The next frontier in above-the-line: Netflix?
Bridgerton and The Queens Gambit generated 84 and 65 million household views each, and a few million more organic tweets, memes, and TikTok's. People want to be entertained, so why aren't more brands being…entertaining?
Beauty brands launch entertainment studio’s
Confident that they can finesse distribution without a streaming platform, Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble and Neutrogena, are all launching in-house film studios focused on original programming.
IKEA says nothing can replace a good night's sleep
That's not to say traditional above-the-line is dead in the water. IKEA produced a series of posters that took products that are meant to imitate the effects of a good night's sleep - energy drinks, anti ageing creams, supplements - and filled them with IKEA bedding. It's brilliant.
Successful apparel brands look surprisingly like CPG
Parade is a US-based digital native brand that went from 0 to eight figures in annual revenue in 18 months. Through a smart product mix (and a deep focus on community) they managed to generate “CPG-like loyalty”.
Data isn't just for promotions. It should feed into the brand too.
Data should support creativity as much as it does optimisation. Blindly doubling down on bottom-of-funnel promotional messaging, without paying mind to the long-term (i.e. the quality of new customers being acquired or brand perception) is a dangerous game.
Driving a 253% leap in half-year profits through incrementality
A shrewd reminder that the future of retail is digital-first, ASOS saw revenues climb by 24% to nearly £2bn in the last 6 months. The question incrementality asks is “How many of those conversions would have happened anyway, without any advertising spend?"
Vacation Inc secures 100,000 signups in week 1
If you're looking for a textbook example of building an immersive brand world look no further than the Vacation Inc launch. Through selling the nostalgic dream of an 80's-style overindulgent summer, they secured 100's of organic tweets, and 100,000 signups in their first week.
The alternative universe that is LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a weird and wonderful place of humble brags, workfluencers, and rockstar recruiters that remind us to “live, laugh, and take fridays off”. It's an ecosystem in and of itself, and the rules of engagement are drastically different to instagram, or twitter.
What TikTok best practice looks like for brands
“We should probably be on TikTok" are the 6 golden words of modern marketing. With it's more egalitarian algorithm, it's rich territory for brands looking to diversify their marketing. There are 100's of smart ways to get started that don't involve starting a new dance challenge. (Though, that's a pretty great idea too.)