Marketing winners and losers of the week

This week’s marketing winners, losers and newsmakers. Winners Meghan Markle After much ado—including a brand name change—the Duchess of Sussex released her first line of items under her new As Ever lifestyle collection. The limited line of jams, sprinkles, tea and honey quickly sold out in an hour as shoppers clamored for items such as $14 “Raspberry Spread in Keepsake Packaging,” described as a “delectable spread” in “elegant Keepsake Packaging, crafted to be cherished long after the last spoonful.” Those customers who missed out on tasting such delectables are encouraged to sign up to be notified about restocks and future collections on As Ever’s website. Brach’s The candy brand introduced a new egg hunt hiding service in time for Easter festivities. Brach’s Egg Hunt Hiders will hide eggs filled with the brand’s beans in the yards of consumers who sign up for the offering. Brach’s said the service will be available in its top 10 U.S. markets, including Baltimore/Washington D.C., New England, Los Angeles, Phoenix/Tucson and Philadelphia. The brand is partnering with Card My Yard, a yard sign company, on the free offering, which will include a year’s supply of jelly beans. Major League Pickleball The league is rebranding as MLP presented by DoorDash as a result of a lucrative new deal with the delivery brand, whose logo will now adorn all team uniforms. DoorDash replaces Margaritaville as title sponsor. It is the largest sponsor agreement in the league’s history, running into seven figures, according to Sportico, which cited a person close to the discussions. DoorDash is celebrating by offering customers a free jar of pickles if they use the promo code PICKLE on orders of at least $12. DoorDash plugged the sponsorship in a social video starring members of Dude Perfect, who are team owners, as well as Anna Bright of the St. Louis Shock and Tyson McGuffin of the Phoenix Flames. Learn about the Ad Age Data-Driven Marketing Summit Losers Hooter’s The racy dining chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Hooter’s said it was restructuring its 300-unit fleet of restaurants; 100 of those that are company-owned will be sold to franchisees, for example. The brand is the latest in a string of fast-casual dining chains to suffer bankruptcy following the struggles of TGI Friday’s and Red Lobster. Tesla It’s been a tough week for Elon Musk. The candidate he backed in the Wisconsin Supreme Court election lost and there are more signs that all of his politicking is hurting Tesla. The electric vehicle brand, for which Musk serves as CEO, reported a 13% decline in deliveries in the first quarter. Analysts blamed its aging lineup, but also Musk’s polarizing politics, Automotive News reported. Johnson & Johnson The company’s $10 billion proposal to end its baby powder lawsuit was rejected by a U.S. bankruptcy judge this week, which sent shares down more than 5% in Tuesday trading. Johnson & Johnson has seen three court failures over its attempts to settle lawsuits from 60,000 claims that its baby powder and talc products contained asbestos and caused ovarian cancer. Quote of the week “Winning marketers will likely be those who figure out how to do more with less, including better implementing AI-related marketing tools as well as traditional tools.”—Tim Yost, automotive and industrial marketing director at AlixPartners, on new auto tariffs that took effect this week. Also read: Ford campaign touts its US manufacturing base and new discounts as auto tariffs hit Social post of the week Number of the week 65 Percentage of Gen Zers who are aiming for home ownership, according to a recent survey from Adolescent Content, a youth-focused creative agency. The figure compares with just 43% of millennials aiming to own their own homes. On the move Verizon Value named Mary Sagripanti VP and chief marketing officer. She was most recently CMO of Amazon’s Ring. Sign up for Ad Age newsletters

Marketing winners and losers of the week

Featured Stories