Michael Kotick

A really interesting case history on #brandstrategy. ““[Liquid Death] sees itself as a media company first and a product second,” observed Young. “The company’s CEO has said in multiple interviews that you can’t ‘own’ an ingredient like canned water, but it could own a unique brand, wrapped in a compelling package, with a bold point-of-view that speaks to a niche audience.” If this can not only be theorized but also successfully executed for a product most people would see as a commodity, how much more true this statement should be for categories with higher intangible value! #brandmanagement #branding #marketingstrategy https://lnkd.in/eaB8mMmw

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The journey from DTC darling to CPG Powerhouse Last week Moiz Ali shared this post on Twitter. It represents one of the most underreported stories in our space. We have had the pleasure of working with Native ever since they were acquired by P&G, and it has been amazing to watch them apply their playbook to a historically DTC to brand. Today, despite the continued growth of the sector, eCommerce still only represents about 15% of retail transactions. A fact P&G knows full well. They have always had a vision for Native to be available EVERYWHERE and over the last 5 years that have brilliantly executed against that distribution plan. In the meantime they have artfully evolved with media plan to consistently match the distribution strategy. A media mix that began in a very narrow content (meta conversion only) has evolved intentionally to support in the creation of revenue in many different end points. We have benefited and learned form them along that way and I am convinced their actions represent the roadmap many more DTC brands should explore. To use digital and direct for what make those channels unique... data, mass demand creation and rapid iteration. BUT NOT REVENUE SCALE and certainly not margin expansion. This fights against so much of the standard DTC playbook and also evolves the traditional wholesale playbook as well. Omnichannl is a buzzword that most use to mean maximizing revenue and margin in every channel all the time. But I am not sure that is the way. These channels all have a role to play in brand building and revenue growth but each has special traits that should be exploited to max collective benefit. What do you think about Native's growth inside of P&G? Where you surprised to hear it?

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5  spicy 🌶, from-the-trenches topics Blue Seedling’s positioning lead Jordan Elkind will be tackling together with retail executive Kim Gallagher (Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, Nuuly) in our live event in two weeks: 1. The most common mistakes tech vendors make in pitching AI products 🤦‍♀️ 2. Why your product team hates your marketing team right now – and what to do about it 😡 (<-- love this one - so true!) 3. AI-washing: what it is, and how to do it right 🖌 (<-- we’ve done it and we’re not ashamed) 4. What market leadership looks like in a world where buyers don’t know what they want or need 🤷‍♂️ (<-- I’m seeing this one on a weekly basis) 5. Why everything you think you know about positioning is wrong…sort of :) 😵 Join our live webinar on 7/17: Positioning your AI venture: The definitive playbook for winning in 2024. Learn more and sign up free in the comments.

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Ok one more post today because *love* this memberships/subscriptions example of how brands can create offerings that coexist with dynamic pricing. The Lyft Price Lock feature is super smart, rewards loyalty, and easily would save users money. This is a smart rollout that many retailers could mimic in their own ways. It's effectively pay-as-you-go bulk buying. #retailstrategy #culturetocommerce #subscriptions

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You wanna know how Dr Pepper, that little peppery punk, stepped over Pepsi? It’s a gritty tale of street smarts and hustle. 1. Keep It Real. Dr Pepper didn’t try to be like them cola clones. It stayed true to its spicy 23-flavor self. Pepsi? They got lost in the sauce, chasing too many dreams and forgetting their own taste. 2. Stay Fresh. Dr Pepper rode the wave with new flavors like Strawberries & Cream and that wild Creamy Coconut from TikTok. They kept it hot, kept it interesting. Pepsi bet heavy on zero-sugar – cool, but it ain’t got that buzz. 3. Make Some Noise. Dr Pepper didn’t just hang in the South; they went national, turned their niche into a must-have. Pepsi? They let the spotlight slip, lost the edge in the marketing game. 4. Know Your Crew. Dr Pepper tapped into what the folks crave – that sweet and spicy kick. They knew their crowd and delivered the goods. Pepsi focused too much on health vibes, missed out on the real tastes that bring people back. 5. Stay True to the Game. Dr Pepper stuck to its roots. That loyalty built a die-hard following. Pepsi’s scattered focus made ’em lose some brand muscle, a hard lesson in staying true to your game. So, you wanna climb to the top? Take a cue from Dr Pepper. Keep it real, stay fresh, make some noise, know your crew, and always stay true to the game. I think I could write a good Dr Pepper commercial. #branding #marketing

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https://lnkd.in/g26enNWq This describes a significant shift in retail media, particularly in how digital screens and retail media assets are leveraged within physical stores. Traditionally, in-store media, such as digital screens, operated on a real estate rental model where the space was leased to media owners. The media owners then sold this to brands based on location, footfall, and brand affinity. However, the integration of retail transaction data with in-store media is what makes retail media a game changer. Media in Retail has now become Retail Media. Now, instead of just renting space, retailers such as Walmart have set up their own media business. With the right technology platform like Location Media Xchange as an enabler, they can open up their media inventory to Omni DSPs and their own Self Serve Platform. Media Planners and Buyers can now set up a campaign by selecting the brand specific product SKU, budget, and creatives, and the system will automatically handle the rest. The AI enabled system identifies the best-performing stores for that SKU, optimising the timing and placement of the creatives to drive maximum sales. The actual sales of that SKU from these stores guides and fine tunes the content and placement. This approach turns what was once a passive advertising medium into an active, data-driven marketing tool that continuously adjusts for the best results. Besides increased $$$ for the Brand which is also increased $$$ for the retailer, this opens up a completely new advertising $$$ stream for the retailer. This retail media automation and data integration elevate what was a simple rental model to a sophisticated, digital transformation strategy that can significantly boost sales. If you are multi-brand retailer, you should start now and the proof is in the pudding. Walmart has built a 3.4 Billion USD advertising business becoming one of the top 10 advertising companies globally. Their advertising income is expected to contribute to 20% of their overall income. The Time is NOW. Moving Walls #retailmedia #dooh #retail #advertising

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“Absolute blockbuster of a piece by ADWEEK’s Trishla Ostwal that chronicles some refreshingly candid remarks by Walgreens Director of Media and Strategy, James Lerner at Brandweek. Walgreens is very lucky to have this young man in their employ. I wish more client side leaders would follow Lerner’s example and speak out about the growing list of injustices by bad actors operating in plain sight in the digital ecosystem. Here are just a few of his perspectives in Trishla’s article: “Can we trust what’s going viral on TikTok? Absolutely not. It’s all a lie. It’s all an illusion. Obviously, Google doesn’t want to tell you (struggle to understand where the ads appear and what drives revenue) because it’s sucking up all your budget [and] giving you some type of efficiency curve and your ROI is decent, so you’re not going to question that. For a large Fortune 500 company with 8,000 stores, that’s not a very acceptable answer!” Lerner voiced frustrations over platforms’ claiming over-attribution. “They do come back to me and say, ‘Yep, you’re right, there might be some over-attribution—we’re claiming too much credit” If I know who is buying my products, why can’t a platform serve ads to the right person at the right time? Lerner added that Walgreens is trying to break down some of the walled gardens, and small doors are opening. He is particularly keen to get impression logs (#LLD) to show to the CFO that Walgreens is getting the best possible price for the media it’s buying. Please read the entire piece here: 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼 https://lnkd.in/eeA_wYR5

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Seafood shouldn’t be sleeping on influencer marketing! The influencer marketing space is worth $22 billion and growing globally. Why? Because it’s one of the most effective means of marketing in todays world. 📩Want to learn more about how we can help you build an influencer marketing strategy with a high ROI? Shoot me a message and I’ll send you our influencer marketing services package!

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How did you learn your job? How do you upskill your teams? I learned retail on the job from my managers and other team members. Do you think that strategy still works today? I would love to hear your comments below.

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"From Novelty to Nostalgia 💥 🛒 Amidst economic challenges, emerging brands are having to prioritize familiarity over novelty. 🤔 Great recent article from Modern Retail on this topic. A few highlights to share: 💼 Investors and retail buyers are favoring brands that offer comfort with a simpler and trusted proposition.  🌱 Lab-grown meat, once a hot trend, continues to face challenges in winning over mainstream consumers. 💡 Startups are shifting towards basics and modernizing classics.  Focus on innovation with broader appeal. 🍝 Examples include Gorgie's green tea energy drink and Goodles' nostalgic mac and cheese.  📈 Authenticity and simplicity continue to be keys to success for emerging brands in a crowded, competitive market. 🌊 Brands like SkinnyDipped and Gimme Seaweed are staying true to their roots while innovating with purpose. In a world craving simplicity, these startups are paving the way for lasting success. 💪 Let's embrace familiarity while still pushing the boundaries of taste and innovation! 🚀 #CPG #Innovation #Trends #EmergingBrands #FoodStartups #ClassicRecipes #Authenticity #Branding

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In today’s installation of how to walk the bold advertising talk that for so many is just talk, I give you the new campaign from Impossible Foods and Erich and Kallman. And it’s bold in approach and execution. Its point of view (from my point of view) is a big, bold step away from the usual plants are good/meat is bad eco-rhetoric of veggie burgers. For Impossible, it’s not that plants are as good as meat. It's not that plants are better than meat. It's that plants ARE meat. Now that's bold statement. It goes again everything we’ve ever been taught to be true about taxonomy, starting with when King Philip Came Over From Germany Saturday. And it’s not just the traditional advertising that reflects their strategy. Impossible has adopted meat culture in all of its carnivorous excess. The redesign sports the reds, yellows and whites of McD’s, BK, and Wendy’s, with nary a whimper of tree-hugging eco green or faux-organic flowing type. They’re putting on a hot dog eating contest. They converted a cattle ranch into a plant meat ranch. They are doing meat stuff. It's smart. And It’s more than bold marketing, it’s bold branding. Which seems appropriate, since meat is where the term branding comes from in the first place. https://lnkd.in/ezuQyyrd

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Back in my Interbrand days, we used Starbucks as an example of how to create customization with a streamlined product portfolio and naming system. Namer-extraordinaire Caitlin Barrett had put together a great analysis around the optimal amount of choice for customers that helped clients see that simple and robust are not necessarily opposites. Now the common challenge of product proliferation has turned their pursuit of customization into 170K options that are dragging down their business. It's not going to be just about optimizing the line -- gotta go back and optimize the menu. https://lnkd.in/eyFiwdH5 #naming #namingsystems #portfoliooptimization

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Is this the end of the coolest lunchbox innovation in history? Kraft Heinz recently reported a $1.4B write-down on Lunchables, and it got me thinking about something we see all too often in the CPG world: iconic brands struggling to bridge the gap between nostalgia and relevance. Remember when getting a Lunchable in your backpack made you the coolest kid at the lunch table? That wasn't just luck. It was brilliant brand building that understood exactly what both parents and kids wanted at that moment in time: 🧀 Parents got a convenient solution that made their lives easier 🧀 Kids got independence and something fun to trade at lunch 🧀 The packaging was genuinely innovative for its time 🧀 And let's be honest - stacking those crackers and cheese was oddly satisfying But here's the thing: today's parents are different. Today's kids are different. The opportunity, though? It's bigger than ever. At Brand Now, we see this as a chance to bridge two worlds. Keep the soul of what made Lunchables iconic, while reimagining it for today's health-conscious, digitally native families. The secret isn't choosing between nostalgia and innovation—it's finding the sweet spot where both can thrive. #BrandStrategy #CPG #Innovation #FoodIndustry #BrandTransformation

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POSSIBLE marketing conference arrived in Miami two weeks ago, and it was just really...fun. Hot topics included cookie deprecation, the role AI will have in our industry, and what personalization really means for customers. Highlights included conversations where humanity and creating real connections were hero-ed in compelling ways. So many golden nuggets to mine - some favorites worth sharing here: From Gary Vaynerchuk at VaynerX: ⭐️ Content should be driven by the question: “What makes people feel?”  ⭐️ Opening line is vital: be obsessed with the first second of content. From Patrick O'Keefe at E.L.F. BEAUTY: ⭐️ Think about/find the community that isn’t being talked to. Liquid Death partnership changed conversation and reached a new audience. Data couldn’t have told them to make Corpse Paint. But data could tell them there are consumers in Goth world. Listen and lean in. Be brave. From Tracy-Ann (Goodwin) Lim at JPMorgan Chase & Co.: ⭐️ Don’t just call customers on their birthday: communicate meaningfully over time.  ⭐️ Marry how technology makes things easier with human touch. From Molly Battin at The Home Depot: ⭐️ The Home Depot’s brand is our people. Empower associates so they understand values and culture. Empower them to make personal connections. That’s where you unlock customer loyalty—because of trust created. From David Shing at Shingy: ⭐️ People today identify as many different things. We need new archetypes to capture multi-hyphenates. ⭐️ Massive mistake not to have good first-party data. Take, but give something back that celebrates the gift of data. Special shout out to Monica Nguyen who finds inspiration in everything, and was such a great partner to sit in on these talks with. Thanks to the team at POSSIBLE for an amazing event!

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In today's challenging market, scaling a CPG brand has evolved into a more complex endeavor. Brands that once exited despite losing money are now facing a completely different ball game. In this episode, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Ryan Lewendon , Partner at The Gin Lane Agency, who has been instrumental in the growth and exit of multiple billion-dollar brands, including names that have become household staples. Ryan shares his extensive experience, highlighting the importance of unique routes to market and the power of building a rapid fan base. Whether it's companies like Orgain thriving in niche medical channels or RX Bar's online fitness community success, these insights are crucial for any brand looking to scale efficiently. This is a must-listen for anyone looking to navigate today's challenging landscape for CPG brands. Tune in for invaluable insights and strategies to help your brand thrive. Click the link in my bio or go to thinkmillions.com for the full podcast episod.   Follow @ryanlewendon for more insights and expert discussions! #CPG #BrandGrowth #MarketingStrategy #BusinessInsights #ScalingBrands #Entrepreneurship #RyanLewendon #TheGinLaneAgency #Orgain

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It was a pleasure to join the Content Disrupted: Bold Takes on Brand Marketing Podcast with host Casey Noble to have a fun chat about the collision of Brand Bonding, Decision Science and Micro-storytelling in modern marketing. Thank you for having me on the podcast! "Brand bonding isn’t just a buzzword; it’s a science that any marketing team can master. In this episode of Content Disrupted, trailblazing CMO Tricia Nichols shares her insights on fostering and tracking brand bonding, balancing short-term vs. long-term perspectives, and using data science to answer the right questions at the right time." Episode Highlights: [02:55] What is Brand Bonding? [09:38] Micro Storytelling: The Key to Brand Narrative [13:27] Making Decisions with Data [16:19] Tackling Data Attribution in Marketing [24:20] The Opportunities and Pitfalls of Generative AI Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3TUOVCy Spotify: https://spoti.fi/49kzyYp

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When I decided to leave my role as SVP of Marketing Billd back in June of 2023 to start my own CPG brand, there was ONE thing I heard very consistently from almost everyone I spoke to.... "Have you heard of SKU?" It was clockwork. I'm not kidding. If I met anyone in CPG (Founders, investors, etc.), they'd all say "You need to get in touch with the folks at SKU. Even just the connections will be helpful." 14 months later, Amia was accepted into the Fall 2024 Cohort at SKU and will be joining 7 other exciting brands and founders on a journey towards acceleration, learning, community, and opportunity. I'm thankful for all of the opportunities that I continue to get with this brand. To me, it's a testament to our mission and vision of empowering a billion people worldwide to take control of their migraines through more holistic, dietary approaches, without the need for pharmaceuticals. We have a big vision. To ensure every single grocery store worldwide has a "Trigger-Free" aisle that people with migraine can shop, just like allergen or gluten-free aisles. Don't get me wrong. This shit is hard. The opportunities that have opened up are great. And it's nice validation. But nothing is handed to me. I'm busting my ass every step of the way. Thanks to Brooke Wilson, Buff Greebe and Michelle Breyer for the opportunity! Looking forward to working with you all. About SKU: SKU was founded in 2011 by lawyer Shari Wynne Ressler and serial entrepreneur Clayton Christopher, founder of Sweet Leaf Tea and Deep Eddy Vodka, with the mission of accelerating CPGs. It has been a catalyst in establishing Austin as a CPG powerhouse. Since it was founded, more than 100 companies have completed the SKU program. SKU has gained a national reputation for excellence, with such publications as Forbes naming it one of the top CPG accelerators. Learn more at www.sku.is.

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