It's a feast this week. Let's eat.
Sparq Designs
Award-winning advertising agency. Changing the way people think, feel, see, relate, and connect.
Welcome back to your serene space filled with the last week's marketing news and insights.
This week's rowdier than most ?? so... (insert football joke about getting ready to win).
We're kicking off (??) with The Showdown this week.
?? The Showdown. Exploring creativity in advertising.
?? The Lowdown. A concise summary of essential information.
? The Slowdown. Practical and thought-provoking ways to apply insights.
The Showdown.
Dunkin played the long game... was it worth it?
Dunkin first abandoned their usual posting schedule and voice on February 4th with a post about Ben Affleck, related to the Grammys. But they also purchased a spot, officially starting their big game campaign.
This kicked off a string of more than a dozen social posts , adding new characters like Charlie D’amelio (the beloved Gen Z icon, TikTok icon, and Dunkin superfan) along with other famous Bostonians like Matt Damon and Tom Brady. The celeb factor rose with additions like Jennifer Lopez and Jack Harlow.
Phew, did we miss anybody?
Oh yeah, we did. Fat Joe.
While many brands took to social media ahead of the big game, sharing their commercials on Instagram and TikTok instead of shelling out the 7M required to get a spot this year, few allowed their story to unravel in front of viewers' eyes quite like Dunkin.
Over a week, followers and fans of the brand watched as new elements of the story were added, culminating in the "DunKings" announcement during the big game. Campaign views across the Instagram posts totaled more than 11.3M.
But this isn’t a campaign Dunkin’ launched earlier this month; it began more than a year ago, as they introduced Ben Affleck to their marketing.
The 2023 big game spot featured his wife, J-Lo , and you may also remember Ice Spice getting added to the mix in the fall.
The campaign’s 2024 revival started with Affleck working to clear his name, claiming he wasn’t actually bored at last year’s Grammys.
He was just daydreaming about his pop star career.
This leads into part 1 of the Dunkin story arc.
Dunkin purchased a spot during this year’s Grammys to kick off the campaign, as Affleck meets with D’Amelio and other industry experts to start his pop star career—the commercial ends with a dramatic “to be continued,” leaving viewers with a cliffhanger.
It's no lie that Dunkin put impressive thought into the moving parts and thematic messaging. But, if you weren't plugged into the year of pop star Affleck's character development, missed part one during the Grammys, or followed them on social media, did you get it?
The purpose was to announce The DunKings Iced Coffee, MUNCHKINS? skewer, merch, and other limited-time-only menu items.
CMO Jill McVicar Nelson states the campaign's purpose, “You can chase your dreams, aim high, and have a laugh while doing it all as part of the Dunkin’ family. Dunkin’ fuels your passions, no matter how ambitious or out there they may seem.”
That seems like a heavy order to put on the shoulders of an iced coffee or a donut. Ultimately, it relied heavily on celebrity partnerships, which have become commonplace during the United States' most-watched live event.
The campaign forces viewers to seek out more information on their own. Customers can go to shopdunkin.com to purchase merch like the tracksuits featured in the commercial or visit the app to browse their new DunKings menu items, featuring five new, limited-time-only menu items. Still, none of this was shared during the 60-second spot.
Was the goal of the campaign to promote the new menu items? If so, they weren't seen until 49 minutes into the 1-minute spot.
Was it to inspire?
To create buzz?
To one-up their potential competition?
To increase the likelihood of someone stopping at Dunkin?
To get the viewers to learn more on another platform?
I truly appreciate the breadcrumbs leading up to the story; the approach is creative and takes great strategy and execution.
However, I believe it would have had a stronger effect as a viral social media campaign instead of the big game.
Temu spent $35M for five ad spots and played the same commercial.
Aside from controversies surrounding Temu and strictly speaking from a marketing perspective, was the repetition a genius move? ??
Temu's hefty investment in five Super Bowl placements got people talking, whether intentional or not.
Super Bowl commercials are becoming less memorable in a celebrity-saturated market, even as marketing boardrooms fight for the next creative banger.
The act of repetition is a strategy of its own that can generate results.
A stronger example than this year's Temu placements is the 2018 Tide Ad Campaign.
You remember.
The year that it felt that every commercial was a Tide ad.
Actor David Harbour, buzzing off his involvement in Stranger Things, stars in the multiple creative placements.
Doordash Commercial Follow-Up.
Two weeks ago, we featured DoorDash's Super Bowl commercial plans.
The commercial revealed how to win every item advertised during the Super Bowl during their 30-second commercial spot.
Since airing, DoorDash has shared that they formed dozens of partnerships for their campaign to come to life.
To enter the giveaway, you had to enter the code at the beginning of the commercial. The code is ultra-long.
领英推荐
Here are a few items they gave away as part of their all-encompassing sweepstakes (find a full list here):
Stay tuned in upcoming newsletters for the final results of the campaign!
The Lowdown.
YouTube CEO pens letter on 2024's trajectory.
These are the key findings from YouTube CEO Neal Mohan’s letter from early February:
There's a lot to unpack here! This video by Think Media details the updates, and in today's Slowdown, we'll go deeper into YouTube strategy.
Meta's execs sat in a circle and talked about AI and ads.
I like to picture the Meta team casually chatting in a circle under a tree, though they actually held a structured roundtable on AI strategy.
Under the shade of the tree in my imagination, the Meta execs gave insight into the development of Meta's AI-powered ad capabilities:
The updates encourage video content, experimenting with messaging ads, and emphasize that advertisers should let Meta take the lead on targeting instead of the interested audience.
And then they had a picnic! ????
Other notable news:
The Slowdown.
Let's focus on three social media strategies to consider in the coming months:
1) Get to work on YouTube! Subscribe to Sparq while you're at it.
YouTube's CEO shared two juicy insights among the many in his recent letter.
The first is YouTube's continued commitment to Shorts.
With Shorts' metrics on the rise and the investment in new creative tools for Shorts' creators, it's impossible to ignore the format.
It's still the "early days" of growth for Shorts, and all signs point to a promising future - so don't wait too long.
The second is YouTube's ambitious foray into television.
Hot take ?? This update is the beginning of the end for streaming services as we know them.
Consumers initially pursued streaming services as a lower-cost, more interesting alternative to traditional cable TV.
Now, streaming consumers are paying a comparable amount to cable and reaching their tipping point with the introduction of every new streaming option.
With YouTube accessible on Roku and other smart devices, consumers are already starting to turn on the TV and open YouTube to consume their media.
With YouTube, it's free to watch; you can watch the creators or topics you're interested in and opt for advanced paid options like channel memberships or Premium.
Brands should consider this radical shift now and start creating unique, long-form content for YouTube.
Subscribe to Sparq's YouTube channel and DM the Sparq LinkedIn to brainstorm strategy!
2) Don't underestimate platforms like Reddit and Pinterest.
These two platforms are exceptional for consumer insights, developing and participating in communities, and content inspiration.
They are among the first places I go when strategizing content.
Some Reddit communities I frequent to get creative are:
On Pinterest, I create private boards to save inspiration for each client I service. I value passively consuming content on Pinterest and saving what sparks inspiration.
Then, I revisit the boards when developing content and use them to align with a particular vision or topic.
3) Rely harder on Meta's ad algorithm.
Targeting interests doesn't have the effect it used to, but it's hard to let go entirely. Especially when that approach more or less "guarantees" your ads are in front of a person with traits similar to your buyers.
DJ Coffman , former Director of Strategy at Sparq, now the Cartoonist for VeeFriends , taught me that leaning on the algorithm is a stronger strategy for reaching your desired audience.
Relying on the ad algorithm challenges you to believe beyond what you can see. It utilizes ad audience data to custom-tailor your audience over time as your campaign runs.
The longer your ads run, the more tailored the audience becomes.
I implemented this strategy for several accounts and have seen a considerable decrease in cost per action (CPA). It does take some time to learn, so don't be discouraged.
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P.S. I was hungry while writing this. It all started by imagining the Meta execs on a picnic. The Zuckmaster definitely brought finger sammies.
I've since satiated my hunger.
Thx.