Don’t market your category. Create a category. — Expedia has an out-of-home campaign in NYC which I love walking past. It features clever copy and drums up a desire to vacation, particularly when you find yourself running errands on the crowded subway in New York.

How Hoka sneakers went from obscurity to $1Bn in revenue — “Ugly.” “Weird.” “Clown shoe look.” These are some of the ways Redditors on a 2014 Reddit/running post describe Hoka, the sneaker brand that Ugg parent company Deckers bought for a reported $1.1M in 2012. Flash forward 10 years and Hoka generates over $1 billion in sales for Deckers. Last weekend…

Themes and takeaways from SB 2023 — Every year on the Monday post Super Bowl there is a rundown of the best ads. This year is no different. But my question is not ‘which ad was the best?’ but… what makes a Super Bowl ad good? In my opinion: A good Super Bowl ad comes down to…

How can luxury be aspirational in 2023? — Q: What do Triangle of Sadness, White Lotus, Squid Game, Glass Onion and Parasite all have in common? A: A vibe shift against the rich.

Blank Street isn’t a coffee shop. It’s a thesis on the future of urban pickup and brand discovery. — I found out about Blank Street Coffee on Twitter. Specifically, NYC-based friends tweeting that they were trying the coffeeshop that had appeared seemingly out of thin air. And appear it has. After its founding in 2020, Blank Street now has north of 50 locations across NYC, London, Boston and DC…

3 steps to more persuasive ads — If marketing has one goal, it’s to persuade audiences to take action: buy a product, vote for a candidate, or book a vacation. The consumer decision journey is a popular tool used to map out what content is needed to persuade the audience to take that action. …

How SS+K and Visit Iceland translated a buzzy campaign into business outcomes (and awards) — When I worked in advertising, creative testing was seen as a killer of good ideas. But that does not make a ton of sense. Testing is a tool to help you select the most effective ideas. And studies reveal that the most effective ideas tend to be creative ideas. According…

Creative pre-testing is TV’s answer to digital A/B testing — In the face of rising costs on Facebook and Instagram, DTC brands are increasing shifting spend to mass channels like TV and Out of Home. The problem is, advertising on TV requires betting a significant media budget on a single concept. You can’t simply test 10 ads and funnel money…

Back Market is a an online retailer where you can buy used tech — think refurbished smart phones and used computers. After raising new funds at a 5.7Bn valuation in January, Back Market invested in a splashy out-of-home (OOH) campaign across London. I am a Back Market customer. I like…