“The White Lotus” actresses star in a Valentine's Day campaign for Skims.
This week's marketing winners, losers and newsmakers.
Skims: Kim Kardashian’s antics usually land her in the bottom half of this column, but the use of “The White Lotus” actresses Beatrice Grannò and Simona Tabasco in new marketing for her shapewear line made the brand a winner this week. Skims’ Valentine’s Day campaign showcases Grannò and Tabasco, who played prostitutes Mia and Lucia on the popular HBO series’ recent season. The campaign will run on digital and social platforms.
Justin Bieber: The singer just sold all of his published songs and royalties to Hipgnosis Songs Capital for a deal exceeding $200 million, according to Billboard, which cited sources familiar with the situation. The sale, which includes the 290 titles released by Bieber prior to Dec. 31, 2021, is the biggest for an artist of his generation, Billboard claimed. It will certainly buy him a lot of peaches.
Burger King: The fast-food giant earned top marks in brand recall and likeability for its current campaign and revamped “Have it Your Way” jingle. Burger King scored a 99% in brand recall, or the percentage of people noticing a brand being advertised, according to Accelerant Research. In addition, the chain achieved rankings of 62% for both likability and engagement in its advertising.
Read more: Burger King's ‘Whopper Whopper’ jingle success
HomeAdvisor: The Federal Trade Commission fined the home maintenance service company $7.2 million for “deceptive and misleading tactics” in its dealings with small businesses and other gig economy workers. HomeAdvisor, which counts Angi as a sister brand, was charged with offering false and unsubstantiated claims about the leads it would be providing to its member companies. Also this week, the FTC ordered Credit Karma to pay $3 million to customers it had “tricked” into believing they were “pre-approved” for credit cards.
Gucci: Six years ago, Gucci said it would stop selling fur products, part of its commitment to animal welfare. That commitment came into question this week, during the new Chinese calendar’s Year of the Rabbit, as Gucci faced backlash for selling items with rabbit felt, which is made from rabbit hair. The fashion brand said it would remove the products in question, which include fedoras and other hats. (For more on Lunar New Year campaigns, check out this roundup.)
Happy Dance: Despite the mainstream appeal of CBD products—and the popularity of Kristen Bell—the actress’ CBD-infused skincare line Happy Dance is shuttering. In an Instagram post, Happy Dance pointed customers to its sister brand Lord Jones for its CBD products.
48%: Percentage of mid-sized e-commerce businesses in the U.S. and Europe who said they have recently been “embarrassed” by their websites in front of a key stakeholder or customer, according to Storyblok, a content management system.
“Looking at it from a marketing standpoint, it becomes a legitimate tool because it can provide information to users, and to media, and the earned media that is a service to all three audiences. At its best, it’s a very legitimate function that can serve the interest of 360-degree audiences. And a touch of ridiculousness and a tad of humor doesn’t hurt anybody.”—Chuck Byers, a marketing professor at Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business, on the role fake holidays play for brands.
Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society hired Christine Buck as chief marketing and communications officer. She was most recently VP of product marketing and brand at Hootsuite.
Sharecare, a digital health company, hired Lisa Bookwalter as chief revenue officer of life sciences. She had been director of client services at Twitter Health.
Contributing: E.J. Schultz
