Marketing

Marketing

Every time you walk out of Costco with that perfectly golden $4.99 rotisserie chicken, you've just helped them lose money. That's right - Costco's CFO stated in 2015 that Costco loses between $30 to $40 million annually on their famous rotisserie chickens. Yet somehow, this wholesale giant continues to thrive, with net sales reaching $249.6 billion in fiscal 2024. What's going on here?

Snapchat is marching on with its hunt for new users, investing in its first global ad campaign that positions it as an app where 'Real Friends' can connect. The push, launched on International Friendship Day, follows on from a bumper second quarter for Snap in which it attracted 13 million users, well above the 2 million forecast by analysts and a figure that eased investor and advertiser jitters significantly following years of sluggish growth.

Every week there are stories of brands retendering, with agencies enthusiastically falling over one another in a race to the bottom on margins. Among the most recent cases, Hilton has set about building its own internal "centers of excellence" dedicated to specific media and marketing areas, which will be reinforced by the right niche and independent agency. One of the unintended consequences of the digital revolution has been to challenge the identity and purpose of the all-encompassing agency.

There are a variety of reasons why companies take the rebrand plunge, but one thing is certain - they feel the action is worth the risk. The consumer market is so highly competitive that brands often need to take drastic measures to stay relevant. For many companies it can take a massive overhaul to fuel a brand enough to push through the masses and stay top of mind for consumers.

The traditional customer funnel is quickly giving way to a more fragmented, dynamic and self-directed journey. Today's buyers move fluidly across platforms, channels and touchpoints-often gathering information, building trust and forming preferences long before brands realize they're in the picture. As AI, creator influence and real-time intent signals reshape how decisions are made, brands must rethink where trust is built and conversion truly happens.

When Xfinity makes its national Super Bowl debut, it doesn't hedge its bets. It resurrects one of the most iconic films in movie history- Jurassic Park -reuniting Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, and Sam Neill, backed by John Williams's original score and directed by Taika Waititi. On the surface, it's blockbuster nostalgia. Underneath, it's a sharply executed brand strategy, and one that small business owners should pay attention to.

Voice search doesn't change people's need to search, but what does change is our need to pay attention to our audience's requirements and adapt our strategies to account for more than just 'money keywords'. The challenge that voice search throws at us is the advent of the single default answer. It's 'I'm Feeling Lucky' but on a wide, landscape-changing scale.

Spend half an hour exploring #StrategyTwitter or #MarketingTwitter and you'll quickly discover huge swathes of talented folks arguing passionately about the correct way to market brands. On one end of the spectrum you'll find the staunch strategists quoting lines from Sharp's How Brands Grow (which is well worth a read), while on the other end you'll find people posting fairly nauseating Gary Vaynerchuk quotes in serif fonts about how the number one rule in marketing is 'love'.

Released on Feb. 3, e.l.f.'s latest Super Bowl swing sees McCarthy in full panic mode, racing to learn Spanish ahead of Bad Bunny's halftime performance. After crashing her car, she wakes up in a hospital only to learn she has one day to become fluent. With the help of a hot doctor played by Nicholas Gonzalez - and e.l.f.'s Glow Reviver Lip Oil, naturally - McCarthy transforms into "Melisa." But not before legendary telenovela villain Itatí Cantoral, cast as a jealous nurse, completely loses it over Melisa's suddenly perfect pronunciation and main character moment.

For marketers yet to turn their attention to the extraordinary customer acquisition mechanic of earned growth, referral might be the last marketing channel to come to mind. For those already giving their customers a participating role in their brand's success, it's the last marketing channel they'd switch off. This was literally true for Lindsay Newell, head of UK marketing at Bloom & Wild, one of Europe's largest online florists.

Discounting has been part of retail's toolkit for decades, and it can be effective, especially during high-stakes shopping seasons. But as promotions become more frequent across the industry, companies are taking a closer look at the downside: Short-term sales gains don't always come with long-term loyalty or durable margins, and customers remember how a brand made them feel far more than what they saved at checkout.

Over the last decade, I've watched MOps teams add more and more tools to their stack, yet somehow the work never gets easier. The requests still pile up. Priorities still shift daily. Stakeholders still bypass the process. And the team still feels like it's drowning. Here's what I've learned: the difference between a struggling MOps team and a high-performing one has almost nothing to do with technology. I've seen teams with Salesforce, Marketo and a six-figure tech stack that can barely keep up with demand.

The need for effective reputation management has never been more acute, with brands in the public eye more than ever and social media giving consumers a voice to vent their frustrations. Catherine Turner explores what savvy brands are doing to protect their reputation, deal with stumbling blocks, and live up to the expectations of an unforgiving public. The recent travails of two of the world's biggest retailers highlight the extremes faced by businesses in a world of online reputation management.

Max Graphics, an Atlanta-based vehicle graphics and wrap installation company, has expanded its commercial vehicle wrap services to meet increasing demand from businesses seeking mobile advertising solutions. The expansion includes enhanced design capabilities and streamlined installation processes for fleet vehicles, commercial trucks, and business automobiles throughout the Atlanta metro area. The company's expanded services address the growing trend of businesses utilizing vehicle wraps as a cost-effective marketing strategy.

A glossy brochure is still one of the fastest ways to put your brand story in a buyer's hands. Trade-show attendees tuck it into a tote, hotel guests leaf through it while waiting for a meeting, and new distributors scan it to see if you're worth a call. When the same piece must work in Madrid, São Paulo, and Seoul, every headline, caption, and micro-copy line has to ring true in the reader's own language.

Just a couple of months ago, Google had ads on the local pack for less than 3% of tracked keywords; now it's up to about 22% of tracked keywords. This was data posted by Joy Hawkins on X she got from Places Scout. Joy wrote, "Just had Places Scout re-run the data to see how this looks in January so far (we're tracking across 1200 mobile ranking reports). The increase isn't slowing down yet."

Sensible businesses will be scrutinizing outgoings now more than ever. With clients looking to claw back profits eroded by spiralling inflation, marketing investment (not to mention your fees) will be up for debate, whether you like it or not. Frustratingly, validating the success of marketing investments is becoming more difficult. We're facing an attribution crisis, and many marketers are struggling to prove the value of each channel or campaign due to the numerous challenges brought about by increased privacy constraints,

Pencil's experiment focused on written copy in Facebook product ads rather than big-budget creative. Despite widely held concerns that the tech could cannibalize copywriting jobs, that doesn't mean professional creatives are ignoring the tech. Shruthi Subramanian of Serviceplan Munich (above) was named the most-awarded copywriter in the world in The Drum's World Creative Rankings. She says the tools can be put to good use, albeit with caution.

For basketball fans, a new year means one thing: March Madness is right around the corner. This jam-packed month has historically been a goldmine for brand marketers. The three full weeks of the tournament, not including the lead up, is an opportunity to capitalize on a pool of highly engaged consumers - whether they are the lucky fans watching in-person, tuning in at restaurants and bars, or catching the highlights from their phones or couch.

Strategy and creativity are celebrated in equal measures at The Drum Awards. Across the board, there are plenty of examples of fantastic and innovative work produced by agencies, brands and individuals each year. But what makes a winner? How do you shout from the rooftops that your campaigns are brilliant? At The Drum, there are 22 awards that celebrate the finest work produced globally. Following are seven examples of the best of the best of The Drum Awards 2017 winners.