Table of contents for September 13, 2021 in Adweek

Here at Adweek, we’re on what we like to call “the road to Brandweek”—the time of year when we are thinking, writing and talking about brands nonstop. Not just any brands, though—the best. Brands that invented products you didn’t know you needed and deployed marketing tactics that made you stop scrolling. Marketers who dug deep to find their purpose and had such a bright idea, you wish you’d thought of it first. The ones who took a blow and turned it into an opportunity. Our fourth annual Brandweek experience is Sept. 20-24, and in this edition, we’re getting ready by talking with marketing pros about how they do what they do, and how you can build on that knowledge (page 36). The next two editions of Adweek are among the…

How did you get to where you are today? The start of my career was a series of happy and unhappy accidents because I had to leave agencies more than once due to discrimination and sexual harassment. It’s important to let young people know that when this happens, you can leave. Our careers aren’t as tidy as they might look unless we are honest about this. I’ve done a lot of work in a more activist space, launching #WomenCannes during advertising’s #MeToo moment in 2018. “Trying to target gamers is like saying you’re targeting people who like music or people who breathe air.” What’s the most innovative thing you’re currently working on? My current remit is the reinvention and reinvigoration of a 40-year-old brand: Electronic Arts. Electronic Arts’ premise is…

WHETHER YOU’RE AN OLD-SCHOOL brand keeping it real or a Gen Z brand just trying to “keep it 100” during the pandemic’s social distance, authenticity remains the key to growing with your consumers. Vans’ #OffTheWall approach to brand-building uses art and creative self-expression to keep its 55-year-old purpose feeling younger than its years. Kristin Harrer, the former Dollar Shave Club chief marketer who took the CMO role at Vans in April, joins the Brandweek virtual lineup Sept. 20-24 to discuss Vans’ one-on-one relationships with consumers and the authentic experiences it provides them, even amid Covid-19. Ahead of the event, Adweek spoke with Harrer about marketing around the pandemic, ways recent events have influenced the brand’s approach and giving a voice to all communities within its consumer base. Adweek: This year…

For many first-generation tech companies, their brands are synonymous with the people who created, nurtured and passionately grew them to what they are today. These founders define the brain trust, values, purpose and aesthetic of their companies, setting the bar for their customer experience and relationship. Founders like Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos are larger than life. Part visionary, part ringmaster, we hang on their every move. They create and leave big shoes to fill. And as they move on, the transition for the brand and its next CEO can be smooth or rocky depending on a range of factors: market performance, leadership team, product lifecycle, culture—and the founder’s second life. So, considering Bezos’ departure from Amazon as its CEO, brand leaders should ask: What lessons…

IDENTIFY THE RIGHT TALENT At Google, I learned the importance of identifying and bringing in the right talent, having a set of values that you interview across the entire organization and being very conscious about who’s at your leadership table, how they show up and the role they play. Because if you’re going to grow and scale at the speed at which Google did during that time, you must be able to believe, [and] you have to trust there’s a shared vision. And you must empower your leaders to do their thing. No one person can do it alone. There’s just a lot of trust, and it all comes back to talent. CIRCLE BACK TO YOUR PASSION When you graduate college, people say, “Pursue your passion and do something you…

Six years ago, when the Vatican announced that Pope Francis would be stopping in Philadelphia as part of his visit to the United States, local businesses responded en masse. Manayunk Brewing Company made Papal ale. The pope’s likeness appeared on pizza boxes. Local station WZMP started a “popecast.” But no welcome stuck in local memory more than the one given by Mayor Michael Nutter, who stood before the cameras in Center City and proclaimed: “I’m pleased to announce that we expect to serve Pope Francis a Wawa hoagie of his choice.” For Americans who don’t live in the Mid-Atlantic region, the likely response to this news was, “What’s Wawa?” But for the initiated, it was more like, “Oh, of course.” That’s because Wawa boasts the kind of fanatical following that…

Jolie Hunt set out to create a different type of strategic communications agency when she launched Hunt & Gather in 2014. Hunt was shaken by her brief, unpleasant stint as AOL’s chief marketing officer. It was the first time in her career that hard work didn’t equal professional success, and she knew it was the right time to open her own firm. Nearly seven years later, the move has reinforced her belief that listening to your gut is essential. Hunt & Gather’s work focuses on three areas: content, experiential, and executive counsel and positioning. “I don’t think that what breaks through is what a typical or traditional PR firm does these days,” Hunt told Adweek. “It’s far more nuanced.” ‘Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would be this…

There is a paradigm shift happening in how brands approach disability, according to Loebner. “People with disabilities are not only being represented in the communications, but also in the product design and development.” DEGREE INCLUSIVE Wunderman Thompson made a deodorant that is easier for people with upper limb disabilities to use. It won the Innovation Grand Prix at Cannes this year. VOYA FINANCIAL Recognized by nonprofit Disability:IN as a Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion in 2020, it offers products and financial planning services that support disabled people. CAT & JACK The clothing brand sold at Target made an adaptive apparel line for children living with disabilities.…

Adweek compiled the following data from airlines’ second-quarter earnings reports to show how passenger numbers and flight capacities have changed during the pandemic. ALASKA TOTAL PASSENGERS (JAN.-JUNE) 2019 22.4 million 2020 10.4 million 2021 13.4 million -40.2 PERCENT FROM 2019 LOAD FACTOR (% FULL) 2019 83.4% 2020 62.8% 2021 66.1% -17.3 POINTS FROM 2019 SOUTHWEST TOTAL PASSENGERS (JAN.-JUNE) 2019: 66.2 million 2020: 30 million 2021 40.38 million -39 PERCENT FROM 2019 LOAD FACTOR (% FULL) 2019 83.8% 2020 55.5% 2021 75.3% -8.6 POINTS FROM 2019 JETBLUE TOTAL PASSENGERS (JAN.-JUNE) 2019 21.2 million 2020 8.8 million 2021 12.4 million -41.5 PERCENT FROM 2019 LOAD FACTOR (% FULL) 2019 84.3% 2020 64.8% 2021 73.1% -11.2 POINTS FROM 2019…

AMONG THE MANY LESSONS the pandemic has taught us in the past 18 months is that the health and welfare of loved ones matters a lot more than the stuff we buy. After all, who cares about shopping at a time like this? Well, actually, we all do. Because another thing the pandemic has reminded us is how much we rely on brands to make the things we need, to keep millions of us employed and to play real and necessary roles in our communities. Next week, then, you’ll be meeting our 10 Brand Geniuses, who’ve met these mandates, and whose flexibility and creativity has kept their companies afloat (even prospering) during this difficult period. But in this issue, which officially kicks off Adweek’s Brand Genius awards—our annual salute that’s now…

Mammoth brands, no matter how large and powerful they become, almost always have humble beginnings. Everyone knows the story of how Steve Jobs started Apple in his Los Altos garage. Or how Google got going in a Stanford dorm room. In the case of Virgin Atlantic airlines, it began in 1984 with a ruined vacation. Virgin Founder Richard Branson wasn’t new to business. He’d gotten his start selling LPs through the mail, eventually creating Virgin Records. But when American Airlines abrupty canceled his flight to the Caribbean, a furious Branson called Boeing the following day and told them: “I’ve just had a bad experience and I’m thinking of starting an airline … Do you have any secondhand 747s for sale?” For sale? No. But Boeing did lease Branson a 747,…