Innholdsfortegnelse for November 15, 2021 i Adweek

It was a “do you remember where you were when…” moment. Simone Biles had pulled out of most of the Tokyo Games. Not for Covid. Not for a sprain. But to take care of her mental health. When the news alert popped up on phones across America, you could almost feel the collective pause as everyone took in something they hadn’t seen before. An elite athlete walking away from a competition she’d trained her whole life for, choosing to put herself and her team before any personal glory. Of course, after the pause came the opinions. Chief among the questions in coffee shops and Twitter circles was what would her endorsers do? In this week’s edition of Adweek, creative and inclusion editor Shannon Miller deftly takes us back to that watershed…

The National Retail Federation (NRF) projects holiday sales in the U.S. will increase 8.5% to 10.5% to as much as $859 billion in 2021 despite persistent supply chain bottlenecks. That’s in part because retailers like Walmart, Target and Lowe’s began stocking up “months ahead of schedule” to ensure they have sufficient inventory, per an NRF update on port congestion. But this bottleneck is projected to last well beyond December 2021, which means it isn’t just a holiday 2021 issue. In fact, retailers will ultimately have to adjust how they source and distribute goods—by reimagining stores, finding new partners and adjusting demand forecasting, to start—if they are going to weather this storm in 2022 and beyond. According to White House-issued data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the U.S. supply chain…

How did you get to where you are today? There is nothing that I love more than hosting and bringing people together. As a marketer, I’ve had the privilege of stewarding brands ranging from American Express to the U.S. Open and now Delta, where I am honored to help bring our mission to life of connecting the world through brand communications. What’s one piece of work from your career that you’re the proudest of? I am most proud of a podcast series we created at Delta in partnership with StoryCorps called To & From. It allowed diverse voices to be heard, and it created a community around a shared passion for partaking in new experiences and learning about new cultures. ‘I have never felt a stronger and more expansive sense…

CEREBRAL In October, the mental health app named Biles chief impact officer after recognizing her desire to increase the availability of mental health care, especially for children in foster care. “Simone is so passionate about destigmatizing mental illness and increasing resources and access to underserved communities,” says co-founder and CEO Kyle Robertson. GK ELITE In her six years of partnership with the sportswear brand, Biles has released leotard collections while spreading messages of self-assurance for burgeoning athletes, which the company says has transcended gymnastics: “As we continue our partnership, we look forward to amplifying Simone’s message of positivity both in and out of the gym.” SK-II The skin care company—whose mission, in part, is to encourage people to embrace themselves and their strength—partnered with the Olympian for its anthological “VS”…

As quarantine conditions and new technology like 5G have spurred greater demand for immersive sports experiences, Lopez has led Intel’s efforts to establish a new category of media that takes fans into the action like never before. Through innovations like 360-degree cameras and virtual and augmented reality, Lopez and her team at Intel Sports have strived to offer leagues, teams and broadcasters new ways to tell stories around live events. Meanwhile, Lopez has also worked to become a champion for diversity in a sports industry historically dominated by white men, working through industry alliances like Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA) on efforts to bring more women and people of color into positions of power. Lopez has taken pride in “observing some of the female leaders land influential roles within the…

Solis describes her approach to work as intentional, yet not at all inflexible. “I believe in removing obstacles so that others can shine and contribute, as great ideas can come from anywhere,” she says. And, as everyone knows, new ways of thinking have been crucial during the pandemic. Leaning into people’s yearning for normalcy, Frito-Lay summoned the familiar excitement of the night before Christmas in a multibrand campaign to kick off the 2020 NFL season. Deploying celebrities and humor, the company’s Super Bowl 2021 spots for Doritos and Cheetos both landed in the top 10 of USA Today’s Ad Meter rankings. The results of efforts like these are clear: Last year, Frito-Lay North America, a division of PepsiCo, saw year-over-year net revenue increase 7% to $18.2 billion. Looking ahead, Solis…

Football is the ultimate team sport, and the collective ability to come together to achieve a specific goal is something Raiche focuses on off the field as much as on it. Player development is a major component of Raiche’s day-to-day. She says working with staff and coaches to develop newly drafted or signed players and seeing those efforts translate into on-field success is “such a rewarding part of my job.” But diversity and inclusion is also important to Raiche, who happens to be the highest-ranking woman in personnel in the history of the NFL, and it’s also a focus for the Eagles. Raiche helped organize the Football Operations Rotational Internship Program to provide opportunities for college students. The program gives underrepresented groups exposure to various aspects of football and game…

There’s more than meets the eye to Uhrman’s soccer goals. The co-founder and president of Angel City FC, a Los Angeles-based National Women’s Soccer League expansion team set to begin play in 2022, has spent the last two years working with a team that includes household names like founding investors Billie Jean King and Serena Williams to not only support women athletes on the field, but also elevate women’s soccer overall. It’s not easy to build a new team from the ground up, especially during a pandemic, but Uhrman has spent the past year doing just. She’s also partnered with nonprofit LA84 Foundation to advocate for increased sports access for L.A. youth, implemented a ticketing initiative that will allow players to receive 1% of ticket sales and become the first…

Members of the creative economy aren’t waiting on world leaders when it comes to climate change. An open letter released by activist groups Slow Factory and Clean Creatives calls on the world’s biggest public relations firm, Edelman, to cut ties with a major fossil fuel client: ExxonMobil. And the pressure is coming from within the firm: Many of the climate-focused creators who helped organize, write and recruit over 100 high-profile signatories have worked with Edelman to connect with brands on sustainability campaigns. “Edelman’s fancy ads are giving ExxonMobil social license to operate, and thereby to destroy our climate,” said activist Ayana Elizabeth Johnson.…

After Coca-Cola spent 11 months reviewing its global marketing, the iconic advertiser finally found a winning partner in the world’s largest advertising holding company, WPP. Monday’s announcement, however, left more questions than answers about the review. Coca-Cola’s initial announcement highlighted WPP as the big winner, taking on media buying for all markets, with the exception of a few select markets in Asia, where Dentsu has a strategic advantage. In total, it amounts to more than 90% of the media business falling to WPP. On the creative front, WPP shops will lead a number of strategic partners, including McCann, Mercado and Leo Burnett. Coca-Cola global CMO Manolo Arroyo told Adweek WPP will receive a minimum of 65% of the creative work. Wieden+Kennedy and Havas’ full-service agency BETC are among a number…

My personal pandemic parenting low point came when my toddler ate a fistful of deconstructed granite from our work-in-progress patio. We were a mere two months into the pandemic, in that awful in-between period when we naively thought, “This can’t go on for much longer.” My husband and I both had been working full time in highly demanding jobs with our daughter at home. And I was largely pregnant with our second child, due in a matter of weeks. Yet despite the fact that this was a universal experience in the corporate world, it felt particularly challenging in the world of advertising, an industry notorious for not accommodating—and even occasionally punishing—working mothers. I felt the need to be the overly competent worker bee putting together compelling creative briefs while also being…

USE CAREER BREAKS AS AN ADVANTAGE I encountered this at every single interview, and instead of coming into it on the defensive, I actually said, “Let me take you through my career journey and why I made the decision to take eight months off.” You say why you did it, what you felt like you learned, and why you used that time wisely and say, “Here’s what I needed for myself.” So naturally, by owning that narrative, it doesn’t feel like a weakness. LET YOUR WORK SPEAK FOR ITSELF Business school is great if you are at a crossroads in your career and don’t know what you want to do. But for those who are in the unsure bucket and feeling pressure that everyone else is doing it, don’t listen…

The pandemic shut down the WTA Finals last year, and host country China canceled live sports again in 2021, leaving the organization to scramble for a new home for its November crown jewel event, akin to its Super Bowl. After a worldwide search for a new location, the tournament, which features top players and breakout talent like Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff, relocated this month to Guadalajara, Mexico. Global advertising partners SAP and Porsche remain intact—with event sponsors Akron oil and Octagon sports joining the roster—in what Lawler calls “one of the craziest seasons we’ve ever operated, but also one of the most rewarding.” The geographic and logistical rejiggering has been par for the course for the group, which staged 50 international matches under Covid-19 safety protocols to make sure…

For a less experienced professional, the unprecedented postponement of the 2020 Olympic Games would have been a near untenable challenge. But for 14-year veteran Miller, the event’s yearlong pause was an opportunity to not only boost the visibility of her high-profile clients, but also to position them as indelible influences beyond sports. For gymnastics icon Simon Biles, Miller helped leverage notable partnerships with the likes of Athleta, Uber Eats and MagicSpace Entertainment for the first-ever women’s-only post-Games gymnastics tour. When swimmer and five-time gold medalist Nathan Adrian was diagnosed with testicular cancer, Miller helped him and his family navigate treatment while balancing his business portfolio so that he could strengthen his voice as a men’s health advocate through efforts like the Movember Foundation’s “No Less of a Man” fundraising campaign.…

Fresh off signing shortstop Miguel Rojas to a two-year, $10 million contract extension, Ng will spend the months ahead aggressively bulking up the offense of the Miami Marlins. The longtime baseball executive and MLB’s first female general manager recently finished her first season in the top job with a 67-95 record that she’s called “a disappointment.” Some of the money for free agents may come from a newly minted five-year television rights deal with Bally Sports Florida reportedly worth more than double the team’s previous $20 million TV agreement. As the buck-stops-here decision-maker, Ng recently told the MLB Network that “the wins are a whole lot better and the losses cut a whole lot deeper.” Ng, formerly with the Los Angeles Dodgers, joined the Marlins in 2020 after being personally…

Since DraftKings’ 2018 launch, Sherman and her team have played a pivotal role in establishing it as a top mobile sportsbook, despite enormous competition in the market. This year, Sherman and her team launched DraftKings’ first ever in-game Super Bowl ad that Sherman says drove “extremely high in-app engagement.” DraftKings also expanded sports betting to five new states and launched DraftKings Marketplace, a digital collectibles vertical that offers curated NFT drops and supports secondary-market transactions. And the brand’s new strategic partnerships include being an official sports betting partner of the NFL. Sherman believes the best work and innovation come from diverse perspectives, and she works hard to foster a culture of inclusion. “Having more women as part of the sports tech and entertainment industries allows for more voices to be…

The Milwaukee Bucks made a historic title run during the 2020-21 season, winning the franchise’s first NBA championship in 50 years. It was a long and arduous road to the title, as Jemison and the rest of the Bucks team faced the uncertainty of hosting basketball games during the pandemic. This year, the Bucks staff introduced new game-night experiential elements, including a hybrid food and beverage ordering system that led to increased average spend and spend per person. The Bucks also sold out all of their playoff games at Fiserv Forum at three different seating capacities with the number of fans allowed in the building changing a couple of times going into the postseason. But the crown jewel of the Bucks’ engagement with fans was the team’s Deer District, a…

After five years without a CMO, MLB found its new lead marketer midseason, hiring Timpone just in time for the league’s iconic postseason. She’s now tasked with fostering the next generation of loyal fans, something her time at Marriott prepared her for. Timpone oversaw Marriott’s Bonvoy loyalty program, which more than tripled in size to 140 million members during her tenure. At MLB, loyalty takes the form of a passionate social media following, especially on TikTok, where the brand has grown 167% over the past year to nearly 5 million followers. Timpone plans to leverage social to tap into the emotional side of baseball and the deep-rooted relationships fans have with the game, which is something she can relate to. “I had a moment of reflection sitting with fans during…

Before channeling her brand of positivity into activewear as co-founder of Beyond Yoga, Michelle Wahler was putting it on T-shirts. Originally hailing from Maryland, Wahler went to college in Florida for graphic design and marketing. After graduating, she moved to New York to work in publishing, first at People magazine and then Harper’s Bazaar. At the same time, the artist and designer at heart also began drawing illustrations of her friends, which she would put on T-shirts to give as birthday presents. “I didn’t really make any money [working in publishing], and I couldn’t buy them anything nice,” she recalled. The hobby turned into a company, Unsweetened, with tees featuring illustrations of women—“kind of an un-sugarcoated version of them.” Word-of-mouth led her to start selling wholesale and took Wahler to…

Multitasking is not limited to work—even when watching television, chances are good your attention is split between the plot and a second screen. So where should marketers try to meet these viewers, and during what kind of content? Consumer analytics firm Engine Insights took a deep dive into how U.S. adults are using second screens in its latest Media Pulse survey. The vast majority (84%) admitted to frequently having another device in hand while watching television, with Gen Z the most likely at 94%. They’re also the only generation for whom Facebook was not the most commonly visited social media site, preferring Instagram (82%), followed by Snapchat (65%) and TikTok (61%). Checking email (63%) just barely edged out browsing social media (61%). Work only accounted for 10% of second-screen usage.…

In August 2019, the impossible was captured on video. Millions watched it, slowed it down, paused it to make sense of what they were seeing: a woman nailing a triple-twist, double backflip for the first time in gymnastics history. To pull off the move, 22-year-old Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles had to complete two rotations on an axis running through her hips while simultaneously flipping from head to toe three times just before sticking a hopefully clean landing. The name Simone Biles instantly became synonymous with “superhuman,” and expectations soared ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Games—and only mounted when the Games were delayed by a year amid the pandemic. But when stress and immense pressure began to affect her mental health upon her arrival in Tokyo, the likelihood of turning…

When one of the hottest names in professional basketball, Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks, signed with WME Sports in October, it was the latest win in a string of high-profile slam dunks for the Endeavor-owned talent firm. In a few deal-filled months in 2021, the agency has added Toronto Raptors president and vice chairman Masai Ujiri to its client roster, along with a number of fledgling college phenoms like LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne and Gonzaga basketball standout Chet Holmgren. The moves show WME Sports flexing new muscles—like contract negotiations—bulking up its own ranks and “dramatically and significantly” broadening its reach in a fiercely competitive space, according to Brodkin. As part of the executive trio running the company and one of the only women to hold such a senior role…

The NBA bubble in Orlando, Fla., saved the 2019-2020 season by keeping players in and both fans and Covid-19 out. As its architect, Brooks spent the year that followed bringing everyone back into the fold. With 30 teams facing varying public health regulations in each market, it was no small task. However, in her proudest moment, Brooks and company welcomed 1.2 million fans to NBA playoff games this year. “I’m an NBA fan at heart who grew up going to NBA games with my family, so I wanted to see the NBA season return to being as normal as possible,” Brooks says. “The future isn’t without uncertainty, of course, but we are on our way and I couldn’t be more excited.” Brooks also helped the league increase its revenue and…

The WNBA just celebrated its 25th season, making it the longest-running professional women’s sports league in the United States. Under Engelbert’s leadership, the league debuted new Nike uniforms, a new Wilson basketball and launched a new in-season competition, the Commissioner’s Cup. That translated to a massive spike in ratings, delivering the most-watched regular season since 2008, with viewership up 51% from last year, and the most-viewed postseason since 2014, up 63% from 2020. The WNBA has always been a league at the forefront of American athletic activism—combatting racial and gender inequality, advocating for LGBTQ+ rights, emphasizing voter education and turnout in 2020 and consistently championing Black Lives Matter—and that only continued this year with Covid-19 vaccine awareness and education. “I am extremely proud that WNBA players stepped up and by…

Disney was busy this year striking new deals and extensions with the NHL (bringing the league back to ESPN for the first time in 16 years), MLB and NFL (which, in 2026, will give ABC its first Super Bowl telecast in 20 years). That, along with the company’s NBA pact, makes Ferro the only ad sales chief with TV inventory for all four of the major U.S. sports leagues—and she’s capitalized on the strong linear and streaming demand to secure $3.2 billion in sports revenue for fiscal year 2021. In addition to leveraging ESPN and ABC sports “megacasts” like the NFL draft, enabling brands to sponsor one event with multiple activations across each network, and last month holding Disney’s first programmatic event focused on live sports for marketers, Ferro is…

“We are not that far removed from when there was a Caucasian-only clause in the PGA bylaws,” Shetty said during the 2021 National Golf Day event, held virtually in May, when she revealed a partnership with the National Newspaper Publishers Association, the trade association that represents the Black Press of America, encompassing more than 230 publications that reach Black audiences. Noting that the clause existed between 1939 and 1961, affecting generations of businesses, she said, “Trying to overcome some of that historical exclusion is what we have to be very intentional about. We need to make sure that we are letting people from all different backgrounds know that they are not only invited, but they are welcome, and that we are going to provide that equitable means so that they…

Elevated to head up the NBC Olympics production team in November 2019, Solomon has been tasked with the massive challenge of overseeing two Olympic Games in six months after Covid-19 delayed the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics a full year. But it hasn’t been a problem for the NBC exec, who describes this year’s Games as “the most meaningful Olympics of our lifetime.” It’s also the first year the Olympics landed on the streaming service Peacock, and viewers streamed a record 5.5 billion minutes of events across social media and online platforms, making the Tokyo Games the most-streamed Olympics ever. If the upcoming Winter Games aren’t enough to keep Solomon busy, she’ll also have her hands full with the Super Bowl, airing on NBC in February, not to mention overseeing The…

Yamamoto facilitates excitement for international sports in Asia and believes engaging with sports is one of the most powerful ways to champion diversity and inclusion. Since starting her career at IMG in 2000, Yamamoto has developed and managed licensing programs for a variety of sports brands in Asia, including UFC, the NFL, MLB, Wimbledon, The Open Championship, U.S. Open golf and 24 Hours of Le Mans. One of her proudest moments is fostering engagement around the Rugby World Cup in Japan. According to Yamamoto, there were a “limited number of Rugby fans in Asia” before the tournament, but by securing more than 20 local licensees for official merchandise, she played a key role in expanding the market’s fan base. When MLB hosted its first baseball game in Beijing, and Manchester…

This is the story of a famous brand that makes a famous wine. That famous wine is also an integral ingredient in a famous cocktail. However, before we can talk about Martini & Rossi vermouth, we must address a certain cocktail commonly ordered by a man named Bond—James Bond. Ian Fleming’s smooth-talking MI6 agent is a complicated man, but his drink of choice is simple: the vodka martini. (It requires a splash of vermouth and, as we know, is shaken and not stirred.) So far as the vodka brands go, 007 has sipped everything from Stolichnaya to Smirnoff and Wolfschmidt. But the vermouth? There’s just one. Freeze the frame in the drinking scenes of most any classic Bond film—Dr. No, Goldfinger and Diamonds Are Forever among them—and you’ll clearly see…

Twenty-five years ago this month, Times Square—already famed for its head-turning advertisements—made history by hosting no less an aircraft than the Concorde. Well, it wasn’t the actual Concorde, but the 102-foot-long model installed atop the Times Square Brewery in 1996 looked real enough. Complete with engine intakes and interior lighting, the fiberglass Concorde cost British Airways $980,000 to fabricate and, thanks to its rakish angle and a painted sky behind it, really did appear to be flying. BA knew, of course, that few tourists gawking at its installation had $12,000 for a ticket on the supersonic jet. But Concorde had always been as much about marketing as travel anyway, and the model would wow tourists until 2001, when the brewery’s lease ended. The real jet wouldn’t have much longer, either:…