By Andrew Tognolini In just a single week earlier this year, two U.S. banks failed–not exactly the sign of a booming economy. So while not technically official, most economists agree that the U.S. is likely to experience a recession in the not-too-distant future. In fact, one research analyst recently put the likelihood of a global downturn at 98 percent.  Ironically,  for those of us in marketing roles, economic downturns can breed opportunity. History has shown that the right marketing strategy combined with brand innovation can often be the difference between success and failure during an uncertain economy. “Increase Spend or…

Inflation is in the news. Many people are combing through their budgets to find unnecessary expenses to shave, and the market as well as companies seem to be trying to adjust to that behavior. The difference in the reactions is intriguing. Recently, Netflix announced a $6.99 a month ad-supported subscription tier. This is a big moment for the company, as they’ve always heralded themselves as the anti-ad streaming platform. It takes courage to backtracked–but if the goal is to adjust to new realities (and prevent laying off a chunk of your workforce), the move seems gutsy. Twitter couldn’t be further…

Every day, companies struggle with “reputation management.” Oftentimes, it’s something easy to grasp—a restaurant struggles with take-out order delays and gets roasted on Yelp, or an  ecommerce retailer battles poor execution on returns. But what happens when a “product” (in this case, the new LIV Golf Tour)  is scrutinized based on actions of its primary funder, a Middle East state?  It’s an interesting question for everyone that is considering the role of marketing in supporting reputation in the modern digital age. The Situation LIV Golf is a professional golf tour financed by the “Public Investment Fund,” an umbrella name for…

It was only a few months back that we published a blog ‘coining’ Coinbase’s “QR Code” ad as the most effective commercial of the Super Bowl. Today, Coinbase and Crypto.com are facing a unique marketing challenge–much as tech companies have in past bubble bursts.  If you haven’t heard, only three short months after the abundance of cryptocurrency ads that had the Super Bowl regarded as the “Crypto Bowl”, Bitcoin plunged to its lowest value since 2020. Coinbase and Crypto.com have been widely celebrated for their approaches to marketing cryptocurrency and their platforms. Crypto.com’s branding has been heavily dependent on celebrity…

Well, the Super Bowl has come and gone. The football world is already looking forward to the next NFL Draft, and the rest of the world has new challenges. But before we all move on from this year’s big game, we’d like to take just one more moment to talk marketing—what all of us involved in the pursuit can take away. The Big Game—Unmasked The Super Bowl ads of 2022 could not have felt more different than those from 2021. Flipping a switch from the sentimental ads of last year’s mid-pandemic Super Bowl, nearly all commercials this year were upbeat,…