Marketing winners and losers of the week

This week's winners, losers and newsmakers. Winners Disney: The Force is with the media giant, which posted first-quarter earnings that beat estimates, thanks to subscriber growth for Disney+ and its recovering theme park business. Electric vehicles: Maybe, just maybe EVs are finally going to hit the mainstream. That is the hope of automakers, which are pouring billions of dollars into developing them and making the battery-powered cars the centerpiece of Super Bowl ads. 90s nostalgia: Forget the metaverse, what we really want to do is relive the pop culture past—at least according to several brands whose Super Bowl ads climb into the wayback machine. The 1990s are a particularly popular era, it seems—Hi GenXers! Michelob Ultra’s ad has subtle references to “The Big Lebowski,” which came out in 1998, while GM reprised “Austin Powers” villain Dr. Evil, rekindling a film franchise that began in 1997. Losers Valentine's Day: Cupid’s annual holiday might be seeing too much red this year as it has the misfortune of being scheduled the day after the Super Bowl. As a result, campaigns from the likes of Panera, Tushy and OKCupid have been overshadowed by Big Game advertisers. But there might be one silver lining around the red heart. The National Retail Federation is predicting that spending will be up to $23.9 billion for Valentine’s Day this year, the second-highest on record, as consumers return to pre-pandemic habits of going out. NBC: Yes, the network is about to pull a massive ratings number with the Super Bowl, but this week it wallowed in awful Olympics ratings. Reports Bloomberg: “As the Winter Olympics near the halfway point, NBC’s viewership is nearly half of what it was four years ago and is on pace to be the lowest in the event’s history.” Twitter: The social media giant issued earnings this week that did little to impress as the brand seeks to build new products quickly. Fourth-quarter revenue, while up 22% to $1.6 billion, came in just under analyst expectations. The company is under investor pressure following the departure of founder Jack Dorsey late last year. Tweet of the week A commercial in which Facebook tries to make the metaverse alluring by equating you, the customer, to a discarded and obsolete animatronic dog. https://t.co/5I4030xIiB— Surveillance Killjoy (@hypervisible) February 11, 2022 Register for Ad Age Next: Health & Wellness at AdAge.com/NextWellness. Number of the week 97%: Peloton’s increase in sales and marketing expenses, to $349.6 million, for the most recent quarter. That category represented 30.8% of total revenues, versus 16.7% in the year-earlier period, the company reported earlier this week when it announced 2,800 layoffs. Quote of the week "We see when work is insightful and is informed by a real human truth," said Cheryl Overton, founder and chief experience officer of Cheryl Overton Communications, on an Ad Age panel about diversity, equity and inclusion in Super Bowl ads. "When it isn’t part of the narrative or really speaking to anyone it almost feels like checking the box to say we did it." On the move The Orvis Co. named Sheila Shekar Pollak its first chief brand experience officer. She had been senior VP and chief marketing officer at skincare brand Biossance; prior to that she was the CMO of Athleta. Subscribe to Ad Age now for the latest industry news and analysis.

Marketing winners and losers of the week

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