Hello Marketers,
What a week! Our news editor Jameson Fleming covered all things Super Bowl in his round-up earlier today, so I won’t say much about the Big Game here. Well, other than this: Brands seem to love releasing multiple teaser spots this year and we … are oh so tired.
Also: Make sure to check the site on Monday for our special Super Bowl cover! We went behind-the-scenes again, but you’ll have to read on Monday to find out when, where and who we went with.
Okay, onto non-Super Bowl news. Last Sunday, Kraft took out a full-page ad in The Washington Post asking other brands to contribute to its pop-up grocery shop to help furloughed federal workers who have now endured the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. The ad worked. Today, as Diana Pearl reported, there are now Tropicana juices, Land O’Lakes butter, Oscar Mayer cold cuts, Capri Sun’s juice pouches, Fillo’s Americas Made beans and H&M with winter clothing donations at the shop.
(It's worth noting that while writing this President Donald Trump announced that a deal to reopen the government until Feb. 15 was reached.)
Quote of the Week: As TV/Media editor Jason Lynch reported earlier this week, the creators of You—a show about a stalker that has become a much bigger hit after moving to Netflix from Lifetime—took a rather unconventional approach. To pitch executives on a show about a stalker, the creators Greg Berlanti and Sera Gamble stalked executives. “That was a very visceral way to say, ‘Look, this isn’t about a professional stalker,’” said Berlanti. “This is about a casual stalker, who has access to the same kind of information that we all have access to. And when that information is turned on its head and used in a malicious way, it shows how exposed we all are.”
Say What? Normally I like to put a notable stat here, something important for marketers to know. This one is rather bleak—and not just for those of us who are part of the media industry but for anyone who understands the value of great journalism: Deep cuts were made across various newsrooms this week with more than 1,000 media jobs eliminated, according to reporter Sara Jerde, who reported that mass layoffs affect a number of outlets including BuzzFeed, Huffington Post and Gannett papers like The Arizona Republic and The Record in New Jersey.
Thanks for reading,
Kristina Monllos
Senior Editor, Brand Marketing
