This week’s marketing winners, losers and newsmakers.
Marketing News & Strategy
Marketing winners and losers of the week
New Balance scores a new endorser and the Kelce Brothers get richer—plus, why it was a bad week for Lowe’s, Ford and Apple
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Cooper Flagg inked an endorsement deal with New Balance this week.
Credit:
New Balance
Winners
New Balance: The shoe and apparel brand is not exactly known for its basketball prowess. But the brand’s hoop dreams got a major boost this week when incoming Duke freshman hoops star Cooper Flagg inked an endorsement deal. The best part for New Balance is that there is a local connection—Flagg is from Newport, Maine, which is 25 miles from the New Balance Skowhegan manufacturing facility. “As a kid, Cooper’s mom would take him and his brothers to the New Balance annual tent sale in Skowhegan to buy the family their one pair of shoes and backpack for the school year,” New Balance stated.
It is not New Balance’s first basketball deal—its endorsement roster already included NBA star Kawhi Leonard, among others. But getting in early with Flagg, who projects to be playing in the NBA sooner than later, gives the brand some momentum as it takes on basketball stalwarts Nike and Adidas.
Also read: How marketing could fuel a comeback for Nike
Kelce brothers: Travis and Jason will be lining their pockets with Amazon money after inking a deal with the brand’s Wondery podcast network that Variety reported is worth in excess of $100 million over three years. The pact gives exclusive ad sales and distribution rights to Wondery for the Kelces’ podcast, “New Heights,” which covers ground well beyond football. “Now a cultural phenomenon, we’re excited to grow the New Heights brand together with Jason, Travis, and Amazon through Wondery’s 360-approach that will engage and excite audiences across audio, video, live experiences, merch and more,” Wondery CEO Jen Sargent said in a statement.
Reggie Bush: It took the University of Southern California football legend 14 years to get into Nissan’s Heisman House, but now he’s making the most of it, taking a starring role in this year’s edition of the long-running campaign. Bush appears in ads that debuted this week, about four months after getting his 2005 Heisman Trophy back. He had forfeited it in 2010 in the wake of NCAA sanctions against USC, including allegations that Bush received improper financial benefits.
Losers
Lowe’s and Ford: Both the home improvement retailer and automaker walked back DEI policies this week, moves that activist Robby Starbuck, who had criticized such policies on social media, promptly took credit for. Their decisions follow similar rollbacks from the likes of Tractor Supply Co., Deere & Co. and Harley-Davidson after Starbuck targeted those brands online.
Read more: Brands cut DEI policies—what consumers think
Apple: The tech giant said it was eliminating 100 jobs in its digital services group as it shifts resources away from its Apple Books app and Apple Bookstore. Some of the layoffs also included Apple News. The cuts come days ahead of Apple’s new iPhone 16 and Apple Watch 10 unveiling event on Sept. 9.
Google: The search engine giant was sued by review site Yelp this week. Yelp alleges Google is “putting its heavy thumb on the scale to stifle competition and keep consumers within its own walled garden,” which could include keeping them away from Yelp’s reviews. The antitrust lawsuit follows a federal judge ruling earlier this month that Google illegally created a monopoly in online search.
Also: Google’s ad agency perks and ad tech strategy revealed
Quote of the week
“As the rest of the world has caught up and started to see the value and the importance of propelling women forward as it pertains to sport and movement and movement culture, what’s been really great for Athleta is we’ve had the authority and the voice in that space for over 20 years.”—Athleta Chief Marketing Officer Ilona Aman speaking on the latest edition of Ad Age’s Marketer’s Brief podcast.
Social post of the week
Number of the week
15%: Percentage of back-to-school shoppers who do not have children, according to a recent YouGov poll on shopping trends.
On the move
Hearst Magazines named Willa Bennett editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan and Seventeen. She had been editor-in-chief of Highsnobiety.
