Reddit measurement...

The latter’s clients will get early, increased access to the former’s resources, teams, tools.

11/06/2023

A Crash Course in Brand Authenticity When Supporting the Black Community

Despite the number of brands scrambling to learn about Black Americans and how to be supportive during the height of the George Floyd protests in 2020, there are a significant number of Black consumers who believe they are misrepresented or not represented at all in brand advertisements. When it comes to advertising, Black American consumers...

Examples of marketing tactics that will fail when trying to connect with Black consumers.

10/06/2023

Meet the Creative Turning a Swedish Start-Up Into the Supreme of Insurance

It's 6am in Stockholm and eager customers have begun lining up on the street for the new merchandise. The atmosphere is reminiscent of a hotly anticipated drop from a streetwear brand or an Apple product launch. Just two days after launch, the exclusive line of vintage furniture, art and home goods has sold out. Now,...

Through a unique marketing approach, Evelina Rönnung is helping Hedvig disrupt the sector and reach a younger generation.

09/06/2023

10 Data Points That Sum Up How the Ads Performed in Super Bowl 56

36 million U.S. households, or more than 1 in 4 U.S. homes, tuned into the Super Bowl this year, which is a 12% increase from last year's game. And among those viewers who paid more attention to the commercial breaks than the game itself, there were a few apparent marketing themes at play. To name...

Metrics illustrate how consumers truly felt about the ads.

08/06/2023

KFC selects MullenLowe as AOR to complete marketing makeover

Wieden + Kennedy had handled the QSR's creative account since 2015.

Wieden + Kennedy had handled the QSR's creative account since 2015.

07/06/2023

Meta: Underreporting of iOS Web Conversions Down to 8% From 15% Last September

Meta revealed last September that it had been underreporting iOS web conversions by approximately 15% due to the privacy changes Apple implemented in its operating system. Director of product marketing, ads Goksu Nebol-Perlman said in a blog post Monday that the company roughly halved its underreporting, to about 8%. The company noted that it arrives...

A bug resolved last week temporarily affected numbers for some web and app campaigns.

06/06/2023

McDonald’s Pays Tribute to ‘Fan Truths’ Linked by ‘Moments of Indecision’ in Super Bowl Pregame Ad

The Super Bowl pregame slot is a moment of intense anticipation for viewers, fans and marketers, so it's a fitting theme for McDonald's to explore in its 30-second ad appearing before kickoff. The ad, "Can I Get Uhhhhhhh...." is inspired by what Jennifer Healan, vp of U.S. marketing, brand content and engagement at McDonald's, described...

The Wieden+Kennedy spot features Ye, Nascar's Bubba Wallace, FIFA Twitch streamer Edwin Castro and Grimace.

05/06/2023

Why Ryan Reynolds’ Mint Mobile Flipped an Old Ad Upside-Down for Super Bowl Sunday

Mint Mobile is making its return to Super Bowl Sunday this weekend, but you might need to tune in a bit early to catch the Ryan Reynolds-owned brand's ad. No, not the pre-game show. Before that. You can't miss it. It's the ad that's upside-down. While the budget cell service did make an official Super...

An 'upcycled' ad continues the budget cell service's humorous efforts to save money on marketing.

04/06/2023

How Wieden+Kennedy Made 11 Ads for Super Bowl Sunday, Totaling 8 Minutes of Airtime

For most brands and agencies, pulling together one Super Bowl ad can be a Herculean task, sometimes taking many months and involving every person within an agency to produce a brand's most visible marketing moment of the year. Wieden+Kennedy didn't just execute one ad this year. It's dropping six in-game national spots--the same as last...

The agency produced six Super Bowl ads, four pre-game ads and one regional spot.

03/06/2023

Campaign Trail: Lay's Super Bowl return kicks off years-long creative roadmap

Nodding to its 90-year history, the chip brand attempts to bring its purpose of delivering joy closer to the center of its marketing.

Nodding to its 90-year history, the chip brand attempts to bring its purpose of delivering joy closer to the center of its marketing.

02/06/2023

Marketing Morsels: A Velveeta Cheese Heist, Last-Minute Valentines and More

Welcome to Marketing Morsels, a menu of delightful news items from the past week. Enjoy the assortment! Morsel #1: Puppy Love If you're struggling to find love on dating apps, that might be because you don't have a dog. So get one! Or, at least, make people believe you have one. Dog food brand Jinx...

A sampling of this week's brand stunts.

01/06/2023

LinkedIn Revamps Search Experience in Sales Navigator

LinkedIn continues to bolster its LinkedIn Sales Navigator suite of tools to help sales professionals boost day-to-day efficiency and succeed with their virtual selling efforts. Head of product and solutions marketing Nicole Desjardins wrote in a blog post, "From identifying and building relationships with buyers to tracking noteworthy news on prospects, Sales Navigator is helping...

Advanced Plus users will see deeper connections with their CRMs.

31/05/2023

Cann Crashes the Super Bowl With Wild Posters in LA That Call for ‘Substance Equality’

Cann, a THC-infused drink with a celebrity following and a provocative brand voice, is going guerrilla for the Super Bowl with an outdoor campaign challenging alcohol's lock on advertising during the Big Game. In colorful posters debuting today within a 10-mile radius of SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, Cann is showing off what co-founder Luke...

THC-infused beverage follows in the footsteps of Weedmaps in challenging censorship of cannabis marketing.

30/05/2023

How the producer economy is changing influencer marketing

Brands that become content producers have more flexibility, including how they negotiate relationships with influencers.

Brands that become content producers have more flexibility, including how they negotiate relationships with influencers.

29/05/2023

How Advertisers Plan to Take Over TikTok on Super Bowl Sunday

Krishna Subramanian, co-founder and CEO of influencer marketing platform Captiv8, has one piece of advice for Super Bowl advertisers: don't copy and paste your content from the big screen onto TikTok. "It's about looking at TikTok as an extension of your TV ad," he said. "Carry that same theme over, but make it super authentic...

Advertisers are snagging the attention of half-interested viewers who will likely swipe through the app during the game.

28/05/2023

Doja Cat Breaks Free in Taco Bell’s Super Bowl Return

Keeping a pulse on pop culture has been a recurring theme in the marketing strategy for Taco Bell. Looking to continue that messaging, the restaurant chain made rapper Doja Cat the star of its Super Bowl 2022 ad that breaks all the rules in and outside of the commercial. These rules include embargo times, as...

The rapper leaked the full commercial on Instagram Live ahead of its planned debut.

The Marketing Plug Podcast