This week's marketing winners, losers and newsmakers.

Winners

Temu: The Boston-based shopping app with Chinese connections made a splash with a pricy double Super Bowl ad buy to build awareness among U.S. consumers. Now, early results show that Temu’s advertising blitz may already be paying off. Temu is now the most downloaded app in the U.S., according to new data from consumer intelligence firm GWS. Users have surged 79%, from 5.9 million daily users as of Dec. 1, 2022 to 10.5 million as of Feb. 25, the data show. 

See this year's Super Bowl commercials

American Airlines: In an update to its customer service plan, the carrier said it would guarantee that child travelers are seated next to their accompanying adults. American’s move follows similar actions by competitors such as United Airlines and Delta Air Lines. While others make it easier for families to book their tickets together, American is credited as the first to make the guarantee. The Department of Transportation has been aggressive on this issue. It is expected to release a new dashboard offering next week that highlights which airlines offer free family seating guarantees for customers.

Bose: The audio brand highlighted the dearth of female music producers in a Women’s History Month campaign. In “Turn the Dial,” Bose notes that less than 3% of popular songs from the last 10 years have been produced by women, a statistic it hopes to change with a new initiative with She Is The Music, a nonprofit. H.E.R., PinkPantheress, BLOND:ISH and WondaGurl all star in the campaign, which includes music composed by H.E.R..

Read more: Bose launches ‘Turn the Dial’

Losers

Powerade: Talk about bad timing. Hours after Coca-Cola Co.-owned Powerade announced Ja Morant is Powerade’s newest endorser the Washington Post published a lengthy investigative piece with allegations that the Memphis Grizzlies player punched a teenager repeatedly after a scrum in a basketball game at Morant’s home. The report also included allegations about Morant threatening a mall parking lot security guard. Video of a new ad starring Morant remained in Powerade’s Twitter feed as of press time. Powerade has not commented on the report and some of the brand’s followers are calling on Powerade to do so. 

Losers

Sir Kensington's: It’s the end of the vine for Sir Kensington’s ketchup, which the artisanal condiment seller said it was discontinuing. Though Sir Kensington’s debuted in 2008 with its free-of-high-fructose-corn-syrup ketchup product, the tomato-based condiment now represents just 10% of sales for the brand, now owned by Unilever. Mayonnaise, which debuted a decade ago, has risen to the top and now generates some 75% of Sir Kensington’s business, outperforming its red predecessor.

Pier 1: The retailer fell under the microscope of the National Advertising Division of the BBB National Programs this week for potentially misleading customers into signing up for its loyalty program. The NAD recommended that Pier 1 more “clearly and conspicuously disclose the material terms of the Pier 1 Rewards customer loyalty program at the time a consumer adds an item to their cart.” The website is currently set up in a way that makes it difficult for customers to know they are signing up for the program, which charges $9.99 a month and renews automatically. In a statement, Pier 1 agreed to change its advertising though it “respectfully disagrees.”

Tweet of the week

Number of the week

18,000: The increase in the number of restaurants in the U.S. over the last two years, according to NPD Group, which analyzed restaurants open as of Sept. 30, 2022.

Quote of the week

“[Target will focus this year] on the magic of Tarjay, on affordable joy, and on digital growth, Target Circle, Roundel, and our enterprise sustainability strategy, Target Forward.” –Brian Cornell, chief executive of Target, at an investor day to announce the chain’s financial results, which included 2.9% growth in annual revenue, to $109 billion.
 

On the move

Kohl’s named Dave Alves president and chief operating officer. He had been president and chief retail officer for Bealls Retail Group.

Fitness company P.volve hired Karina Kogan as strategic advisor and fractional chief marketing officer. She had been CMO at Oura. P.volve also hired Katie Rosholt as senior VP of marketing from Vital Proteins, where she was VP of global marketing.

TIAA hired Zara Mirza as chief brand officer. She was most recently chief brand officer at GE.

Chicken restaurant chain Bojangles has named Tom Boland as its new chief marketing officer. Boland, who most recently served as VP of marketing of Barstool Sports, also has marketing experience at Warner Media and WWE, and is a former senior VP at Ogilvy & Mather and an associate director at Digitas. At Bojangles, Boland will succeed Jackie Woodward, who will stay at the company through September.

Bensussen Deutsch & Associates named Rob Martin its chief experience officer, a new role at the merchandise agency. Martin joined the company 14 years ago and was most recently its chief operating officer.

Contributing: Jon Springer