DEI

Do marketing roles need to require college degrees?

In June, women’s coworking company The Wing hosted an event in its newly reopened Bryant Park space. The “fireside chat” promised a conversation between The Wing’s recently appointed executive chairwoman, Sheila Lirio Marcelo, and Fortune 500 board member Shellye Archambeau about “the challenges for women—specifically women of color—in the tech industry” and how to “create a blueprint for personal and professional success,” per the email invite. 

During the chat, the topic of college education came up—specifically, if degrees are needed for leadership positions. Archambeau and Marcelo, both Ivy League grads, agreed they’re still necessary; Archambeau said college degrees are especially critical for minority women seeking high-level corporate success.

Why it matters: Their advice contrasts with a larger trend unfolding in corporate America: de-emphasizing college education. 

• As corporations began responding to last summer’s racial reckoning, bachelor’s-degree requirements have been a hot topic. 
• In 2019, 40% of white people over 25 had a bachelor’s degree, according to the US Census Bureau, compared with only 26% of Black people. 

Zoom in: Diversity and inclusion experts who spoke with Marketing Brew told us that requiring a bachelor’s degree is exclusive in nature. 

In practice

Celestine Maddy, Pinterest’s global head of consumer and brand marketing, formerly held marketing VP roles at Reddit and Foursquare. But before joining Pinterest last year, she was The Wing’s lead marketer. 

• She worked her way up the corporate ladder without a bachelor’s degree. 
• And while all the turmoil inside The Wing spilled out into the public last year, Maddy departed after six months for Pinterest’s greener pastures. 

In October, The Wing said it “rolled out extensive, inclusive hiring protocols to recruit and retain diverse talent.” Months later, while searching for Maddy’s replacement, it posted a job description that said a bachelor’s degree is “required” for the chief marketing officer role, while an MBA is a “plus.”

The Wing has since hired Jen Cho—who holds multiple degrees, including a bachelor’s from Columbia University—to fill the role. 

Just a piece of paper? 

Both recruiters and people in high-level marketing roles without degrees themselves have seen that diplomas aren’t necessary for success in this industry. Further, some marketing professionals believe requiring them could actually inhibit a company’s diversity.

• Perri Grinberg, HR VP at creative agency RAPP, told us that requiring a bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience opens up the pool of talent to include those from all walks of life.
• Claude Silver, VaynerMedia’s chief people officer, said since her agency took away college degree requirements for US marketing roles about five years ago, she’s seen the diversity of VaynerMedia’s talent pool improve “by a million miles.” 
• Jack Appleby, a senior creative strategist at Twitch who does not have a bachelor’s degree, told us he believes degree requirements inhibit companies from getting the most diverse suite of candidates possible. “In a C-level role, a name-brand college shouldn’t matter. It should be about the experience you’ve had,” he said.

Read the full piece here.—PB

BRANDING

#PfizerGang no more

After gaining full US FDA approval this week, Pfizer can now market its Covid vaccine by a brand name: Comirnaty, a combo of the words community, immunity, mRNA, and Covid.

• If you’re a marketer from Brand Institute—the naming company that coined Pfizer’s official vaccine name—this isn’t news to you. 
• “Over 1,000 names were created to ultimately arrive at Comirnaty,” Scott Piergrossi, president, creative at Brand Institute, told Marketing Brew.
• Brand Institute also helped Moderna choose its vaccine’s official name (spoiler alert: it’s Spikevax), per Newsweek. 

Big picture: As The Washington Post noted, Comirnaty was roasted online. So we spoke with Laurel Sutton, president of the American Name Society and cofounder of naming agency Catchword, to get an expert’s opinion on the new moniker. 

The verdict? She’s just not that into it. Sutton told us Comirnaty is “quite difficult to pronounce,” calling it a “naming company name,” aka one that was “obviously coined...in order to fulfill the requirements for legal availability and FDA requirements for drug names, which are quite strict.”

It gets worse: She doesn’t think the name will stick. “People will just keep calling it the Pfizer vaccine (as opposed to Moderna or J&J). Moderna’s name (Spikevax) is objectively better, but I’d bet people will keep calling it Moderna.”

An alternative: Sutton preferred the name Covuity, one of the other names being considered for the vaccine. “It’s a lot easier to spell and pronounce, but it likely didn’t satisfy their desire to smash a bunch of words together so they could cram every marketing message into nine letters.” 

Bottom line: “As we often remind our clients: The name doesn’t have to carry every message! That’s what marketing is for,” Sutton concluded.—PB 

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ADVERTISING

The great outdoors

Out-of-home advertising took a big hit during the worst of the pandemic. Advertisers could nab low prices on some of the most in-your-face OOH inventory out there. Now, the market is slowly rebounding, and that’s affecting the types of brands still willing to invest in OOH.

• According to an eMarketer report released Monday, OOH ad spending is expected to reach about $6.96 billion in 2021, up from last year’s $6.08 billion. That’s still below 2019’s $8.65 billion, though.

While 2020 ravaged the market for OOH sellers, it was an opportunity for smaller brands to test the waters that had been too expensive before. 

Brian Rappaport, CEO of Quan Media Group, which helps DTC brands find discounted OOH inventory, told Marketing Brew he was cold-calling potential clients to tell them about inventory that was as much as 80% off.

“You could be on a really great billboard on the Long Island Expressway exiting the Midtown Tunnel that's 60% off because a [movie] studio that's normally there isn’t advertising, because the movie theaters were closed,” he told us. 

But, but, but: You probably won’t find any of those crazy discounts anymore, at least for prime inventory like billboards. Despite hybrid working schedules and the Delta variant, a steadier stream of impressions is stabilizing OOH prices. DTC brands may be able to get more modest deals on subway and airport ads, Rappaport said, but many prime billboards and wallscapes are sold out for months.

Looking ahead: Although prices are going back up, Rappaport believes some DTC brands will keep investing in OOH. He said DTC fintech brands like Quan client Public.com found success in OOH and will likely keep using it. DTC brands in pet care and consumer packaged goods will also probably continue experimenting.

• “There was less clutter last year and they were able to make a name for themselves and really get out there,” he said.
• He cited United Sodas of America, which worked with Quan to debut itself through New York’s LinkNYC kiosks. 

Others won’t be returning. Rappaport said 2020 was the “right place, right time,” to try out OOH for many, but their fun in the sun might be over now that the big kid prices are coming back.—ZS

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Airbnb is offering temporary housing at no cost for 20,000 Afghan refugees.
• Dunkin’ has put its creative account under review. Its current agency, BBDO Worldwide, is pitching, per Ad Age.
• Vizio claims it scored $100 million at this year’s upfronts.
• McDonald’s hired Tariq Hassan as its chief marketing and digital customer experience officer in the US. He previously led marketing at Petco.
• Liquid Death used Tony Hawk’s blood to paint skateboards. Gnarly.

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FRENCH PRESS

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

Instagram: The swipe-up is gone. What the heck is a link sticker? Let the folks at Social Media Today explain.

Leadership: Who’s the assistant regional manager? Who’s the assistant to the assistant regional manager? Org charts can be difficult, but not with this guide.  

Throwback: Nostalgia marketing is big right now. Here are five ways to make it work for your brand. 

Personalized Marketing: It’s hard. But Iterable’s Personalization for Dummies takes the rocket science out of how to connect with your customers, drive growth, and stay competitive. Create your perfect personalization strategy and download the e-book today.*

METRICS AND MEDIA

Quote: “Literally anything but email”—a 24-year-old to The New York Times on how he prefers to communicate. We beg to differ.

Stat: 41% of workers want to remain fully remote, up from 29% in January. That’s according to a survey released by PwC last week. 

Read: Corporate America wrote checks totaling $50 billion following the death of George Floyd. But where did that money actually go? The Washington Post investigates. 

ICYMI

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

• People with disabilities are largely absent from TV advertising
• Uber is testing in-app advertising
• Parade is holding its first IRL retail event