When influencer Emily Mariko announced she was selling $120 tote bags, some people said they were inspired to reach for their wallets—and purchase another bag entirely.

The L.L.Bean Boat and Tote, which is handmade in the US and retails for up to $45, emerged as a clear favorite based on videos suggesting alternative bags that consumers could purchase at a fraction of the price. Amanda Hannah, head of external communications and brand engagement at L.L.Bean, told us that the brand has seen a 35% spike in sales of the tote since January.

It’s not the first time L.L.Bean has benefited from an organic online trend. In 2022, a trend to get ironic monograms printed on the bag helped lead to the strongest Boat and Tote sales in nearly a decade, Hannah explained.

“It’s been so authentic, so organic, and I think that’s really what makes it so powerful,” she said.

Total takeover: The Boat and Tote, which will celebrate its 80th anniversary this year, is big for L.L.Bean, currently driving more new buyers than any other product in the company’s catalog, Hannah said. It follows other products that have found periodic “it” status, like the L.L.Bean Boot, which has seen surges in popularity and repeatedly sold out over the years.

In the case of the tote, though, “We’re riding this peak a lot longer than we may have in some other cases in history,” Hannah said.

Continue reading here.—KH

(Too) many social media marketers feel like they’re working at capacity. What does this mean about the tools they’re using, how they spend time at work, and the tech they need to drive social revenue?

Sprout Social decided to find out. They surveyed 500+ social media marketers from the US and UK to answer these pressing questions. Check out The Social Media Productivity Report: The Time and Technology It Takes to Build a Brand.

It’s a mouthful—of insights. These include:

• 47% of social media marketers believe social efforts contribute significantly to revenue.
• 63% agree that manual tasks prevent them from completing high-impact work.
• 48% feel they rarely have time to get work done.

Dive into the full report for social productivity tools, tech, and truths, straight from the source.

There are several sonic standouts from this year’s Super Bowl: Usher singing his greatest hits at the halftime show, Travis Kelce shouting “Viva Las Vegas” into a microphone after the Kansas City Chiefs claimed their trophy, Arnold Schwarzenegger saying “neighbaaa” in the State Farm commercial, and, of course, the Temu jingle—over and over and over again.

Temu’s wasn’t the only musical ad this year. In fact, each of the 59 commercials in the Super Bowl used music in some capacity, according to the sonic branding agency amp—a change from the past couple of years, when some Big Game advertisers opted for the sound of silence (think Coinbase’s QR code from 2022), or at least just voices.

Licensed music, as opposed to bespoke tracks made specifically by or for a brand, has certain benefits in ad campaigns, but amp’s research suggests that it may not be worth the price in an already expensive ad environment.

Needle drop: About half (51%) of the music used in this year’s Super Bowl ads was licensed, according to amp. That share has remained fairly constant over the past three years. The share of Super Bowl ads using custom music, on the other hand, has ticked down, from 46% in 2022 to 34% in 2024.

Continue reading here.—AM

Each week, Marketing Brew recaps what people are talking about on social media, the trends that took over our feeds, and how marketers are responding.

Baffling behavior: Influencers were a hot topic at this year’s BAFTAs—for better or worse. When TikToker @harrylovespandas asked actors like America Ferrera and Kathryn Hahn whether they wanted a “gay son or thot daughter,” it sparked some conversation around what’s appropriate, as well as the value of influencers versus journalists on red carpets.

To add fuel to the fire, a YouTube “prankster” went onstage with the cast and crew of Oppenheimer to accept the award for best film. Singer Billie Eilish was filmed asking why there were so many TikTokers at the event, and some people seemed to agree with her sentiment, leading us to wonder whether we’ll see fewer creators at the Oscars next month.

Taking the high Rhode: Rhode Beauty’s lip gloss-storing phone case is taking brand social media by storm, with some marketers praising the approach and brands like Graza, Benefit Cosmetics, Milani Cosmetics, and Kiehl’s posting their own DIY parodies of the product. The phone case has also drawn attention for other…design reasons, as well. Apologies if you now see it differently.

Other convos on the TL:

• An agency job posting is getting attention for its alarming use of buzzwords, causing some people to joke that their health has been compromised, and others to reminisce about when the word “ninja” was quite literally in their previous agency job title.
• Some people are wondering if microtrends are moving so fast that influencers no longer have new looks to promote, which is why barrel jeans have become a thing.
• Kylie Jenner is doing ads for mobile games again, which has some people worrying about a recession.
• The idea of child influencers continues to be terrifying, as does undisclosed AI imagery duping people on Facebook.
• Here’s a thread of highlights from Madame Web’s marketing roll-out, which has been nothing if not entertaining.—KH

Say hi to AI . Artificial intelligence has completely changed the marketing game, and nobody knows it better than Notion. They put together a new study on how people are using Notion AI, and the findings are seriously next level—including tons of info on use cases and how AI fits into your day-to-day work. Get the study.

Stories we’re jealous of.

• Adweek broke the news of Amazon’s decision to shut down its free, ad-supported streaming service, Freevee.
• The New York Times Magazine covered Vanderpump Rules star Tom Sandoval’s fall from grace, with an added lesson on how not to do crisis PR, courtesy of his publicist, Rylie.
• The Atlantic wrote about the new MLB uniforms from Nike and Fanatics, and what the future of baseball merch might look like.