STRATEGIES

Humans Be Humaning

Snack food maker Mondelēz International just rolled out a revolutionary new marketing strategy—selling products to humans. 

The Ritz, Belvita, and Sour Patch Kids parent calls it “humaning.” 

• “Humaning is a unique, consumer-centric approach to marketing that creates real, human connections with purpose, moving Mondelēz International beyond cautious, data-driven tactics, and uncovering what unites us all,” the snack queen said, per Ad Age.

Snacking on humans: This approach didn’t come out of nowhere—it comes after the phrase “brands for humans” did the rounds at ANA's Masters of Marketing event a few weeks back. 

That’s deep, bro

Despite “humaning” sounding like something a guy way too into his undergrad philosophy major would say, some of the most buzzed-about newer brands of our time do present themselves as more human than, well, a Ritz cracker. 

Glossy: DTC beauty retailer Glossier’s entire philosophy is based on asking real humans, via namesake beauty blog Into the Gloss, what their issues are with existing beauty products. Then it creates improved products from there.

• “Intothegloss.com is essentially Glossier’s focus group, and they can find out exactly what their followers want by simply asking, ‘what is your favorite scent?’” Mintel U.S. Beauty and Personal Care Reports analyst Alison Gaither told CNBC.

Francis Scialabba

Speedy: Take digital payment company Fast’s recent tweet, pictured above, for instance. Fast asked its Twitter followers which landing page they thought performed better, the data-driven copy centering a statistic, or the copy that sounds like a real person would say it.

• “The answer is B. Our guess is because ‘boost conversion up to 25%’ is somewhat generic and any company could say something similar, while the other copy is unique [to] Fast. ‘Say what only your brand can say,’” Fast’s Director of Content Marketing Matthew Kobach told Marketing Brew.

My takeaway: It’s nice to see Mondelēz getting inspired by the newer generation of brand marketing, but it takes more than just testing landing pages, a focus group, or “humaning” to connect with consumers on a personal level. Perhaps it takes a human-centric approach to product development itself.

AGENCIES

50 Shades of WPP's Grey

WPP has been plucking grey hairs in quarantine just like the rest of us. In case you missed it, WPP merged 103-year-old creative network Grey with its digital-first agency AKQA. 

Here’s a look back on how Grey managed to become a century-long success in an industry that’s known for brevity.

1917: 18-year-old Lawrence Valenstein started Grey Advertising Agency out of an art studio.

1921: With the help of 17-year-old Arthur Fatt, an integral early hire, Grey Advertising Agency specialized in direct mail and using a team approach to advertising, per Ad Age.

2017: A century later, Grey still had a thing for young talent. Michael Houston became the only Black CEO leading a global holding company agency—as well as one of the industry’s youngest CEOs at age 44. 

Looking ahead: These types of mergers are becoming more and more common for WPP—and they don’t necessarily reflect failing organizations. 

“Our clients want outstanding creativity, powered by technology expertise and delivered at a global scale. This new company is designed precisely to meet those needs and is another important step forward in building our future-facing offer for clients,” said Mark Read, CEO of WPP. 

SPONSORED BY DIVVY

A Virtually Perfect Expense System

There was a time when you had to hold a piece of plastic in your hand to buy stuff. We know: “How quaint.” But also, “How annoying.”

So Divvy is giving you and your business access to virtual cards that let you securely manage vendors, subscriptions, renewals, online purchases, and more.

Divvy’s dynamite digital innovation is even more secure than a normal card. How? Each time you use it, a unique 16-digit number is created—so you’re protected in case of a data breach.

Forgive us for waiting until paragraph four to mention: IT’S FREE. 

So not only is a virtual card one less thing you can lose in your business casual cargo shorts, it’s also a free way to help your company stop fraud and overcharges. 

We expect virtually everyone reading this to try a free demo today.

CAMPAIGNS

Citi Loves Your True Name

Sincere question: Did Citi’s latest ad spot have anyone else crying in the club on the couch? 

If you haven’t come across it yet via print, broadcast, digital, or OOH ads, including NYC Citi Bike stations (cue an ”Ohhh, that’s why they’re called Citi Bikes!” from half of you), the omnichannel campaign celebrates that Citi now lets U.S. cardmembers use their chosen name on credit cards without a legal name change. 

• “Transgender representation in advertising has been virtually nonexistent, with only 0.3% of advertising featuring transgender people for a community making up at least an estimated 1% of the population,” per a study by U.K. public service broadcaster Channel 4 that Citi shared with Marketing Brew.
• A May 2020 GLAAD and Procter & Gamble report found that, among U.S. non-LGBTQ+ adults, 68% said they feel better buying from companies that include LGBTQ+ individuals in ads. 

My takeaway: Between Citi’s meaningful product change, highlighting an underserved group with its Transgender Awareness Week campaign, and simultaneously making itself look better to non-LGBTQ+ consumers, this campaign works on multiple levels. 

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Twitter launched a new “Carousels” ad format option. 
• Dentsu will consolidate its array of operations into six global agencies. 
• Facebook and Google extended their political ad bans for another month.
• Lululemon tapped Droga5 as its creative agency of record. 

SPONSORED BY UNBOUNCE

The ripest bunch of landing pages from online retail’s top bananas. Unbounce has compiled the ultimate e-commerce lookbook with high-converting masterpieces, each crafted with Unbounce’s tools. Crafting an attention-grabbing landing page is tough, but with this crop of tasty pages, you can replicate the high-selling techniques of major retail brands. Take a look-see at the lookbook here.

FRENCH PRESS

Marketing tips to make you fancy

CMOs: Cannabis marketers, this CMO Series episode is for you. But Alex Lieberman’s interview with House of Wise founder and Teal CMO Amanda Goetz is also for anyone interested in a playbook for cross-channel personal brand building or a Marketing 101 masterclass. 

Events: Speaking of the CMO series, mark your calendars—next week Alex is chatting with BlackRock CMO Frank Cooper and Privy CMO Dave Gerhardt on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively, at 1pm ET. 

Jobs: Catch up on Marketing Brew’s latest Jobs Guide chapter here—this one’s about landing a PR/Comms gig in these grim times. 

Growth: Listen to Morning Brew’s own Director of Growth Jenny Rothenberg share our secret sauce on Overdrive Digital’s latest Marketing Freaks podcast episode.

METRICS & MEDIA

Stat: A whopping 50% of B2B marketers have suffered from pandemic-related burnout, according to a recent study by RollWorks published by MediaPost this month.

Quote: “What I’ve been finding is, more is more.”—Mark Campbell, chief marketing officer of Hearst Newspapers, on marketing pushes for subscriber growth. 

Read: LinkedIn Senior News Editor Callie Schweitzer’s interview with Condé Nast CMO Deirdre Findlay is this week’s must-read.

ICYMI

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

• Kate Spade swiped right on new CMO Jenny Campbell 
• Spotify acquired podcast advertising company Megaphone
• NBCU unveiled One Platform Commerce partnership with PayPal