TRAVEL

Those Summer Flights

With Americans returning to the skies this summer (we’re all going to be like Europeans and take the summer off now that we’re vaccinated, right?), airlines want to remind us that they’re still prioritizing safety. 

• Take American Airlines, for instance, which is testing “touchless technology” to keep travelers from sanitizing their hands every 15 minutes in an airport.

But: As vaccinations continue to take off, airlines are grounding some pandemic-related restrictions. Take Delta, which will ditch its April 2020 middle seat ban on May 1. Despite the loss of inventory, the Atlanta-based airline said the ban allowed it to charge higher fares.

So what do these notions of perceived safety have to do with marketing? Well…

Safety Dance

“We’ll still see some level of safety related messaging continue, at least for the near term. But it’ll shift from ‘It’s safe to fly’ to ‘Here’s how we are still keeping you safe,’” Charuta Fadnis, SVP of research and product strategy at Phocuswright, told Marketing Brew.

Alaska Airlines plans to take a more “emotional” approach in its ads, Natalie Bowman, managing director of marketing and advertising at the company, said in an interview. 

• “Those first few trips that you take post-pandemic are going to be more meaningful,” explained Bowman. So, for its last campaign, Alaska’s promo code was literally “BUCKETLIST.”
• Not long ago, the airline highlighted its cleaning procedures with a spot featuring the ’80s hit Safety Dance.

A Delta marketer recently told The New York Times that even as its advertising veers into optimistic, hopeful territory, “we want to reiterate that everything we did in 2020 is not going away.” 

Zoom out: While airlines will still address safety concerns, it’s likely their ads will strike an aspirational tone. As airline analyst Henry Harteveldt told Marketing Brew, “Safety is going to take a support role” in the future. 

And we might see more than just a tonal shift. As interest in travel increases (per Google Trends, searches for “flights” are spiking), it’s possible that airlines will pull back on marketing spend. 

• “Travel is recovering pretty quickly. I don’t know if we’ll need to market very strongly in the summer,” Bowman said. “In 2020 we ran a lot of promotions...right now we don’t [have any planned for the summer] because the business doesn’t need it.”

AGENCIES

Inside Track

From Cannes Lions to The One Show, the ad industry loves awarding itself. Now, there’s a new awards show on the block...but agencies aren’t invited.

What is it? The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) recently introduced its In-House Excellence Awards. Nine categories, like “Experiential” and “Best Media Thinking,” will honor campaigns created by in-house agencies in 2020.

Gregory Wright, VP of content marketing at the ANA, told Marketing Brew that the organization has seen “year-over-year growth and interest” for in-house work, but didn’t provide specific figures. Plus, Wright claimed there’s “great demand” for an awards show that recognizes work created internally.

• According to Wright, the inaugural awards will let internal shops “showcase how much more sophisticated their in-house marketing and advertising work has become.” 
• For instance, companies like Frito-Lay and Squarespace created Super Bowl 2021 commercials within their own walls. 

Bottom line: Companies like Anheuser-Busch are building up their in-house agencies. And a survey of more than 200 marketers conducted by Digiday found that 64% of brands grew their in-house teams in 2020. 

The ANA’s new awards are further proof that internal agencies are here to stay—and that they crave external validation just as much as regular old ad agencies do.

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EVENTS

Patience and Fortitude: Still the Only Lions in NYC this Summer

It’s mythbusting time: No, the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity isn’t officially relocating to New York City in 2021. 

• Sure, France is under strict Covid-19 lockdown, but Cannes Lions hasn’t announced relocation or cancelation plans yet. 

Where the NYC thing came from: Business advisory firm MediaLink (which shares a parent company with Cannes Lions) is reportedly in talks with Manhattan’s Whitney Museum about hosting a US-based celebration tied to the French festival, per Ad Age. 

Okay, so we’re all clear—the Lions aren’t trading the South of France for South of Houston Street? Good—now read these tweets we found from people who seem a little less crystal on the situation. 

One tweet: “CANNYS LIONS? NYCANNES? I'd like one (1) Titanium Subway Rat and some Rosé-flavored White Claw off le Hudson.”—@BennettDBennett

Two tweet: “Honored to announce that this year I will be judging the NYC Cannes Rats. The category is Halal and Experiential and the Grand Prix will go to Halal Guys.”—@Balbazz

Red tweet, blue tweet: “If Cannes moves to New York, does Spring Lounge become the Gutter Bar?”—@shareenpathak

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Burger King’s CMO, Fernando Machado—of Moldy Whopper fame—is joining Activision Blizzard as lead marketer.
• Pinterest has created its first B2B ad campaign, to convince brands they should be on its platform.
• Facebook has selected Johannes Leonardo as its new creative agency partner for Instagram. 
• Major League Baseball moved its All-Star game from Atlanta, citing Georgia’s restrictive new voting rights law.

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FRENCH PRESS

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

Keep ’em: Seven simple tips to reduce bounce rate.

Facebook: Everything you need to let Facebook’s automated ads do all the work.

Words: We can’t all be English majors, so here's how to write a headline and almost everything else you need to know about the ins and outs of copywriting. 

AD ANTIQUES

Vintage Ad Browser

A terrifying Easter ad from 1953 that now lives in our heads rent free. 

ICYMI

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

• Volkswagen’s believable April Fool’s stunt
• The story behind Lil Nas X’s Satan Sneaks
• How TikTok bolstered Peace Out’s entire marketing strategy