The chill vibe of the summer is around all year for Sun Bum, the sun-care brand recognizable for its yellow and wood-grain color palette and signature scent that the company keeps top secret (although it may or may not bring on a craving for banana Laffy Taffy).

Though Sun Bum’s peak season is May through July, according to VP of Marketing Russell Radebaugh, the brand keeps up its marketing year-round. Radebaugh declined to share specific spend figures, but said Sun Bum tries to be “consistent” with its marketing, even during the dreary winter months.

“We think of Sun Bum as a lifestyle, and our social and our storytelling is an extension of us,” he told Marketing Brew. “You can’t just go dark for six months of the year and come back up and expect people to be engaged.”

If Sun Bum is a lifestyle, then it’s a laid-back one, with the top of its “About” page declaring “work less live more.” That energy seems to translate into the brand’s approach to marketing, which includes a mix of campaigns and channels, and a lot of trust when it comes to measurement, Radebaugh said.

Read the full story here.—AM

From HAL to Skynet, AI gets a bad rap. With its fast rise, buzzy headlines, and seemingly limitless potential, it’s hard to know if AI will help us or upend us. A pressing question on many employees’ minds: Will AI take my job?

MIT researchers offer a picture of the future of AI in the workplace. Read Tech Brew’s explanation of what artificial intelligence is capable of, what its probable use cases are, and the implications for your job. Hint: Predictions might be more complex and hopeful than you might expect. Read or listen here.

Several food and drink companies reported earnings last week. Despite recent price increases that some consumers have balked at, many posted strong earnings.

McDonald’s: The chain reported double-digit growth in global comparable sales for Q2, in part thanks to Grimace.

• According to Kempczinski, Grimace content was viewed more than 3 billion times on TikTok—some of that likely stemming from the popularity of the Grimace Shake trend, a seemingly organic phenomenon in which people pretended to die after drinking it, for some reason.
• The company also announced it would be pulling from its character vault in another way: Creating a spin-off restaurant called CosMc’s—named for a McDonaldland alien from the ’80s.

Coca-Cola: The soda giant also reported double-digit revenue growth. In its earnings report, the company noted that it increased marketing investments in Q2.

• It said it’s “reinvigorating iconic brands through innovative products, refreshed designs, and consumer-centric marketing,” pointing to Minute Maid, whose recent global rebrand was accompanied by an ad campaign called “Filled with Life.”
• The company touted the Cannes Lions awards it won for its marketing as well. Speaking of Cannes, the company’s global CMO, Manuel Arroyo, recently implied that the soda giant won’t be making any political statements or advertising ahead of the 2024 election. “As it relates to public or political potential controversy and how we play there, it is a very simple answer: We don’t play in that,” Arroyo told Yahoo Finance.

Chipotle: The brand saw 13.6% YoY revenue growth.

• The chain said it opened 47 new locations during Q2, 40 of them with a Chipotlane drive-thru. Earlier this month, Chipotle said it would start opening restaurants in the Middle East next year.
• Chipotle recently experienced a leadership change: Its VP of digital marketing and off-premise, Tressie Lieberman, recently left to become CMO of Yahoo.

Coming up: This week, companies including Amazon, Apple, and Uber report earnings.—KH, JS

With the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic seemingly in the rearview, Americans have returned to many activities that seemed unthinkable when cases were surging: Stadium shows, blockbuster movie screenings, and European vacations are all back on this summer.

But remote work has stuck around, with many employees still spending at least a few days working from home rather than an office. In the first half of 2023, US workers spent about 28% of their paid working days at home, according to WFH Research—down from a pandemic peak of 61.5%, but still a six-fold increase from pre-pandemic 2020. The scholars who lead WFH Research, which draws upon responses from a monthly Survey of Working Arrangements and Attitudes, believe the shift will be permanent.

Still, leaders of some big firms are making clear they want workers back in the office at least some of the time. The commercial real estate services firm JLL estimated that 1.5 million office-based US employees have had new attendance policies take effect so far this year, and another 1 million will face mandates between now and the end of 2023.

Keep reading on HR Brew.—CV

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

Talk of the town: Check out Ad Age’s recent analysis of salaries in the ad industry.

Sharing thoughts: Some tips (and examples) of how to reply to customer reviews.

Explainer: Digiday broke down “prompt engineering.”

Executive moves across the industry.

• Paul Toms, Wayfair’s former chief people officer, has been promoted to CMO.
• Julie Thompson was appointed EVP and CMO of the Out of Home Advertising Association of America.
• Jeff Willard was named Casper’s chief growth and marketing officer.