Marketing with Wharton's Hip Hop Prof

Movers + Shakers is an award-winning creative agency, born in 2016 as a collaboration between Broadway performer & director Geoffrey Goldberg and marketing expert Evan Horowitz. Their unique combination of music and marketing has led to a series of record-breaking campaigns across digital platforms. Throughout, the team focuses on spreading joy, and turning this positive emotional experience into brand love.Market advertising is always a shifting landscape. If you look at the evolution of advertising originally it was just about conveying a brand's message in a very one-directional sort of way. That evolved to the inclusion of entertainment and connecting with the audience on a more emotional level. And more recently we've seen participatory advertising where a brand is inviting their users to co-create the marketing in collaboration with a brand campaign. A recent campaign was launched last summer with e.l.f. cosmetics in the form of a TikTok native reality show. The reality show was created and aimed at TikTok users to help them become beauty influencers. Over 3,000 nomination videos were received and from there three lucky winners got to go through a month-long beauty camp where they were being mentored and trained by successful TikTok influencers on how to be successful. The daily series was broadcasted on e.l.f.'s TikTok brand channel and ended up increasing the following of their channel by over 50%.Digital disruption should happen in an organic and native way to the user, as opposed to being jarring. In addition, brands should not just copy/paste their brand strategy across the many social media channels that are available. Movers + Shakers provides those proven shortcuts and strategies to implement for success that feels authentic to the environment.

John Rowley, founder of Counterpoint Messaging has worked on over 500 democratic political campaigns in 47 states and has won 91% of his campaigns. Political "brands" involve a myriad of techniques to sell ideas, ideals, and political candidates to the general public through commercial branding and advertising in presidential political campaigns. However, nowadays it has become the norm to bash and minimize the opposing incumbent, instead of speaking to the political transformations and advancements that a candidate brings to the table. John refers to Frank Lloyd Wright in that his architectural designs come organically from the landscape and the same notion applies to political strategies. He has been involved in campaigns where they did not have to say one word about the opposing incumbent and achieved defeat because of the current circumstances. Building a political campaign strategy that is able to absorb negativity is a huge factor, especially with the inclusion of social media which allows for a rapid spread of information and reaching a much larger audience pool.

We have two guests on this episode, Bill Blubaugh, SVP Marketing & Communications, and Mark Schrieber, EVP and Chief Customer Officer at Utz Quality Foods.When the pandemic hit there was a big response to eating at home, therefore snacking throughout the day, and companion snacks to main meals were increased. Utz specifically saw an uptick in their core indulgent portion of their portfolio (potato and tortilla chips), and eventually started to see growth as well with the more permissible and healthy snack options such as popcorn, veggie straws, and snack mixes. The loyalty, love, and following for the Utz brand comes from the fact that they are a smaller, crafted brand and the idea of unmistakably delicious flavors that are family crafted resonates with people. Utz has been family-owned and run for 100 years, and to celebrate their hundredth year anniversary the brand has organized A Year of A Hundred Wishes which extends to consumer activation, employee engagement initiatives, and local community involvement. In addition, a consumer promotion called Our Candles, Your Wish is launching soon where consumers can blow out the candles on the Utz milestone celebration cake and win prizes.

Christine Moorman is the Sr. Professor of Business Administration at the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, and the Founder and Director at the CMO Survey. The CMO Survey collects and disseminates the opinions of top marketers in order to predict the future of markets, track marketing excellence, and improve the value of marketing in firms and in society.In this episode, Christine shares that the usual trend of companies cutting their marketing budgets in an economic downfall, has not been the case throughout the Coronavirus pandemic and that companies have actually seen a 72% increase in the role of marketing. This is a phenomenal turn-around and we hope that the future importance of marketing continues to grow and be brought to the forefront. Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) have also been significant in the marketing sector this past year given the various political, racial, and socioeconomic events that occurred. Christine shares that an average increase of about 9% in DEI spending percent change has been seen. Check out all of the latest reports to gain more insights about marketing and how it contributes to the bigger picture in so many ways.

Robert Klara is the Senior Editor at Adweek Magazine and joins Barbara and Americus to discuss PharmaCompanies amongst the Coronavirus pandemic and marketing the vaccine. Americus shares some stats from the CDC which is reporting that 11.3% of the country is fully vaccinated, and 3.4% are within the waiting period to receive their second booster shot. Watching the vaccine story unfold has been very interesting as the pharmaceutical industry is historically held in one of the lowest regards by consumers, so Robert explores the idea of reputation repair through marketing and how we have seen that start to happen. Marketing strategies for pharmaceutical companies look very different from other industry segments as Barbara shares that historically pharma companies typically aren't interested in spending money on marketing dollars. Being in the research and development/product business, if consumers don't like what they are doing it doesn't hold as much weight since they are so product-focused.

Crocs was started in 2002 by three friends who were seeking to create a lightweight and comfortable boat shoe that would float and be stylish. In today's episode, Barbara and Americus are joined by the President of Crocs, Michelle Poole.Michelle shares that over the years the signature Crocs clog has been adopted by many age groups and industries. From kids, to the outdoor community, to healthcare workers, and food and beverage workers, who would spend long days working on their feet. Jibbitz, which are the customizable charms that can be placed in the holes of the Crocs clogs came from a couple in Boulder, CO who were creating these for kids to put in their shoes and were not a part of the founder's original vision. However, the addition of the Jibbitz Charms has turned into a unique selling proposition as Crocs are the only footwear brand that consumers can customize on the spot and express who they are, and what's important/valuable to them. Crocs has also managed and continues to thrive throughout the pandemic. Being able to communicate the relevant values to consumers was a significant stance. The fact that the clogs can be wiped clean and that you can take them on and off without touching them was valuable for consumers. The healthcare industry also found a huge need for Crocs and the company kicked into gear and set up a "Free Pair for Healthcare" campaign. Nearly 900K pairs of Crocs have been donated globally to healthcare workers on the frontlines of COVID-19.

Allison Miazga-Bedrick is the Senior Director Of Marketingof the M&M's Brand. Allison shares that the M&M's/Mars Wrigley brand participates in a big event every year. Last year it was the Emmy's and this year the brand had a spot in the Super Bowl LV game on February 7, 2021. The message behind their Super Bowl commercial is that candy is joy, and joy can be the precursor to any apology needed. Featuring Dan Levy, who you may know from the CBC sitcom Schitt's Creek. Mars Wrigley is a purpose-driven company and M&M's believes that fun and humor have the power to bring us closer together, so you see that tension in the ad and the offering of a bag of M&M's serves as the solution in a lighthearted and relevant way. Allison also speaks to the direct-to-consumer shift that we have seen in consumer marketing. Online at www.mms.com is where that direct-to-consumer and customization/personalization piece comes in. Design Your Own M&M's is where a consumer can customize the candy from start to finish and incorporate branded clip art, text, images, and packaging. Over the years the Mar's Wrigley brand has and continues to listen and engage with their consumer whether through voting, personalization, and more.

In this episode, Barbara and Americus are joined by two guests. Wilglory Tanjong, Founder, and CEO and Azline Nelson, CMO at the high fashion and luxury brand, Anima Iris. The name comes from Wilglory's friends and family as Anima is the name of her childhood best friend, and Iris is her mother's name. Anima Iris was founded a year ago and within weeks of launching the Coronavirus pandemic was in full force. Getting consumers to buy luxury handbags was definitely a concern for Wilglory and her team, but by building a solid community of black women and women of color who aren't really represented in the luxury market sector, the brand continues to grow and succeed. Wilglory explains that growing up she was always into fashion but couldn't relate to the women she saw in advertisements and brand campaigns. And early on she was a creative who was always drawing and found herself gravitating towards shapes and geometry. Those shapes are evident in the handbag designs where they are used in a really unique yet simplistic way. Even though the brand centers women of color as their brand narrative they have found that there are different aspects of this brand that women see themselves in and because of this, women from all walks of life are drawn to Anima Iris.

In this episode, Barbara and Americus are joined by guest Erica Coates, who is the Chief Operating Officer at MOCEAN. For almost two decades, MOCEAN has been a leader in the world of entertainment marketing. From top-grossing Hollywood studios to traditional networks and emerging media, their clients include Disney, Marvel, Fox, Warner Bros. Netflix, FX, and CNN.Erica shares that paying great respect to the original story, characters, and the fictional world that die-hard fans know and love is hugely important and something that their staff of over 160 editors, producers, writers, animators, designers, directors, and strategistsconsistently strive for. Finding a happy marriage between the competing factors of staying authentic and accurate to the original creation while also maximizing the creative piece and bringing to life, for example, a Marvel comic story, is a bit of an art form. Erica explains that empowering their creative team members to be as broad-stroke and as outside of the box as possible, but still within the framework has allowed them their many success stories.