Table of contents for June 7, 2021 in Adweek

There are few retailers more beloved in the U.S. than Target, which gained some $9 billion in market share over the course of 2020. Entrusted with protecting that brand and its $90 billion business is Cara Sylvester, who was promoted to chief marketing and digital officer in February. “When I tell people I work at Target, their faces light up. Everyone is excited to share a story about a recent Target find, an experience they had at their local store or a team member that made their day,” Sylvester said. “These conversations are incredibly energizing for me and are a big part of what’s kept me at Target for nearly 14 years.” Sylvester said that throughout her career, she’s learned a lot about the power of possibility, and the opportunity…

LIL NAS X RAPPER HITS UPON HITS: After becoming a viral sensation with his song “Old Town Road,” which spent the longest time at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top 100 list in its history, 22-year-old Lil Nas X seems to reach virality with every new song. He’s teasing his latest album with new singles that are continuously topping charts, such as his newest, the raw and honest “Sun Goes Down,” and his fiery and saucy “Montero (Call Me by Your Name),” which featured the rapper in thigh-high boots on a stripper pole and giving Satan a lap dance. CARVING OUT A PATH: Lil Nas X is the only openly LGBTQ+ Black artist to win a Country Music Association Award, and he was also the most nominated male artist for the…

KR LIU HEAD OF BRAND ACCESSIBILITY, GOOGLE BRAND STUDIO A PROVEN CHAMPION: Diagnosed with severe hearing loss at the age of 3, Liu has spent more than two decades amplifying the need for disability inclusion in technology. From working with U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s team to pass the Over-the-Counter Hearing Aid Act in 2016 to speaking at the White House, United Nations and Capitol Hill about why it is crucial to build a more accessible world, Liu has long been a vocal advocate for disability rights. AN ‘INCREDIBLE OPPORTUNITY’ AT GOOGLE: Beginning as an adviser to Google in 2018 during the creation of its Live Caption, Liu joined the company as its head of brand accessibility in 2020. “In an industry where media representation of people with disabilities is extremely…

WHEMBLEY SEWELL EDITOR IN CHIEF, THEM COMMUNITY RULES: Since Sewell took the reins at Condé Nast LGBTQ+ title Them in September 2020, finding ways to connect with the audience during the pandemic has been a tough nut to crack. “An essential part of the work we do at Them is rooted in community building for queer folks. I knew Them could find new ways to foster connection and create affirming experiences. From our virtual celebrations to new slates of videos and live shows, it’s been a joy to offer moments of much-needed levity to our audience.” ON CULTURALLY NECESSARY STORYTELLING: “It’s not always an easy industry to exist in as a young, Black, queer woman. I love that just by showing up exactly as I am, I can help create…

During Hollywood’s golden age, few actresses could match the elegance of Hedy Lamarr. Discovered by MGM’s Louis B. Mayer after fleeing a loveless marriage to an arms dealer in her native Austria, Lamarr would headline in some 25 films. What few in Hollywood knew, however, was that Lamarr’s creative talents went far beyond acting. Gifted with an innately technological mind, Lamarr had disassembled the family music box at age 5 just to see how it worked. In between takes at MGM, Lamarr would steal away to her trailer to tinker with radio equipment gifted to her by billionaire aviator Howard Hughes. When World War II broke out, Lamarr invented a frequency-hopping spread-spectrum system to guide American torpedoes. Lamarr’s work formed the foundation for later technologies including Bluetooth, GPS and Wi-Fi.…

THE INVITE CAME over text a couple weeks ago—“I’ll be in NYC for a few days. Happy hour?” It was the first time a marketer reached out to meet in person in 15 months, and I hardly knew how to respond. There was a lot to consider. Where would we go? How would we get there? Where had I stored all of my dress shoes? Was it worth the discomfort of inching out of one’s quarantine cocoon, even as the vaccine made doing so safe? A handful of us did venture out to a rooftop in Manhattan’s Flatiron District, flanked by the Empire State Building and the city’s unchanging skyline, sharing stories about new cities moved to, new brands conceived, new trends waiting to be dissected and understood. The excitement of…

How did you get to where you are today? Any noteworthy “aha” moments along the way? Through hard work and help. As a young person, I had a tireless work ethic but no idea what the path to where I am now looked like. I was lucky enough to meet good people along the way, like [former vp of commercial partnerships at Universal Music Group] Theda Sandiford, [former evp of Warner Music Group] Kevin Liles and others, who were kind enough to help me see those paths. I think the leaders that recognized my work ethic and talent took steps to put me in certain rooms and introduced me to certain people [and] helped me mold and focus my work ethic. What new or up-and-coming innovation are you most excited…

AMBER RUFFIN REALLY DIDN’T THINK THIS WAS GOING TO LAST. In 2019, when the comedian and Late Night With Seth Meyers writer got the green light for her own Peacock late-night series, The Amber Ruffin Show, it was hard to ignore that late-night shows on streaming services don’t exactly have a stellar track record of success. Shows like The Break with Michelle Wolf and Patriot Act with Hasan Minha didn’t find lasting traction on Netflix. But Ruffin, ever the optimist, figured she’d have fun with it anyway. “Let’s be honest, many late-night shows get created just to die,” says Ruffin, who leads Adweek’s Creative 100 Class of 2021. “We thought, we’re going to go down swinging. When we started, we thought, all right, party time! Let’s ride this until the…

BRITTANY BOSCO MUSICIAN, CREATIVE DIRECTOR, ENTREPRENEUR CREATING HER OWN SPACE: Known in the music world simply as BOSCO, she has launched a creative agency, a record label and released two of her own albums in the past five years. As a fashion design student at the Savannah College of Art and Design years ago, she noticed that Black women artists were often pigeonholed into a few predetermined careers. “Either you do fashion, you do hair, you be a nurse. I didn’t know what it meant to do branding and art direction and creative direction and marketing and ideation,” she says. Starting her agency, Slug Global, was initially a way to bring together like-minded artists to carve out a space for collaborative, creative ideas. REIMAGINING THE MAKEUP OF THE CREATIVE AGENCY:…

ADAM LOCK GROUP CREATIVE DIRECTOR, VAYNERMEDIA RECENT WORK: “The Future Official Sponsors of the NWSL” for Budweiser: “My VaynerMedia team created a campaign that set out to fill the sponsorship gap in women’s soccer. We did so by creating nine placeholder products for some of the biggest sponsorship categories in sports, everything from toiletries to timepieces. We developed an online marketplace where people could pledge to purchase our Future Official Products and tag the brands they wanted to fill the vacancy. Thousands of fans ran with the campaign, and in the end, six brands answered the call and became official sponsors for the league. This also contributed to a 19.3% increase to the NWSL’s salary cap.” ON GROWING UP IN AUSTRALIA: “Mum and Dad gave me permission to be creative.…

STEVEN CANALS CO-CREATOR AND EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, POSE ENDING AN ERA: As FX’s award-winning drama Pose progresses with its third and final season, Canal’s impact on the industry as co-creator and executive producer is clearer than ever. Though the show’s finale will undoubtedly leave a sizable void in the TV landscape, Canal’s penchant for deeply human storytelling will get a second life through his development deal with 20th Century Fox TV. POSE’S IMPACT: As the series nears its conclusion, Pose remains the first and only scripted show of its kind to center on a predominantly trans and queer cast. In addition, it has received critical acclaim for its thoughtful and varied portrayals of individuals living with HIV and AIDS—especially when it came to people of color. The individual stories of the…

Ben Branson wanted a sophisticated and refreshing tall drink—hold the alcohol, please. But what he got instead was “a pink, fruity, childish, sickly-sweet mocktail.” That was his lightning bolt moment. “It was so terrible,” he said of the Shirley Temple-like concoction served to him at a fashionable London restaurant. “I thought maybe I could figure out a grown-up option.” That was the beginning, back in 2013, of Branson’s journey into the nonalcoholic spirits category, which was so niche at the time that it was little more than a novelty. But that’s no longer the case, with Seedlip—Branson’s line of booze-free, botanical beverages—blazing a trail in what has become a closely watched and fast-growing space. Sales are pouring in Sales of low- and no-alcohol libations, which accelerated during the pandemic, are…

Everything most likely has been, or will be, democratized by the internet. The same can be said about status. Pre-internet, the concept of status was more polarized. You either had it or you didn’t. A handful of celebrities, mostly actors, TV stars, musicians, authors and the odd business personality, boasted notoriety. It was incredibly difficult to build back then. The walled gardens of traditional media kept the barriers to entry high, and the only way to build status outside of the arts was by writing columns, making TV appearances or signing book deals. It was a slow and painstaking process. Status as a concept was much more abstract 30 years ago than it is today, when someone’s status can be tangibly measured by followers and engagement on platforms like Instagram,…

EMBRACE THE PRESSURE AND PERMISSION TO EVOLVE Being a CMO is different for everyone. I don’t know if there are too many roles or positions out there that are as dynamic as the CMO role. What I’ve come to learn and love about the CMO role is the pressure and permission to evolve. You’ve got the pressure because you’re dealing with a consumer, a business and the role marketing plays in terms of the accountability for growth. And then the permission because the space and the consumers are dynamic. I don’t know any other role where you get the gift of both permission and pressure. BUILD A ROBUST REPUTATION In my five years at PepsiCo, I had five roles across three divisions. What led me there was raising my hand…

WHAT’S THE BEST ADVICE YOU’VE EVER GOTTEN? [Actress and writer] Christina Anthony once said, “When you look around and you’re the only Black person, don’t let it scare you. Let it prepare you.” She told me that a long time ago and boy, oh, boy! If that little saying didn’t come in handy, I don’t know what did. WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE YOUR YOUNGER SELF? I would tell my younger self that the amount of fun she is having is OK, and it comes in handy. I would tell her, “You’re never going to believe this, dude, but people are going to pay you to just party down all day, and it’s the best.” I wouldn’t have believed that. WHAT’S YOUR ADVICE FOR HANDLING PRESSURE (LIKE BEING THE FLAGSHIP…

ICONS AND INFLUENCERS AMANDA GORMAN Poel and activist DWAYNE “THE ROCK” JOHNSON Actor, athlete and entrepreneur DWYANE WADE AND GABRIELLE UNION Power couple NAS Rapper, writer and activist EMERALD FENNELL Actor, director, writer and producer IMANE “POKIMANE” ANYS Streamer ARTISTS AND AUTHORS KADIR NELSON Artist, illustrator and author JAMILA ROWSER AND ROBYN SMITH Comic book writer and artist team RUTH E. CARTER Oscar-winning costume designer ERIN SULLIVAN Photographer QUIL LEMONS Photographer TEMI COKER Multidisciplinary artist MEDIA INNOVATORS FADIA KADER Head of media partnerships and creators, Clubhouse STEPHANIE JENZ Vp of new series, Wondery BENJAMIN BLANK President of media, Warner Music’s WEA MAX FOSTER Anchor and London correspondent, CNN BARATUNDE THURSTON Podcast producer and host, How To Citizen BRANDON BUTLER Executive director of Butter. ATL, in-house media channel of Dagger SHERRELL…

ALLISON PIERCE GLOBAL CCO FOR INTEL, VMLY&R HER CAREER PATH: “I’m a bit of an anomaly in advertising. I decided very early on that I had no interest in city life and instead tried to carve out a career staying in Kansas City. I started at K.C. indie shop Barkely, working on the iconic ‘Two Guys’ campaign for Sonic Drive-In. When VMLY&R won Gatorade in 2010, I decided to come over and spent three years working on that business, learning a ton in the process. The following years were amazing, winning a lot of VMLY&R’s first Cannes Lions. More AOR business was added under my lead, and after winning the Intel pitch, I became one of three ecds helping lead that work, and about six months in, I took on…

CHLOÉ ZHAO FILMMAKER HOLLYWOOD BREAKTHROUGH: The Beijing-born writer-director racked up scores of industry awards for Nomadland, with the crowning glory being a history-making twofer on Oscar night: Zhao was named best director—the first woman of color and the second woman ever in the awards’ 93-year run—and the film, which she produced, won best picture. DOCUMENTARY MEETS FICTION: Zhao, who studied with Spike Lee at NYU’s film school, previously made two critically lauded features, Songs My Brothers Taught Me and The Rider, developing a style the L.A. Times calls “a marriage of investigative journalism and collaborative storytelling.” Often likened to a modern-day Grapes of Wrath, Nomadland continued Zhao’s penchant for casting untrained non-actors in major roles and using a hyper-realistic shooting approach. “I’m looking for some kind of truth,” she told…

Sometime around Halloween 2012, a Houston woman named Helen Arnold set out to buy a shark costume for her dog, a pit bull named Sharkey. When she could find only a small-sized outfit, Arnold decided to let her cat Max wear it instead. Max, as things turned out, not only tolerated being dressed as a shark, but the chill Siamese also had taken to riding around atop the Roomba robot vacuum that Arnold had bought. With kitty all suited up, Arnold began to post videos. This is how Max the Roomba Cat broke the internet. Among the tens of millions of Americans who took note of the videos was one Colin Angle, who immediately felt a bond with Max—and for good reason. Angle is the co-founder of iRobot, maker of…