Sky Zone’s Josh Cole On Marketing And Brand Partnerships

During the 190th episode of “Marketing Today,” I interview Josh Cole, the chief marketing officer at Sky Zone. Sky Zone is an active environment for adults and kids with gravity-defying aerial attractions, boasting more than 210 locations around the world.

Cole began his career with a short stint in financial services before making a jump into the entertainment industry at Universal Studios parks and resorts division. He joined as the first digital team, specifically focused on internet marketing. He was involved in starting all of their social media and digital marketing from the beginning.  Five years ago, he made the “jump” to Sky Zone to widen his responsibilities and oversee “all things marketing.”

Cole discusses his gratefulness that someone took a chance on him. “You have to hire for intangibles. You’ve got to find someone who is smart, curious and has the right personality to dig in.” He shares the importance and health benefits of “active” play. “We know that we have the highest awareness, but awareness doesn’t mean anything unless it turns into visits.” Cole discusses the importance of GX (guest experience), research and branding.

Highlights from this week’s “Marketing Today”: 

  • Josh’s background and journey into marketing. (01:18) 
  • A unique story: the big jump from financial services to marketing. (03:39)  
  • The “soaring” business of Sky Zone. (08:21)  
  • The key factors that differentiate Sky Zone from other parks. (11:56)  
  • Three elements for how the “totality of marketing” comes into play. (16:22)  
  • The challenges and opportunities for franchise marketing. (22:29)  
  • Advantages of “battle-tested” marketers. (27:25)  
  • Sky Zone’s partnership with Carnival Cruise Lines. (29:01)  
  • Josh’s defining moment/experience that makes up who he is today. (33:58)  
  • Josh’s advice for a young marketer starting out. (36:35)  
  • Current brands to watch. (38:39)  
  • The future of marketing and opportunity for marketers. (41:09)  
  • Linking commerce to culture, naturally. (42:53) 

Alan B. Hart is the creator and host of “Marketing Today with Alan Hart,” a weekly podcast where he interviews leading global marketing professionals and business leaders. Alan advises leading executives and marketing teams on opportunities around brand, customer experience, innovation and growth. He has consulted with Fortune 100 companies, but he is an entrepreneur at his core, having founded or served as an executive for nine startups.

USPS, Amazon, Google Are Most Trusted Brands Across Generations

Gen Z shoppers are less trusting of brands compared to Boomers, according to Morning Consult’s report, “Most Trusted Brands—The State of Consumer Trust.”

Ongoing data and privacy breaches in the last few years have cost brands big—that’s in terms of dollars and a loss of consumer trust. Yet the findings indicate consumers tend to have more trust for larger brands. According to Morning Consult, three-quarters of Americans trust the average major company to consistently fulfill its promises. 

While most brands remain largely well trusted by consumers, there’s still a generational gap between those trusted by young consumers versus older generations. Morning Consult found that USPS, Amazon and Google are the most trusted brands across generations. Gen Z and millennials have the most faith in Google, which earned the top spot, followed by Netflix, Amazon, YouTube and PlayStation. Gen X and Boomers, on the other hand, trust USPS the most, followed by Google, Amazon, The Hershey Company and PayPal.

On why consumers trust USPS and Paypal, reasons include they’re reliable, they deliver the mail no matter the weather, they have security measures and you’re guaranteed to get what you order.

Younger consumers are more likely than older adults to prioritize ethical matters when considering which brands to trust. A majority of Gen Z and millennials are less likely to buy from brands that are not ethically or responsibly run.

Reliability and data protection remain necessary blocks to retain consumer confidence, as 73 percent of participants said protecting personal data is very important when considering whether to trust a company. This is followed by 71 percent who said making products that work as advertised is important. Of the most trusted brands, only two—YouTube and Android—were founded after 2000.

The three areas of distrust that brands need to address to gain more consumer trust are protecting data privacy, making what’s in fine print clear and easy to understand and treating employees better than required by law.

Morning Consult’s findings are based on 16,700 interviews per brand for 2,000 brands conducted from October 2-December 2, 2019 as well as interviews with 2,200 US adults from December 3-5. The surveys asked participants: “How much of you trust each brand to do what is right?” with the options of answering “a lot,” “some,” “not much” or “not at all.”

Why Mixing Influencers And Events Is The Next Big Thing In Experiential

Originally published on ION.

(Editor’s note: AList is published by a.network. To get up to speed on the rapid changes affecting the influencer marketing landscape, click here.)

Nearly half of marketers are spending a quarter of their marketing budget on events and 41 percent of marketers deem experiential as their top channel. At the same time, brands are expected to spend up to $15 billion on influencer marketing by 2022. Combine the two—influencers and events—and you have one of the biggest trends in experiential marketing today. Ahead we take a deep dive into the dynamic event model and share an expert’s take on how to throw successful events that mix influencers and experiences and ultimately drive results.

Digital and social media marketing efforts help pique consumers’ interest, but experiential events drive action. That’s where influencer events play into a brand’s larger strategy. When brands invite influencers to an event, more likely than not the influencer will post an organic or sponsored Instagram photo or video highlighting a particular item or service. This type of promotion, known as user-generated content (UGC), could save the brand the money it would’ve spent on creating an ad or sending out mailers featuring the same item or service. 

UGC as a result of events with a heavy influencer presence has a two-fold effect. One, it increases brand awareness, leading to more followers or visits to a brand’s site, helping to drive sales. Because influencers are more trusted spokespeople than celebrities, UGC inspires consumers to try a product themselves. And given 82 percent of people are more likely to buy an item after seeing or trying it, UGC also has the power to get consumers into brick-and-mortar spaces.

“These events not only help with brand awareness but also enable us to get face-to-face time with our influencers and editors as well as fans of the brand, as a way to thank them for their continued support. It’s good to get them connected with the people behind the brand as well as educate them on a personal level. This makes them more loyal to the brand,” explains integrated communications senior manager, and frequent events organizer Francia Cooper.

In pursuit of the ultimate brand experience last year, Taco Bell opened a branded hotel and resort in Palm Springs for super fans, peppering in influencers to make the overnight stay one for the books. The fast fashion of food invited mega makeup influencer Jeffree Star as well as singer-songwriter Tyler Conroy and Tarun Sinha, the Taco Bell sommelier who pairs wine with Taco Bell menu items.

“The overall strategy with these types of events is to invite influencers who have a genuine love for the product and the brand overall,” said Cooper,  who has helped major beauty brands host similar influencer events.

Last year Twitch’s yearly three-day convention TwitchCon drew in 25,000 attendees per day. There, both major gamers and gamer fans engaged in cosplay competitions, music performances and a singing competition known as Stream Star that ends in a record deal with Columbia. At TwitchCon 2018, mega Twitch gamers DrLupo and Ninja were the focal points of a branded Hershey’s booth, which Ninja told followers about in advance on his Instagram.

Pop-ups are also a popular type of event that direct-to-consumer brands use to create buzz. To celebrate its 20th anniversary, Shopbop held an influencer-studded New York Fashion Week pop-up. Before even entering, guests were greeted by branded Shopbop billboards on the subway walls leading to the party. Event standouts included influencers like the founder of fashion blog and collection Something Navy, Arielle Charnas, and co-creative director behind Oscar de la Renta Laura Kim, and interactive activations such as a customization booth and iPhone monogram station.

As for how to get the best return on investment (ROI) on your event, Cooper says to conduct competitive research then find a way to stand out from what everyone else is doing in the events space. An out-of-the-box, multidisciplinary approach, and ensuring the event is inclusive, is critical to leaving a mark. However, Cooper notes that a brand should only host influencer events if it aligns with their overall 360-degree strategy and end goals.

Tim Hortons Names New Chief Marketing Officer

This week in B2C marketing leadership announcements, Canadian fast food restaurant chain Tim Hortons names a new CMO, Lululemon picks Nikki Neuberger as chief brand officer, Marisa Thalberg is tapped by Lowe’s as chief brand and marketing officer, Mars Food announces former PepsiCo’s marketing exec as the company’s global chief marketing, research and development officer and British Airways’ Abigail Comber joins Debenhams.


Hope Bagozzi Joins Tim Hortons As New Chief Marketing Officer

Tim Hortons’ regional president announced that Hope Bagozzi will be joining the fast food restaurant’s marketing leadership team as CMO. The appointment brings her 15-year career with McDonald’s Canada, where she led the national marketing team, to a conclusion.

“This is an incredible opportunity to lead marketing for Canada’s most iconic brand,” said Bagozzi.


Nikki Neuberger Joins Lululemon As First Chief Brand Officer

Retail Dive reports that Nike brand veteran Nikki Neuberger will be joining Lululemon as their first chief brand officer. 

Neuberger’s career includes nearly 15 years at Nike, during which time she spent 4 years as VP of global brand marketing for Nike Running. She most recently served as global head of marketing for Uber Eats.


Ex-Taco Bell Global Chief Marketer Joins Lowe’s

Marisa Thalberg, formerly Taco Bell’s global chief brand officer, has been named EVP, chief brand and marketing officer at home-improvement company Lowe’s. 

Thalberg’s appointment will go into effect on February 10, according to Forbes.


PepsiCo’s Marketing Veteran Joins Mars Food 

Rafael Narvaez, who most recently served as VP of marketing and transformation for PepsiCo’s global foods group, was appointed Mars Food’s global chief marketing, research and development officer.

Narvaez is to replace Clarence Mak, and in his new role, Narvaez will be in charge of a “strategic approach” to brands marketing, innovation, digital, R&D and consumer insights for Mars’ “dinnertime” portfolio, according to The Drum.

Fiona Dawson, global president of multi-sales and global customers at Mars Food, said about Narvaez’s appointment: “I am delighted that [Narvaez] will bring his bold thinking, leadership and rigorous focus to Mars Food so we can help billions of consumers around the world enjoy healthier food at the dinner table.”


Debenhams Welcomes New CMO

Former British Airways head of brand and marketing, Abigail Comber, was hired as chief marketing officer for Debenhams. 

Comber has extensive experience as a marketing lead, most recently working as commercial and customer experience director at L3 Technologies and prior to that being a CMO at Oyster Yachts. 

Stefaan Vansteenkiste, Debenhams chief executive, said: “Abigail’s track record speaks for itself and her experience and understanding of customer engagement and developing digital service initiatives will be particularly important as we continue to work on transforming Debenhams into a business that can compete effectively in the rapidly changing retail environment.”


Editor’s Note: Our weekly careers post is updated daily. This installment is updated until Friday, January 10. Have a new hire tip? We’re looking for senior executive role changes in marketing and media. Let us know at editorial@alistdaily.com.

Job Vacancies 

Vice President, Global MarketingShiseido Americas CorporationNew York, NY
Vice President, Creative MarketingFOX CorporationNew York, NY
Chief Marketing OfficerForresterCambridge, UK 
Senior Vice President Of MarketingClear Channel OutdoorNew York, NY
SVP–Creative MarketingWalt Disney TelevisionBurbank, CA
Vice President, Marketing StrategyParamount PicturesHollywood, CA

Make sure to check out select job vacancies on our Careers page.

In-Housing In 2020–Why We Need To Embrace The Change

Originally published at AW360 by Ashley McCarthy.

Article Takeaways:

  • An insight into how consultancies are creating partnerships with agencies.
  • Agencies and brands need more streamlined processes.
  • The continued shift in agency models in 2020 is an inevitability

Agencies are suffering from a trust problem. Clients are looking for transparency in how their agencies work and charge, and while agencies, for the most part, have been unwilling or unable to make changes fast enough, larger management consulting firms have seized the opportunity to apply true-tested rigors and techniques to this value chain, offering audits of gaps and overlaps.

Consultancies are increasingly making recommendations for what clients can and cannot handle in-house, often by advising which technology stacks they need to invest in, to best handle these newly in-housed responsibilities. In 2020, big brands will still be heavily invested in a combination of traditional technology stacks and SaaS solutions. Given the lack of transparency in this space, the growing trend of bringing these core competencies in-house has been overwhelming. But, that’s not to say that agencies are being done away with completely, in fact, they should be a key part of the movement as we head into this new decade. There will always be a need for experts to advise brands on how to use their newly-acquired technology, and that is not going to change.

Consultancies see the value in agencies, so much so, that some are even buying agencies in an effort to control the entire vertical. The main reason this trend hasn’t wiped out creative agencies completely is that it’s very hard to retain creative talent once earn-outs are over. The same challenge exists for brands, acquiring top tier creative talent is hard, especially if you are not a top tier advertiser located in a popular market like New York or San Francisco. While P&G might be able to attract excellent creative teams and persuade them to move to Cincinnati, the brands with that kind of industry pull are few and far between.

Brands want their agency partners to deliver more on core offerings, including design and creative work in addition to transparent pricing models, and nimbler ways of working. In order to adhere to these desires in 2020 and beyond, agencies need innovation to leverage on-demand technologies and work in more agile ways. This new decade will see the usual ramp up and down with freelancers replaced with networks of creatives who are standing by to heed the call when it’s required.

The rise of social media has created opportunities to track behavior (and in turn to target ads). This, coupled with the rise of connected devices (TV’s, phones, watches) has fragmented the media landscape beyond all recognition, resulting in an accelerated media cycle with viewers spending less and less time with individual pieces of content. To keep pace with these changes, brands and agencies need more tailored content, faster. Personalizing and localizing content is not something that agencies can typically do at scale. Multicultural agencies (who were themselves late to the game) are also not well placed to produce this vast volume of hyper-specific content, even if they are better at developing culturally relevant messaging.

This results in an overarching need for a streamlined process between agencies and brands, but also technology that can provide an arsenal of creative minds ready and willing to develop compelling content. We should not be afraid of a shifting model or rise in tech replacing our creative roles, instead, we should be embracing how these changes will enhance the creative process as a whole.

Smart Speaker Market, Audio Advertising Continue To Grow

A recent survey conducted by NPR and Edison Research shows that 54 percent of the US population has used some form of voice-command technology, such as smart speakers and smartphone voice assistants. “The Smart Audio Report” also found that 24 percent of the US population (over 60 million) own a smart speaker.

The average smart speaker household now owns 2.6 devices, up from 2.3 devices per household at the same time last year and up from 1.7 in December of 2017. This represents a 135 percent increase in the number of smart speakers in US households in two years. Of the respondents who use voice assistants, 24 percent said they use the technology daily. Juniper Research predicts there will be over 870 billion voice assistant-enabled devices in the US by 2022.

A lucrative opportunity for consumer targeting, smart speakers are also becoming critical touchpoints for reaching shoppers. eMarketer estimates that 11.8 percent, or 34.7 million, consumers will use a smart speaker to make purchases this year, growing to 38 million by 2021.

Digital audio has also provided advertisers with new ways to reach target audiences as the average US adult will spend more time listening to digital audio than listening to radio in 2020. The IAB estimated US audio ad spending totaled $2.25 billion in 2018, up from 22.9 percent in 2017. 

To reach these consumers, advertisers are investing more of their ad dollars into streaming audio platforms such as Spotify and Pandora. Last month, Pandora launched mobile interactive voice ads that listeners can talk back to with a simple “yes or no” in order to reduce friction with the listener experience. Pandora’s voice ads will fill part of the gap that exists in audio ad measurement. 

Findings from “The Smart Audio Report” are based on telephone interviews with 1,015 adults ages 18 and older conducted from December 31, 2019 to January 5, 2020.

Jim Geikie On Creating A Positive Impact With One Better Ventures

During the 189th episode of “Marketing Today,” I interview Jim Geikie, one of the partners at One Better Ventures. This recording took place before a live audience in Durham, NC. Jim spent 18 years at Unilever, then joined Burt’s Bees where he led retail strategy, brand marketing and business development. He also led Cree’s entry into consumer lighting and the commercial strategy for skincare maker, Lalumiere. 

One Better Ventures nurtures and develops consumer brands that have a positive impact on the world. They advise, invest in and incubate mission-driven ventures with breakthrough sustainable business models.

Jim shares the importance of purpose for the success of companies. “The world is full of problems and there is nothing more powerful on the planet than business.” He discusses the obligation for companies to leave the world a better place as they make profits. One Better Ventures has the ability to “play this nice balance of avoiding work we aren’t good at, working a stage that we’re good at and being able to hand off appropriately.”

Highlights from this week’s “Marketing Today”: 

  • How purpose directly impacts profit. (03:50) 
  • The way to get big without “selling out.” (07:07) 
  • The high BS meter of consumers. (08:25)  
  • One Better Ventures focus on “growth stage” ventures. (09:05) 
  • Five things that matter when One Better Ventures assesses a company’s potential. (13:02) 
  • One Better Ventures’s focus on the health and wellness business. (15:43) 
  • Key “exits” for One Better Venture and three important lessons learned. (18:11) 
  • What’s next for One Better Ventures? (21:42)

Alan B. Hart is the creator and host of “Marketing Today with Alan Hart,” a weekly podcast where he interviews leading global marketing professionals and business leaders. Alan advises leading executives and marketing teams on opportunities around brand, customer experience, innovation and growth. He has consulted with Fortune 100 companies, but he is an entrepreneur at his core, having founded or served as an executive for nine startups.

Web Optimization At SAP Qualtrics With Jared Gardner

During the 186th episode of “Marketing Today,” I interview Jared Gardner from SAP Qualtrics. Gardner has led search, conversion rate optimization, analytics and content management programs across several vertical markets. This episode was a part of a series of interviews conducted at the Internet Summit in Raleigh, NC.

At SAP Qualtrics, Gardner focuses on scaling demand generation through unpaid channels. Before SAP Qualtrics, he worked for Red Door Interactive, with clients including Charles Schwab and Century Link.

Gardner shares his journey from broadcast media to search and optimization. When he made the switch he thought, “digital marketing and the internet is not getting any smaller, so that’s gotta be an OK place to work.” SAP Qualtrics focuses on an “action every day” mentality. Jared shares the SAP Qualtrics approach for scaling search and conversion.

Highlights from this week’s “Marketing Today”:

  • Jared’s background in broadcast media and journey into search and conversion optimization. 01:12
  • The role at SAP Qualtrics. 02:00
  • Scaling and creating scale at Qualtrics. 02:25 
  • Two key pieces of advice for marketers trying to drive web traffic and conversions. 03:13
  • Deciding what content to write to drive traffic. 04:53 
  • Examples of executing optimization. 05:55
  • The “in” metric for Qualtrics. 07:00
  • The future of search. 08:31
  • The future of conversion. 11:31
  • The four keys to making marketing more valuable. 11:32
  • The importance of discussions at the executive table. 13:40 
  • The current state of talent in the marketing industry. 14:40
  • How to be successful as chief marketing officer. 15:55 
  • The key to earning the right to your audience’s attention. 16:38
  • The importance of content marketing in your tool bag. 16:55

Resources Mentioned:


Alan B. Hart is the creator and host of “Marketing Today with Alan Hart,” a weekly podcast where he interviews leading global marketing professionals and business leaders. Alan advises leading executives and marketing teams on opportunities around brand, customer experience, innovation and growth. He has consulted with Fortune 100 companies, but he is an entrepreneur at his core, having founded or served as an executive for nine startups.

Eli Schwartz On SEO And How To Get It Right

During the 185th episode of “Marketing Today,” I interview Eli Schwartz, a SEO expert and consultant with over a decade of experience. He’s led SEO and growth programs for several leading B2B and B2C Companies. This episode was a part of a series of interviews conducted at the Internet Summit in Raleigh, NC.

Schwartz has worked with clients such as Shutterstock, Blue Nile, Quora, Get Around, Mixpanel and Zen Desk to help them build and execute global SEO strategies. He previously led the SEO team at Survey Monkey, building organic search to become one of the largest growth drivers at the company.

Schwartz shares how he got into SEO by accident. He talks about how basic SEO strategies aren’t keeping up with the changes that Google is making and how “we need to think about Google as another user that can read content.” He adds, “SEO is a marketing channel and companies are wanting to have someone responsible for it, and they are wanting to have someone to grow that channel.”

Highlights from this week’s “Marketing Today”:

  • Eli’s background in SEO. 01:09 
  • Why basic SEO practices just aren’t working. 02:16 
  • E.A.T. and the need for writing good content.  03:33
  • The 4-step process for creating great content. 04:21 
  • The amazing stats around organic search. 06:09
  • Examples of people “getting it right.” 07:14
  • Programmatic SEO: the key to knocking it out with SEO. 08:58
  • How SEO fits into the marketing mix. 09:40
  • The future of AI in search. 11:20
  • The four keys to making marketing more valuable. 11:32
  • The importance of discussions at the executive table. 13:40 
  • The current state of talent in the marketing industry. 14:40
  • How to be successful as chief marketing officer. 15:55 
  • The key to earning the right to your audience’s attention. 16:38
  • The importance of content marketing in your tool bag. 16:55

Resources Mentioned:


Alan B. Hart is the creator and host of “Marketing Today with Alan Hart,” a weekly podcast where he interviews leading global marketing professionals and business leaders. Alan advises leading executives and marketing teams on opportunities around brand, customer experience, innovation and growth. He has consulted with Fortune 100 companies, but he is an entrepreneur at his core, having founded or served as an executive for nine startups.

The Best Campaigns Of 2019

2019 has been another year of rapid change for the marketing community. The last twelve months have seen an industry in flux, wrestling with seismic changes in technology and consumer behavior. However, many brands have managed to pull off some spectacular wins.

We’ve chosen five campaigns that best captures the state of marketing in 2019. While all mix technological adeptness and killer strategic insights, it’s striking that all retain an appreciation of the fundamentals of marketing. Even in febrile times like this, it goes to show that a focus on brand, positive perception and the role innovation remains the surest path to success.

Greggs Goes Vegan

What happened? Veganism and convenience pastry aren’t natural bedfellows but in January this year British high street bakery Greggs hit marketing gold by launching a new line of vegan sausage rolls. Challenging the perception of the brand as a familiar, if cheap staple for time-strapped office workers, a smart, reactive social campaign deftly judo-flipped a Piers Morgan led backlash and drove a significant uplift for the company.

Why it mattered: It’s easy to be caught up by the innovation of all this, but the real impact of Greggs’ move becomes apparent when you climb the ladder and take a strategic overview. 

Since the appointment of CEO Roger Whiteside in 2013, the chain has been attempting to reinvent itself from a take-home bakery to a sit-down eatery, competing with the likes of Starbucks and McDonalds. However, this move has been hampered by its reputation among health-conscious urbanites. By plugging into the growing public trend towards veganism, the company has built a relationship with a demographic that usually writes them off, while the loud spat with establishment commentators has stoked up love for the underdog brand.

What did we learn from it? Perception is the metric that trumps all others. By finding a way to play an authentic part in an ongoing debate, the vegan sausage roll has been a well-spring of positive buzz for Greggs. According to YouGov, the campaign scored an average positive rating of 65 percent among the UK buying public, in turn contributing to a 15 percent rise in profits.

Mastercard Launches Into The Supersonic

What happened? One of the big stories of 2019 has been Mastercard’s overhaul of their brand identity, but while the news focused on Michael Beirut’s decision to remove the wording from the company logo, the financial giant’s introduction of a sonic identity has been equally as revolutionary.

Why it mattered: As Mastercard CMO Raja Rajamannar told panelists in Las Vegas earlier in the year “virtual real estate is shrinking—you need to optimize your brand presence and impact.” The last twelve months have continued to mark the rise of mobile and its associated formats of music streaming and podcasting gather even more momentum. More than ever, brands are being consumed simultaneously over multiple formats, and sonic branding is becoming another pillar in creating 360 identities that are easily recognizable in any space

What did we learn from it? Mainly that branding is increasingly retaking its position at the heart of marketing. As an audience’s fragment over a galaxy of different platforms and formats, companies need to develop robust brand identities constructed with easily recognizable cues and adapted to all circumstances.

Paddy Power Saves Soccer

What happened? Paddy Power is the master of the bait and switch. This year, the brand pulled a fast one on all of British football, first by announcing that it had garishly decided to sponsor Huddersfield Town’s new kit and then revealing it as a hoax and taking all the branding off.

Why it mattered: A gambling company sponsoring or not sponsoring a football kit might seem like the furthest you can get from brand purpose, but this campaign showed what’s possible when you tap into fan culture. Initially playing on the perceptions around the over-commercialization of sport and the increasing presence of betting firms in the game, the stunt went on to show the softer side of Paddy Power relentless ‘bad lad’ image. The move not only gave shirts back to the fans, but it also went on to highlight the role of fandom and community in football, eventually raising over £50,000 for local charities.

What did we learn from it? That brand purpose doesn’t always have to go big, but it always needs to feel authentic. Paddy Power drove success in this campaign by primarily knowing when to butt out, allowing unscripted moments to turn a social stunt into a remarkable brand-building campaign.

Taco Bell Defines The Essence Of Experiential

What happened? Another example of fast food going rogue, Taco Bell opened a 4-day pop-up hotel in Palm Springs last May. Called ‘The Bell,’ this high-class experience offered spa treatments, new menu items and even a taco-themed pool. It even led to one couple canceling a trip to Europe to spend their honeymoon immersed in Mexican-American food.

Why it mattered: Already being touted as one of the most “epic brand experiences ever,” this campaign has shown the massive logistical challenges that are needed to pull off experiential marketing properly. The parting shot of outgoing chief brand officer Marisa Thalberg, the Taco Bell hotel, is a product of years of planning and development. Over the year’s the brand has carefully tested how far it could push things with its audience and developed the right strategic partnerships to be able to pull the thing off.

What did we learn from it? Mainly, that experiential campaigns might not be for everyone. As more and more brands play in this space, brand experiences are going to become more and more outrageous to capture eyeballs. Spectacular executions usually require spectacular budgets—making this a tactic that only really works well for companies with deep pockets.

Aviation Gin Is The Ultimate Underdog

What happened? Going from a relatively unknown gin brand to one of the hottest new spirits on the planet, Oregon-based gin makers Aviation has spent the year running a digital campaign that achieved almost unseen levels of fan engagement.

Why it mattered: The ultimate example of what a challenger brand should look like in 2019, Aviation Gin’s marketing has been simple but effective. With a strategy that leans heavily on relatively simple digital activations and the pulling power of their celebrity co-owner Ryan Reynolds, their campaign managed to activate an owned fanbase while simultaneously educating and drawing in new customers.

What did we learn from it? That’s it’s still possible to do effective marketing on a tight budget. While having a mega-celebrity has definitely helped Aviation Gin, it’s the creation of videos with a clear sense of brand that has helped develop a devoted fanbase.