EVENTS

Cannes Lions Live II—2 Cans, 2 Lions

Last week, I wrote an article about how virtual events can improve. This week, I’m recapping a virtual event that did just that, namely the second pandemic-era virtual edition of Cannes Lions Live. 

The team from Cannes Lions Live sent Marketing Brew their top three favorite sessions from last week’s event, which we’ve recapped below.

BBDO x Snickers

Watch: BBDO Worldwide Presents Ten Years Of Snickers's “You're Not You When You're Hungry” 

Description: The Snickers slogan is iconic—but did you know it’s 10 years old? Go behind the scenes with Mars and BBDO to see how they kept a slogan (and, therefore, brand) that’s almost as old as a middle schooler relevant.

Quote: “The evidence that we’ve seen on Snickers and on many other campaigns...is that when you stick with a great idea and commit to it [...] and invest in it over time, your odds of success are increased exponentially.” —Rankin Carroll, Chief Content Officer, Mars Wrigley

Chipotle’s TikTok story

Watch: Day One Agency & Chipotle Mexican Grill Present How Chipotle Got Real on TikTok

Description: Reps from Day One and Chipotle go through each of the fast casual chain’s TikTok campaigns to explain why they worked and where they came from.

Quote: “We can push the envelope on TikTok. The content that’s really working for Gen Z can feel a little bizarre at times, so you have to trust the team and you have to make sure that you’re really staying connected with that audience.” —Chipotle VP of Digital Marketing Tressie Lieberman

The NYT’s “The Truth Is Worth It”

Watch: Droga5 Presents Behind The Scenes: "The Truth Is Worth It"

Description: I wrote about The New York Times’s “The Truth Is Worth It” brand campaign when one of its ad spots made a TV debut. Now, you can go a level deeper and listen to reps from both the agency and in-house sides explain how they made it happen. 

Quote: “The reason we wanted to [avoid voiceover or narration] is because we thought it would in some way reflect the relationship the viewer has with The New York Times’s journalism. They read this journalism every single day and are used to reading it.” —Droga5’s Group Creative Director Toby Treyer-Evans

For more: All of the content from Lions Live is available to watch on demand, for free, here.

BRANDS

When Will The Industry Press Play?

Just because much of the nation is all indoor dining and haircuts again doesn’t mean the marketing industry is back to bustling. 

For instance...Coca-Cola, one of many big spenders that paused most marketing efforts early in the pandemic, isn’t ready to catapult its ad spend back to normal just yet.

• Despite getting its sales almost back to pre-Covid levels, Coke cut marketing spend by 30% year over year in Q3. 
• “It’s important to remember the world is in a fragile state, and we’ve seen reopening trends begin to moderate,” CEO James Quincey rhymed on an earnings call, per Ad Age.

Doubling down on digital: We’ll know more about the health of digital ad spending when the digital ad duopoly—Facebook and Google—release their Q3 earnings reports later this week. 

• As far as prognostications go, eMarketer expects digital ad spending to grow just 1.7% year over year—its pre-pandemic projection was 17% growth.

Expect FB’s earnings call to touch on how this summer’s Facebook boycott did (or didn’t) affect its Q3 ad revenue, and for Google’s to focus on how its other revenue streams balanced out a tough quarter. 

SPONSORED BY EDELMAN

Newsflash: Trust is Important

In a global study conducted by Edelman, trust was only second to price for consumers when it comes to making purchasing decisions. 

So we’ll say it again: Trust is super duper mega important.

That’s why Edelman has created Edelman Trust Management for Brands—a holistic framework that measures trust across five key dimensions. 

And in a time where so much is in flux, creating trustworthy relationships with customers is one of the things your brand should be laser-focused on maintaining. 

With Edelman Trust Management for Brands, your team can learn to interpret brand trust capital, diagnose strengths and weaknesses, and build an actionable roadmap to protect trust. 

Trust us, there’s a lot to be learned here.

Learn more about how Edelman can help your brand earn consumer trust right here. 

PLATFORMS

The Bad List

For some advertisers, this summer’s Facebook boycott left a lasting impression. Marketers at Procter & Gamble, Pernod Ricard, PepsiCo, and probably other companies that don’t start with the letter “P” are becoming more thoughtful about where they spend their media dollars. 

The goal is to start investing in more of a BET than a Fox News.

• “When we invest in these enterprises we not only increase media and advertising effectiveness, we directly invest in the communities. That helps close income and wealth gaps which means more purchasing power, which ultimately drives market growth that we all want,” said P&G Chief Brand Officer Marc Pritchard at ANA Masters of Marketing last week, per Digiday.
• Pritchard also noted that only an estimated 5% of marketing industry spend goes toward channels owned by people of color. 

Platforms, too: At the same conference, Facebook’s VP of Global Marketing Solutions Carolyn Everson said that she’s thankful the FB boycott happened, as it increased accountability for the platform.

My takeaway: Although advertisers have now stopped boycotting the social network, they clearly haven’t forgotten why they started.

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Nielsen, the TV industry’s fly on the wall, reported that the second presidential debate saw a 14% drop in viewership from the first. 
• iHeartMedia is acquiring Voxnest, a podcast analytics and programmatic company that provides publishers with advertising tools.
• Facebook is beta-testing cloud-streamed games with playable ads.
• The North Face’s latest campaign doubles down on its diversity commitments.

SPONSORED BY VALIDITY

One out of six emails never reaches the inbox. As an email newsletter company, that sends a chill down our spines. But thanks to Validity and their 2020 Email Deliverability Benchmark, there’s help. Validity will help email marketers review their delivery metrics, while also divulging tips and best practices to rectify any issues. Validity has all the email info you need right here.

FRENCH PRESS

Marketing tips to make you fancy

Influencers: One Instagram influencer explains how she grew her following from 70,000 to 1.7 million in under two years by using these five tactics to create more authentic content. 

Marketing leaders: Ann Handley recently shared 6sense CMO Latane Conant’s advice on how CMOs can be better at the leadership aspect of their jobs. 

E-commerce: As the social commerce landscape continues to heat up during the pandemic, this beginner’s guide to Facebook Shops should be helpful.

Gifs: Find out how to use gifs without squandering your SEO street cred.

CMO SENTIMENTS

Sign up here for Morning Brew CEO Alex Lieberman’s CMO Series on LinkedIn, in which he chats with the most important marketing leaders in the industry. Then read on for three questions that’ll help you get to know these marketing leaders a little better.

Last week, Feat founder Taylor Offer taught CMO Series viewers what it means to be a LinkedInfluencer. But that’s not the only info he had to offer .

Alex Lieberman: What makes an exceptional paid marketer exceptional?

Taylor Offer: Understanding humans and just being a normal person. 

AL: Paid marketing channel that people are sleeping on?

TO: Snapchat. 

AL: Specific thing you do to stay creative?

TO: Enjoy life.

Watch the full interview with Taylor Offer here.

ICYMI

Catch up on the top Marketing Brew stories from the last few editions.

• The Black marketers entering the industry have some concerns
• Did celebrity influencers kill Quibi?
• Some spooky Halloween marketing stats