Marketing Dojo #65: ⛔Stop Influencing, 🎬 Start Creating.
Instagram's algorithm update, Adidas' marketing reset, Batman-inspired B2B ad.
Hello Everyone,
The Beatles released their album Let It Be on May 8th, 54 years ago.
Ironically, "Let It Be" is the mantra I find myself repeating as I wade through a sea of doubt. The writing course I am enrolled in is nearing its end; I don't feel my writing skills have magically improved overnight.
I am no closer to a banger of a 1000-word essay than I am expected to churn out by the end of the program. I have already begun to reframe the measure of success of this course in my mind. But I am not giving up yet—that comes later.
It's not the only Batman reference in this week's newsletter.
In this issue of the Marketing Dojo, we will cover:
👟 Can marketing save Adidas?
📸 Originals Only On Instagram
🎬 Creative Excellence: Christopher Nolan Style
👠 Meme-time: Rihanna, Met Gala & Lead Generation
Let's dive right in.
Will Marketing Be Adidas’ Knight In Shining Armour?
Adidas' U-turn on marketing is pure music to my ears.
Last week, Adidas turned green with a better than expected profit in Q1,2024. The knight in shining armour? Adidas' "overinvestment" in marketing.
Adidas has weathered a storm of challenges recently, including sluggish sales, slow adaptation, fierce competition, and an oversupply of their popular Yeezy sneakers. These factors, combined with heavy discounting and a shift away from brand building, significantly impacted the brand's profitability and market share.
Adidas' primary competitor, Nike, spends well over $1 Billion a quarter on marketing. No wonder Nike holds the pole position in the hyper-competitive sports footwear industry. It is also Gen Z's favourite brand.
In Q1, 2024, Adidas increased its marketing investments to $716 million, planning to increase the budget to 12% of the top line.
Adidas intends to regain some of its sheen by moving away from discounting and focusing on brand-building in the long term.
Will they or won't they? I'm rooting for the brand to Samba back into the spotlight.
Podcast Recommendation: How ASOS Is Hoping To Get Back Its Marketing Mojo.
There's one more brand that steered too deep into a discounting strategy and let its brand image suffer —ASOS.
But there's hope. I highly recommend Marketing Week's Podcast- This Much I Learned: Asos's Top Marketer on Transforming a Brand.
Asos's Vice President of Customer, Dan Elton, shares his unique and raw experience of what leads organizations to prioritize short-term growth and how he is trying to turn the tide at Asos.
Put on your headphones and experience this marketing masterclass.
Stop Influencing, Start Creating.
Instagram's algorithm is turning more into TikTok's. What's new with that? I am betting this algorithm change will fundamentally alter the IG experience and the importance of follower counts and creator payouts.
Instagram announced four significant changes to IG Reels
Enhanced Distribution for Newcomers: A new ranking input boosts smaller creators' visibility.
Focus on Originality: Recommendations will now prioritize original content over reposts.
Credits to Creators: Reposted content will feature labels linking to the original creator.
No More Aggregators: Content aggregators will be removed from recommendations.
Reels' popularity will hinge more on engagement than the creator's follower count. By valuing content quality and originality, Instagram mirrors TikTok's approach and supports a broader range of creators.
Also, promoting smaller creators will spread Instagram's Creator funds to a longer tail. Most IG creators will see their payouts from the platform decreasing (similar to TikTok).
Given the changes, Brands and Advertisers should rethink the criteria for influencer selection. Three big factors:
Follower Count Less Crucial: The choice of influencer can now be independent of the follower count.
Content Quality is King: Quality of the content & how the content resonates with their audiences will hold a higher weightage.
Mitigate Algorithm Risks: De-risk from the increasingly unpredictable algorithm by paid promotion of the influencer content.
Why did IG take this long to move towards a TikTok-like algorithm? It tried, and it FAILED.
In 2022, IG had to roll back its TikTok style changes after the platform's two biggest creators, Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner, led a digital protest.
Will Instagram stand its ground this time around? What do you think?
Creative Excellence: Batman B2B Begins.
Poke some fun at your customer's pain point - if that sounds like terrible advice, it isn't. Teamwork's B2B ad doesn't have high production value or celebrities. But it has gone viral.
I only found out about Teamwork.com when someone reposted their ad on my feed. It's a hilarious take on Christopher Nolan's masterpiece Batman Begins and features every agency person's nightmare—THE CLIENT.
Meme-Time: Rihanna, Met Gala and a WhitePaper.
My X and Insta feeds are filled with Met Gala looks. Although I am fashion illiterate, I am a meme fanatic.
I need more time to appreciate this year's Met Meme Gala, but I want to appreciate the look that made the B2B marketer in me chuckle last year.
Ever felt desperate for leads? I've been there, dressing up my sales pitch to look like a whitepaper. The results? I am 🤐.
Here's a meme dedicated to Queen Rihana's look at the Met Gala last year. It's an ode to wretched B2B marketers.
Swipe File: Creative B2B Advertising.
If you are in B2B marketing and lament the dearth of creativity, here's a cheer-me-up.
Cute squirrels, handwritten notes, weirdly wrong product photographs and memes - this collection of impactful B2B ads proves that there's hope.
Short Stuff:
Google paid Apple $20Bn annually to become Safari's default search engine. (The value of defaults).
Snapchat announced new Augmented Reality & Machine Learning tools for advertisers to create interactive customer experiences (Yet another interesting Snap experiment).
What ad should I create? Microsoft integrates its AI-powered productivity assistant, Copilot, into its advertising platform (Microsoft is going full steam ahead with Gen AI use cases).
That’s a wrap on this week. Thank you for your time and attention. If you liked this week’s newsletter or found something interesting, please give me a like ❤️ or drop a comment🗨️. Your support helps drive the newsletter's discoverability.
Once again, thank you for your time. See you in your inbox next Wednesday.
Regards,
Garima Mamgain
P.S:
Look, Mom, I am on TV!
I popped up on Singapore's national TV programming for a bit. My five seconds of fame are thanks to a walk I attended this Women's Day.
The organizers paired me with my sponsor, Tian Chong, CEO of Singtel Singapore, for a walk around Marina Bay.
"Think not just of the next role but the next two roles"- he advised me. More on our conversation here.
No—interviewing for Channel News Asia after a long, sweaty 3 km walk around Marina Bay is not ideal. But for a few minutes, here I am - sharing my story of sponsorship on national news.