Advertising at ‘The Walking Dead’ finale; Smirnoff promotes safe holiday drinking; Twitter closed its Brussels office
A weekly recap of major marketing and tech news you may have missed
Hi there! Happy Monday to you! ✌🏼
My sincere apologies for not delivering a newsletter to you last Monday - it’s been quite a hectic November and the time just didn’t permit me to create something valuable. 😞 I don’t want to send a newsletter your way just for the sake of doing it. That’s not the purpose at all.
Nevertheless, here is your weekly (-ish) edition of “5 Minutes of Marketing,” a newsletter delivering the latest marketing, business, and technology news.
The three main stories from Week 47 are: 5 brands join forces to celebrate the finale of The Walking Dead, Smirnoff launches social responsibility campaign to promote responsible drinking during the festive season, and Elon Musk closes Twitter’s Brussels (also called EU) office.
So, grab a cup of coffee ☕️ and let’s go!
👏🏼 5 brands joined forces to celebrate The Walking Dead finale
November 20th was the day when The Walking Dead finale was aired. For many, it’s the end of more than a decade of an epic TV show that pocketed 11 seasons, 177 episodes, 70 awards, 155 nominations, and lasted for 12 years. 🎥
To celebrate the momentous occasion, viewers who tuned in were unexpectedly treated to five ads with four infamous characters who died over the series' iconic 12-year run. This first-of-its-kind marketing moment was brought back to the afterlife by Ryan Reynolds’ Maximum Effort and AMC Networks’ Content Room. Kimmelot’s Dan Sanborn helped orchestrate the multi-faceted, multi-brand creative partnership.
The five ads from Autodesk, Deloitte, DoorDash, MNTN, and Ring can be viewed here.
“Ads should be fun,” commented Ryan Reynolds. “The Walking Dead has generated more cultural conversation over the last decade than any other property and we wanted to honor that by bringing a few characters back from the dead in some fun contextual ads.” 🧟♂️🧟♀️
For the five participating brands, being so seamlessly and creatively integrated into a show that captured global attention with its dystopian narrative and compelling characters was a no-brainer. And, the fact that multiple brands from various categories could easily take part in smart and daring creative speaks to the universal appeal of the long-running series. 💯
It also speaks volumes about brands’ relatability and how down-to-earth they are. It’s a great example to showcase brands’ personal connection with their customers and users. 👍🏼
“The Walking Dead” has proven to be a cultural touchstone, drawing in 15 to 17 million same-day viewers at its peak. While the 177-episode zombie apocalypse show waned in popularity over time, the five-brand collaboration speaks to the lingering relevance of linear TV and its potential to reach a wide audience.
💯 Social responsibility: Smirnoff promotes safe holiday drinking
Corporate responsibility has been a very hot topic over the past few years. More and more brands are pushed to take environmental, social, and governance (ESG) responsibility while driving their businesses forward. 👍🏼
ESG is a hot topic this festive season. While many businesses tend to ignore ESG for the sake of profits, consumers are becoming more and more demanding that brands put more effort into becoming more involved. 🤩
Smirnoff has released its Drops of Advice animated videos to promote responsible drinking during the festive season. ⛔️🍸
Timed to the holiday season, which typically sees an uptrend in alcohol-induced injuries and incidents, Smirnoff is looking to keep consumers safe. Drops of Advice features six visually-appealing animations with small tidbits of advice geared towards healthy drinking habits and include “When drinking, food is your friend,” Avoid top-ups,” “Dance freely, drink responsibly,” “Keep an eye on your friends,” “Stay hydrated” and “It’s okay to call it a night.” 👏🏼🙌🏼
Stills and prints from the animations will appear in Be Wildly Responsible pop-up bars around the world. 🤩
I’d like to see more similar initiatives coming from supermarket chains, online marketplaces, malls, etc. as the year-end festive season is so closely tied to over-consumerism. The wastage of food skyrockets; the purchases of unnecessary presents, small goodies, and purchases of replacement items (such as new phones, laptops, etc.) are a big problem, as these seemingly necessary purchases contribute to huge quantities of waste generated. 😪
More brands should start promoting responsible eating, drinking, and shopping. However, what Smirnoff has done is a great start and hopefully, more brands will follow the lead.
🤬 Twitter closes Brussels office leading to online safety concerns
Elon Musk has reportedly closed Twitter’s office in Brussels, raising fears around the social platform’s compliance with new EU laws covering big tech and hate speech. 🤯
The office was a small one, with under 10 staff, but was vital because of its relationship with the European Union, which last week introduced new laws for social media companies. The Telegraph reports the office was disbanded after a row over the policing of Twitter’s content in the region.
It follows the departure last week of Julia Mozer and Dario La Nasa, who were in charge of Twitter’s digital policy in Europe. The duo was responsible for getting Twitter in shape to comply with the EU’s Digital Services act, which came into force last week. 😕
The Financial Times also reported that the European Commission will publish figures showing how Twitter is failing to comply with the EU's disinformation code because its removals of hate speech have dropped by nearly 5% year-on-year. 🤔
Meanwhile, Musk has also said that Twitter will provide “general amnesty” to many suspended accounts from next week. He has already offered to reinstate the accounts of former US president Donald Trump and Kanye West. 😨
Fears about heightened levels of disinformation on the platform have grown since Musk's takeover after he allowed anyone to be verified for $8. That led to trolls pretending to be the likes of George W. Bush and former British prime minister, Tony Blair, as well as companies like McDonald's and Nintendo. 😡
Musk has since paused the paid verification scheme, but is likely to bring it back in the near future. 😬
Other interesting stories:
‘This is awkward’: World Cup sponsor Budweiser banned from selling beer in stadiums
How social media managers are coping with the Twitter debacle
Consumer confidence improves but marketers warned of dark days ahead
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