Sheets & Giggles gets creative with March Madness and Nielsen gets sued—plus, why a Meta activation at SXSW drew backlash
This week’s winners, losers and newsmakers.
Winners
Sheets & Giggles: Plenty of brands are seizing on new rules allowing brands to pay college athletes for endorsement deals. But bedding brand Sheets & Giggles gets major creativity points for its March Madness program—which involves players who spend more time on the bench than on the court.
Cavalry: Six months after losing the Modelo account, the WPP agency has already gained another beer client. The Chicago-based shop is handling marketing for a new Budweiser line extension called Budweiser Supreme, which is made with honey malt and will initially hit shelves in Ohio, New York, Washington, D.C., central California and west Texas. AB InBev’s in-house agency was also involved in the campaign, which will include out-of-home and paid media on YouTube and connected TV. WPP formed Cavalry in 2012 as an agency dedicated to MillerCoors. Its latest win means it has worked with three beer giants in its 10-year history.
St. Patrick’s Day marketing: The first nearly normal St. Patrick’s Day after two years of the pandemic saw many brands investing their advertising dollars to get a piece of the celebrations. Guinness and Keeper’s Heart Whiskey ran commercials on TV while Bailey’s created its own Baileys-infused, alcohol-free cream cheese. And Lucky Charms cereal ran a five-part campaign from Anomaly.
Losers
Nestle: The food giant came under fire this week for refusing to stop business in Russia. The Ukrainian prime minister called on Nestle, which reportedly generates $1.8 billion in sales from Russia, to reconsider selling essentials in Russia amid the country’s invasion of Ukraine. Nestle has stopped selling its Nespresso coffee and San Pellegrino water to Russia but is still selling baby food and pet food there. In response, Twitter users called for a boycott of the food company.
Nielsen: Byron Allen and his media companies sued the measurement company this week, claiming Nielson provided inaccurate measurement. The suit alleged that Allen’s networks, such as The Weather Channel, had been given “false assurances” about measurement beginning in 2017.
Meta: Facebook’s parent company drew criticism at SXSW for a 9-11 installation. Called “Surviving 9/11: 27 Hours Under the Rubble,” the booth, which allowed viewers to use VR headsets to experience 9/11, appeared in poor taste for many on social media.
Meta was also sued this week by Australian regulators for not removing scam ads on Facebook.
Number of the week
4.16%: the average 30-year fixed rate mortgage for the week ended March 17, up from 3.85% a week prior and the highest since May of 2019, according to a report in Yahoo Finance.
Quote of the week
“That’s a good way to lose all your money in the metaverse.If you bought Times Square in a metaverse where people don’t show up to see it, you’re fucked.”—Mark Cuban, speaking on a SXSW panel about his thoughts on the metaverse.
On the move
Macy’s hired Emily Erusha-Hilleque as senior VP of private brands. She was formerly a design director of ready-to-wear, young contemporary private label and design partnerships at Target Corp.
National Research Group, a global insights and strategy firm in entertainment, hired Grady Miller as CMO. He had been head of consumer insights at Apple TV+.
Room & Board tapped Emily McGarvey as its first director of sustainability. She was most recently director of corporate social responsibility at Target.
Fashion brand Good American hired Jamaal Layne as its first chief marketing officer. He had been executive VP, global brand and North America marketing at Calvin Klein. Hear more about Good American when CEO Emma Grede speaks at Ad Age Next: Retail on April 5. Buy your ticket here.
Mavrck, an influencer marketing platform, added marketing vet and the former CMO of Dunkin’ Tony Weisman to its board of directors.
