This week's marketing winners, losers and newsmakers.

Winners

Private label: As consumers seek out lower prices, private label products are reaping the benefits. Walmart recently said that it is seeing more customers shop its private labels than branded items, a trend that played out during the fourth quarter and is expected to continue. Also this week, the Private Label Manufacturers Association reported that private brand sales jumped 11.3% to $228.6 billion in all outlets in the U.S. for the 52 weeks ending Jan. 1, 2023, compared with the prior year, setting a record. 

Aldi: Cost-conscious consumers are also giving a boost to discount-oriented Aldi. A recent report from foot traffic analysis company Placer.ai found that Aldi is seeing success at its 2,300 stores in the U.S. Overall visits to the European grocery chain, which has been ramping up its locations here following its 1976 arrival, increased 30.8% between the fourth quarter of 2019 and the fourth quarter of 2022, Placer reported.

Lime: The company, which allows customers to share bikes and scooters, posted its first profitable year. Lime said adjusted EBITDA was $15 million in 2022; unadjusted, its profit was $4 million. The results, which were self-reported, come ahead of expectations that Lime will go public, joining competitor Bird. Lime CEO Wayne Ting told TechCrunch 2022 was Lime’s best year.

Losers

Vanderbilt University: The school came under fire this week following reports that it had used ChatGPT to write a statement about inclusivity to students following the Michigan State University shooting earlier this month. Vanderbilt's Peabody College’s Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion released the statement, which included a footnote that OpenAI’s ChatGPT AI language model had been used for the communication. Vanderbilt apologized for the email after some students labeled it “disgusting.”

Beer: Super Bowl week did not appear to be a good one for the beer industry. Sales volume fell more than 4% in the two weeks ending Feb. 12, reports Beer Marketer’s Insights, citing IRI data. The beer trade publication referenced recent comments by Molson Coors CEO Gavin Hattersley about “reasons for caution” across the consumer landscape.

NBA:  Sunday’s All-Star Game drew 4.59 million viewers on TNT and TBS, “making it easily the lowest rated and least-watched edition of the game,” reports sportsmediawatch.com, which dubbed the lackluster ratings an “airball.”

Tweet of the week

Number of the week

6.4%: Increase in demand among viewers for products advertised during the 2023 Super Bowl, according to behavioral research company Veylinx.

Catch up on more Super Bowl news here.

Quote of the week

“Before, if you just wanted to imagine a Nike store on Mars, it’s a full project. It’s not a place a lot of brands would spend their time because, it’s not something that would happen. With AI there is no limit.” –Benjamin Benichou, CEO of e-commerce platform Drop, on how brands can use AI to create over-the-moon concepts.

On the move

Cameo hired Matty de Castro as general manager of enterprise sales for Cameo for Business. He had been most recently VP of growth and operations at VidMob.

Loop, the baby gear rental company, hired Franchesca Hashim as head of marketing. She had been head of brand marketing at MasterClass.

​​Jack Hinchliffe, chief marketing officer of KFC UK and Ireland, has been appointed global CMO at sibling chain The Habit Burger Grill, the chain’s parent company Yum Brands said. Jenny Packwood, chief corporate affairs and sustainability officer at KFC UK and Ireland, will be interim CMO while the business looks for a permanent replacement for Hinchliffe.