Marketing winners and losers of the week

This week’s marketing winners, losers and newsmakers Winners 7-Eleven: The convenience store chain smartly seized on a comment recently made by Cincinnati Bengals star Ja’Marr Chase, who recently said in frustration after a loss that he is “always f***ing open.” Being “always open,” of course, fits the brand ethos of 7-Eleven, which has teamed with the wide receiver on a collection of Always Open merch (without the f-bomb), including hats, T-shirts and a 7-Eleven pendant on a chain. Chase and a few of his teammates wore the gear before a game, leading to headlines and positive media attention for 7-Eleven. A minute of Ja'Marr Chase post-game media session in Tennessee.Q: Do you feel like you have less time to get open or create space?A: "No. I'm open. I'm always f***ing open. Excuse my profanity." pic.twitter.com/mD2HhdVk2T— Joe Danneman (@FOX19Joe) October 1, 2023 Ja’Marr, Tee and Tyler supporting 7/11 today @WLWT #WhoDey #Bengals pic.twitter.com/LA2JsG5toK— Mark Slaughter (@MarkVSlaughter) October 15, 2023 Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs Donna Kelce: Move over Taylor Swift, there is a new woman capturing NFL marketing buzz—the mother of NFL stars Travis and Jason Kelce. Earlier this month, State Farm seized on the Swift-Travis Kelce romance by having Donna sit next to the Jake from State Farm character at Jason’s Eagles game in a stunt orchestrated by Maximum Effort that drew a ton of attention. Now, snack brand Kind has tapped Donna for a limited-edition product called “Donna’s Purse Snacks,” which is a bag of dark chocolate vanilla cashew dipped clusters. The first two batches quickly sold out, says Kind, which plugged them in a social media video featuring Donna, who comes off as a natural pitchwoman. View this post on Instagram A post shared by KIND Snacks (@kindsnacks) Of course, Campbell Soup Co. was way ahead of other brands: It put Donna in an ad for its Chunky brand that came out earlier this fall: Netflix: The streaming giant saw its best subscriber growth in years in its most recent quarter, according to earnings results released this week. Proof that tightened rules around password sharing are working, Netflix said it added 8.76 million customers for the third quarter to a total of 247.2 million subscribers, more than what analysts had predicted. Acting on its momentum, Netflix plans to raise costs by $3 to $23 for its highest-end plan in the U.S.; a basic plan will grow $2 to $12 here. Losers Rite Aid: The drugstore chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and plans to close 100 U.S. stores. In filings, Rite Aid said it lost over $1 billion in the months prior to its bankruptcy announcement as it battles competition from larger rivals such as Amazon, CVS and Walgreens. Stellantis: The Jeep, Ram and Dodge owner pulled out of CES in a sign that the autoworkers strike is having a significant effect on its communications and marketing plans. The tech expo, slated next year for Jan. 9-12 in Las Vegas, has emerged in recent years as a major showcase for automakers to plug their electric vehicle ambitions. Stellantis confirmed its pullout earlier this week, citing contingency planning to mitigate the financial impacts of the strike, Automotive News reports. LinkedIn: The Microsoft-owned job network gave out pink slips to some 700 employees early this week. The layoffs—the second round in 2023—include those in the engineering, product, talent and finance divisions. Demand for LinkedIn search assistance has softened as fewer workers look for new positions. Subscribe to Ad Age Sign up now for the latest industry news and analysis Click here Tweet of the week “If only I could have a passive sports experience on Peloton,” said no one ever. https://t.co/6oRP4QQ7bA— Michael Duda (@MikeDuda) October 19, 2023 Flashback in the early days of @tacobell Americans didn’t know how to pronounce Taco… they would say “Tay-Koh,” so Taco Bell for many years had phonetic spelling on all menus (this one from 1972). pic.twitter.com/ZBCYxYHLTp— Sheel Mohnot (@pitdesi) October 17, 2023 Number of the week 68%: Percentage of CMOs who believe there is a risk of CMO positions becoming “corporate figureheads” without any real power to make change, according to a recent survey from MediaLink. Quote of the week “There’s no doubt that consumers want brands to get serious about climate. The reality is, there is a higher amount of waste just given the pure frequency on the ad serving side. What we have always wanted to do is tackle some of these tough problems. This is going to be an ongoing evolution of learning, adapting and optimizing with a new lens.” —Cara Pratt, senior VP of Kroger Precision Marketing, on why the grocery chain is measuring carbon emissions in digital ad buying from its retail media network. On the move Good Feet Holdings, a group of wellness brands, hired Doug Zarkin as its first chief brand officer. He had been chief marketing officer at Pearle Vision. Mars Inc. named Christoph Heyn chief digital officer, a newly created role, for the pet care segment of its business. He had been global VP, digital at Ikea.

Marketing winners and losers of the week

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