Who's in the Big Game
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The Business of Brands Digital Edition January 25, 2021 Who’s in the Big Game The Super Bowl ad playing field will have a few surprises this year PLUS What’s in a name? Marketers make smart moves with new monikers— even if they draw snark In this issue January 25, 2021 Feature FIVE KEYS TO CREATING A COMPANY NAME FROM SCRATCH Why the weird-sounding “Stellantis” name for the Fiat Chrysler-Peugeot merger actually works. News THE WEEK AHEAD: JANUARY 25-29, 2021 A look at some of the happenings over the next five days of interest to marketers, agencies and media players. TRENDING A quick look at hot topics in the world of marketing, including Bernie Sanders’ viral mittens, the demise of the White House Diet Coke button and General Motors’ electric vehicle deal with Disney. On the cover: The Vince Lombardi Trophy is hoisted in the air. Image by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images In this issue January 25, 2021 PANDEMIC BOOSTS MEDIA CONSUMPTION PQ Media survey finds fastest growth in years even as advertising and marketing spending falls. 5 QUESTIONS WITH ALASTAIR MACTAGGART California’s consumer privacy crusader sounds off on his watershed legislation, standing up to Big Tech and whether new laws are in the works. WHO’S BUYING SUPER BOWL LV ADS? It remains to be seen how sectors heavily impacted by the pandemic, including typically big-spending automakers and movie studios, participate. HOW HEADER BIDDING WARS LED TO THE GOOGLE ANTITRUST CASE Ad tech rivals look back at how their “radical” idea became a focal point for investigations. OPINION: FIVE DIGITAL EXPERIMENTS THAT HELPED JOE BIDEN WIN THE PRESIDENCY Or, what marketers can learn from Jill Biden’s chicken Parmesan. How to contact Ad Age Email: [email protected]. See our masthead at AdAge.com/masthead to contact specific Contents copyright 2021 by Crain Communications Inc. editors and reporters. All rights reserved. For subscription information and delivery concerns, please email [email protected] or call (877) 320-1721 (in the U.S. and Send address changes to Ad Age, Audience Development Department, 1155 Canada) or (313) 446-0450 (all other locations). Gratiot Avenue, Detroit, Mich. 48207-2912. $4.99 a copy, $109 a year in the U.S. In Canada: $5.00 a copy, $239 per year, includes GST. Mexico $239, All Advertising: (212) 210-0139. other countries $429, includes a one-year subscription and expedited air Classified: (800) 248-1299. delivery. Four weeks’ notice required for change of address. Address all Library services: (313) 446-6000. subscription correspondence to Audience Development Department, Ad Age, News offices: New York: (212) 210-0100, Chicago: (312) 649-5200, 1155 Gratiot Avenue, Detroit, Mich. 48207-2912 (1-877-320-1721). Microfilm London: +44 (0) 794-123-7761. copies are available from ProQuest, 800-521-0600 or www.proquest.com. Ad For reprints, email Laura Picariello at Age is available for electronic retrieval on the NEXIS® Service (800-227-4908) [email protected], or call (732) 723-0569. and Dow Jones & Co. (800-522-3567). News Will Kimberly-Clark keep up? The Week Ahead: January 25-29, 2021 Jan. 25 Huggies are gaining Kimberly-Clark Corp. reports earnings, and eyes will be on market share. Courtesy whether it can maintain pandemic-fueled momentum for such Kimberly- brands as Cottonelle and Scott and fend off competition from Clark Corp. Procter & Gamble Co., which has consistently outperformed expectations in recent quarters. Huggies, while hurt by persistently low U.S. birth rates driven lower still by the pandemic, has been gaining share, with sales rising as sales of other K-C paper products slowed in recent weeks, according to IRI data from Evercore ISI. News Grounds for concern THE WEEK AHEAD: JANUARY 25-29, 2021 Jan. 26 Starbucks issues earnings report. The COVID outlook has taken a turn for the worse since the coffee giant last reported, and “it would not be surprising if Starbucks walks back some of the optimism expressed,” according to The Motley Fool. Johnson & Johnson reports earnings. Its most closely watched product is one the company has pledged not to make any profit on—a COVID-19 vaccine, a single-dose version that doesn’t require the advanced cold storage of those currently used in the U.S. The company is expected to release data from its Phase 3 clinical trial soon and may offer an update today. The rest of J&J’s business hasn’t been helped by the pandemic, with medical device sales off as procedures are delayed. Cough-and- cold product sales are off broadly, as pandemic prevention measures and more flu vaccinations are driving a big decline in respiratory illnesses other than COVID. COVID is cramping the outlook at Facebook’s fourth-quarter earnings arrive at 5 p.m. ET. The Starbucks. social network has plenty to discuss: Its suspension of Donald Starbucks Trump, its anti-disinformation efforts, how it’s going to adapt to Apple’s privacy changes, and much more that relates to the News Questions for McDonald’s THE WEEK AHEAD: JANUARY 25-29, 2021 strength of the digital ad marketplace. Jan. 28 McDonald’s fourth-quarter earnings report will serve as one of the clearest signals of how fast-feeders have continued to navigate the pandemic, thanks to drive- thru and increased delivery Denzel options. New questions for the Washington world’s largest restaurant chain include how it’s getting along stars in “The Little Things.” with its U.S. franchisees and if its overhauled chicken sandwiches Warner Bros. will stand out. Pictures Jan. 29 “The Little Things,” starring Denzel Washington, is out, and is the latest Warner Bros. flick released simultaneously on HBO Max and in theaters. Pinterest launches next phase of MORE augmented reality beauty regimen READING By Garett Sloane Agency Brief: How one shop is fighting Belgium’s pervasive drinking and driving problem By Lindsay Rittenhouse Return to Table of Contents News Cold comfort Trending Complied by E.J. Schultz A quick look at hot topics in the marketing, media and U.S. Sen. Bernie agency industries. For more on these and other trending Sanders with the mittens stories, visit AdAge.com that went viral. Saul Winner Loeb/AFP/ Bloomberg Forget REI, Columbia or any other highly advertised outdoor wear marketer—January’s cold-weather retail star is Vermont teacher Jen Ellis. Her homemade mittens for Sen. Bernie Sanders are getting major play thanks to the image of Sanders wearing them at last week’s inauguration that’s setting a new standard for virality in 2021. News Fizzled out TRENDING If you want a pair, sorry—they are sold out. But Quote of the week Ellis is sharing the love with Etsy, which might just be the biggest brand winner in all of this. “Bundle up in your car, sit on Loser the hood, put It’s no secret that Donald Trump loves Diet Coke. And while that might help the brand some chairs out” with his millions of followers, the brand failed —Texas-based attorney Larry Waks on using drive-in to get any bipartisan glow last week when theater venues during the pandemic as a replacement news came that Joe Biden dumped the ex- for live music concerts. Waks, president’s special Diet Coke button. who helped broker deals for the “Encore Drive-In Nights,” Popular appears on the latest edition of Ad Age’s “Marketer’s Brief” Our story on the aforementioned Bernie podcast, where he also talks about celebrity-backed booze. mittens sensation stole the show last week on AdAge.com. Also drawing tons of eyeballs was a story on a keyboard developed by the Brazilian arm of Condé Nast that suggests alternative words when a word deemed prejudiced or pejorative is typed. Pizza math Fans of frozen pizza will be hoping for a score of 3-14 (Pi in the Super Bowl, get it?). If that’s the score at any point during the Feb. 7 game, DiGiorno plans to tweet details to enter for a chance to score free pizza. The brand offered the same deal during last year’s Super Bowl, but that score was never 3-14. (The final score, if you’ve forgotten was Chiefs 31, 49ers 20.) News Booze and basketball TRENDING Chevy mouses around Tweet of the Week General Motors has enlisted Disney Jon Erlichman for its high-profile electric vehicle @JonErlichman push. The automaker says it will reveal its new Chevrolet Bolt EUV In 1999, Larry Page and Sergey Brin wanted to sell Google for and Bolt EV by teaming up with $750,000. Walt Disney World. Representatives They were rejected. did not disclose details, but we assume Mickey will be involved. Today, their combined stake in the company is worth $173 billion. From Milwaukee to Manila National Basketball Association teams have been doing booze deals for years—but here is a first: The Milwaukee Bucks just named Tanduay rum as an official sponsor, saying it is the only Filipino brand to partner with an NBA team. The pact 22 Jan 2021 includes co-branded packaging. Number of the week 22,000: Number of fans the National Football League has decided to let in to the Super Bowl on Feb. 7 at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium (capacity is about 66,000). The total includes 7,500 vaccinated health care workers. On the move Walgreens Boots Alliance global chief marketing Vineet Mehra officer is leaving for an undisclosed job in Silicon Valley. Contributing: Jessica Wohl Return to Table of Contents News Plugged in PANDEMIC BOOSTS MEDIA CONSUMPTION By Mike Juang No surprises here: The pandemic has made consumers more Working- from-home attached to their screens than ever before.