Brands That Matter

How good are you at giving gifts? According to a national survey commissioned by Etsy, 75% of Americans believe that being a good gift giver is important and shows someone how much they mean to you, but 64% feel it takes a lot of effort to find the perfect gift.Now the $8.4 billion market cap e-commerce company is launching a new product called Gift Mode, to make narrowing down the more than 100 million things for sale on its platform a lot easier. It’s also a strategy to differentiate itself in a world where virtually…

The consistent allure of sports is in the pursuit of an unknown outcome. If a competitor or team wins the championship, can they do it again? If they lose, can they come back again and win? The scenario is played out every single day or every single year across every professional sport. Billions of dollars in TV rights and fan tickets, year in and year out, are a testament to its lasting attraction. It’s also the genius of FanDuel’s 2024 Super Bowl ad strategy.   Last year, the fantasy sports and betting platform created…

The Super Bowl is the, uh, Super Bowl of many things—from avocado consumption to house parties. Among the second Sunday in February’s claims to fame, it’s also the Super Bowl of sports betting. According to a 2023 American Gaming Association survey, approximately 50.4 million American adults were expected to bet on last year’s Super Bowl 57, wagering an estimated $16 billion. That’s a huge boost from 2022, when it was 31.4 million Americans betting $7.6 billion.As we head toward Super Bowl 58, Tums, the venerable…

Giannis Antetokounmpo is one of the biggest, most popular stars in the NBA. He led his team to the 2021 title, was named Finals MVP that year, and has been named league overall MVP twice. Yet the 29-year-old, who was raised in Greece, has never been back to his parents homeland of Nigeria. Until now. Ugo: A Homecoming Story is a new documentary short from WhatsApp that chronicles the star’s first journey to Nigeria, seeing, touching, and feeling a country, culture, and family members he’d only experienced from afar.…

On the same day that Apple announced it would start shipping its new Apple Vision Pro headset in the U.S. on February 2, the brand launched a new ad to hype the mixed-reality piece of hardware. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqTIB_q40boCreated by TBWA Media Arts Lab, the spot is called “Get Ready,” and is a pop culture ride through the possibilities of strapping something onto your face. Set to Devo’s “Uncontrollable Urge,” the ad goes from Young Frankenstein to Star Wars to Ant-Man to Snoopy to SpongeBob to Star Trek’s…

The two snack brands are among the winners of Foxtrot Market’s 2023 Up and Comers Awards announced last week, a competition to find the tastiest, most interesting, and compelling new food brands in America. Ever since the first Foxtrot store opened in Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood in 2015, the convenience store has stocked its shelves with products that have a local connection or a social-impact component. As a result, it’s become a unique trendsetter in food and snacks.Now with 32 locations across four cities—Austin,…