Table of contents for May 2, 2022 in Adweek

Economies across the globe are experiencing price hikes not seen in decades. As the cost goes up for everything from energy to groceries, brands must reconsider how to best connect with customers pinching every penny. A survey by Havas Media Group found that 59% of U.K. consumers were planning to cut back their spending this year to afford essentials. Consumers now attach greater importance to functional benefits such as delivering on promises (74%) and quality products and services (74%). Over the past 12 months, there has also been a 75% increase in the number of people who believe brands should offer fair prices for products and services. Tony Mattson, head of strategy at Havas Media Group, advised that the effects of the crisis would be felt unevenly and said advertisers should…

At a time when influencers are largely defined by their youth, progressivism and faith in the value of diversity and inclusion, it’s certain that a man like Alfred P. Sloan would never make the cut. An MIT graduate who rose to the presidency of General Motors in 1923, Sloan cared little for workers’ rights or automotive safety and was happy to manufacture Opel cars in Germany during the Third Reich. But if one measures influence strictly in terms of consumerism, Sloan ranks among the most instrumental corporate leaders of the 20th century. He pioneered the idea of yearly style changes to cars, creating planned obsolescence and aspirational marketing in one stroke. Corporations still follow his template for multiple brand divisions under one umbrella. Sloan also led the way in the…

Home improvement marketing tends to focus on flaws and fixes. But a new campaign from British DIY retailer B&Q ties changes at home to significant moments in life. Created by Uncommon Creative Studio, the ad features a house that literally flips when a woman discovers she’s pregnant with her second child. The ambitious ad involved building a 24-ton house, filming in a soccer stadium and training the lead actress in rock climbing to move through a rotating house as the rooms transform. The ad ends on the line: “Change. Made easier.”…

After two years of solely virtual NewFronts presentations, marketers and publishers are ready to get back to the first in-person event since 2019. This week’s 2022 NewFronts, hosted by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, will in fact be a hybrid format: three days of in-person New York presentations (which can also be streamed for those attending remotely), followed by a day of virtual events. David Cohen, CEO of IAB, described this year’s NewFronts as a bit of a “mixed bag,” with its live sessions, simul-streams and entirely virtual presentations. The theme of the event, “Stream On,” builds on last year’s theme, “Living the Stream,” highlighting streaming’s increasing importance, and will be hosted by Peloton instructor Alex Toussaint. The IAB Inclusion Institute will also present a series of panels and minority-owned media…

StockX has found Discord to be a powerful brand marketing lever. When it launched on June 21 on Discord, 20,000 people joined the brand’s server, breaking a record for single-day joins and beating Discords’s average for brands 84 times over, according to a spokesperson. Now, StockX has hired a staffer to help manage the company’s Discord server, which averages 20 monthly messages per member—double Discord’s average. The platform is proving sticky too: 86% of members of the StockX server have stayed with it for more than six months. StockX uses Discord to glean customer insights and develop new products. For example, StockX began selling British streetwear label Corteiz as a result of fans’ inquiries on Discord, said StockX CMO Deena Bahri…

No one connects with an influencer’s audience better than that influencer. For students of old-school marketing and advertising, it might seem odd to include someone who gained 20,000 TikTok followers by posting cat videos as part of a marketing campaign. But no one else reaches those 20,000 followers in that way, and about that topic, like that influencer. For those 20,000 people, no one else has that exact level or type of credibility. Back when The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson averaged 6 million viewers a night, it made sense for advertisers to pay top dollar for a singularly popular platform. Since then, viewership has splintered into a galaxy of platforms that—though less popular by volume—all produce genuine engagement. It’s no surprise the influencer marketing industry has grown almost tenfold…

CO-CREATE WITH CONSUMERS [Social media] was a great tool in the midst of the pandemic to see different consumers’ perspectives about their readiness to come back to a theme park. And now, consumers are helping us to define our brand. It’s not only about what we say as marketers; it’s also about what [consumers] say to each other. So we’re very focused on understanding our voice and how consumers are speaking about us and sharing that conversation with them so that we can shape, together, what people think when they think of a Universal theme park experience. INFLUENCE THROUGH COLLABORATION [Driving] influence in a collaborative environment, as opposed to relying on your authoritarian line of reporting, is important in today’s marketing world. Because you can’t really know it all yourself.…

Ricky Sans is the first to admit his career path has been “curved,” not straight. But with a passion for “disruptive” content and a naturally funny disposition, his trajectory from rock stardom to BuzzFeed producer and Instagram’s head of memes makes perfect sense. It all comes down to a desire to create, which has carried him through stints in music, comedy writing and video production. “When I was going through all these career shifts, it was painful and hard and stressful,” he said. “Though in retrospect, I can now see how all these moments led into one another.” As a teen in Los Angeles, Sans did the “most cliche thing ever” and formed a garage band called Mêlée with a group of high school friends. After graduation in 2000, the band…

The majority of presenters are returning to the NewFronts; some of the biggest names include Amazon, Twitter, Roku and Meta. YouTube shifted its Brandcast event to upfront week (but will still be holding a NewFronts kickoff session with MediaLink). Hulu exited the NewFronts last year to join Disney’s larger upfront presentation. Audacy, Ellen Digital, Yahoo (formerly Verizon Media), BBC News and Penske Media are all sitting this year out. BuzzFeed and Vice Media Group have opted to hold events outside of the NewFronts umbrella.…

How did you get to where you are today? My career started as an architect for Frank Gehry, designing large-scale architecture projects and transitioning into the virtual reality space as the technology started to get commercialized. I was passionate about using technology to push the boundaries of things we can touch and see. I had to have an unconventional and innovative approach toward design. That paved the path to launching my first company, a 3D-printed product line that sold nationally at Nordstrom. I realized the consumer shift that was happening in offline experiences and how social media was driving the wave. Have you been unfairly characterized in the workplace, due to conscious or unconscious bias? How should women address these microaggressions? I have worked my whole career in male-dominated industries. Some…

Social media is more than just an avenue for chatting with friends. It’s a way to connect with and shape the world around us with original content that resonates. Meet Adweek’s second annual Creator Visionary Awards honorees—innovators and influencers who have unlocked the limitless potential of the digital space. This year’s winners, selected by a jury of fellow creatives and marketing experts, continue the mission of Social Media Week, which was established in 2009 to foster an elevated conversation on the impact of social media on advertising, media and culture. We are thrilled to recognize these dynamic creatives who have found lasting connections with global audiences while making unique contributions to social media.…

On the evening of Jan. 2, 2019, some 9 million people were watching Saturday Night Live when a skit called “New Paint” aired. It featured an unemployed bartender named Beth (Aidy Bryant) who boasts to her visiting brother Tom (Beck Bennett) how she’s covered her living room walls with Lulworth Blue from Farrow & Ball—“the high-end British paint company that offers unparalleled depth and colour.” A gaudy philistine, Beth pronounces the “u” in “colour” several times, then informs Tom what she spent: “A hundred and ten dollars for a can of paint?” Tom explodes. “Are you insane?” As it turned out, the final laugh in this skit belonged to Farrow & Ball, which many didn’t realize was an actual brand. Shortly after the show, the company tweeted: “It’s true, we…