Table of contents for May 17, 2021 in Adweek

Paul Bannister grew up with the internet, surfing text-based browsers at the University of Pennsylvania in the early ’90s. After college, he created—and eventually sold—a website to review video games, which was among the first of the era to have ads (after HotWired, the first online magazine). Back then, click-through rates were 2% to 3%, astronomical compared to today when publishers are lucky if one in a thousand visitors click on an ad. Bannister, the chief strategy officer of publisher CafeMedia, said competition in the early years of the internet was “fierce but even.” Now that’s changed, as the web today is dominated by Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple, concentrating so much “traffic and revenue toward a very small number of companies.” ‘What we want is to try to get…

The role of chief marketing officer is a unique one that entails understanding digital, understanding how to build a brand and then knowing how to retain consumers once they’ve been enticed with your product or service. Research firm Advertiser Perceptions asked 300 marketing and agency executives in its Ad Pros community about the characteristics they believe are most important to the CMO role today. According to the findings, the most important characteristic for 16% of respondents was vision, while being a great communicator was most important for 13%. Additionally, many of those polled believed being analytical, data- or insights-driven, adaptive or creative and having expertise in media were also critical skills. “An explosion in consumer choices, changing media behavior and access to new and emerging technology—coupled with increasing regulatory impact—are…

Among the countless products that Americans buy, only a relative handful have found success by advancing two selling propositions at the same time. There’s Miller Lite (“Tastes great! Less filling!”) and Arm & Hammer baking soda. And, to date, the makers of WD40 have confirmed some 2,000 uses for their product. Far less known, though, is the double-barreled selling proposition that belongs to a bulbous pink bottle that’s been a fixture on store shelves for 60 years now. We speak, friends, of Mr. Bubble. As is evident by both the name and the alarmingly happy bubble grinning at you on the label, Mr. Bubble excels at creating suds. It is, in fact, the bestselling bubble bath formula in the United States. And since many kids like bubble baths, it’s often…

Walk into a grocery store today and you likely won’t see an attendant offering a complimentary sample to curious shoppers. Throughout the pandemic, brands that once relied on the time-tested strategy of in-person product sampling had to find new ways of getting their goods into the hands of potential customers. Some found new digital methods are eclipsing the old, due in part to the data they deliver. “Sampling, in the way that we knew it, is dying,” said Michael Leo, chief executive of Ripple Street, a New Yorkbased company that partners with brands both big and small to provide product samples to shoppers. Bo Kim, a senior principal analyst at Gartner, explained that in-store food and beverage sampling will return eventually, but it is bound to be more individual—both in…

Advertisers flocked to Fixed Upper in its heyday on HGTV, and demand for Magnolia Network was similarly robust when Discovery first sold it in last year’s upfront, expecting at the time it would launch this spring. “We were oversubscribed with client interest, even in a down year, when a lot of categories had to sit on the sidelines,” says Steinlauf, who sold the network to 50 advertisers in last year’s upfront. Following Magnolia’s delay to January 2022, Discovery approached those marketers with makegood options (which included advertising alongside Magnolia content in Discovery+ and the Magnolia linear previews running on DIY Network), all 50 brands said they still want to be part of the rescheduled linear launch—including Target, Lowe’s, Scotts lawn care and Delta Faucet. Despite the considerable advertiser interest, Steinlauf,…

While many of today’s streaming hits deserve credit for taking on delicate social issues, a handful of shows from TV’s early days had to blaze that path first. The Mod Squad, which reached its ratings peak on ABC 50 years ago, was among them. Cop dramas were nothing new on the tube, but the premise of this one was that to pay their debt to society, three troubled 20-somethings on probation agree to work undercover. The Mod Squad was the first TV drama to confront America’s fears of the youth counterculture head-on. Audiences had rarely seen a female cop, let alone a Black one. As it grappled with serious subject matters—Vietnam, racism, antisemitism, abortion—the show also gave millions of “silent majority” Nixon voters something rare: a positive portrayal of youth…

As the world finally starts to return to normal, so does upfronts week. Following last year’s upheaval, the annual May event for marketers has returned in virtual form as the biggest media companies make their pitches ahead of upfront negotiations. But last year’s unprecedented marketplace has permanently shifted the landscape, and buyers are approaching negotiations with a new set of priorities based on learnings from last year. The biggest priority for buyers is flexibility. After a 2020 season that included increased flexibility in the form of options and order dates, there’s no putting that genie back in the bottle. “In this world of fragmented media, [with] business needs changing on a constant basis, going backward in that space to 2019 and prior is something no buyer is interested in doing…

ESTABLISH A STRONG STORYTELLING CORE Consumers have historically and continue to look at brands as being models for affirmation of their own values and how they choose to live. But the storytelling piece is so essential. In the case of Belvedere and this whole idea of made with nature, it’s important for consumers to understand what that means in terms of the product, CSR, sustainability and the work we’re doing in that area. We run around with the ethos of being unapologetically natural in everything that we do. Have a real center core to the storytelling, and be very consistent in how you tell it. LEAD THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE Leadership has to be committed genuinely and engaged, but it’s not limited to the C-suite. Great ideas come…

AFTER THE PANDEMIC UPENDED 2020’S UPFRONTS WEEK, almost all of the regular presenters are returning to their familiar positions on the calendar, holding virtual upfront presentations. That includes Fox, which will host its entertainment upfront event on May 17. (The company’s news and sports divisions held their own presentations last week.) Fox will repeat as the No. 1 broadcast network this season in the adults 18-49 demo, most coveted by advertisers, thanks to shows like The Masked Singer and 9-1-1, but it has weathered the same steep ratings drops its linear peers have. That’s where free, ad-supported streamer Tubi—acquired in April 2020 by Fox and now fully integrated into the company—will come in, allowing Fox to capitalize on the audience shift to streaming and giving it a major tool in…