Applebee’s Worst Media Buy

A festive Applebee’s ad appeared picture-in-picture in live news about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — and the jarring placement went viral. Here’s how Applebee’s and CNN responded.

Mae Rice

Disney Plans To “Build Community”… Literally

This week, Disney unveiled plans for Storyliving, a Disney-branded Palm Springs town. It’s pretty! But Twitter also found it pretty creepy. Here’s why.

Mae Rice

The Pros and Cons of the Adidas Sports Bra Tweet

When Adidas tweeted an image of 25 people’s bare breasts to promote its new sports bra range, they turned heads. But was the tweet really a good idea?

Kelsey Donk

What the Heck Is Taylordle?!

Wordle is having a moment — and as of last week, we have a Taylor Swift-themed version. Does that make branded word games the future of marketing? Not exactly.

Mae Rice

3 Ways West Elm Caleb Boosted West Elm’s Brand

This week, the villain of TikTok is a (self-described) West Elm furniture designer. Could his internet infamy possibly be a good thing for West Elm’s brand?

Mae Rice

Why Do Ugly Ads Win?

We got the backstory on an ad that looked “cheap and not polished enough to run” to an agency founder — and now gets 50% of its account’s total spend.

Kelsey Donk

How Jordans Transcended Ads

Nike could run paid campaigns for its Air Jordans, but we haven't seen a paid Jordans ad in years (or ever). MarketerHire asked sneakerheads why that might be.

Mae Rice

Are 48-Hour Ads the New Normal?

Ryan Reynolds’ agency turned around Peloton’s viral (and now vanished) Mr. Big ad in two days. Can other creatives follow this playbook — and should they?

Mae Rice

Spotify Wrapped — But Turned Up to 11

The copywriting on Spotify users’ end of year playlists inspired some fanfiction this week. It was so highkey fire that we had to lightly censor it! 😳

Mae Rice

How Ocean Spray Does Thanksgiving

Cranberry sauce and Ocean Spray are basically synonyms — and both gets a surge of attention every Thanksgiving. But Ocean Spray takes a laid back approach to the holiday, and lets fans' tweets do the talking.

Mae Rice

Why Isn’t Peloton’s Cult Brand Enough?

Peloton had a stellar 2020 — but 2021 hasn’t been as kind to the exercise bike company. Even a culty brand with a devoted fan base has to answer to larger market forces.

Kelsey Donk

Dessert: A New Marketing Channel?

Fortune cookie ads might feel like proof marketing has (finally!) gone too far. But this type of spon inside fortune cookies has actually been around for decades.

Mae Rice

What if Meta Is Cool? 🤔

Every other tweet last week poked fun at Facebook’s new name — but one brave tweeter noticed some silver linings. Let’s examine the two main ones he found, and a few others we brainstormed at MarketerHire.

Mae Rice

From Google to Facebook: Lessons From the Tech Giant’s Rebrand

Facebook’s expected rebrand won’t be the first time a major tech company has changed name and structure to appease investors and protect its properties. But will what worked for Google work for Facebook?

Kelsey Donk

3 Ways Popeyes Got “Hottie Sauce” Right

Megan Thee Stallion just launched a new “Hottie Sauce” with Popeyes. Why is it so perfect? We asked our in-house expert on celebrity-branded fast food.

Mae Rice

Is Mayo the New Oatmilk?

The suggestion of drinking mayonnaise or adding it to coffee gives people an almost immediate gag-reflex. That might be why it works as an engagement-driving strategy.

Mae Rice

What Marketers Really Do All Day

At lots of companies, marketers are the "ideas people." And sometimes, as this week's tweet reminded us, that means marketers are the ones who end up rejecting a lot of bad ideas.

Kelsey Donk

Is iOS 15’s Buzziest Feature… Digital Rain?

The new rain in the weather app is definitely really cool. But for marketers, the buzziest feature is something less visible: Mail Privacy Protection.

Mae Rice

YouTube vs. the Super Bowl

If YouTubers get more views than the Super Bowl, is there any point in advertising during live events anymore? We dug into the pros and cons of each channel.

Kelsey Donk

The Opposite of Creativity

Marketers always complain that it’s hard to cut through the noise. One Twitter user has an answer for this all-too-common pain point. It’s a joke… or is it?

Mae Rice

Halara TikTok Ads: The Marketing Mystery of Our Time

How does Halara have enough money to fully saturate TikTok with advertisements? They’re even targeting middle-aged men… and they make athleisure for women.

Mae Rice

SEOS, Are You Okay?

In mid-August, SEOs noticed that their title tags weren't appearing in Google search results as intended — they were getting algorithmically rewritten. What does that mean for organic search strategy?

Kelsey Donk

Enough With the Agency vs. In-House Debate

The agency vs. in-house debate never dies, but it's getting old. It feels particularly outdated right now because it ignores an important employment option for marketers: freelancing.

Kelsey Donk

The Quietest Rivalry in Soda

Coca-Cola is on Twitter, and 7UP has a verified Instagram, but the root beer brands are... where, exactly? A recent tweet made us wonder, so we took a look into how root beer is (or isn't!) marketed.

Mae Rice

The Ultimate Social Media Credential...

How does one master social media? Well, you could use it... or apparently go to school for it. But should you? That's a hot topic on #MarketingTwitter.

Mae Rice

Marketing vs. Advertising: Can You Spot the Difference?

Marketing and advertising aren't synonyms — all advertising is marketing, but not all marketing is advertising. Inspired by a tweet, we dug into the distinction.

Mae Rice

Move Over, Regular Fish!

Tinned fish has suddenly become the official food of "hot girls" everywhere — and marketing has to be involved. But who's the marketing push coming from? We did some research.

Mae Rice

It’s No Fun Being Director of Denial

If you see a job description start to trend, take a closer look. The job might implicitly be to turn back time and make Facebook ads work like they used to.

Mae Rice

How to Become America’s Favorite Intern

It feels like this email lifted HBO Max’s brand — and shifted American culture as we know it — at least as much as Mare of Easttown. And it was way cheaper.

Mae Rice

How Proud Is Your Brand?

When we asked if your brand’s logo “goes rainbow” in June, only 33% of you said yes — 67% said you skip it. Here's why you said you go rainbow, or don't. Some good, and some very, very bad reasons included.

Mae Rice

Does Marketing Get Any R-E-S-P-E-C-T?

Selling the concept of marketing to leadership is such a major pain point. "The issue is whether or not they trust you enough and will give you enough freedom to do your job, it is about the client’s character, not the level of marketing knowledge."

Mae Rice