BTS’ Jungkook is the new face of Calvin Klein.
This week's marketing winners, losers and newsmakers
Calvin Klein: After announcing BTS heartthrob Jungkook as its newest brand ambassador last month, the fashion brand reaped the benefit of the singer’s surprise appearance this week at a Calvin Klein store event in Seoul. The #JungkookxCalvinKlein hashtag was trending as a result.
Etsy: Engaged couples lamenting the loss of Bed Bath & Beyond have a new registry option. Citing an uptick in searches for handmade gifts, craft marketplace Etsy said it will have its own registry option, in operation this week, for gift ideas. The Brooklyn-based company also noted this year’s wedding trends include “lovecore”—hearts, roses and pink and red hues.
NBA: LeBron James and Steph Curry keep powering the league to ratings wins. Game 4 of the Lakers-Warriors playoff series on TNT averaged 7.5 million viewers, which makes it the biggest NBA audience on cable since Game 4 of the 2019 Western Conference Finals on ESPN, reports sportsmediawatch.com. Meantime, sponsorship spending on the NBA is up 2% from last year and 11% from 2019, according to a new report from engagement marketing firm Kore. “The NBA sponsorship marketplace is thriving, and the league is second in the United States behind only the NFL in total sponsorship spend,” said Kore Head of Sponsorship Intelligence RJ Kraus in a statement.
Read more: NBA CMO discusses marketing plans for the Finals
Volkswagen Group: The German automaker’s meeting in Berlin was interrupted this week by environmental and labor activists. The complaints include allegations that a VW plant in Xinjiang, China, uses forced labor—which VW execs denied. Automotive News reported that one of the protesters “threw a piece of cake at Wolfgang Porsche, 80, chairman of Porsche SE, VW Group's majority shareholder, but missed, with crumbs flying in the direction of VW Group Chairman Hans Dieter Poetsch.”
MTV News: The news division of the cable network will be shut down, a victim of Paramount cost cuts announced this week. “What launched as a single show in 1987 (“The Week in Rock,” led by correspondent Kurt Loder) eventually became a bona fide news outlet for Gen X and older millennials who found that traditional TV programming on the broadcast networks and CNN wasn’t cutting it,” reported The Hollywood Reporter. Many observers paid tribute by pointing out some of the stories MTV News broke in its heyday.
Peloton: More bumps in the road for Peloton. The fitness brand announced it is recalling 2.2 million bikes due to a faulty seat post that could break and injure riders. The recall, which sent the brand’s stock down more than 10%, is of course not Peloton’s first. The brand notoriously delayed a recall of its treadmills two years ago.
86%: The share of consumers who say they will celebrate Mother’s Day, compared with 79% for Father’s Day, according to a poll from Numerator. But 57% of Father’s Day celebrators plan to purchase gifts, compared with only 52% for Mother’s Day. Sorry moms.
“All airlines post-pandemic are slugging it out for the same leisure traveler. Suddenly it’s Delta, American, Southwest, United all trying to get that young leisure traveler who is revenge traveling and that has necessitated better marketing. The game’s gotten harder so brands have to fight harder and that’s yielding better creative.” –Carl Mueller, co-head of strategy at 72andSunny, on why airlines are injecting more creativity into their advertising.
Acquia, a digital customer experience provider, appointed Jennifer Griffin Smith as its first chief market officer. She had been chief marketing officer at Brightcove.
The Lego Group hired Pia Chaudhuri as global creative lead, play inclusion for its internal agency. She had been executive creative director at BMF in Australia.
Phononic, a cooling products company, hired Gulbin Hoeberechts as chief marketing officer. She was most recently senior VP of marketing at AAA Smart Home.
Amazon promoted Stacey Rosenson to head of sports marketing for Prime Video. She had previously been leading product marketing for Amazon Alexa and Amazon Ads.
