After a whirlwind of criticisms from the public of romanticizing slavery, Ancestry.com apologized and pulled down it’s recent commercial. The video attempted to explain the White heritage of many Black Americans by highlighting an interracial romantic snippet, but downplayed the gravity of slavery and its consequences.

This is not the first time a brand’s been deemed tone deaf (here is a list for more criticized ads if you fancy some Friday entertainment). There wasn’t a single major social site that didn’t jump on the topic of Kendall Jenner’s Pepsi ad.

Especially as marketers, we’re tempted to simplify these situations with, “How did this ever get passed so many people?”. But this serves as a lesson for us to consider when reviewing our own work:

First is if we’re understanding our people well. Have we put ourselves in their shoes? When speaking to a niche audience, do we simplify them into boxes and stereotypes, or consider the possibility of being a wider spectrum? Do we stop to question what terms have become “normal” in the industry, or make effort use appropriate terms like Latin X and Black Americans instead of Hispanics and African Americans? Our lingo makes a difference especially to the younger audience like Millennials and Gen Z who are more conscious and take it personally.

Secondly, in our processes and structure, are we giving a platform for different opinions to be expressed, concerns to be voiced, and constructive criticisms to be shared? Do we mirror diversity in our decision making – cultural, gender, expression?

Third, we know different demographics have different values & consumption trends, take Gen Z for example who are more likely to connect and support brands that align with their values yet often prefer to consume content that’s funny, bizarre, and unexpected (i.e. memes, dark humor, ‘finstas’). So, to speak to them authentically, brands have the responsibility to walk the font fine line between voicing values/opinions whilst communicated often in a fun and light-hearted way.

Understanding the human mindset is not as simple as an algorithm (even though sometimes algorithms push the boundaries to do it better). We need to consider these key points to ensure we’re developing a larger brand voice that is fitting and natural for the specific target in mind.

Students and University administrations are creating Instagram accounts such as @Penn2023 and @WashU2023 to create a space for prospective students to make friends, share tips for classes and/or transportation, etc. before they came on campus. Each student sends in a picture of themselves and a short bio to the account, and each school’s account will validate and posts on the account.

While traditionally, universities have created these accounts on Facebook, they’re quickly adapting to the platforms that are being utilized by this audience – the freshmen Class of 2023 is the Instagram generation rather than the Facebook generation.

Currently, these accounts are not recognized as “official” school accounts, but this trend is growing throughout the US to proliferate into more schools. What this means for brands is that sponsoring activities are no longer on campus ground, or even bound to the traditional fall to summer time. Since most acceptance letters go out during spring, there’s an online opportunity to sponsor these prospective students during the 6-8 months before they are even physically on campus!

San Francisco may become the first city to ban facial recognition software with an ordinance called ‘Stop Secret Surveillance’. Many are starting to view this technology as an invasion of privacy and gathering of information for unknown purposes. Under this ordinance, surveillance technology includes license plate readers, biometrics (Iris and facial scanners), and software that allegedly forecasts criminal activity. Part of what ignited this ordinance is China’s current surveillance and monitoring of Muslim citizens.

While AI is growing and being refined, we must consider consumer’s negative perspectives, which largely is the presumption that their privacy is becoming threatened. As we’ve seen before, data leaks and hacks have left many consumers weary of sharing their data. While using AI such as voice activation/recognition, AR and other new forms of technology are innovating for brands, there still needs to be conscious efforts to gain their consumer trust and data protection.

L’Oreal is using their products as infographics to show the disparity of women leadership in their new ad campaign ‘This is for Men’. Despite being a female centric brand, these ads are largely directed at men. Born from the insight that that Germany still only has 8.6% of publicly listed board members as women *study by the Peterson Institute for International Economics, the University of Arizona Eller College of Management and Korn Ferry Hay Group.

Taking a social stance as a brand is always a risky move. Yet, when attempting to authentically communicate with an audience, a social stance may be a leeway to integrating and gaining trust with these audiences. When considering other brands who have taken a stance, such as Nike’s recent Colin Kaepernick campaign; it clearly caused a divide between the Nation, yet it did cement Nike’s authenticity when speaking to multicultural audiences and resulted in 31% increase in sales days following the campaign launch. As Jack continues to find ways to reach multicultural audiences, being aware of what causes r& tension points resonate with these multicultural communities is as important as the way we communicate to them, to speak authentically when looking for their business.

Snapchat releases “Landmarkers” lens that allow to detect manmade structures and transform them into different visuals using AR. Now when you face your camera to the Eiffel Tower, you can add in fireworks or movie characters climbing the tower or even create it into a character spitting rainbows out of its mouth. Snap partnered with the creator community to design lenses for over 5 landmarks around the world and is planning to roll out more. We expect entertainment and gaming brands to quickly jump on this opportunity to promote their characters and new releases – Why not have a haunting scene at the Santa Cruz boardwalk to promote the movie “Us”? Rather than running traditional banners within Sports stadiums, should we instead bring outlier statues to life with Jack?

During Snap’s Partner Summit in April, Snap also released updates to its AR technology that can now:

• Read and solve math problems
• Recognize shoppable items and pull up online shopping options
• Listen to music that’s playing and provide streaming links
• Characterize real life food or other items on screen

When it comes to especially Gen Z, Snapchat falls in the top 3 social media channels. While Snap started with AR as its main bread and butter, we’re seeing that they’re involving its partners like Shazam and Pandora in improving the technology. We can expect other social media channels like Instagram to follow incorporating these features within their own platforms as well.

Earlier this year, following their reveal at CES, Impossible Foods announced its partnership with Burger King to make meatless Whoppers. Now Beyond Meat, a competitor to Impossible Foods for plant-based meat alternatives, will co-star in Del Taco’s Beyond Taco.

The movement toward meatless options in the QSR world shows no sign of stopping anytime soon. Many competitors have already put their stake in the ground – Carl’s Jr.’s veggie burger with Beyond Meat, A&W’s Beyond Burger, Quesada’s Beyond Meat Burrito, and Ellen has been petitioning for McDonald’s to add in a vegan option also.

Offering vegan options and meatless alternatives is becoming the key ingredient in not only being ‘in’ and following the trend, but also expressing diversity. Especially since Millennials and Gen Z are known to support brands that align with their values, QSR brands can use this to stand up for environmentally friendly options. What are we doing at Jack to cater to this growing trend, and provide an option for those who stand for Different Rules in their own right?

Space, the final frontier… for advertising? It was reported that PepsiCo originally had plans to advertise its product through a space orbital billboard, but it seems they have allegedly decided to drop their plans. Regardless, the PR aspect has been achieved. Using a Russian startup, StartRocket, they allegedly planned to promote their new energy drink, ‘Adrenaline Rush’, by using small satellites and the reflection of the sun. There is no clear reason why PepsiCo decided to distance themselves from this report, yet it does fuel thought for what OOH advertising is capable of.

OOH billboards still often play in the traditional space, but it does not mean it can’t be innovative. Window 4 OOH planning seems to be a testament to how different Jack is looking to re-imagine OOH. Our planned OOH barricade, while true to its traditional roots, is innovative in how OOH can garner attention. Though space may not quite be in the immediate sights for Jacks and other brands, innovating and reimagining a traditionally viewed media still allows a space for creativity.

In celebration of 4/20, a widely celebrated cannabis day, Carl’s Jr sold CBD infused burgers at one location in Denver, Colorado. The burger was offered for one day only and appropriately named the “Rocky Mountain High: Cheeseburger Delight”. While this may look like a limited publicity stunt, there are serious talks in making this product permanent in various locations.

The historical Cannabis’ stigma seems to be fading in certain demographics and states, and while it may not be entirely socially acceptable right now, Carl’s Jr, saw an opportunity to test out this edgy product in an area they knew would be most susceptible. While CBD does not have the same “stoner” effects as THC, they were able to still attract cannabis enthusiasts. Jack in the box has a base of cannabis users, that we indirectly communicate with, in contrast to Carl’s Jr who are openly and authentically speaking to this audience. There’s still an early opportunity for us to really own this space, one that we’ve already created an association within if we are willing to be more daring in our direct communication.

 

Buffalo Wild Wings recently used former, well known collegiate basketball players for an Instagram stories push that aimed to shame fans for not watching March Madness college basketball games. The campaign was targeted so that fans of specific schools would get the message from one of these former players while their school’s game was on TV. The goal was to personalize the message for fans of these schools while games were on to increase the brand’s engagement with college basketball fans. The chain as also posting steadily to social media with video clips, re-tweets from customers, and polls to urge viewers to have fun watching games at its bars rather than isolating themselves at home.  It is too early to tell whether this multichannel effort around March Madness would help viewership, but CBS Sports and Turner Sports reported that ratings were increased 8% during the first week of the tournament compared to last year.

This is a case of Buffalo Wild Wings really understanding their audience, primarily male sports fans. Wings are a facet of viewing parties and they are positioning themselves as the bridge between those two things: sports fans and viewing parties. All people feel a sense of a pride with the university they graduated from and this feeling is only increased during March Madness. With Jack in the Box being heavily invested in professional sports teams, this can be a great idea for Jack to use as a platform to connect with our college audience as well. Perhaps, JIB can also use certain moments (maybe not the scale of March Madness) to determine a CTA to get a group of people to visit the nearest JIB location. For example, maybe after a music festival/concert, we can utilize artists to urge their fans to hit up Jack in the Box for a great late night meal on their way home.

The US Esports audience is not likely to reach Super Bowl proportions anytime soon, but viewer numbers are expected to top 46 million in 2023. As Esports viewership grows, so do the vital links between this emerging world of competitive gaming and the traditional sports industry. The NBA sees the rise of professional gaming as an opportunity to expand its own audience and bring in non-endemic advertising partners. In 2018, the National Basketball Association launched the NBA 2K League, becoming the first US professional sports organization to have an Esports league of its own. Based around the popular NBA 2K video game series, Esports players compete in 5-on-5 games throughout a season running from spring to summer. As Esports grows, it will also bring in more viewers outside of its direct niche.

Since JIB is invested in many NBA teams already (such as Lakers, Mavericks, Warriors), it may be keen to look into the possible sponsorships or activations with these new Esports teams as well. With the NBA being the first US Sports organization to have an Esports league of its own, it is only a matter of time before other sports leagues follow suit. Not only is this a great way to reach cord cutters, but there is also a big opportunity with Twitch, which has over 15 million daily active users. As this world of NBA 2K League becomes more widespread, many of these Esports enthusiasts will make the cross over to check out this league as well and start to follow more of these type of professional gamers. Overall, activating with this new 2K League would provide synergy with our other sports properties while also extending a presence with an important known audience-gamers.