The e-commerce landscape is busy. From social media platforms updating their shopping capabilities to the changing DTC landscape to the growth of live shopping, it can be hard to keep up.

We sat down with Jacquelyn Baker, VMLY&R Commerce’s chief experience officer, commerce, to chat about how marketers are leveraging e-commerce strategies this holiday season and into 2023.

To what extent are your clients interested in and experimenting with retail media networks? What sorts of successes and challenges do they experience with them?

JB: I call it the hot-button issue in the industry right now. The concept of retail media is not new—it’s been around for about 10 years. But coming out of Covid, [due to] pandemic acceleration, the space has transformed dramatically in the last 24 months. It feels like a new retail media network spins up and launches every single day. Now you have just an explosion of different channels and touchpoints and capabilities.

It feels infinite, but media dollars are still finite. The rules of the road are still being defined as the industry evolves. There [are] more choices and more opportunities for various investments on behalf of brands than ever before, but not necessarily [an] increase in actual spend dollars...It is just a very complex and ever-evolving space that everyone is trying to solve and figure out sort of simultaneously. That’s what I spend most of my time consulting clients with, honestly. It’s kind of the question on the table every day all day.

Click here to read the full Q&A.—PB

“Social media is wild.”

That’s the first line in an ad that’s part of social media management platform Hootsuite’s first-ever brand campaign, called “Into the Wild.” It’s tied to the company’s rebranding and is based on the idea that “social media is one of the most insane categories you can work in,” said Billy Jones, global brand lead at Hootsuite.

The campaign is running on social media, of course, but also includes YouTube, CTV, display, and search ads, as well as a PR push, all of which began on July 12 and will continue through the end of this month.

Jones, who led the internal creative team behind the campaign, said his favorite piece was a digital audio ad. We spoke with him about how his team created and executed that element of the campaign, including a behind-the-scenes look at the brand’s new sonic logo.

Click here to read keep reading.—AM

The holidays are here, and the sappy ads are, too (and, of course, red bows on cars).

But as consumers grapple with high prices and continued talk of a recession, several brands, including Kohl’s and JCPenney, are taking a promotional approach in their holiday advertising, emphasizing value and lower prices.

“When you have a more discretionary consumer, to win them there is going to have to be a push into discounting and messaging that really features around specific value propositions and reasons to engage with the retailer at a certain time,” Dentsu Media’s EVP, head of performance media, Bruce Williams, recently told Ad Age. Even so, a Harris Poll conducted with Ad Age found that less than a third of respondents are interested in seeing holiday advertising about sales and promos, while nearly 50% “want festive ads.”

Last week, we asked if you’d modified your holiday messaging this year to account for inflation and other economic concerns. Nearly 600 of you responded:

• 28% said yes
• 48% said no
• 24% said sorta

Despite challenges, consumers are still expected to shop this season. Throughout November and December, retail sales are expected to grow between 6% and 8% year over year to more than $940 billion, according to the National Retail Federation. Meanwhile, online and “non-store” sales are predicted to rise between 10% and 12% to over $260 billion.

Snap poll: If you’re in the US, are you taking off all of next week?

Yes
No

There are a lot of bad marketing tips out there. These aren’t those.

Shortz: YouTube is testing a capability that’ll enable creators to tag products for purchase in Shorts.

Creators: Take a look at TikTok’s second annual Discover List, a rundown of some of the most popular creators on the platform.

Hook, line, and sinker: How to create amazing social content hooks—demonstrated by MrBeast.

Ooh and ahh: We recently covered quite a bit on the ground at Advertising Week. Get the full roundup of new OOH trends in our article, sponsored by MNTN.*

^{*This is sponsored advertising content.}

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Stat: $1.38. The cost of a hot dog and drink at Sam’s Club, undercutting Costco’s iconic $1.50 frank-and-soda combo.

Quote: “If you are currently in a queue, please hang tight.” That’s the message Ticketmaster shared with anxious T-Swift fans waiting on the company’s digital ticket presale line, in some cases for hours.

Read: “Amid Tech Industry Cost-Cutting, Workers Are Getting Worried” (Emerging Tech Brew)

Catch up on a few Marketing Brew stories you might have missed.

• Why some brands are making small-scale zines and magazines
• National TV ad spend is holding steady—for now
• Pay transparency is now required in NYC—but many companies seem to be playing “wait and see.”