For the first time this year, digital ad sales will represent more than half of global ad sales at $306 billion, according to Magna’s Advertising Forecasts winter update. Digital ad sales, however, might level off soon due to an overall decrease in ad spend over the last four years and a weakening economy.
Fueled by heavy spending in industries such as tech and entertainment, ad spend grew 5.2 percent year-over-year in 62 of the 70 countries Magna analyzed, including a five percent increase in the US, a nine percent increase in China, a seven percent increase in Russia, a 13 percent increase in India and a seven percent increase in the UK.
Similarly, Zenith’s December 2019 “Advertising Expenditure Forecast” predicts the US ad market will grow by $39.1 billion between 2019 and 2022 while China’s will grow by $10.3 billion. Over the next three years, the US and China combined will account for 56 percent of all growth in ad expenditure. India’s ad market, on the other hand, will grow $4.3 billion between 2019 and 2022.
The digital category grew 15 percent this year globally, but all digital ad formats are slowing down due to the maturity of digital media consumption and digital marketing in most markets. Up by 25 percent, social media is the fastest growing digital format, according to GroupM’s “This Year Next Year Worldwide Media Forecasts,” but the figure still represents a decrease from the 34 percent growth it saw in 2018. Online video will grow 16.6 percent a year on average between 2019 and 2022, as Zenith reported.
Traditional linear ad sales including linear television, print, radio and out-of-home (OOH) declined by 3.4 percent to $289 billion, accounting for less than half of total ad sales for the first time. While print ad sales declined by 10 percent and radio ad revenues remained stable, OOH was the only traditional media to show growth, a six percent increase. In the US, national television ad sales slipped by three percent to $42 billion this year and will decline further in 2020.
Today, digital-first brands account for a major share of global advertising. Yet despite Amazon, Facebook, Netflix and Alibaba each spending over $1 billion in advertising—accounting for $36 billion in spending in 2018—GroupM has downgraded its 2020 global ad growth forecast to 3.9 percent, and 3.1 percent for 2021.
The weakening economy will have an impact on ad spend growth as the worldwide real gross domestic product (GDP) is forecast to decrease to 2.5 percent in 2020. According to the GroupM study’s author, Brian Wieser, global president of business intelligence, if the forecast proves accurate, it would mark “the slowest pace of growth in any non-recession/non-recovery year over the past two decades.” Helping sustain marketing growth in 2019 has been growth in personal consumption expenditures (PCE), which might be more important to track than GDP given consumer spending represents more than half of all economic activity.
In positive news, Magna predicts that cyclical events such as the US political elections and Olympics, increased marketing activity of tech and entertainment and the reallocation of trade marketing budgets from brick-and-mortar to ecommerce platforms’ product search will help mitigate the global economic slowdown.
(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.)
As influencer marketing investment is expected to reach $10 billion by 2021, better data and campaign measurement are critical to hitting the nail on the head with influencer activations. And while marketers’ confidence in influencer marketing is growing, brands still have some lessons to learn in terms of what not to do if they’re to achieve full return on investment.
We spoke with Mike Heller, the CEO of Talent Resources, about the mistakes brands make with influencer marketing, and what to do instead. Keep reading for Heller’s tips on growing influencer marketing campaign success.
How are marketers missing the mark in terms of driving ROI on influencer campaigns?
Aligning influencers with a brand by audience and true social interest. Where influencer marketers are missing the mark in terms of driving ROI most often stems from not properly putting data tools to use when pairing an influencer with a brand or product. The most successful influencer and brand partnerships use data to inform campaigns. If you’re not measuring the outcomes of your influencer campaigns to optimize for the next, you’ll be missing your own mark as well as the opportunity to improve ROI.
What’s one thing marketers are doing wrong with influencer marketing on Instagram/Stories and Snapchat, respectively? And what should they be doing instead?
Stories on Instagram and Snapchat stories are each steps behind in the customer journey on Instagram. Utilizing these tools can seem like a space to run transient partnered content, but you should use Story frames to pre-qualify followers for the end call to action (CTA). Make sure your influencer is methodically walking their followers through story frames while providing context to the final sell, which will keep interest high toward conversion.
In terms of measuring success of influencer-led campaigns, what are marketers having the most difficulty with?
Measuring conversions are one thing, the challenge comes when it’s time to measure retention, both in the short term and more specifically in the longer term. Common question: How can you attribute new fans to past influencer marketing campaigns?
Given its nascence, TikTok influencer marketing is uncharted territory for some brands. What do marketers have to know before spending influencer marketing budget on TikTok activations?
Know that if you’re leaping into TikTok, a sizable budget will at best help complement any brand awareness initiatives. Conversions and true measurements of success with engaging TikTok influencers are still to be seen, despite interest from brands in engaging in what may be a fad.
Influencer marketing on YouTube can be daunting for some marketers given the lack of a centralized influencer marketplace on the platform. What advice would you give to marketers who are reluctant to get on board with YouTube?
Brands looking to convey a message or promote a product and have it linger in consumers’ minds would be wise to test the YouTube waters. On the Google-owned video platform, influencers have more time to genuinely connect with consumers and actually have their messages be heard, differing from Instagram, where just 60 percent of stories are viewed with the sound on.
Marketers should consider two popular types of influencer activations, Direct Response (DR) and Brand Awareness. Campaigns are generally a mix of the two. It’s a right of passage for many YouTubers to start producing direct response campaigns. YouTube makes these campaigns especially easy due to the handy inclusion of the “Link in Description.” Creators can ask their audience to click on the link to achieve the brand’s conversion goal. These DR campaigns can be placed further up the marketing funnel when used to generate leads or newsletter sign-ups. They can also be the bottom of the funnel when the influencer specifically asks the viewer to buy the sponsor’s product/service.
Brand awareness campaigns get new fans to enter the top of your funnel, a great entry as fans have a personal connection with their favorite creators. Aside from the influencer being required to disclose the sponsorship, the creator’s brand awareness ad can feel more like one friend recommending something to another.
Which platform or channel has the steepest learning curve for influencer marketing today?
Inherently, a new platform with new functions such as TikTok would present the steepest learning curve both for influencer marketing and users alike. Being said, just because influencer marketing has been a practice through Instagram for some time already doesn’t mean the learning curve has flattened out. Instagram as a platform changes so frequently that there’s always a learning curve with influencer marketing, that’s what makes the landscape on one platform alone so exciting.
Where’s the most growth potential for influencer marketing?
As far as platforms, Instagram remains the space with the most potential for growth of influencer marketing. Regarding growth for ongoing campaign success, the opportunity is with the agencies who are focused on data-informed decisions and use a minimum of two software partners to do so.
We may have come to find the best influencer marketing strategies on Instagram for today, but influencer marketing on Instagram will only grow greater and greater in new solutions. The next frontier of growth for potential influencer marketing won’t necessarily be a direct pivot to a new platform as much as it will be enhanced campaigning, more sophisticated based on data that’s increasingly becoming available through our own technology and previous influencer marketing efforts.
McDonald’s launched its first-ever online pop-up shop, giving its US fans year-round access to exclusive apparel and accessories that aren’t available anywhere else. The quick-service restaurant prides itself on having partnered with multiple fashion brands and retailers to create branded merchandise since the 1980s.
At “Golden Arches Unlimited,” fans can shop more than 20 casual apparel and accessories items, including a Big Mac sandwich bag, McDonald’s hair ties, Golden Arches stainless steel tumbler and “World Famous Fries Lounge Set.” A sesame seed PopSocket, Happy Meal ornament and ugly Christmas sweater are among the items in the pop-up’s winter collection.
McDonald’s says that while debut collection supplies may sell out, it plans to restock and drop new merchandise on a regular basis.
Colin Mitchell, who assumed the role of senior vice president of global marketing earlier this year, said that the brand has been ingrained in the fabric of culture for years and that McDonald’s is excited to help its customers wear their love for the brand on their sleeves.
In 2017, KFC opened a limited-edition online merch shop stocked with Colonel Sanders-inspired shirts, enamel pins, framed artwork and a 400-year-old meteorite that sold for $20,000.
Last month, Dunkin’ also launched its first online pop-up store with limited-edition apparel and accessories like fanny packs, one-piece pajamas and a custom electric guitar. Dunkin’ recently partnered with home fragrance and lifestyle brand Homesick to launch three limited-edition candles inspired by the brand’s coffee blends and donuts.
Though selling merch is nothing new to the QSR category, selling branded items year-round could help McDonald’s maintain a competitive marketing advantage during busy seasons.
Verizon Media and Serena Williams recently launched a shoppable video series on Yahoo’s new commerce platform, Yahoo Shopping, featuring the tennis champion’s “S by Serena” clothing collection. The short-form digital series was created to empower viewers to embrace size inclusivity, the line’s key selling point.
The digital series, powered by Verizon Media’s new shoppable video format, will take viewers on an immersive journey, with clickable content that allows for seamless purchasing. In the first episode, “Everybody, Every Body,” Williams gives fans a look at her favorite seasonal pieces from her autumn/winter 2020 collection including tips on how to style them. Additional episodes will air through February 2020.
In July, the fashion entrepreneur debuted a red twist front dress that sold out in nearly all sizes.
The partnership marks Verizon Media’s effort to build upon its commerce strategy. This fall, Verizon Media launched Yahoo Shopping, which powers commerce across the company’s brands and curates and price tracks deals for shoppers. A suite of capabilities including shoppable content videos and different ad formats through augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and cross reality (XR) have also been added to its lineup.
In July, Google debuted a new shopping platform for US users, giving them access to tailored suggestions and a “Buy with Google Guarantee” that promises a refund if the recommended retailer fails to deliver on time.
In April, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) predicted that brands are expected to increase spend by over 25 percent to $18 million on digital video this year. Comparatively, advertisers spent $14.2 million on digital video advertising, up from $12.2 million in 2017. The data also found that direct to consumer brands expect to allocate more than half of their digital spend on digital video advertising, a 50 percent YoY increase.
This week in marketing moves, Trulieve Cannabis Corp. hires Valda Coryat as chief marketing officer, Unilever hires a chief digital and marketing officer, David’s Bridal appoints VP of marketing and communications and Jeff Brooks joins Lemonade as the company’s first marketing chief.
Jeff Brooks Named CMO At Lemonade
Lemonade tapped Jeff Brooks as the insurance startup’s first chief marketing officer.
Brooks joins Lemonade from direct-to-consumer (DTC) mattress brand Casper, where he served as CMO since 2018. He also worked as president and CMO at digital marketing agency Huge and was a CEO and chief digital officer at advertising and public relations company Havas.
At Lemonade, he will be tasked with overseeing all marketing initiatives.
David’s Bridal Promotes Vice President Of Marketing
Callie Canfield was promoted to VP of marketing and communications at David’s Bridal.
In the newly created role, Canfield will oversee the strategy, planning and implementation of the bridal brand’s global marketing and communication efforts. She will report to the recently hired CMO, Kelly Cook.
“Callie is a proven leader with a true passion for the brand and our customer. I’m so excited to have her support in driving the brand and messaging across our entire marketing ecosystem,” Cook said.
Conny Braams Promoted To Chief Digital And Marketing Officer At Unilever
After Keith Weed left the post earlier this year, the company decided to evolve the role of CMO and this week announced the promotion of Conny Braams, formerly an EVP of Unilever Middle Europe to chief digital and marketing officer.
Unilever CEO Alan Jope told CNBC that Braams will be in charge of turning Unilever into a “future-fit, fully digitized organization at the leading edge of consumer marketing.”
Centric Brands Inc. Welcomes Pamela Gill Alabaster As CMO
Lifestyle brands collective, Centric Brands Inc. hired Pamela Gill Alabaster as chief marketing officer.
Alabaster has extensive experience in lifestyle marketing, as she previously held executive marketing roles at Revlon, The Estée Lauder Companies, L’Oréal and Philip Morris.
At Centric Brands, Alabaster will be in charge of corporate marketing and communications functions. She will report to Jason Rabin, Centric Brands CEO.
“As we establish awareness of Centric Brands as an innovative industry leader with an unparalleled portfolio of iconic, admired apparel and accessories brands, recognized for its exceptional know-how in creative design, product development and marketing, we are delighted to have Pam on board to lead our strategic marketing and communications initiatives,” Rabin said.
Lisa Kauffman Joins Starboard Cruise Services As Senior VP And CMO
Starboard Cruise Services appointed Lisa Kauffman the company’s SVP and marketing chief.
Kauffman will be tasked with leading the planning, development and execution of strategic initiatives for Starboard. She will report directly to Starboard’s President and CEO Lisa Bauer.
Bauer said about Kauffman’s appointment: “Lisa’s unique combination of extensive retail and cruise experience will be a tremendous asset to Starboard’s continued growth. She is a proven innovator who will leverage her expertise to create meaningful retail guest experiences for our cruise line and brand partners.”
Trulieve Cannabis Corp. Welcomes New CMO
The cannabis company today announced the appointment of Valda Coryat to the role of CMO, effective immediately.
In her new role, Coryat will be tasked with leading strategic marketing, product branding initiatives and digital awareness campaigns on a national level for Trulieve Cannabis. She joins Trulieve from National Mango Board, where she served as director of marketing. Prior to that, Coryat held executive marketing positions at Colgate-Palmolive, Avon and Heineken.
“Valda Coryat is a highly experienced, marketing leader with a proven track record of building global CPG brands. We are very excited to have Valda join the Trulieve team at this critical point of our national expansion,” said Trulieve’s CFO Kim Rivers.
Editor’s Note:Our weekly careers post is updated daily. This installment is updated until Friday, December 6. Have a new hire tip? We’re looking for senior executive role changes in marketing and media. Let us know at editorial@alistdaily.com.
During this episode of “Marketing Today,” I interview Soyoung Kang, the chief marketing officer at EOS Products. Kang brings a unique perspective and expertise in strategy and brand development that bridges product, retail and innovation.
Kang shares her career journey, which started with a bachelor’s degree in architecture from MIT. She then transitioned from consulting at Boston Consulting to vice president at Bath & Body Works, leading to her current role at EOS.
Since joining EOS, Kang’s launched a reboot of the core brand, including the creative identity, strategic vision, product pipeline, messaging strategy and content. Her team debuted a new campaign called “Make It Awesome” and unveiled the EOS flavor lab. When asked about the biggest challenge of driving so much change so quickly, Kang said, “the toughest part was flying the plane while we were building it.”
Highlights from this week’s “Marketing Today”:
Soyoung’s fascination with architecture: “It’s a personal passion of mine, and it fuels how I like to think about what I bring to my day-to-day.” (01:40)
A “little detour” for the Fulbright Fellowship. (04:03)
Recruited into consulting: “They have a way of thinking that consulting firms see as a strategic potential and a way of breaking down problem-solving.” (05:03)
Soyoung’s adventure into marketing via strategy. (06:02)
Shifting into a “head of the brand” role. (08:05)
“If I consider the first 10 years of my career as learning how to be a strategic thinker, the next 10 years of my career focused on understanding how to create brand stories.” (08:58)
Soyoung’s current role as CMO at EOS: “After leaving Bath & Body Works, I wanted to take on something that was different in scale.” (09:46)
The unique offering of the EOS brand. (10:40)
Deciding what to tackle as the first CMO for a company. (11:44)
The “first four weeks” strategy: understanding the consumer. (14:35)
The importance of describing your core consumer. (18:19)
Key strategies and “edit points” on messaging through social media. (19:37)
Micro-batch: a unique, new commercial platform. (20:40)
The approach of the EOS “Make It Awesome” brand campaign. (23:26)
The amazing success of EOS brand’s first-ever “Tik Tok” campaign. (24:39)
Advice for marketers working with Influencers. (28:50)
A great example of the importance of a speed-to-market strategy: the EOS #flavorlab. (29:32)
Starting a new role with tons of change: “The toughest part of it was flying the plane while we were building it.” (33:02)
The immigrant experience: the most defining experience in Soyoung’s past that is the foundation of who she is today. (34:42)
Advice to your younger self, if starting over. “There are a lot of ways to get to the ultimate goal.” (37:06)
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.
Winter is near, which means guys are trading in their blankets for beards and swapping shaving cream for beard oil. In the U.S. alone, 49 million men wear facial hair. And to keep their beards in dapper shape, these follically adventurous men are flocking to The Beard Club, a grooming subscription service created in 2015 by a group of facial hair aficionados. With the motto “Don’t Grow It Alone—” and on their way to a million subscribers—The Beard Club underwent a makeover in October, expanding its reach beyond bearded men to those who are curious about growing facial hair. The Beard Club’s goal is to foster growth beyond the follicle, cultivating a community of other fellow beard devotees.
With the millions of beards currently being grown in America, it may not come as a surprise that women aren’t the only consumers comfortable with the commitment tied to a subscription. Guys see the value in receiving products on a recurring basis too, according to McKinsey & Company, who found that men are more likely than women to have three or more active subscriptions.
At the helm of The Beard Club is chief marketing officer Peter Dille, who held previous roles as marketing vice president at littleBits, CMO of Tapjoy and senior vice president of marketing at PlayStation Network. Alist spoke with Dille, who joined The Beard Club in February of last year, on the challenges a niche subscription service faces and how the company’s recent rebranding and forthcoming gift subscription will keep beardos—and the folks who love them—coming back for more.
Tell us about The Beard Club’s No Shave November efforts and how the company is measuring the success of that initiative.
There are 49 million men in America alone who have a beard. You really can’t walk down the street or go to a restaurant or go anywhere, frankly, without seeing one. It’s just such a part of the culture today. No Shave November is this one time of year when everybody gets on board to sport a beard.
When I joined The Beard Club, just last February, and I started telling my friends about it, a lot of them were like, “Hey, are you going to work with No Shave November?” And it just seemed like the obvious next step, and I have to agree with them. We now have a special promotional code, No Shave November, that when you use you’ll receive an additional 10 percent off. We’re happy to share some of the proceeds with the friends at No Shave November who are doing great work to raise funds for cancer prevention.
How do you think the subscription industry overall is performing or has evolved to what it is today?
I read about a new company popping up every day in particular with some of these direct-to-consumer brands. Amazon changed the world and consumers’ comfort with shopping from home, avoiding going to a brick-and-mortar retail and the notion of having a subscription offering. That said, I think you have to be a little bit cautious. There are products that we can all agree that we love, but are you committed to wanting to subscribe to them month-in and month-out, and for all the different things that you have interest in?
Not everything makes sense for a subscription. Grooming is a perfect example because whether you’re a male or a female, you’re spending time grooming each day. For some, they’re curious about a beard, but for a lot of guys, they don’t know what to do with them. The hair comes out of their face, but then you have to tend to it. Some guys actually have difficulty with growing their beards, and our growth product is going to help with that. Even the guys who have an existing beard, they’re not quite sure what look to go with. Our whole business isn’t just about selling the product each month, it’s about that unfiltered approach to give them access to articles, videos and a blog that show them different beard styles, how to use a growth oil versus a beard spray or a wax. There’s this approach to have folks learn from others in the community as well, and that’s where some of the power of the club comes into effect.
“For a lot of guys, they don’t know what to do with [a beard.] The hair comes out of their face, but then you have to tend to it.”
One of the things that we’ve talked about in the company to combat subscription challenges is: what about gift-givers? The feedback that I got from some of the folks on the team regarding the challenge with that is that, say you want to give a gift to a significant other, your brother or your dad, you’re basically giving them something that they have to continue to get the value out of it. And then they take on the ownership of that subscription.
We’ll have a couple different offerings with different price points: small, medium and large. We want to make sure we get people who just want the subscription for a small taste, so there’s less friction there. And if someone wanted to spend a hundred bucks or more, we have gifts for them as well. We’re rolling that out in the next couple of weeks. I think it’s going to be a nice way to drive additional subscriptions while also help us tap into a brand new market by marketing the product to females and other gift-givers.
How does a niche subscription service like The Beard Club acquire customers?
There are several different parts to it, but largely there’s a build off of Facebook, YouTube and performance marketing. The YouTube videos were wildly successful. The company started in 2015, and we kind of mimicked those of the Dollar Shave Club. But then we’re really just getting the word out there via digital advertising and the same dynamics around that marketing funnel where you’re paying for clicks, getting folks into your funnel and then re-engaging them with content. Content is a big part of the strategy and so is convincing people to subscribe and try it out. So those parts of the marketing machine really haven’t changed in terms of the tactics we’re using.
The company was very successful when they launched, but they were kind of one-dimensional. They were appealing to a certain type of guy with a certain type of beard. A lot of them were these amazing beards that were almost intimidating, very masculine brand positioning, which is fine for some guys, but was not really all that inclusive. Like I said earlier, there are 49 million men in America and not all of them have that type of beard, so we want to make sure the brand can speak to every guy who wants to grow a beard, not just a certain slice. And that included different beard styles, but it also meant different ethnicities that we weren’t really talking to. So I think we’re trying to open that up. The new website and content we’re creating reflect that.
What is your take on some of the marketing challenges the subscription industry faces?
When you talk about subscription and challenges, obviously the first thing that most people talk about is churn. And for obvious reasons, it affects our lifetime value and affects everything that we do. If we can keep folks engaged in the brand longer, then that’s obviously going to have a huge impact on our bottom line.
I think the thing that’s a little bit different about growing beards versus shaving is if you’re someone who is committed to being clean-shaven, you need a razor every single day of your life. The thing about guys with beards is sometimes they experiment with different styles, they may grow a beard on vacation, they may want to shave it off or even grow it seasonally, because it’s colder out. When they shave it, it doesn’t mean they’re no longer interested in beards and are gone forever.
“Grooming is a perfect example [for a subscription], because whether you’re a male or a female, you’re spending time grooming each day.”
When I just got to the company, we commissioned some research to understand our customers and I found this really interesting paradox that was going on. Our customers were showing high brand loyalty, 90 percent or more, but when looking at our churn rates, they weren’t where we wanted them to be—after X number of months, they were signing off. Or at least that’s what we thought. In their minds, they weren’t really churning.
What they were doing was reflecting a shortcoming on our website, because the website didn’t offer the ability to pause your account. What happens sometimes is if you have enough beard oil because you didn’t use it all last month or you decided to shave it all off, but you’re going to re-grow your beard next month, there’s a desire to pause your account. From their perspective, they were still displaying this brand loyalty through the survey, but their behavior showed that they wanted to put their account on hold, and we weren’t allowing them to do that.
It became a straightforward thing for us to direct our product team when dealing with the website to offer a lot more flexibility for account management. Now you go in and you have a much more powerful experience that shows you when your next “beard box” is coming, what’s in it or if you want to pause it for a month and have [the box] come the following month. All that is now extremely easy to use, and I think we’re going to see some really terrific results in terms of churn from that perspective.
The other thing we did was we introduced the brand new rewards club, for which our goal was to make guys feel like they belong to something, and at the same time, reward them for their participation, not just for the dollars that they’re spending with us, but for other actions as well. For example, when they engage with us on social media, after dropping a review, when making purchases or if they’re referring to friends. All these things allow them to earn points, and those points let them save money on future purchases. Combined with what we already know about the customers’ love for our product, I think the rewards club is going to have really great results for lifetime value and retention and combat that problem of churning and subscription.
How do subscription companies differ from other business models in their approach to customer service?
For our company, customer service is vitally important. Historically, The Beard Club has done a great job with the beard part of the business. And what I’ve tried to do since getting here is really dial up the club aspect. You’re giving up your money for a product, but also you’re becoming a member of a club. As such, I think there’s a certain obligation for a level of service, and that we take very seriously. So we’ve got a customer service team that is very active with our users. It could be anything like, “Hey, I’m not sure where my box is, it should have arrived and can you check on it?” or “I’m curious about growing a different style of beard, can you point me in the right direction?” Both of those questions are important. I won’t speak for other subscription companies, but I would eventually guess that most of them take customer service very seriously, and we certainly do.
As far as influencers, is that something the brand is engaging or plans to engage?
It is. We’ve worked with influencers in the past, some of which are actually investors in the company. But we’ll dial that up as well, as we just relaunched the brand. We’ve actually got a couple fires in the oven to expand our influencer programs.
The best of Instagram shopping will come to life this month as Selfridges UK has partnered with Instagram to host a pop-up shop called “The Instagram Edit.” It will feature curated items from eight Instagram-first brands spanning fashion, beauty, homeware and jewelry.
Open from December 5-15, The Instagram Edit will take place at the Designer Studio on level three at Selfrdiges’ London flagship. Items sold at the pop-up, from brands like Frankie Shop, One DNA, Ammé London, Kim Shui, Atelier Stella and Tandem skincare, will also be available to buy on Selfridge’s Instagram page. Selfridges will also create a digital window display to highlight the pop-up.
The Instagram Edit makes Selfridges the first UK retailer to partner with Instagram to bring together physical and digital in an immersive retail setting.
With 90 percent of people following a brand or business on Instagram and the fact that 130 million Instagram users tap on shopping posts every month, it seems a natural retail match for Selfridges UK to capitalize on the digital shopping experience that Instagram has made so easy in recent years.
An emphasis on experiential marks Selfridges’ recent attempts to modernize its messaging. Earlier this month, the retail giant debuted a short film that highlights the company’s omnichannel advertising campaign via a narrative set in the year 3019 among a star-studded cast including Dior Homme creative director Kim Jones and musician Miguel.
Selfridges also got yet another head start on holiday marketing this year when it opened its Christmas shop 149 days before Christmas, two days earlier than last year. The brand’s Christmas and home buyer, Eleanor Gregory, said that an early launch gives visitors from all over the world as well as domestic shoppers a chance to buy festive decorations and souvenirs on their London summer holidays. The early launch has resulted in year-on-year record sales according to Selfridges.
Chick-fil-A is encouraging people to make more memories with their loved ones this holiday season. The brand is treating fried chicken fans to online and brick-and-mortar experiences called “The Time Shop” as part of its “Together Time” campaign.
Starting Thanksgiving, consumers can visit the brand’s free pop-up experience in New York City where they can create their own custom cards to “gift their time to friends and family.” At the “Time Shop,” guests will be offered experiences including three themed zones including “Story Time,” “Play Time” and “Snack Time,” where they can play games, share snacks and listen to stories. The pop-up will be open December 4-17 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Though not required, reservations for the pop-up are encouraged.
For those who can’t make it to the SoHo pop-up, Chick-fil-A created a virtual site where holiday shoppers can create the same time card gifts, which Chick-fil-A will print and ship to recipients in the U.S., for free.
To complement the campaign, Chick-fil-A also created a two-minute animated spot that brings to life the world of “The Time Shop,” told through the story of a family rediscovering the importance of time well-spent. Chick-fil-A will spot will debut on NBC’s Thanksgiving special and will continue to air during select programming throughout November and December.
Chick-fil-A’s feel-good holiday initiative follows a national survey the company commissioned that found that people don’t spend enough time with those they care about. Ninety-three of respondents said that quality time together is the single most important factor for creating favorite holiday memories, more so than gifts, parties and food. The survey also found that respondents spend 14 hours per week with their loved ones. To increase that number, 57 percent of millennials said they’d be willing to sacrifice social media to get more quality time.
This week in marketing moves, CMO of LG Australia resigns, EOS names new VP of marketing, Barnaby Dawe quits Pret A Manger sandwich shop chain and former PepsiCo global marketing exec launches a CBD-infused beverage line exclusively for The Vitamin Shoppe stores.
Angus Jones Leaves LG Australia
CMO and general manager of marketing at LG Australia, Angus Jones, stepped down this week.
“Time for my next adventure. I have resigned as the Chief Marketing Officer of LG Electronics after more than 4 years,” Jones said in the LinkedIn post announcing his resignation. He added: “During this time I am proud of unifying and reigniting a team who took their twenty one categories to new heights including No. 1 market share positions in both B2B and B2C categories. Key to this success was enforcing a brand strategy across Corporate and Trade/Retail channels whilst launching and building out new sub brands. I built a Digital/Social team that created a framework to better connect and resonate with customers and a PR function that took advantage of the good and minimised the bad.”
Jones spent more than four years with the company. Before joining LG Australia in 2015, he held several executive marketing positions at Dell.
EOS Welcomes New Vice President Of Marketing
EOS Products announced the appointment of Jane Ko as Vice President of North America Marketing.
Ko is to report to CMO Soyoung Kang and general manager of North America, Robert Murphy. In her new role, she will be mainly tasked with overseeing EOS’ go-to-market brand strategy.
“I’m thrilled to join [EOS] and contribute to its continued growth in North America. It’s such a dynamic and exciting time for engaging with our consumers. I’m looking forward to working with the cross-functional team to lead the development of breakthrough marketing strategies that will deliver impact while staying true to the brand’s legacy of innovation,” Ko said.
Simon Michaelides Named New CMO At UKTV
Simon Michaelides was promoted to UKTV’s chief marketing and innovation officer position, The Drumreports. He will replace Zoë Clapp, who left the broadcaster last week.
Michaelides was previously a chief transformation officer at UKTV and BBC Studios UK and served as marketing and innovation director at PepsiCo and senior brand manager at Procter & Gamble.
UKTV chief exec, Marcus Arthur, to whom Michaelides will report, said: “With new brands, products and audiences an increasingly important driver of success at UKTV, I felt it was essential to evolve our marketing and innovation activity to ensure strong and consistent growth.”
Pret A Manger’s First CMO Quits
The UK-based international sandwich shop chain is parting with its first chief marketing officer, Barnaby Dawe.
Dawe spent almost a year in the role and is now planning to return to media and ecommerce industry, where he has spent most of his career, serving as CMO at HarperCollins Publisher and marketing director at British newspaper, News International.
Pret CEO Pano Christou said about Dawe’s departure: “Barnaby has made an invaluable contribution over the last year and I’m personally grateful for this. He’s played an important role in the work we have done to win back trust with our customers and stakeholders, and he leaves Pret in a much stronger position than when he joined.”
Former PepsiCo Global CMO Launches Má CBD+ Natural Botanicals Functional Iced Teas
Jill Beraud’s Sh’nnong Beverage Company, launches Má CBD+ Natural Botanicals Functional Iced Teas in more than 500 The Vitamin Shoppe stores.
A former global chief marketing officer for PepsiCo, Beraud has extensive experience in the beverage market, as he previously oversaw Starbucks & Lipton Joint Ventures.
“When my business partner Charlie Herbstreith and I originally discussed this idea, it reminded me of my time at PepsiCo when kombucha and coconut water were just emerging,” he said. “However, given the far-reaching benefits of CBD, this is a much bigger white space. The Vitamin Shoppe is the perfect launch partner for us. They are establishing themselves as CBD Central across multiple categories and have tremendous in-store expertise in health, wellness and nutrition.”
The Watches Of Switzerland Group Appoints New VP Of Marketing
Today, the Watches Of Switzerland Group has appointed Katie Reed as vice president of marketing for the U.S.
Reed is to replace David Kellie and lead all marketing communications for both Watches of Switzerland in North America, in addition to the Mayors jewelry brand. She will report directly to David Hurley, executive vice president of Watches of Switzerland Group USA.
Hurley said about Reed’s appointment: “We are thrilled to have Katie join our team during a time of such exponential growth for Watches of Switzerland in the U.S. Her expertise in luxury goods and deep connections in the watch industry will prove to be invaluable to our continued success.”
Editor’s Note:Our weekly careers post is updated daily. This installment is updated until Friday, November 29. Have a new hire tip? We’re looking for senior executive role changes in marketing and media. Let us know at editorial@alistdaily.com.
