Solo Stove pauses creative branding, hires Dentsu’s Carat to focus on performance media

Solo Stove has hired Dentsu’s Carat as its media agency of record as it shifts to focus solely on performance under a new chief marketing officer, Ad Age has learned. The Solo Brands marketer of smokeless outdoor fire pits will pause all creative branding efforts to focus primarily on performance, according to Liz Vanzura, a Solo Brands board member appointed as the company’s CMO in February. So don’t count on Snoop Dogg coming back for a third Solo Stove ad anytime soon. Agency Review Tracker Stay up to date with the latest account reviews Click here “We are thrilled to be partnering with Carat with their extensive experience in retail and with their AI tools to maximize performance,” Vanzura wrote in an email to Ad Age. Carat will focus on performance media and paid search, said one person close to the business. “We can’t wait to partner with [Solo Stove] to grow and evolve their brand, leveraging our expertise in designing for people through audience-driven, data-fueled media experiences,” said Mike Law, CEO of Carat North America. The Dentsu shop replaces the independent shop PMG, which was hired in March 2024 as Solo Stove’s media AOR. PMG deferred comment to Solo Brands. See all of Ad Age’s 2025 Agency A-List winners here Solo Brands announced it was appointing Vanzura as its interim CMO during its 2024 fourth-quarter earnings report last month. The company praised her as having a “successful track record as CMO and head of brand strategy for companies such as Cadillac and Hummer” in an earnings statement. The veteran marketer has held senior marketing and communications roles at Wahlburgers, General Motors’ Cadillac and Hummer as well as Volkswagen in her career. Vanzura replaces Luana Bumachar, who was named Solo Brands’ CMO in March of last year when PMG was hired. Bumachar did not return a request for comment, but Vanzura confirmed that Bumachar left. Solo Brands is not currently searching for a permanent CMO, Vanzura said. One person close to the business said Interpublic Group of Cos.-owned The Martin Agency, the brand’s creative agency, is still under contract, but Vanzura confirmed there are currently no projects underway with the shop as Solo Stove pulls back on brand marketing. The Martin Agency declined to comment. One person close to the business said that the shift is partly due to “economic headwinds.” Recent Kantar research found that 80% of U.S. consumers are concerned about the impact U.S. President Donald Trump’s increased tariffs will have on their finances and spending and are “restraining spending.” Kantar Americas CEO and Global Chief Client Officer Wayne Levings previously told Ad Age that the uncertainty around the tariffs has led some brands to delay marketing decisions. Solo Brands has been dealing with sliding sales of Solo Stove. Solo Stove’s 2024 fourth-quarter net sales decreased 16.8% to $116.6 million, “driven by declines in both retail and DTC channel net sales, as a result of the lack of significant new product launches,” the company said in an earnings statement. This is not the first time Solo Stove has questioned the value of brand marketing. The Martin Agency’s attention-grabbing campaign starring Snoop Dogg was hotly debated after Chief Financial Officer Andrea Tarbox criticized it last year for not driving immediate sales. The ad, which debuted in 2023, played on the idea that the cannabis connoisseur had “decided to give up smoke.” Despite initial criticism that it didn’t immediately impact sales, Solo Stove aired a second ad featuring Snoop from The Martin Agency last August. At the time the second ad aired, Bumachar told Ad Age that Snoop did, after all, feel like the right partner to be able to connect with the brand’s target audience of 25- to 35-year-olds and “we realized we can own a place in culture” with his help. The original Snoop Dogg campaign, released in November 2023, did lead to a boost in brand awareness for Solo Stove, driving 1.2 million brand mentions in social media posts and news articles, a Solo spokesperson said in late 2023. Those seemingly positive results sparked some outrage in the industry over the value of brand-building campaigns compared to those designed to drive immediate sales increases. Solo Brands has also undergone a fair amount of leadership shakeup in the past year. In February, John Larson, a member of the board of directors, was appointed interim president and CEO of Solo Brands after Chris Metz stepped down after just one year in the role. In February 2024, Solo Brands hired Laura Coffey, formerly chief financial officer at The Vitamin Shoppe, as CFO and Michael McGoohan, who had previously spent time at Mondelēz International, Central Garden and Pet and Performance Health, as its first chief growth officer. Contributing: Ewan Larkin

Solo Stove pauses creative branding, hires Dentsu’s Carat to focus on performance media

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