This week’s marketing winners, losers and newsmakers.
Ocean Spray: The brand got a boost this week with a creatively quirky campaign ahead of the holiday season. A spot, Ocean Spray’s first from ad agency Orchard, shows how cranberry sauce can inject some much-needed energy into a bland and beige holiday meal.
Master marketer Fernando Machado, currently chief marketing officer at Activision Blizzard, tweeted his approval.
Retail media: Unsurprisingly, retail media was one of the big topics at Advertising Week New York this year. At least nine sessions were wholly devoted to the trend that’s caught the industry’s eye, with brands including Lowe’s, Marriott and DoorDash talking about the revenue opportunities in the monetization of first-party customer data.
Hear more about retail media at Ad Age Next: CMO on Dec. 7. Buy your ticket here.
Ulta Beauty: The cosmetics retailer stood its ground against boycott threats after it included trans TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney on a podcast. Mulvaney, an influencer, was a guest on Ulta’s “The Beauty Of…” program where they talked about sexual and gender identity, but some consumers claimed Mulvaney was “insulting.” In response, Ulta said it wanted its channel “to be welcoming to people from all walks of life–even people you may not agree with.” The stance earned a nod from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, who is up for reelection.
The media: Trust in the media is nearly at its lowest, according to a Gallup poll released this week. The poll found that just 34% of Americans trust mass media to report “fully, accurately and fairly”—that percentage is only two points higher than the lowest recorded Gallup poll on media trust in 2016. A scant 7% of Americans said they have “a great deal” of trust and confidence in the media. Some 27% said they have “a fair amount,” 28% said they do not have much and 38% have none at all in newspapers, TV and radio. The “no trust” figure is a record high.
YouTube: The Google-owned video site was pooh-poohed by American Eagle Chief Marketing Officer Craig Brommers in an Advertising Week panel. He called YouTube an “infuriating product because it actually blocks me from what I want to get to,” and noted that the platform does not help marketers add value to the customer journey.
YouTube was also a frequent platform mentioned during a Federal Trade Commission virtual conference on protecting children from stealth digital ads. Josh Golin, executive director at Fairplay, a child-focused nonprofit, noted YouTube, along with TikTok and Instagram, as a channel delivering influencer ads to young consumers in a way that children are unable to recognize as advertising. “So many of the influencer ads are YouTube, TikTok, Instagram where [kids’] feeds are being algorithmically driven based on their interests,” Golin said. “It is completely unrealistic to think that at that moment kids are going to activate those complex cognitive processes to defend themselves [against advertising.]”
Uber: The ride-hailing company faced backlash following an announcement that it will be expanding its ads business by targeting customers based on destination and location. Riders were not thrilled about the privacy implications.
Read more: Uber unveils new ad format
81%: Percentage of consumers who complain they see the same ads too many times on streaming platforms, according to an Ad Age-Harris Poll of 1,045 respondents.
“During a period of significant inflation, it should be expected that companies will start to reduce the value of their loyalty programs. Pretending to strengthen the rewards if in fact they have reduced the rewards is being dishonest and can lead to reduced consumer trust.” –Kimberly Whitler, a marketing expert and professor at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business, on how marketers should be communicating changes to membership programs.
REI Co-op hired Mary-Farrell Tarbox as VP, physical stores and retail operations. She was most recently a regional VP at Bed, Bath and Beyond.
Shipt hired Alia Kemet as chief marketing officer. She had been senior VP, global creative and digital transformation at McCormick & Co. The Target-owned delivery giant also promoted Smrutha Ipparthi to chief product officer from VP of engineering.
Jaguar Land Rover North America promoted Charlotte Blank to chief marketing officer, USA. She had been director of transformation and analytics.
