Voice

The 10-Year Tension: Women Need More Time, Not More Balance

Organizations nationwide, especially ad agencies, say offering balance is key to attracting and retaining women talent. From unlimited PTO and job-sharing opportunities to remote work and childcare allowances, we’ve received many undeniably excellent benefits to support caregiving responsibilities and promote well-being. But the fact is, women still can’t have it all. Promoting work/life balance as… …

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What Does a Chief AI Officer Look Like in the Marketing World?

For all of the talk about the jobs AI is expected to replace (that’s 85 million, according to the World Economic Forum), it’s also expected to create some 97 million new roles by 2025. And the buzziest of these new roles is the position overseeing it all: the Chief AI Officer (CAIO). Major brands like… …

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Influencer Marketing Needs to Adapt: A Cautionary Lesson From Tarte Cosmetics

The influencer marketing recipe is well-established. Select influencers who attract a certain audience and fly them out to a tropical location for sun, fun and product placement. Organic reach across social, particularly TikTok, Instagram and YouTube are off the charts. Marketing = sorted. Except, that doesn’t work anymore. What once was aspirational is now exclusionary,… …

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To Drive Macro Business Changes, Think Micro

How do you turn a ship when thousands of tons of water are pressing on the rudder creating a force far greater than the ship’s engines can withstand? This was the seemingly impossible challenge solved by the wonderful engineer, Buckminster Fuller, in the 1940s. The answer was something surprisingly small. A six-inch piece of metal,… …

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Breaking Traditions: Gen Z and Millennial Women Transform Super Bowl

Women have always watched the Super Bowl, with Nielsen reporting that in 2018, women made up nearly half of Super Bowl viewers–surpassing the combined female viewership of the Oscars, Grammys and Emmys. Brands, marketers and the NFL have begun to embrace female perspectives as part of the football discourse. However, the Taylor Swift Effect has… …

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Naomi Osaka Chose a Taboo Path. Bobbie Walked With Her

Bobbie, a mom-founded baby formula brand, signed four-time Grand Slam tennis champion and new mom, Naomi Osaka, to star in its first major TV campaign “Parents Push Harder.” This marks Osaka’s return to the court after giving birth to her daughter, Shai, who is now six months old. Bobbie working with Osaka is a partnership… …

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What to Do When You Lose Your Biggest (and Only) Agency Client

It was my first “real” vacation since the pandemic. On the morning of day three, I got a text from the CMO of a client of mine for the past thirteen years. My only client, in fact. I managed a team of 120 people who were the brand’s digital AOR. “Can u talk tomorrow morning?”… …

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Why the Edible Pop-Tarts Bowl Mascot Will Live On in Marketing

College football bowl games are steeped in history and tradition, a staple of the sporting calendar for more than a century. But some fans are beginning to voice their displeasure from the sidelines, with the sheer number of games becoming a particular sticking point. The 2023-24 season boasts a whopping 43 bowl games, with many… …

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The Future of Content: Fewer Buzzwords, More Feelings

Many words are ubiquitous in brand language these days but perhaps none is quite so omnipresent as “content.” That reductive, catch-all term that means everything and nothing, and is touted by so many as the way to “connect with an audience” and “build community” (a couple more buzzwords there for you). That’s not to say… …

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Opportunities Abound in 2024 to Push the Marketing Envelope

It’s been a year of economic uncertainty to say the least. An imminent then not-so-imminent recession. Layoffs. Return to office, if you dare–we have a DJ! (No child care though.) In times like these, we can only be certain of one thing: Everyone is going to do the same damn ads and activations. Those tried-and-true… …

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Casting the Right People Is an Overlooked Aspect of Marketing Success

When it comes to marketing success, it’s all about the right team–and this seems to be consistently looked over. It’s not hard to see why: Prioritizing experience over cultural fit can be tempting. Trust me, I get it. Who wouldn’t want to hire someone who has been in the game for years? Here’s the problem:… …

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It’s Complicated: Hollywood’s Long Relationship With Branded Entertainment

I don’t think my father knows what I do for a living. When I told him I had moved from film and television to branded entertainment, he looked at me with confusion and surmised, “Like The Carnation Hour?” I had to Google that–turns out he does know what I do. The Carnation Hour was a… …

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2024’s Marketing Strategy Is No Longer About Brand DNA

The last 12 months have been eventful for brands and those who create, build and nurture them. Some hits and some misses, though the misses have been on unexpectedly large scales. A few questions are on the table as we look toward next year: Is the CMO role obsolete? What about the CBO? Can they… …

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The Secret to Transforming Workplace Culture? Better Middle Managers

Middle managers are the key to healthier, more connected and more productive workplaces, as well as more satisfied employees–the kind who stay with an organization to grow their careers. No one at marketing and creative agencies uses the term “middle managers.” However, the director-level creatives and account leads who occupy the layers between executives and… …

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Take Time to Do the Painstaking Work of Building a Solid Marketing Plan

By now I’m willing to bet you’re tired of wasting your precious ad spend on suboptimal conversion rates. The way out lies in having a solid marketing plan. As annoying as it might be to hear, the success (or lack thereof) around your marketing is almost always tied to how developed and intentional your plan… …

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This Year, Give Thanks for the Creatives

As our November holiday approaches, we find ourselves reflecting on the many things we’re thankful for. As a long-time veteran of the ad business, I’m thankful for the creative people in this industry, who breathe life into campaigns and brands on a daily basis, despite ever-changing client priorities and challenging economic environments. While many of… …

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The Skims and NBA Partnership Is a Masterclass in Brand Repositioning

In 2023, the sports apparel market is expected to generate more than $213 billion in revenue, with the men’s segment driving the highest market share. A growing interest from consumers in pursuing more active lifestyles, along with health and fitness goals, has led to a demand for sports apparel, including athleisure wear. Sports culture has… …

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The Rush to Measure Attention Calls for a Collaborative and Coordinated Approach

In the rapidly evolving landscape of digital advertising, brands are in a race to capture consumer attention across various channels including banners, videos and social media content. As a result, the concept of attention has become a crucial metric for understanding the impact of advertisements. However, as we delve into the realm of attention metrics,… …

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Women’s Sports Is at an Inflection Point. Here’s How Brands Can Step Up

Historically, there has been an argument that women’s sports were not profitable, with a perceived lack of demand. Recent events show a very different story. This was abundantly clear in Ojai Valley at the espnW Summit, where athletes, executives and brands gathered to discuss the year in sports and highlight what they’re seeing across events,… …

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The Dangers of Texting While Contemplating Your Future

For me, Bandits & Friends started with a text from an old colleague. For my partners, Danny Gonzalez and David Suarez, it’s been in the works for 20 years. There’s plenty to discourage people from breaking out to do their own thing. New business is dry. Pitching is expensive. The dilution of focus to satisfy… …

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Clients Behaving Badly: It’s Time for a Code of Conduct

At its core, agencies are a people business and companies invest in talent from acquisition through development and retention. Anyone in a client service business understands the benefits and challenges of the associated dynamics–people coming together to collaborate and create work that will drive impact and business results. And yet, we are living in a… …

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Nanoinfluencers Give Brands a Better ROI Than Kim Kardashian

Everybody knows Kim Kardashian. She has 334 million followers on Instagram and charges $1.69 million per post on the platform. However, there’s a twist: According to our research, only 1% of her followers react to her posts by giving likes and leaving comments. The lower the engagement rate (ER), the fewer of her followers actually… …

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Social Media Manager Burnout Is Nothing New But It’s Escalating

Search “social media manager” on LinkedIn’s job board and these are just some of the role responsibilities you’ll find: Run all social accounts for organic and paid initiatives (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube) including creating, scheduling and publishing content to engage and delight our audience. Produce dynamic video and graphic content as well… …

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The Influencer Scandal Flurry: What It Means for Crisis Comms’ Future

In an ever-evolving social media age, it can feel as if there’s always a new celebrity or influencer scandal that commands public attention. In August alone, notable celebrities and influencers entered career-damaging lawsuits, accidentally started a riot and were brought back to life. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg–drama on maximalism-design-Tok likely ended… …

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Take a Page From the Motion Identity Playbook

It’s no secret that the social media landscape is changing at a breaking speed. Instagram and TikTok are placing evermore emphasis on video, tweaking their algorithms to favor moving content over static images. Reels are drawing the lion’s share of attention in people’s feeds, and we’re yet to see the full impact of Generative AI… …

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