Category: Blog
What marketers can learn from Super Bowl advertising
What marketers can learn from Super Bowl advertising
What marketers can learn from Super Bowl advertising (even if they don’t have $7 million to spend on a 30-second ad spot)
This year’s Super Bowl was a record-setting one—drawing in an estimated 126 million viewers (approximately 3 million more than last year) and costing advertisers (at least) a whopping $7 million for a 30-second commercial spot.
Yep. $7 million.
That’s 55% more than 2019.
That’s also a reach of approximately 18 people per dollar spent (5.5 cents per person).
Compare that to the average TikTok CPM (cost for 1000 impressions) of $9.16 (0.009 cents per person) and the average Instagram CPM of $8.58 (0.0085), and Super Bowl ads feel a little pricey even at the per-person scale. That said, our TikTik or Instagram ads are way less likely to make best ad lists on massive platforms like Vogue, become memes, or turn into viral sensations, too.
But I digress.
For most of our marketing departments, the $7 million price tag is out of reach. So weighing the pros and cons isn’t a particularly helpful way to spend our time.
What is always helpful is looking at the lessons our big-budget counterparts are experiencing on a national stage. So what can those of us with startups, growing businesses, or niche audiences learn from the big ad wins of Super Bowl season?
Here are three lessons we think are resonant at any budget:
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Choose more frequent exposure over longer exposure
It’s a truth universally acknowledged in marketing that the more exposure customers have to your products, the more likely they are to reach for them on a (virtual or physical) shelf.
Known as the mere exposure effect, this insight comes to us from a 1968 study that concluded that people have more positive feelings about familiar things—and that familiarity simply requires repeated exposure.
Which is why author and keynote speaker Roger Dooley insightfully points out (via Forbes) that companies would do better to spend their money on more frequent, shorter ads rather than splurging on one of the 90-second ($20 million) Super Bowl spots.
Outside the Super Bowl, this truth still rings true. Instead of spending our whole marketing budget on a big-ticket push, a web of connected efforts and constant exposure is more likely to reap the rewards we’re after.
Notably, this is not the right strategy if your brand is facing down the barrel of a PR disaster. The mere exposure effect works best with products that have no negative associations, and when the consumer isn’t even really aware they’re seeing the product (which is part of why getting a book on a shelf in the background of an SNL skit or a branded drink in the hand of a celebrity in an iconic photo are such massive wins).
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Emotion (still, always) sells
Every year, there are a few standout ads that leave people breathless because they hit on a universal human emotion.
This year, Google Pixel knocked it out of the park, showing us the journey of fatherhood as it relates to learning not only life but work skills. Dove showed up with their always-relevant true beauty campaign. And Nike filled us with pride and motivation with their “So Win” ad.
It’s always important to re-center ourselves in the truth that people buy (both on the B2C and B2B side of things) for emotional reasons. Trust. Care. A feeling that a brand aligns with our values. That they’ll show up in the world how we want to show up in the world. That they stand with us.
Ads that take this truth into account do better, reach farther, get more shares, and win more loyalty—whether on a national stage or a local one.
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Keep it weird
We’ve said it before (and before, and before), and we’ll say it again:
Unless your brand is a bank or emergency service, people love weird ads. They tickle the novelty-seeking parts of our brains. They grab our difficult-to-come-by attention spans. They stand out in an ever-more-crowded market.
There’s a reason Uber Eats’ conspiracy theory ad racked up this year’s industry accolades. There’s also a reason Dunkin Donuts brought back their relentlessly silly DunKings for a second year. Ads that don’t take themselves too seriously, ads that give us a break from the stressors of our lives, ads that make fun…they work.
In summary
The foundations of the winning Super Bowl ads are the same foundations that all good advertising stands on. And when we think about winning big with our own strategies this year, that’s what we’re focused on: standing on tried-and-true foundations with our strategies even as we stretch ourselves with new tactics, technologies, and channels.
And if you need some help with your strategic foundations (or emotional, weird, and tech-forward advertising tactics), we’re always just an email away.
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Super Bowl, Shattered Ceilings: Nike’s Winning Message
Super Bowl, Shattered Ceilings: Nike's Winning Message
Twenty-seven years of silence. Then BOOM! Nike crashes back into Super Bowl advertising like your coolest aunt showing up fashionably late to the family reunion. But hey, when you’re about to flip the entire sports narrative on its head, timing isn’t just everything… it’s the whole game. And on February 9th, 2025, Nike didn’t just crash advertising’s biggest party, they redefined it with their winning message.
Picture this: The most-watched television event in America, traditionally dominated by beer-chugging bros and muscle car fantasies, is suddenly interrupted by a squad of athletic goddesses who clearly missed the memo about “staying in their lane.” In their electrifying “So Win.” spot, Nike assembled an Avengers-level lineup of sports titans. Caitlin Clark’s basketball sorcery, Sha’Carri Richardson’s track-burning speed, Aja Wilson’s court dominance, Aryna Sabalenka’s tennis fury, Jordan Chiles’ gravity-defying gymnastics, each one a living testament to what happens when you hear “you can’t” and respond with “watch me.”
The Revolutionaries’ Playbook
Each frame of this masterpiece takes a sledgehammer to the glass ceiling. “You can’t challenge. You can’t be demanding. You can’t be emotional.” But instead of accepting these barriers, Nike flips the script, transforming each “you can’t” that’s ever been hurled at women into a dare. “You can’t put yourself first, so put yourself first.” The message builds to its powerful crescendo: “Whatever you do, you can’t win. So win.” It’s not just defiance, it’s a revolution in sixty seconds.
Perfect Timing, Perfect Stage
The timing of the ad? Chef’s kiss. 10 out of 10. No notes. Nike boldly declared “Make room” on a male-centered stage, choosing the Super Bowl—the holy grail of masculinity in sports—to unveil their feminine tour de force – which is nothing short of brilliant. Nike saw an opportunity to make waves with this current momentum and ran (as fast as Sha’Carri) right to advertising’s biggest stage.
This timing aligns perfectly with an unprecedented surge in women’s sports popularity and viewership. College sensation Caitlin Clark is shattering records on the court and the TV, with her games drawing millions of viewers. The WNBA just logged its most-watched season in 24 years. Women’s soccer viewership has skyrocketed and female athletes are commanding attention and respect like never before, especially after last summer’s Olympic Games.
The Voice of Victory
Behind every revolution, there’s a voice that ignites it (in this case, narrates it). And Nike? They chose a Grammy-winning match to light their fuse. Enter Doechii, fresh off her historic Grammy win and apparently allergic to the word “can’t.” Just like Nike, Doechii understands perfect timing. She dropped a new song, “Nosebleeds,” shortly after winning her Grammy with lyrics that feel like they were stolen from Nike’s creative brief: “Will she ever lose? Man, I guess we’ll never know.” (Spoiler alert: She won’t, and they’re shook.) Doechii is the third black woman to ever win Best Rap Album at the Grammy’s, and in her acceptance speech she speaks exactly to what Nike’s ad digs at:
“Don’t allow anybody to project any stereotypes on you that tell you that you can’t be here, that you’re too dark or that you’re not smart enough or that you’re too dramatic or you’re too loud. You are exactly who you need to be, to be right where you are, and I am a testimony.”
Just a week later, her voice takes center stage in Nike’s ad, shown to millions of eyeballs across the country. The universe really said “hold my trophy” with this one. Imagine having your voice chosen to narrate a female empowerment ad for one of the biggest brands that is set to debut on advertising’s biggest stage right after you’ve made history and defied odds in your own industry… that’s the perfect victory lap if you ask me. Nike didn’t just pick any voice; they strategically picked their moment’s messenger, a living embodiment of what happens when determination drowns out doubt.
A Personal Revolution
As a women-owned business in a male-dominated space, this ad resonates on a deeply personal level. Every time we’ve heard “you can’t compete with big agencies” or “you can’t handle major accounts,” we’ve responded with our own version of “so win.” Nike’s message mirrors our daily reality: the constant push against predetermined limitations, the refusal to accept artificial boundaries, and the determination to excel not despite being women, but because we bring unique strength and perspective to the table.
We’ve said this before, and we’ll say it again. Less than one percent of ad agencies are women-owned, and we’re proud to be in that one percent. We’ve been making waves in the industry with our very existence since day one, so Nike’s “So Win.” ad validates every obstacle, every hurdle, every mountain we’ve had to climb to get exactly where we are today.
More Than an Ad—A Movement
The “So Win.” campaign is more than just an advertisement; it’s a manifesto for every woman who’s been told to stay in her lane. It’s Nike looking at every barrier, every doubt, every dismissive comment ever thrown at women, and saying, “Watch this.”
For brands looking to make a statement, take notes. This is how you do it without pandering. This is how you create something that doesn’t just capture attention but commands it. This is how you turn limitations into launching pads. And for women-owned businesses like ours, it’s a powerful reminder that the biggest stages belong to us, too—we just have to claim them.
Ready to create something unforgettable? Let’s talk.
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Supporting women in business: more important than ever
Supporting women in business: more important than ever
Eighty-six years ago, the US Fair Labor Standards Act set a single minimum wage regardless of gender.
Sixty years ago, The Civil Rights Act outlawed discrimination based on race, color, origin, national origin, or sex.
Nineteen years ago, the Supreme Court ruled that you cannot legally punish someone for complaining about sexual harassment in the workplace.
Sixteen years ago, California became the first state to require that companies include women in their boards of directors.
Yet today, women around the US are watching as some of the hard-won steps toward equality of these past decades are rolled back or thrown into jeopardy. Our futures feel uncertain. And there’s a metric ton of anxiety weighing down our collective souls (with Handmaid’s Tale memes flying and Google searches for “how to move abroad” on the upswing).
We’re a women-owned business, so you know we give a damn. But we’re also not quick to board the doom train. So we’re not here to add to the panic, but to remind us all of something simple and important:
Together, we are powerful.
It is the hard work and collective action of those who came before us that gave us non-discrimination laws, that changed societal perspectives, that gave us a world where 61% of US men support affirmative action for women and 69% of men say they are actively championing women in their workplace.
And it is our hard work and collective action that will make tomorrow what it is for ourselves and the generations to come (which was true before the election just as much as it is now).
So, what can we as individuals do in a deeply uncertain political climate?
We’re experts in marketing and business, so we’ll stay in that lane (if you want suggestions for political action, finding local mutual aid and political organizations is a good start!). On the business side, here are some things we’d love to see more of from every person who cares about women:
Support women-owned businesses.
We aren’t saying this just for the sake of equity. We’re also saying it because women-owned businesses get shit done. In fact, in the tech industry, women-owned businesses report 35% higher ROI. They outperform men’s businesses by 63%.
Should we support women for the sake of equity? Absolutely. But should we also recognize that when we support women’s businesses, that has a positive ripple effect into our economies and communities? Yes, we absolutely should.
Not to mention that women-owned businesses have better gender-equity not just at the top but all the way down. Reports as far back as 2014 found that women-owned businesses were made up (on average) of about 44% women employees (compared to 37% in male-owned businesses).
Pay attention to the trends.
Middle management has a gender problem—and it’s a fixable one, but not if we ignore it! Pay attention to what’s happening on a macro level for women in the workplace, read the research, and share those findings widely. If we don’t know about problems, we can’t solve them. If we don’t alert leadership to issues, they can’t address them.
Recommend women.
Research tells us that when it comes to referrals on the job, people tend to recommend other people who are demographically similar to them.
In other words: if you’re white, you’re more likely to recommend a white person. If you’re a man, you’re more likely to recommend a man. This is a totally unconscious thing (we’re not calling anyone out)—and it’s a preventable one.
If you’re a man who wants to uplift women, keep track of the women in your circle who are looking for jobs. Make a list of women freelancers you trust. And recommend them when the opportunity arises. It’s a pretty simple mission that can make a real difference to gender equity in the workspace (especially if you work in a male-dominated company or field).
Same thing if you are a white person and are committed to anti-racist action. Same thing if you are abled and want to uplift the disabled community (a group statistically drastically underemployed).
Promote women.
Companies with women in leadership perform better in the marketplace, so this shouldn’t be a hard sell. But the other thing women in leadership do (in general) is make workplaces safer for other women.
In a political climate where legal protections for equal pay, equal rights, and workplace safety (from harassment and assault) are under threat, it’s more important than ever to have women in leadership in individual businesses. Women in leadership will be more likely to put in place (and take seriously) HR policies that promote equity and leave less room for harassment.
While not every woman is a person who will champion other women in the workplace, business trends show us (as in the stats above about women-owned businesses having more equitable hiring processes) that overall, having women in leadership promotes equity.
Support women day-to-day.
Losing rights and protections is scary and takes an emotional toll. So it’s more important than ever that we support and uplift women on a daily basis. I mean both in their career trajectories and their humanity.
The day after the US election, I saw a woman treating herself to a fancy breakfast in a nice café—and visibly (though quietly) crying. At least two different people in that café offered to pay for her breakfast (the café owner having the final say and not allowing anyone to pay for it, including the woman).
Now, maybe she wasn’t crying about the election. Maybe she was. Either way, multiple people in that café saw her and wanted to let her know that whatever she was going through, she was not alone.
And that’s really what every piece of advice above is about. Supporting women because it’s the smart thing to do (with women-owned businesses generally winning big economically and for employees). Supporting women because it’s the right thing to do in a world where what equity we do have is hard-won and embarrassingly recent. And supporting women because we’re all in this together.
An equitable world is a better world for everyone. And the work we do to push back against the biases and inequities built into old systems helps us all and makes us more connected.
So go forth: show up for a woman in your life. Show up for women-owned businesses. Show up for your women colleagues. And in doing so, show up for yourself. And if there’s a way we can show up for you, tell us.
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B2B Marketing Exchange East: our takeaways for a challenging new marketing landscape
If you’ve been looking at the B2B stats lately, you might be tempted to panic.
Only 27% of sales reps are making their quotas (according to the EBSTA and Pavilion 2024 B2B Sales Benchmark Report). Discovery meetings are down by 30%. And the average B2B customer sales cycle is a lengthy 1.5 to 2 years.
The tech industry in particular has been subject to layoffs, disruption, and new tech that’s sent its sales on a downward trend.
These were the facts and figures presented at B2B Marketing Exchange (B2BMX) East. And at first glance, they can feel a bit alarming…
So, what’s a marketer to do?
The answer—which you may already know because I know a lot of you have been in this game a long time—starts with staying the course.
You’re a B2B marketer: you already know long customer journeys like the back of your hand. Even if your company’s have gotten a bit longer, we believe you’ve got this. You know how to stay the course. You know how to adapt. And this is another opportunity to prove it.
Now, in addition to sticking to our guns, what are some practical shifts we can make? Here are 5 suggestions:
- Push pause and analyze the sales funnel.
What is no longer working? Where are the slowdowns? Where are people dropping off? You’ve likely done this work before, but now is the time to refresh your understanding of the current funnel. Things are changing across the industry and the more data we have about our own sales funnels, the better we can roll with those punches.
- Figure out where sales can use your help.
We’ve always been on team “sales and marketing need to work more closely”—but every year that seems to become even more true. So once you analyze that sales funnel and see where the gaps are, it’s time to find a way that marketing can help fill them.
Does sales need more qualified leads? How can you shift marketing efforts to get them? Is the problem closing deals at the end of the funnel? What can marketing do to support the close? Do they need help with custom messaging? Segmenting their audiences? Creating better presentations? Telling better stories?
There are so many ways marketing can step into the gap to help sales win.
- Assess your tools.
Do you have great sales enablement tools? Are your teams using them to the fullest? Are there tools they need and don’t have? Training on the current tools that would be useful?
Setting aside time to figure it out and put the right tools in place will set you up for success in the long-term.
- Take notes from your B2C colleagues.
We’ve said this one ‘til we were blue in the face, but it remains true: most B2B marketing is boring. In fact, one 2023 survey found that a whopping 82% of the c-suite find B2B marketing boring and repetitive.
If you want to stand out, you’ll need to take more B2C approaches. Be bold! Evoke emotion! Show visuals. Speak to people like humans. Try something a little crazy. Break out of the standard B2B boxes.
- Remember who you are.
What does your company stand for? What’s the mission underneath all the noise? What is your unique point-of-view? Marketing needs to ground itself consistently in those truths if you want to walk beside buyers for the entire (lengthy) sales journey.
And if you need some help? We are (obviously) always here for it. Reach out anytime.
Your marketing is getting ignored. Here’s how to fix it.
One of the tactics YouTube uses to drive engagement with its ads is to occasionally replace an ad with a survey question. If you answer the question, you can skip the ad faster.
It’s a clever way of gathering some basic information. Who is behind the screen? What kinds of ads best serve that person? Are you serving them optimized campaigns?
On its face, this sounds pretty darn smart.
Except…
Multiple times recently, YouTube has served me up a survey asking “how relevant was the previous ad to you?”
A good question…but the truth was I couldn’t answer it.
Because I didn’t remember the previous ad. I wasn’t paying attention.
And that’s the rub.
Currently, PPC ad click-throughs average just five in a thousand. The average person probably sees about 100 ads in a day (and recalls very few of them). And we’ve reached a saturation point where many of us are actively avoiding advertisements. In fact, Neilson found (in 2023) that 64% of consumers were taking active measures to avoid ads on streaming services (a figure likely to extend to other types of ad avoidance).
So, how are marketers supposed to get the attention of new customers? How do we get the word out about new offerings? How do we avoid getting lost in the endless noise?
The answer isn’t necessarily in the survey questions, because by the time we ask them, the ad has already been ignored. The answer, instead, lies with advertising differently. Employing mindsets and tactics that data tells us still work.
Here are three truths to get us there.
First, a mindset: You are in this for the long haul.
Customer loyalty isn’t built in a day. Viral sensations often aren’t the first tactic someone tried. The marketing that succeeds is the marketing that builds over time, showing customers that you care about solving a problem, will treat them well if they stick around, and have staying power.
The second truth is that ads still work when they feel personal.
Personal can mean more than one thing, so let’s unpack that.
:: Neilson found that 59% of people said they’d be more likely to buy something recommended by an influencer they trust.
:: Based on that same research, 63% of people are likely to buy a product when the company provides useful information for free.
This means sharing your knowledge with customers with no strings attached. Like a cookware company that makes free cooking videos. A B2B project management software that offers a white paper on best practices for project management. A self-publishing company with clear, easy-to-find, easy-to-follow instructions for formatting a book.
And our third truth: brands thinking outside the box are still winning in the attention economy.
From Taco Bell’s retirement community concept to Snoop Dog as the Olympics spokesman, unusual and authentic marketing is still racking up its fair share of wins.
One of the keys to these successes is thinking like a journalist. What is worth a headline? What do people want to talk about (for better or worse)? What is so wacky that news outlets can’t bear not to talk about it? How can you, in other words, introduce a marketing effort that organically spreads. Not through the paid ads your customers are ignoring but through the influencers, journalists, friends, and social media channels they trust.
If you’re nodding along but need help finding your weird, viral idea, tracking down the right influencers, or helping your team get on board with new mindsets, we’d love to help. Reach out anytime.
The art of the marketing comeback
If there’s one thing you can count on in marketing, it’s this:
Things change.
Cultural norms shift. Trends fade. World events shake things up. Buying power passes from one generation to the next.
As that change inevitably comes, there are brands that ride the waves for the long-term, rolling with every cultural punch (like Taco Bell)…
And then there are brands that reach towering heights and then come crashing down, their final wave a tsunami that decimates them.
Like Blockbuster—once the titan of movie rentals, now completely dethroned by their lack of vision (they rejected video streaming technology before Netflix hit the scene). Or Beanie Babies—once a cult-like craze, now the stuff of history podcasts. Or Borders Bookstores, swallowed whole by Amazon.
But hold up—it’s not just soar or crash. There’s a third category: brands that reach the edge of the tsunami, look over that cliff-sized fall, and manage to bounce back. The brands who do something drastic when things simply no longer work.
Those are the brands we want to talk about today. With two examples of companies that mastered the art of the comeback in very different ways. Here’s what happened and what we think you can learn from them.
Lego: innovation with boundaries
Touted by some as the “greatest turnaround in corporate history,” Lego’s a true tsunami comeback story. In 2003, after decades of domination in the toy industry, they were hanging off that cliff edge—$800 million in debt with sales dropping 30% year-over-year.
And things were about to get even worse.
Because at first, Lego dug their grave deeper. They tried to diversify—adding jewelry, clothes, and theme parks to their portfolio (and discovering that actually nobody wanted a Lego necklace). Deeper and deeper into debt and despair they went.
And then: the turning point.
New leadership took the helm, cut the new products that were doing nothing for them, shortened development timelines, and took the company back to what they are best at: Legos. Classics like Space Legos, tie-ins like Star Wars, and—importantly—new Lego worlds like ninjas, bakery, and riding camp, based on deep research into the playing habits of kids.
By 2015, Lego was up $5.2 billion in revenue. A far cry from the lows of 2003.
So what can we learn from the fall and rise of this toy industry giant? One answer is clear: innovation doesn’t have to mean branching out to new spaces and new products. There are ways to branch out successfully (see Taco Bell’s retirement community), but in general, nobody wants Lego jewelry or Bank of America spatulas or Geico tampons.
The stronger innovation opportunity is the creativity that happens within the things you already excel at. Lego is best at Legos—and the innovation that worked for them was adding new kinds of Legos, new ways to play with them, and new audiences they would appeal to (namely, girls!).
Also: research, research, research. Lego made their comeback because they committed to finding out what kids wanted instead of throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what stuck.
Birkenstock: the power of sticking to your guns
Since approximately forever, Birkenstock has been about one thing: comfort. Shoes that evenly distributed weight, felt good to wear, and functioned well for all sorts of activities—from gardening to camping and beyond.
This gained them a good deal of customer loyalty, but it wasn’t putting them on the fashion industry’s radar.
Enter Gen Z, who sees fashion differently and has the online platforms to shout their perspectives from the proverbial rooftops. For Gen Z, fashion is still creative. Still fun. Still cutting edge in some ways. But it’s also about authenticity, comfort, and lifestyle.
Function as well as beauty.
Thus, without any real effort on the part of the brand, suddenly Birkenstock found itself at the center of a cultural moment, with clogs gracing celebrity feet and featured on popular fashion TikToks.
Unlike Lego, the story of Birkenstock isn’t about reinvention or making intentional changes. It’s about knowing your brand purpose and sticking to it for the long term. It’s about the cultural moment that finds you when you don’t try to chase culture, but rather let it come to you.
And that brings me to our point…
A common theme: know thy brand
Both of these massive success stories have one big thing in common: their success hinges on them being themselves.
For Lego, it was ditching all the extras and doing what they do best: Legos. For Birkenstock, it was sticking to their guns no matter how often the fashion industry called them ugly along the way.
Which makes the big takeaway here this: know your brand and always stick with it. Lots of things can change over time, but your core brand mission, your best product, the heart of what you are building…you need to know it well and nurture it long-term.
And if you’re figuring out your brand right now? Well, that’s something we can help with. Reach out anytime.
Taco Bell’s wacky marketing strategies—and why they work
Genius marketing strategies? They’re not all created equal.
In case you haven’t heard of Taco Bell’s latest marketing triumph, let’s set the stage:
Imagine it’s the end of a long workweek, and you (likely a Millennial or Gen Z’er) are daydreaming about the day you can retire. Sip margaritas on a beach. Play pickleball in the middle of the day. Take bus rides with your 20 closest friends to go line dancing or tour your favorite museum without asking your boss for one of your measly ten days off per year.
Now imagine Taco Bell read your mind—and created an early retirement fever dream for all ages. Where you can cosplay your retirement fantasy…without the hip replacement.
Even if you weren’t already a Taco Bell fan, you might find yourself interested. And if you already loved the brand, well, you’re all in, right?
If you think the above scenario sounds far-fetched, you haven’t been paying attention. Because this is exactly what Taco Bell did this August. Pickleball tournaments, crochet clubs, afternoon naps, and all.
So, beyond just being creative and fun, what is Taco Bell doing so right with this kind of event (which sold out in about ten seconds)?
Here’s our take:
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It’s not that serious
Today’s consumers—and especially Gen Z—are already tired. They’re studying, working, and being more active in causes they care about than any prior generation (Gen Z is almost twice as likely to attend a political protest, for example). Life is busy and serious and exhausting.
So, it’s no surprise that anything wacky and fun garners a big “yes, please” from a generation desperately trying to avoid burnout. If the world is burning, better to live like any day could be your last. Toronto billboards that dispense nacho cheese? Yes, please. A Vegas Taco Bell-themed wedding? Hilarious, let’s do it. An early retirement party where you can play Bingo until you drop (into a nap)? Hell to the yes.
Taco Bell understands that we all need a little whimsy. They don’t take themselves too seriously and their big marketing events, unlikely partnerships, and in-person fiestas aren’t that serious either.
(Obviously, this doesn’t work for every brand. Just about nobody wants their bank to be unserious, for instance. Or their neurologist. Or the company that installs their plumbing. But their provider of silly fake tacos marketed by a talking dog? That brand can have fun.)
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It’s newsworthy (precisely because it’s wacky)
Taco Bell already has a following—but they’re not just doing this to keep fans. They’re doing it to build fans. Which means they need buzz. Which means they need to think like journalists.
What do journalists want to write about? What do bloggers want to feature? What do influencers want to talk about online?
The answer will always take you outside the expected. Newsworthy means unusual, outrageous—sometimes in a scary way, sometimes in a surprising one, sometimes in a hilarious one. Taco Bell is leaning in on the latter, which earns them a lot of coverage in major news outlets every time they announce one of these wacky stunts.
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It’s all about community
In-person events like this aren’t even just about Taco Bell itself. For attendees, they’re about finding people with shared interests. A similar drive for fun and silliness. A desire to let their hair down.
Who would go to an early retirement party for all ages? Well, the exact kind of people an attendee wants to meet and mingle with. Shared silliness, a vintage costume opportunity, and a way to connect with other people without work or life pressures for a few days tap into a deep, human longing for connection and joy.
With 30% of Americans saying they feel lonely every single day, that kind of community-building is no small thing. And brands that can tap into that connectivity are—as Taco Bell demonstrates—reaping big rewards.
Time to get wacky
Taco Bell isn’t the only company winning big with wackiness and fun at the center of its marketing. This year, the Olympics went wild with Snoop Dog. In 2021, Match.com knocked it out of the park, going weird with none other than Satan himself looking for love. And let’s not forget that time Stouffers decided there was a market for wearable macaroni and cheese (and it worked).
The point: this is an age-old tactic, and it continues to work.
Again, it’s not for everyone. Some companies have to be serious because their products or services mean life or death, safety or lack of it. But for those of us marketing less life-or-death things, weird and wacky are in and always will be.
And if you need help devising your wild marketing strategies, we’re always just an email away.
Three Marketing Lessons from Snoop Dogg and the 2024 Olympics
If I asked you to name the first three things that come to mind about this year’s Olympic Games, what would they be?
We’re willing to guess the answers might include Simone Biles’ redemption tour and all-around gold, Gabriel Medina’s viral mid-air photo, and—marvelously, unexpectedly, brilliantly—
Snoop Dogg.
One thing missing from my Bingo card for the Olympics, was him. And the way he’s wedged himself nonnegotiably into everyone’s hearts while he’s promoting the 2024 games.
From wearing shirts with athletes’ faces on them to cheering them on, to facing his fear of horses live on camera, to starting dance parties in the stands, Snoop might lay claim to more viral moments than even the athletes this year. And you’ll find plenty of online comments saying they’ll never think of the Olympics again without thinking of Snoop.
So, what’s he doing right? How did he become the biggest marketing sensation of these games?
We’ve got some ideas.
Here are 3 lessons we marketers can take away from Snoop’s (dare we say) gold-level performance.
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Authenticity (and vulnerability) sells
The truth is that—when it comes to branding a person or public figure—perfection is boring.
We want perfection in how tech performs, how steady our doctor’s hands are, and how smooth our business processes run. But we do not want perfection when it comes to human emotion. Because we know it’s a lie, a show.
Your audience wants to look past the show, the persona, and find what feels like the truth of a human being. Their quirks. Their fears. Their authenticity.
In other words: we want vulnerability.
Which is exactly what Snoop showed us when he admitted to his fear of horses and faced it. Then again when he showed up to cheer on the volleyball team with player faces on his T-shirt like a proud dad. And again (and again) every time he joked with a new athlete and tried to learn a new skill.
Snoop isn’t just out there talking about how great the games are. He’s bringing his own humanity to the table, sharing something personal and connecting with the games—and their audience—through those deeply personal, quirky, authentic moments.
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Unlikely partnerships are still in
We’ve talked about unlikely partnerships before (more than once). And the market continues to prove that these powerhouse marketing tactics that surprise and delight are the foundation of viral, word-of-mouth marketing.
Snoop plus the Olympics was the team-up most wouldn’t see coming—and has spurred many viral moments. Dancing with Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles. Telling Michael Phelps they could be twins. Partnering with the Cookie Monster to surprise Martha Stewart…
It’s another great reminder to look outside the usual suspects when it comes to partnerships to boost your marketing or sales.
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Give your audience someone to connect to
While we certainly connect to our Olympic athletes—marveling at their hard work and dedication, cheering them on, investing ourselves in their success—most of us aren’t going to train six hours a day for a chance at the gold. We aren’t them; we are fans, friends, people on the sidelines cheering them on.
Which is why it’s so brilliant of the Olympics to give us an everyman—a non-Olympian, a fish out of water, if you will—to connect with on another level. If we were given a front-row seat to the games, what would we do? Dance at the US gymnastics team, joke with Michael Phelps about our physical prowess, feel a bit nervous at the power of an Olympic-level horse?
Damn straight, we would.
Snoop, in this way, represents us.
Sure, a more famous, more wealthy, more notorious, and perhaps more silly version of us. But us all the same. Us, the non-world-class-athletes. The fans. The people who’d love to feed a carrot to a racing horse or get a fencing lesson from an Olympian.
It’s a tactic authors use often to tell a story: dropping your average dude into a not-so-average situation and letting it play out in a way where we can imagine ourselves in his shoes. And it’s a tactic marketers can take note of.
Sometimes we follow people because they’re our heroes. And sometimes we follow because they are us. And there are ways to incorporate both the hero and the everyman into many a marketing campaign.
In short: thanks, Snoop
There’s probably more than one reason this year’s Olympics are trouncing Tokyo’s viewership numbers. Fans in the stands. The glamour of Paris. The breaking of multiple world records. But no doubt Snoop’s viral moments are a part of the alchemy that’s making things work.
And that alchemy is something every marketer can take a lesson or two from.
Not sure how to incorporate these lessons into your marketing? We’re here to help. Reach out anytime.
The Bumble Fumble: A Cautionary Tale in the World of Rebranding
For those of you who haven’t endured the highs and lows of being on dating apps, consider yourself blessed. And for those of you who have… I’m sorry. You’re not alone in this struggle.
Lately, dating-app fatigue has been a big topic of discussion, as singles are fed up and losing all hope of finding their forever. Dating apps such as Tinder, Hinge, and Bumble have seen a steady decline in downloads over the last few years. Dating-app users, Gen Z in particular, are frustrated with the online dating scene for a multitude of reasons. They are burnt out from the generic teeth-pulling conversations, feeling like a piece of meat at the grocery store, endless superficial swiping, and the humbling “most compatible” suggested matches. The digital age has impacted every aspect of life, but who knew romance would transform the way that it has?
Bumble, a dating app that launched in 2014, originally marketed itself as a “feminist” dating app. It stood out among its competitors because women were required to make the first move after matching with someone (in heterosexual relationships). It gave women the agency to choose who they wanted to create a connection with. Ten years later… the tides have changed.
It’s time for a change
Bumble decided to take matters into its own hands, combatting the decline in users by hinting at a rebrand. Back in April, Bumble deleted all of its posts and posted a carousel of vintage painting memes as a means to acknowledge women’s exhaustion in the dating scene. The caption reads, “Dating needs a wake-up call. We’re on it. Chapter one of the new Bumble is coming 4.30.24.” While there were various reactions to this hint of the rebrand, most people in the comments expressed excitement, intrigue, hope, and wonder.
Not long after, the “new” Bumble dropped. They introduced a new feature to the platform, where men could start conversations first by responding to selected prompts on a woman’s profile. The new Bumble feature was not necessarily new to experienced dating-app users, as Hinge’s model allows people to respond to specific pictures and prompts. The new Bumble was anticlimactic and a little disappointing, to say the least.
Bumble released an ad campaign to promote the rebrand. Two billboard designs generated quite a reaction, and not in a good way. One billboard mocks celibacy as a dating alternative with the tagline “You know full well a vow of celibacy is not the answer,” and the other mocks religion with the tagline “Thou shall not give up on dating and become a nun.”
Missing the mark
Despite the effort to be light, humorous, and playful with this campaign, Bumble missed the mark with its target audience. The campaign received enough backlash and criticism from the public that they issued an apology, donated money to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, and ultimately removed the ads from their global marketing campaign not even two weeks later.
So, where did they go wrong? We asked ourselves this very question at our latest Catalyst for Change meeting. Our team generally had a positive response to the advertisements. We actually didn’t mind the billboards and thought they were funny. But that poses another question: are we the target audience? Evidently not.
Current Bumble users are tired and drained from the interactions they’re dealing with on the app. Those upset with the launch claim that the new Bumble did not live up to the promise of the teasers. In addition to the letdown, many women felt called out for choosing to be celibate and thought the marketing was insensitive to what women have endured on Bumble and dating apps in general.
A cautionary tale
So, what can we learn from this? Was this a case of bad creative? No, not necessarily. Some people (like us) genuinely liked the ads. There’s a time and place for when this campaign would have thrived – it just isn’t right now. Between women’s reproductive rights being at stake, the 4B movement trending, and women feeling more empowered to advocate for themselves – the campaign did not stand a chance.
Bumble, originally branded as a dating app for women, is now being called a dating app against women — at least, that’s what current users are saying. This rebrand was done in-house, and Bumble certainly doesn’t lack women on the executive team, considering its original mission was to give women more agency in their dating lives. And yet, somehow, this recent campaign struck a nerve with many women — enough to have it completely taken down.
If anything, this just goes to show that diverse perspectives are needed at every stage of the campaign development process and that understanding your audience is critical to campaign success. Deeply understanding your target audience allows you to choose the proper channels, tone, and timing, making your campaign more relevant and impactful.
Anyway, if you’re looking to rebrand and don’t want to stumble while you’re at it, please contact us! We’d love to hear from you.
The Power of Fandoms: How Passion Drives Marketing Success
In the marketing realm, there’s a phenomenon that often goes unnoticed, operating beneath the surface like a powerful undercurrent shaping the industry’s landscape. It’s the force of fangirls—or more inclusively, fan communities—whose passion and dedication extend far beyond mere admiration. They are the unsung heroes, the secret geniuses of marketing whose influence is as profound as it is pervasive.
At first glance, it might seem trivial to attribute marketing success to a group of enthusiasts swooning over their favorite artists, books, movies, TV shows, or brands. But delve deeper and you’ll uncover a world where these fervent followers wield tremendous power, not only in shaping narratives but also driving sales, creating trends, and fostering brand loyalty.
So, what exactly makes fangirls such impressive marketers?
Content Creation Powerhouses: First and foremost, fangirls (and fanboys) are prolific content creators, generating fan fiction, fan art, edits, playlists, merch, and videos inspired by their favorite interests. Fan communities produce a wealth of content that not only provides free advertising, but also gives brands a treasure trove of creative ideas and insights into what resonates with their audience. This user-generated content not only keeps the fandom engaged between official releases but also generates buzz and maintains brand visibility over extended periods.
One Direction fans (aka Directioners) have been lucky enough to get some of their fan fiction picked up by Hollywood and turned into major motion pictures, which is something Hollywood has been doing for years. The latest Anne Hathaway movie, The Idea of You, is based on a book loosely inspired by former One Direction member Harry Styles. The After series, written by Anna Todd (another Styles-centered fanfic), was turned into a film franchise in 2019 and has five movies out to date.
Their creative endeavors often gain significant traction and substantial followings, positioning them as mini influencers who can drive trends and spark viral moments within and beyond their fandoms. These dedicated creators not only enhance the visibility and popularity of the objects of their affection but also cultivate vibrant, interactive communities.
Community Building: Fangirls excel at community building, fostering inclusive spaces where fans can connect, share, and celebrate their mutual interests. These communities serve as fertile ground for organic growth, fostering a sense of belonging that transcends mere consumerism and fosters long-term brand loyalty.
The success of many book series, TV shows, and music artists can be traced back to the tireless efforts of fan communities. Take the Harry Potter series, which benefited immensely from the grassroots efforts of its fanbase. Fans created websites, forums, and fan clubs that kept the momentum going even between book releases, effectively keeping the series in the public eye and driving sales. For example, The Leaky Cauldron is one of many Harry Potter fan sites that debuted in 2000 and is still actively running to this day! It serves as an information goldmine for all things Harry Potter, where fans can read up on the latest news and happenings in the Harry Potter world. These grassroots marketing efforts create a win-win situation; the Harry Potter franchise gets more exposure and fans get to personalize how they experience the brand.
Creating Buzz and Virality: Speaking of buzz, fangirls are building and maintaining buzz. Whether it’s for a new album, a movie release, or a book launch, their excitement is palpable and infectious. They use social media platforms to generate anticipation, often creating trends and hashtags that spread like wildfire.
Even if you aren’t an avid Taylor Swift fan, the likelihood that she’s been a topic of discussion in any of your circles is probably high. Why is that? Swifties keep the buzz alive, even between album drops. Their passion influences broader media coverage and keeps the spotlight on Taylor Swift, ensuring that the buzz never fades.
Social Media Savvy: In an era dominated by social media, fangirls are at the forefront of online communities. They are adept at leveraging platforms like Instagram, X, and TikTok to express their love and engage with fellow fans. Their posts, fan art, memes, and discussions serve as free advertising, reaching millions of potential consumers worldwide.
One might say that fangirls truly put the “social” in social media, as they often manage fan accounts to connect with fellow fans and make new internet friends. Dedicated to their craft (and favorite interests), fangirls are digitally savvy. They demonstrate a solid digital skillset that amplifies their follower growth, engagement strategy, and content creation.
In essence, fangirls are not merely passive consumers but active participants in the marketing ecosystem. They drive engagement, foster brand loyalty, and propel sales through their genuine passion and unwavering dedication. Their influence may be subtle, but make no mistake — fangirls demonstrate a natural aptitude for marketing that professionals in the industry can learn a lot from.
Fangirls are more than enthusiasts; they are writers, designers, editors, creators, subject-matter experts, community managers, and more importantly, natural marketers. Behind their obsession lies a wealth of insight, creativity, and influence that can’t be ignored.