Morning Brew - ☕️ Stars, they’re just like us

Why do celebs keep starting ad agencies?
Advertisement
Morning Brew June 08, 2022

Marketing Brew

Impact

Bon mercredi. We’d like to introduce you to the bussin Don Draper meme. We’re so sorry.

In today’s edition:

—Katie Hicks, Minda Smiley

CREATIVITY

From The Oscars to Oscar Mayer

Clockwise: Photos of Ryan Reynolds, a skyline, Shaq, Kristen Bell, and Dax Shepard Photos: Maximum Effort, Majority Agency, 305 Worldwide, Dunshire Production Company

We’ve all heard about actors who started doing commercials so they could work in entertainment. Brad Pitt once shilled for Pringles and now has two Oscars.

But what about the stars who dream of working not just for, but in the ad industry? Spike Lee, Michael B. Jordan, Ryan Reynolds, Shaquille O’Neal, Armando Pérez (AKA Pitbull), and Kristen Bell are among the celebrities who have tied their names to advertising agencies and studios.

  • “I’m not shocked by it, and I expect to see a lot more of it,” Asmirh Davis, founding partner and CSO at marketing agency Majority, which Shaq helped start last year, told Marketing Brew. “I think we’ll probably see more agencies that are having celebrities involved behind the scenes, even more so than them being the face of the agency.”

The reason, it seems, is that it’s often a win-win for both the celebrity and the agency.

The agency appeal

Davis said Majority founder Omid Farhang and Shaq bonded over their experiences on campaign shoots. “They were the only people who looked [like] anything other than a white man oftentimes, and it was like, ‘Wait a minute, we’re supposed to be creating ads and spots that are supposed to be targeted to the world. That’s not how the world looks.”

A star agency is born: Majority was created with the idea of flipping the norms in the predominantly-white marketing industry with a majority-minority agency, Shaq told the Wall Street Journal. Davis said Shaq’s “signing on was really the rocket fuel that made us take off into a new stratosphere,” noting that she’s not sure the paper would have covered the agency last year without him.

  • Jeff Jenkins, EVP of global marketing at Carter’s, which owns OshKosh B’gosh, said reading about Shaq’s new agency was the hook to working together on the brand’s “Today is Someday” campaign, but not the only reason for pursuing it.
  • “The Shaquille O’Neal piece is interesting, and probably got [Majority] on my radar because of the articles that were written about them,” he said. “But ultimately, we wouldn’t have chosen them if their work and the quality of people wasn’t amazing.”

Keep reading here to find out why celebrities are breaking into the ad (agency) game.—KH

        

DEI

BECA, one year later

four Black people in a black and white photo BECA

It’s been a little over a year since Jerri DeVard founded the Black Executive CMO Alliance (BECA) with the goal of shrinking the corporate diversity gap.

What started as a group of 26 top Black marketing executives from Fortune 500 companies like Adidas, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Studios, and PetSmart has now grown to 33. DeVard said the group has “paused” the executive count to make sure it stayed “tight on what [its] culture was” as expansion continues.

  • “We’re doing really great,” DeVard told Marketing Brew. “I’d like to say more than I expected, but my dreams are so big they’re living up to it.”

Then: Last year, DeVard, who’s held top marketing roles at companies like Office Depot and ADT—and now serves on the boards of companies including Under Armour and Cars.com—told us she intended to help train the next generation of leaders through BECA’s four “ships”: internship, mentorship, sponsorship, and scholarship.

And now: The organization is making progress on some of those promises through the development of programs like the BECA Playbook and its first Cannes appearance.

By the (play)book

In the last year, DeVard and the BECA team created Playbook, a two-year, 60-hour program for what it calls “future leaders” who are partnered with an executive. “The beauty of having 33 members is that you have 33 different ways [to show] there’s no one way to be successful,” DeVard said.

Details: The 25 future leaders meet bimonthly with their executive coaches and hear from others during the program on topics like being Black in the corporate world, developing leadership styles, and using data in marketing. “We felt that if we were going to pay it forward at scale, we had to do it in a way where people could walk out of there with some real tried-and-true tested skills,” DeVard said.

Continue reading here.—KH

        

TOGETHER WITH IMPACT

Make your moolah move

Impact

Expanding into global markets might sound super luxe and fancy, but don’t be fooled—it can actually be a very cost-effective way to complement your existing marketing efforts.

You can do more than just regular ol’ influencer marketing: You can tap into a global network of content creators, helping you connect with local consumers effectively and rack up some serious savings in content production costs.

Whether you’re a retailer with a global footprint, a business primed to enter new markets, or someone who just wants to raise awareness of your brand (erm, who doesn’t?), impact.com’s latest ebook can show you how to enter the world of international influencer marketing.

Go global and make the most of your marketing money here.

RECAP

a television Francis Scialabba

The upfronts have come and gone, meaning you’ll have to wait another year until celebs like Miley Cyrus and Lizzo come into our little corner of the world to help networks woo media buyers.

In the meantime, though, you can check out our upfronts and NewFronts coverage from this year:

Shoppable ads keep coming—but do viewers want them?

As shoppable offerings become more widespread, adopted by the likes of Roku and Condé Nast, some industry leaders seem skeptical that TV can live up to the social media standard—and warn advertisers to tread carefully.

With no third-party accredited measurement, this year’s upfront season is a testing bonanza

For the first time in recent memory, networks, platforms, and ad buyers are heading into negotiations with no audience-measurement option that is officially accredited by a third party.

As streaming continues to grow, marketers say concerns over measurement and transparency persist

Even as streaming grows, measurement and transparency are still lagging, media buyers told Marketing Brew. In conversations ahead of this year’s NewFronts, four media buyers raised concerns about measurement.

The upfronts nearly forgot about TV’s biggest, oldest audience

In a week chock-full of glitzy presentations and performances centered on streamers like Disney+, HBO Max, and Paramount+, Warner Bros. Discovery made a move that hinted at TV’s dirty little secret: Plenty of viewers are still watching old-fashioned linear TV—and many of them aren’t exactly spring chickens.

Buyers are earmarking ad spend for new ad-supported tiers

With Disney+’s ad-supported tier arriving in the second half of 2022 and Netflix racing to get its own ad-supported tier by the end of the year, buyers are setting aside some of their clients’ 2022 advertising dollars for those platforms.

Upfront presentations are all fun and games—but they rarely change media buyers’ minds

Each year, ad buyers spend a week in May shuffling into New York City event spaces to watch network presentations chock-full of show trailers and musical performances (Stevie Wonder at the CW, anyone?). And while they’re fun, flashy, and nice for networking, these dog-and-pony shows rarely change ad buyers’ minds.

Read all the stories in one place here.—MS

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

  • The Walton-Penner family, led by Walmart heir Rob Walton, has agreed to buy the Denver Broncos for a reported $4.65 billion, but the deal is still pending league approval.
  • LIV Golf, a Saudi-backed competitor to the PGA, is “finally teeing off.”
  • Better.com allegedly lied to investors about how much organic traffic it received, per a lawsuit brought against the company by a former senior exec.
  • Matthew McConaughey called for gun reform in a speech at the White House.
  • State Farm has the exclusive naming rights to an arena created in partnership with iHeartMedia in Roblox. Makes sense?

TOGETHER WITH AMAZON ADS

Amazon Ads

Reach sports fans all season long. Ready to reach passionate fans with hard-hitting campaigns? Take your brand to Thursday Night Football—streaming exclusively on Prime Video and Twitch. Join their world.

FRENCH PRESS

French press Francis Scialabba

Big Tech: eMarketer breaks down how the largest tech companies are responding to a “shaky economy.”

Fresh data: Snapchat just dropped research on how AR and camera ads can help campaign performance.

PM: A defense of product managers, from someone who was recently dragged for explaining the gig from a pool.

Influencer marketing: Want your boss to invest more in influencer marketing? Pass along this guide from Mavrck—it’s full of tips on overcoming obstacles around budget and making influencer marketing a priority. Get it here.*

*This is sponsored advertising content.

JOB BOARD

Your next amazing role is waiting for you at the Marketing Brew Job Board, featuring 300+ new roles!

Today’s featured openings:

See more jobs or post your job opportunities here.

METRICS AND MEDIA

Stat: The carbon footprint of ”unwanted” tracking advertisement-services data in Europe is estimated to be comparable to the CO2 emissions of the Portuguese city of Lisbon, according to the environmental consultancy CE Delft.

Quote: “This year I was just pretty disappointed. And I noticed a lot of other moms were as well. It’s not that the baby that they have picked is a problem. She’s a gorgeous little girl.”—A mom expressing her frustration about this year’s Gerber Photo Search to the New York Times

Read: “One year after promising to double AI ethics team, Google is light on details.” (Emerging Tech Brew)

SHARE THE BREW

Share Marketing Brew with your coworkers, acquire free Brew swag, and then make new friends as a result of your fresh Brew swag.

We’re saying we’ll give you free stuff and more friends if you share a link. One link.

Your referral count: 2

Click to Share

Or copy & paste your referral link to others:
morningbrew.com/marketing/r/?kid=303a04a9

 

Written by Katie Hicks and Minda Smiley

Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here.

WANT MORE BREW?

Industry news, with a sense of humor →

  • HR Brew: analysis of the employee-employer relationship
  • IT Brew: moving business forward; innovation analysis for the CTO, CIO & every IT pro in-between

Tips for smarter living →

Podcasts → Business Casual, Founder's Journal, Imposters, and The Money with Katie Show

YouTube

Accelerate Your Career with our Courses →

ADVERTISE // CAREERS // SHOP // FAQ

Update your email preferences or unsubscribe here.
View our privacy policy here.

Copyright © 2022 Morning Brew. All rights reserved.
22 W 19th St, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10011

Older messages

☕ Ethics progress report

Wednesday, June 8, 2022

Plus, VC investment falls again in May. June 08, 2022 Emerging Tech Brew TOGETHER WITH Vanta Happy Wednesday. Earlier this week a group of non-profits and researchers in the UK kicked off the

☕️ Taco Bell T-1000

Wednesday, June 8, 2022

Target has way too much stuff... June 08, 2022 View Online | Sign Up | Shop Morning Brew TOGETHER WITH The Motley Fool Good morning. Motivational thought for the day: —Neal Freyman, Matty Merritt,

🔥This is fine!

Tuesday, June 7, 2022

Prioritization: Put out the fire first. June 07, 2022 | View Online | Sign Up Sidekick Logo TOGETHER WITH Teachable Good afternoon. We're now living in a simulation. More than 150000 new hires at

☕️ Full circle

Tuesday, June 7, 2022

The Korres in-store recycling lab is giving beauty empties a second chance. June 07, 2022 Retail Brew TOGETHER WITH Black Crow AI Hey there. You might not have seen it coming, but today is National VCR

☕️ Location, location, location

Tuesday, June 7, 2022

What's the deal with IP addresses? June 07, 2022 Marketing Brew TOGETHER WITH Paramount Advertising Happy Tuesday to everyone except all the celebrities who endorsed crypto in ads and who are now

You Might Also Like

Numlock News: March 29, 2024 • Trading Cards, Kite Fights, Breadfruit

Friday, March 29, 2024

By Walt Hickey Have a great weekend! Kite Fighting A popular competitive sport in Brazil is kite fighting, where competitors try to cut down their opponents kites while avoiding getting their own kite

☕️ Floppy-haired fraudster

Friday, March 29, 2024

SBF is sentenced to 25 years... March 29, 2024 View Online | Sign Up | Shop Morning Brew PRESENTED BY Impact.com Good morning. Today marks one year since Evan Gershkovich, a 32-year-old American Wall

AI hallucinates software packages and devs download them – even if potentially poisoned with malware [Fri Mar 29 2024]

Friday, March 29, 2024

Hi The Register Subscriber | Log in The Register {* Daily Headlines *} 29 March 2024 Illustration of someone in a hoodie looking at a bench with a cloud over it AI hallucinates software packages and

What A Day: Clown by law

Friday, March 29, 2024

Trump's lawyers are having another rough one. And the mainstream media could learn a lesson from the legal world about handling corruption. Thursday, March 28, 2024 BY CROOKED MEDIA —Steve Bannon,

🌶️ Is it getting hot in here?

Friday, March 29, 2024

Introducing our theme for April plus fun stuff to read, watch, and click on. March 28, 2024 Open in new tab Did a friend forward this? Subscribe today! April's Theme is SPICY It was chosen by our

What 58 Famous People Smell Like

Friday, March 29, 2024

Here's what you missed on the Strategist. The Strategist Every product is independently selected by editors. If you buy something through our links, New York may earn an affiliate commission. What

Trump Would Need New Tactics to Steal the 2024 Election

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Columns and commentary on news, politics, business, and technology from the Intelligencer team. Intelligencer early and often Trump Would Need New Tactics to Steal the 2024 Election Many avenues Trump

Let’s go fast

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Plus: The worst cleaning tool we've ever tried ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

Friday Briefing: Sam Bankman-Fried gets 25 years

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Plus, three video game adventures for the weekend. View in browser|nytimes.com Continue reading the main story Ad Morning Briefing: Asia Pacific Edition March 29, 2024 Author Headshot By Justin Porter

Elevate Your Events: Exclusive Discount Inside!

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Explore the future of events at #NWES2024, April 3-4 in Seattle! GeekWire is pleased to present this message to our Pacific NW readers. Explore the future of events at #NWES2024, April 3-4 in Seattle!