McDonald’s CEO Don Thompson delivered a pointed retort to critics at the chain’s annual shareholders meeting Thursday morning: “The way you describe us is not who we are.”
Mr. Thompson was responding to critics who say the chain markets unfairly to kids and exploits children of color in its marketing. Corporate Accountability International, a consumer advocacy group that routinely criticizes McDonald’s for marketing to kids, was on hand at the meeting to confront the company about its marketing and issue a proposal. Like last year, CAI brought a proposal up for vote that would call on the company to issue a report assessing the chain’s impact on public health. And like last year, it was struck down, this time with 6.3% of shareholders voting for the proposal.
After Mr. Thompson was asked by a CAI representative when the company will stop targeting kids and undermining childrens’ health, he said: “The way you describe us is not who we are.”
]]>Michelle Gass, a longtime Starbucks executive is leaving to join Kohl’s in the newly-created role of chief customer officer.
The Ad Age Woman to Watch honoree had just this month been tapped to work with CEO Howard Schultz at the company’s Seattle headquarters as part of a senior leadership team. She leaves a 16-year career at Starbucks, where she most recently headed its Europe, Middle East and Africa unit. In contrast, her new role at Kohl’s, based in Menomonee Falls, Wisc., will be exclusively domestic -- the third-largest U.S. department store chain operates 1,155 stores in 49 states.
Ms. Gass, who will report directly to chairman-CEO Kevin Mansell beginning next month, will be responsible for marketing, e-commerce and omnichannel experiences. The retailer has been without a chief marketing officer since Julie Gardner departed late last year. It’s unclear whether that role will remain unfilled, given Ms. Gass’ responsibilities for marketing.
]]>What happens when you put 600 candy marketers in a room with thousands of retail buyers? A sugar-filled pitch-a-thon where no packaging detail seems too small or sales stat too regional.
"We dominate North Texas," Mike Sanderlin said at this week's Sweets & Snacks Expo in Chicago when asked about his cotton candy brand, called Cotton Candy A La' Cart. His pitch? Unlike other brands, it is packaged in transparent bags so "the kids can see it."
Like so many others, Mr. Sanderlin is looking to close deals at the three-day event, which is expected to draw some 15,000 people from across the globe. Buyers are seeking the next big thing in candy, while marketers large and small are hoping to fill orders as fast as they can. All the while, mascots like a walking Sour Patch Kid roam the exhibit hall, which is filled with enough free samples to induce a weeks-long sugar high.
]]>The future of the airline industry has got to be brighter than its present, according to Marty St. George, senior VP-marketing and commercial strategy at JetBlue Airways, in the latest "#AFewGoodMinutes" interview from Allen & Gerritsen.
"It's not as bad now as it was even two years ago, but you still have legacy airlines trying to compete on who's got the nicest prison cell," Mr. St. George said. "We're in a different class than that and I think the whole industry is going to be better off if we all up our game a little bit."
]]>Among leading industry observers and the media, there's widespread consensus that dramatic changes in the business landscape have made the role of CMO ever more complex. Globalization and technological advances have left organizations struggling to adapt their strategies to meet the heightened expectations of consumers. These developments have created more dynamic and potentially more profitable opportunities for companies that can infuse marketing into every facet of the enterprise.
While the challenges are widely acknowledged, solutions have proved to be in much shorter supply. Prescriptions have ranged from replacing the CMO with a chief customer officer to doing away with the CMO altogether. It's little wonder, then, that many CMOs are struggling with the lack of concrete direction about what their role should be, let alone how to make a tangible impact on the organization.
To address these challenges, we created the CMO Program. A critical component is to instill a broader perspective among CMOs for the complexities of global opportunities. Accordingly, we have assembled a roster of instructors that include leading faculty and practitioners from Fortune 500 companies. The course, developed for future leaders of Fortune 500 companies across a range of industries, combines the latest research and insight from academia, mentoring from CMOs and CEOs, as well as hands-on problem solving to build capabilities through experiential learning.
]]>Chiqui Cartagena
Yesterday I spoke at the International Council of Shopping Centers annual convention in Las Vegas on a panel called "Hispanic Markets: The Next Gold Rush." If you have been to La Gran Plaza Mall in Fort Worth or the Dessert Sky Mall in Phoenix or the newly inaugurated Plaza Mayor at the Crossroads in Oklahoma City, you have experienced one of the newest phenomena in the world of shopping centers -- Hispanic malls.
]]>Among the biggest stories in this year's BrandZ ranking of the world's top 100 valuable brands is the rise of the apparel and retail categories, which posted approximately 20% brand value growth over last year.
One highlight from this year's retail story includes Amazon's gain over Walmart. Amazon, with a brand value of $45.7 billion, saw its value grow by 34%, while Walmart grew by 5% to $36.2 billion. Amazon's operational swiftness accounts for a good part of its financial success, namely, the retailer's ability to quickly adapt to market and pricing fluctuations and normalize goods to real market value. Additionally, Amazon has been making the move to in-store selling, with a push in the UK and US to sell merchandise within highly trafficked convenience stores.
Walmart's second place performance comes on the heels of a slowdown in the Chinese market, a major area of focus for Walmart. Despite this, the retailer is poised to gain in brand value over the next few years. With the major advantage over Amazon of owning its brick and mortar stores, the retailer is making great strides in becoming an in-store, online and mobile heavyweight. Perhaps the greatest indication of its auspicious future: a new i-Phone scan and checkout system available at more than 200 locations in the US. This is just one step toward meeting the customer through various mediums and making the shopping experience more interactive.
]]>Gone are the days when world-weary travelers preferred hotels that reminded them of home and provided a respite from the location they were visiting. Today, savvy travelers expect hotels to not only provide the creature comforts of home but while stay true to their surroundings.
To meet that need, execs at Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide are taking an unusual step -- temporarily relocating the team to fast-growing markets to determine what will make their hotels stand out.
"There was a time, going back 25 or 30 years, when an international hotel brand was like an embassy or a consulate in a foreign country. It was somewhere you went to feel safe and secure, like a home-from-home," explained Phil McAveety, executive VP-chief brand officer at Starwood.
]]>In 10 years, there will be 50 billion industrial machines connected to the internet, predicts Stephen Liguori, executive director-global innovation and new models at GE. The 123-year-old firm calls it the "industrial internet" and it's the next wave of the consumer-focused internet of things connecting everyday products to data-collecting platforms.
The phenomenon is a ways off but GE is working to generate technology that collects and parses data to create greater efficiencies for businesses such as aviation, health care and "for folks that work in the power grid," said Mr. Liguori, speaking yesterday afternoon at the Ad Age Marketing and Technology Summit at Internet Week in New York.
Mr. Liguori joined a host of other marketers to discuss the new tech- and data-driven CMO and the increasing need for CMOs to work in tandem with CIOs to manage the vast swaths of data generated int his new era.
]]>There aren't many marketing executives who would advertise a convertible as the perfect ride for a freezing winter day--or a sunny night. But that's what Kevin Mayer, VP-marketing for Volkswagen Group of America, is doing in a campaign for the all-new Beetle convertible.
Mr. Mayer and his agency, Deutsch, created a new spot showing a young woman awakened in the wee hours by her boyfriend. But as they tool around town in his Beetle convertible, we see the sun is up, but the streets are deserted. The reason? They're driving around Fairbanks, Alaska, so-called "Land of the Midnight Sun." The tagline: "Perfect for a sunny night. The all-new Beetle convertible." The spot follows one that has been running for some time showing a masked man walking into a convenience store. The cringing cashier fears he's about to rob the joint. But when the oblivious masked man returns to the car, viewers can see that he and his friends are wearing masks because they're driving the Beetle convertible on a winter day.
Marketing spending for the Volkswagen brand has shot up in recent years, jumping from just $200 million when Deutsch won the account in 2009 to more than $360 million in recent years. The company, which also operates Audi, Bentley and Porsche among other brands, ranks as the country's 58th largest national advertiser, according to Ad Age's DataCenter.
]]>Gyrating, scantily clad models with pouty red lips haven't exactly been a hallmark of RadioShack advertising, but the latest spot -- inspired by Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" music video and promoting Beats by Dre's Pill speaker -- is the first indication the electronics retailer is embarking on major changes.
Jennifer Warren, the new chief marketing officer and a former ad-agency exec, says the retailer is moving quickly to make changes in its advertising as it attempts an aggressive turnaround. It hopes to attract younger consumers, alert customers to the popular products it carries, such as Beats, and rethink the design of its stores. RadioShack is also rolling out a brand platform and tagline, "Let's Play," in an effort to become the "neighborhood technology playground."
The ad, which has racked up 1.5 million views on YouTube, surprised some people, Ms. Warren said, but was generally well-received. Taking a risk with the #UWantIt ad has won the retailer points, even among franchise owners who Ms. Warren said are eager to see the marketer become culturally relevant again.
]]>The concept behind Kidzania -- essentially a theme park that's about work -- is growing like a weed abroad, with 12 existing locations and openings scheduled this year in Kuwait City, Cairo, Sao Paulo, Mumbai and Istanbul. The first U.S. location is due in 2015 in a city to be determined, and it's up to Cammie Dunaway, U.S. president and global CMO, to explain the concept to American children and their parents.
Started in Mexico in 1999, Kidzania exposes children to the working world and money management by letting them earn a virtual currency. Kids apply themselves in various career paths, all courtesy of brand sponsors. They can perform surgeries in a Johnson & Johnson hospital in Portugal and work in a Coca-Cola bottling plant in Dubai. Their earnings could go toward renting a car in an Avis rental office, or kids could do the prudent thing and deposit their hard-earned cash in a bank to earn interest.
The brand accomplishes an unusual trifecta of appealing to children, their parents and global marketers who are already looking for ways to talk to the next generation of consumers. Ms. Dunaway -- a speaker at Ad Age's CMO Strategy Summit in San Francisco next month -- gave some insight into the strategy behind where to set up shop and how to promote such an unusual brand.
]]>Walmart reported first-quarter sales and earnings that missed forecasts, but it's forging ahead with more local price-comparison ads and e-commerce investments amid signs its executives see that both are working.
Earnings of $1.14 per share for the quarter ended April 30 fell a penny below analyst forecasts. Comparable-store sales for the nameplate U.S. stores fell 1.4%, compared to a forecast of "about flat," breaking a streak of six positive quarters.
But executives pointed to things they said are producing positive results, including aggressive pricing, particularly on groceries, backed by local market-basket price-comparison ads on TV and radio that U.S. CEO Bill Simon said will now expand to 70% of Walmart's markets, up from the current 60%.
]]>David Ortiz' statement to the world after the terrorism bombings in Boston -- "this is our fucking city" -- is emblematic of Red Sox fans' personalities. They're passionate, sometimes a little salty and extremely loyal. In fact, the Red Sox' home game sellout streak that ended last month had stretched for 820 home games over 10 years, the longest such run in professional sports.
Executives predicted the sellouts would end this season, even though some Boston media outlets argued it ended last season citing summer evenings with empty Fenway seats. Still, the end of the streak was also something of a relief to management.
"It's been a pretty amazing decade," said Sam Kennedy, the chief operating officer of the Boston Red Sox and president of Fenway Sports Management. "It's a very fragile thing to have a streak like that. And it's easier when you're winning an average of 92, 93 games a season. Last year we had a disastrous season only winning 69 games, plus a lot of drama off the field and injuries. ...At the end of the day, we're dealing with human capital."
]]>Never in history has such richness of information been so readily available to so many. We're only beginning to realize both sides of this technology-empowered coin. It's one that can simultaneously enrich and complicate our everyday lives.
The simplicity of a web search allows knowledge-sharing or plagiarism. Tweets can share real-time stories in a war zone or take school bullying to a whole new level. The cloud itself holds the promise of preserving our digital memories, while enabling unprecedented levels of piracy, hacking and identity theft.
]]>Taco Bell's Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer Brian Niccol has been promoted to president of the chain. Chris Brandt, a Taco Bell marketing executive, is now the chain's chief marketing officer.
A Taco Bell spokesman confirmed the moves, and said that Taco Bell CEO Greg Creed will remain in his post. Mr. Brandt will lead brand marketing, media and brand sponsorships, consumer insights and digital marketing.
Mr. Brandt was previously the chain's VP-marketing. He joined Taco Bell in 2010 as senior director of marketing. He was promoted in 2012 and helped roll out the "Live mas" tagline. During his tenure, he's overseen marketing strategy, led the launch of Doritos Locos Tacos and developed the Cantina Bell menu. Prior to joining Taco Bell, Mr. Brandt was a VP-marketing for Odwalla, a Coca-Cola brand, and launched a number of products, including protein smoothies and relaunched Odwalla bars. Before Odwalla, he worked in various brand-management roles at General Mills for brands including Betty Crocker, Nature Valley Granola Bars and Yoplait.
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]]>Dunder Mifflin will close up shop when the "The Office" airs for a final time Thursday on NBC. But if Quill.com gets its way, the fictional paper-products company will live on for years to come -- and not just in syndication.
Quill, which is owned by Staples, has aggressive marketing plans for its line of "Dunder Mifflin" branded office products, which were first introduced in 2011 under a licensing deal with NBC. "I don't think we went into this saying this is going to be a two or three year thing," said Paul Bessinger, Quill's director of innovation. "We think his thing can stand on its own and become an evergreen brand."
The marketer's first step comes Thursday night when it will air a new ad in the markets where the fictional Dunder Mifflin operates, such as Scranton, Pa.,; Utica, N.Y.; Akron, Ohio; Albany, N.Y.; and Syracuse. The commercial, which was crowd-sourced by Tongal, will run right before or after show but probably not during it, Mr. Bessinger said.
]]>Even before Spoetzl Brewery introduced its Shiner brand to the New York and Philadelphia markets, word had gotten out via social media. Fans of the Texan brand -- whether they were actual Texans, barbecue aficiandoes or South by Southwest alumni -- had been tipped off and were quick to spread the word.
Which is no accident. Gambrinus Co., which owns Spoetzl, and longtime agency, Austin-based McGarrah Jessee, have spent years building up that fan base, often on a limited budget. Despite moving into its 42nd state, Shiner has eschewed TV advertising. Last year, Spoetzl spent less than $1 million on measured media, according to Kantar Media, which included magazine, outdoor and display advertising.
While not completely ruling out TV, head of marketing Charlie Paulette noted that it wouldn't be a very good stylistic fit for a craft-brew brand famous for its heritage of outlaw music -- especially when craft-brew fans can be quick to let you know when you're "selling out." A better fit? Ambushing Heineken's official sponsorship of the Austin City Limits Music Festival a few years back. And social media, of course, which has allowed the brand to get much more mileage out of its own brand of marketing, though Mr. Paulette acknowledged that passionate social-media fans can sometimes turn on you.
]]>We're heading out to San Francisco for the second CMO Strategy Summit, bringing together some of the smartest minds in the business to discuss latest developments, challenges and opportunities in marketing.
Here's a preview of the themes and experiences to expect at the summit:
Getting the Most Out of Your Money
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