By Nat Ives
CMO Today's most-read article of 2019 covered Gillette's
unexpected embrace of the #MeToo movement, adding a new layer to
its long-running portrayals of masculinity and getting boycott
threats for its trouble.
But not everything was so serious. The No. 2 CMO Today story
this year explored the coffee cup -- rumored to be from Starbucks
-- that accidentally appeared during an episode of HBO's "Game of
Thrones."
Readers also dove into news about logo strategy, ad-targeting
and a surprising ad buy from Kraft Heinz Co.
1. P&G Challenges Men to Shave Their 'Toxic Masculinity' in
Gillette Ad, Jan. 14
Gillette, the Procter & Gamble Co. brand that for three
decades used the tagline, "The Best A Man Can Get," tweaked its
slogan to fit the #MeToo movement. "Is this the best a man can
get?" an ad narrator asked. "Is it?"
The reaction was predictably divided. In trying to offer younger
shavers something beyond price cuts, the ad made some (like Piers
Morgan and James Woods) feel attacked.
The campaign didn't clearly help or hurt Gillette
bricks-and-mortar sales in the first quarter of the year, but
Gillette sales and market share showed improvement online, P&G
said.
2. Misplaced Coffee Cup on 'Game of Thrones' Brews Buzz for
Starbucks, May 6
Observant "Game of Thrones" viewers noticed something resembling
a Starbucks cup sitting in front of Daenerys Targaryen, played by
Emilia Clarke, in the fourth episode of the hit show's final
season.
Starbucks responded to the production error the next day with a
tweet saying, "TBH we're surprised she didn't order a Dragon
Drink," referencing a beverage on its menu.
It turned out that cup really came from a non-Starbucks coffee
shop in Banbridge, Northern Ireland, near the filming location.
3. Mastercard Drops Its Name From Logo, Jan. 7
Mastercard removed its name from its logo in most contexts,
leaving the interlocking red and yellow circles to represent the
brand on cards, in stores, at events and in advertising. The move
continued an effort to play down the "card" in "Mastercard" as new
payment methods spread.
It also asserted the company's place among a small group of
marketers such as Apple, Nike and Target that can go by visual
symbols alone -- and as Apple did when it issued its own credit
card later in the year.
4. Kraft Heinz's Devour Advertises on Pornhub as Part of Super
Bowl Campaign, Jan. 28
The Devour frozen food brand owned by Kraft Heinz ran ads on
pornography website Pornhub as part of a campaign built around a
Super Bowl commercial with a food porn theme.
Facing criticism, Kraft Heinz later said it wouldn't do it
again.
5. Doritos Bets Consumers Will Recognize the Brand in Its
Logo-Free Ad, Aug. 26
PepsiCo Inc.'s Doritos played to young consumers' ad aversion by
running commercials where its packaging was just red or blue -- no
names or logos. "There's a desire to almost reject traditional
advertising," said Rachel Ferdinando, senior vice president of
marketing at PepsiCo's Frito-Lay division.
But the stunt was more of a nod to that feeling than anything
else, of course. In addition to the "Anti-Ad," as it was called,
Doritos continued to run plenty of commercials that featured its
logo as heavily as ever.
6. Hostilities Rise Inside G/O Media Over Autoplay Video Ads and
Politics, Oct. 29
Editorial staffers at the former Gawker Media websites now owned
by G/O Media Inc. fought management's decision to test video ads
for Farmers Insurance Group that played automatically with the
sound on. Privately and then publicly, they called it a lousy user
experience. Farmers pulled out.
But that dispute was soon overshadowed by another drama: the
implosion of the company's sports site, Deadspin.
Deadspin's editorial staff left en masse after the company fired
a Deadspin editor for defying orders to "stick to sports," which
they argued was meant to have a chilling effect on their
writing.
7. Hulu's Dark 'Morning in America' Interrupts a Saccharine
Super Bowl Ad Roster, Feb. 3
A Super Bowl ad for Hulu's "The Handmaid's Tale" stood out among
the scrupulously benign commercials that ran elsewhere in the
game.
Hulu's spot was an acidic take on the Ronald Reagan re-election
ad commonly known as "Morning in America." In Hulu's version,
"Handmaid" star Elisabeth Moss takes over the initially gauzy
narration to say "Wake up, America. Morning's over."
8. Behavioral Ad Targeting Not Paying Off for Publishers, Study
Suggests, May 29
One of the first empirical studies of the impact of behaviorally
targeted advertising on online revenue found that publishers only
got about 4% more revenue for an ad impression that had a cookie
enabled than for one that didn't.
Advertisers paid a bigger premium than that for targeted ads,
but most of the premium is eaten up by middlemen's fees before it
reaches the publishers.
9. Walgreens Tests Digital Cooler Doors With Cameras to Target
You With Ads, Jan. 11
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. began testing a technology that
embeds cameras, sensors and digital screens in the cooler doors in
its stores, a new network of "smart" displays that marketers could
theoretically use to target ads for specific types of shoppers.
"We have had good customer feedback on the pilot, and are
continuing to review customer response to the screens," a Walgreens
spokeswoman said.
10. Consumers Say Brands Shouldn't Bring Politics to the Super
Bowl, Jan. 16
Despite marketers' interest in taking political and social
stands (see Gillette, above), two-thirds of consumers said they
didn't want to see that during the Super Bowl.
"The Super Bowl is definitely the wrong place to make a
statement," said Michael Ramlet, chief executive at Morning
Consult, a survey research technology company that polled consumers
on the question for CMO Today.
When the game aired on Feb. 3, 2019, consumers got what most
said they wanted: "safe" ads, with nothing more political than
Hulu's ad for a dystopian TV show and Budweiser bragging that it
uses wind power.
Write to Nat Ives at nat.ives@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 31, 2019 15:08 ET (20:08 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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