Allen Adamson's Blog

As a football fan and a branding professional, I’m looking forward to the Super Bowl. Kansas City and San Francisco are great teams and, sure, there’s Travis and Taylor. But, while I certainly appreciate the play on the field, I’m much more adept at being armchair quarterback when it comes to refereeing the advertising. Given that many of the ads are available for pre-game viewing, I’m here to make a call on what I’ve seen.

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Now, the theory of how to make a winning Super Bowl spot is pretty straightforward. You need a differentiated brand story (Super Bowl ads should aim to sell something), and brilliant creative execution. But, like the game, the theory is far easier than pulling off the execution.

Given my criteria, I’d say that more of the 2024 Super Bowl ads flail than win. Some stumble because they don’t check the “hey, look at me” box. For all the time and money spent, they’re likely not to get noticed, let alone remembered. They’re invisible, blend into the pixels. Then, there are myriad brands that do, absolutely, check the “memorable” box, but usually the result of celebrity endorsers or some other gimmicky borrowed interest (sock puppets, anyone?). Whether the antics of Tina Fey or Kate McKinnon, the icon power of Tom Brady or Lionel Messi, or the musical beats of Post Malone or Addison Rae, viewers will definitely talk about these ads, but may not recollect the product or service being sold, nor the reason they should buy it. They’ll be all in on the no-biz-like-showbiz aspect, but miss the message the business sponsor intended. The spots may sizzle, but the ROI stakes will likely fizzle.

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Then, there are ads I deem to be very good, but that had the potential to be great. In the spirit of the day, they fumble on the ten-yard line. They’re close to achieving what amounts to a marketing touchdown, but there’s a bit of interference. Take beauty brand Dove’s ad, “Hard Knocks,” for example, the company’s first body positivity spot in the Super Bowl in nearly 20 years. The ad, produced by Ogilvy, puts the spotlight on the statistic that 45% of girls quit sports by age 14 because of low body confidence. The message is that what keeps girls from staying in the game is more the emotional trauma they can face during a time when their bodies are changing than the physical knocks they may face when engaged in participating.

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Going beyond any particular product feature, and building on Dove’s “Campaign for Real Beauty” platform,“Hard Knocks" stems from a great strategy and has a compelling story to tell, especially given the heightened awareness of the influence of social media on preteen and teenage self-image. So, why am I throwing a flag?

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Yes, Dove did have the “right” playbook factors to win. It had the right strategy, the right story, wonderful casting and top-notch production, including familiar sing-along music from the Broadway blockbuster, Annie. Going forward, the brand even has the right line-up of campaign ambassadors, including Kylie Kelce, wife of NFL star Jason Kelce. But, with all that was “right,” there was one essential factor that Dove missed: an emotional connection. In my book, the ad doesn’t hold together. From upbeat to somber, back to upbeat, there are simply too many emotive transitions in this 30-second spot for it to qualify as “brilliant.” In advertising, as in football, getting it 90 percent of the way to the goal line doesn’t matter. Success is driven by nailing the execution 100 percent.

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I’ve always been a fan of Dove’s campaigns and their efforts to champion self-esteem for girls. To date, their initiatives in this arena have been impressive, reaching more than 100 million young people globally in 150 countries since 2004. So, while I may have given Dove’s 2024 Super Bowl ad a bit of a hard knock, I do want to give them – and the women of all ages they support – my vote of confidence. My marketing two cents made, let’s watch some football.

"Necessity is the mother of invention" may be a well-worn proverb, but this expression's reality was significantly tested during the pandemic. When the need to do something differently became imperative, we were all forced to find new ways to get or achieve it. Some of these things were more consequential than others, the reinvention of the schoolroom and the workplace, for example, and, obviously, the attainment of healthcare. As for other everyday activities, we quickly came up with workarounds. The way we shopped, for instance, which, then, necessitated a lot of sending back items that didn't meet our expectations. Suffice it to say; we were all doing a lot of online ordering – and returning.

We are still doing a lot of online ordering and returning. And, although not generally out of necessity anymore, nor at quite the volume we experienced during the pandemic, the practice has still accelerated. This rapid growth of e-commerce and online shopping has brought about a significant rethink in how we consume, spawning an entirely new world of retail and adjacent services, predominantly on the buying side. There has been little inventiveness when it comes to the process of sending all those boxes and packages back. The one segment of this category that seems to have been overlooked by retailers and marketers alike is the area of returns.

Customers certainly want to be sure they can return items easily and conveniently if unsatisfied with a purchase. A complicated returns process for many people negates the benefit of shopping online in the first place. But, ultimately, nothing much has changed in the category, whether it's free returns, being able to download a barcode, or tracking a package on its way back. A sea of sameness from one retailer to the next; it's free; here's a label, take it to UPS, or pop it into a FedEx drop box. A herd mentality, table stakes, at best.

Like it or not, we have all become shipping and receiving professionals. This is not an issue for one or two packages a week. But has any marketer taken a hard look at what's been happening out there over the past couple of years? Has anyone looked at the consumer experience? For example, the lengthy lines at the post office and similar outposts. Or, the city apartment buildings where boxes and packages of every shape and size surround doormen.

Visiting my daughter at college recently, I walked to her sorority house. I saw boxes from every conceivable retailer piled high by the door and used shipping boxes inside every corner. There was no printer to be found and I suspect that no one in the house has ever been to a post office.

No one is paying attention to the more significant consumer issue in the macro sense, the accumulating parcels and the cumulative effect of this new way of shopping. Marketers are supposed to solve problems. Who is looking to solve this one?

This topic was part of an interesting conversation with Sam Sterling, a Managing Director of Strategy at AKQA, a design and company owned by WPP. Sam has worked in Shanghai for many years, one of the world's most rapidly growing and quickly changing marketplaces. Her job as a strategist requires her to get inside consumers' heads to create initiatives that are compelling and, more broadly, to help brands stay different and relevant. Relative to the new consumption models, she emphasized that it's essential to have a clear understanding of customer needs and preferences, including how they shop, how they want to receive their purchases, and what their expectations are for returns and sustainability.

She and I agreed that it's too easy to say this can be achieved through customer research, data analysis, and feedback mechanisms. Realistically, the answer is as banal and time-consuming as good old-fashioned observation and personal experience. Paying heed to those long lines at the post office, or the doormen inundated by mounds of parcels should indicate the opportunities for a better solution. Similarly, the necessity for providing personal data and the rising awareness of the vulnerabilities of an increased "digital footprint," should prove fertile ground for reinvention. As she put it, someone should be on the lookout for "what comes next."

That said, the trick is in being able to see, and then seize, an opportunity before someone else does. This requires breaking from the herd in both perspective and creativity and looking through a different lens than the competition. When it comes to the return process, many businesses offer incremental changes, such as drop-off points at convenient locations and even at-home pick-up services. However, cost or economies of scale can make this difficult. And, anyway, incremental is not a game-changer. That said, we are witnessing the beginning of a wave of third-party businesses emerging – those reimagining the process of sending back unwanted goods. Among them is ReturnQueen, which acts as an interface layer between consumer and retailer, handling the legwork associated with preparing a return.

Launched in 2021 by Dasya Katz and Daphna Englard, two moms with kids, hectic schedules, and endless items to return, they thought: Wouldn't it be nice if you could tap a button to make all the boxes disappear – and watch the refunds roll in? Their mission was to "provide fast, easy, stress-free returns for all." Whether a parent in desperate need of more free time, someone with back-to-back meetings, or somebody who prefers to order two sizes and three colors in the same style, ReturnQueen is an excellent example of Sam's "what comes next" in the area of returns management.

Yes, ReturnQueen is a small start-up, but its launch demonstrates that someone is paying attention. The founders spotted a consumer problem before any of the larger players in the category did and are aiming to deliver an easier and more convenient way to send back the stuff we order and don't want. These marketers looked at what consumers were experiencing and, rather than making incremental changes, took steps to wholly reinvent the category. Whether ReturnQueen will succeed is yet to be seen, but at least they're trying. Whether the bigger players, Amazon or FedEx or eBay or anyone with extensive logistics expertise will jump into the market is also yet to be seen. The bottom line is that ReturnQueen took a break from the herd. Good old-fashioned observation of consumer behavior, along with personal necessity, led them to an inventive opportunity that others did not see, let alone seize. I wish them well in their venture (and am glad to relinquish my role as household manager of shipping and receiving).

Among the many things I remember about the arrival of our first child (and second) those many years ago is the arrival of baby gear. In no time at all, our serene living space was chock-a-block with the clutter of bassinets and bouncy seats, pack n’ plays and strollers, high chairs and Fisher Price toys. Like many parents whose children have left the nest, some of these things are quietly gathering dust in our basement keeping company with long-neglected exercise equipment.

To be sure, babies are very cute. The oodles of stuff they require (or their parents think they require), not so much. The time spent reviewing the latest products, the money spent, and the aforementioned basements filled with outdated paraphernalia can be frustrating. But, generation to generation, the way families have geared up for these tiny instigators has seemed pretty much the only way - until this generation of parents came along. It is a demographic not only accustomed to doing things differently, the result of technological, societal, and cultural shifts, but open to opportunities to make the experiences of everyday life easier and more satisfying.

This mindset is one factor driving the fast-growing number of “experience disruptors” dominating today’s market. These businesses are providing value, and enjoying incredible success, not by transforming products, but by transforming how we do the things we do every day. They are identifying ways to make these daily routines meaningfully different and better. They are rethinking, disrupting, and delivering innovative new approaches to how we travel, shop, invest, hold meetings, keep our wardrobes current, feed our pets, get healthcare and, yes, prepare for life with a new baby. This focus on the consumer experience, not solely on product, has enabled these businesses to drive remarkable growth, increase customer loyalty and, in many cases, to create totally new marketplace categories.

Back to talk of babies, Loop is one of the newest members of the family of experience disruptors, joining Airbnb, Chewy, Stitch Fix, BetterHelp, Zoom and a host of others whose founders identified a way to meaningfully change up the stuff of daily life. The stress of knowing what products to get, the wasted money, the quickly-outgrown gear, were problems that Henry Vogel, the founder of Loop knew inherently. The father of four children, he looked at his situation, looked at the category, and saw an opportunity that others had overlooked. He realized that most new parents accumulate a lot of stuff that has a much longer life in the world than it has in their home. Other companies had great success going the “rental route,” he asked himself, why not the durable baby goods market?

Loop’s full-service membership model allows families to rent top-rated toys and baby gear with none of the challenges of reviewing and sourcing, nor the difficulties of purchase and set-up. They enjoy the convenience, confidence and flexibility of trying and using multiple items when they need them without the hassle, cost or environmental impact of ownership. Its members are part of the growing community of parents for whom sustainability is a critical motivator. By renting, not buying, they are also demonstrating an awareness of the benefits of the sharing economy, a business model that is fast gaining traction among across multiple categories.

I had the pleasure of speaking to Ali Weiss, who recently succeeded Henry Vogel as chief executive officer of Loop, about the company, and specifically its emphasis on sustainability. “Before its launch, the team was doing research about early family formation,” she told me. “They found that this new generation of parents is more minimalist. They want less clutter. They care less about stuff, want a different energy in their homes, and are much more engaged in experiences. More than this, they are used to participating in circular economies. They are interested in and excited about sharing. We think of the word “Loop” as a verb. The items in our inventory are looped many times, used by many families, reaching their full potential before being retired.”

While the idea that baby gear and toys can be passed along, lent by one family to another, is not new, Loop makes the process far more convenient and, as Ali said, “high-touch.” “It’s not just rental. There is an inherent emotional component to our mission. We’re very focused on the curation aspect of the business. The one-to-one. We’ve created an experience wherein we help people determine what’s right for them, lowering the risk of having them end up with the wrong product. As a mom of two daughters, I immediately understood the values of Loop’s mission, not just to give parents back time and money to invest in their families, but to help them feel more confident that they’re making the best decisions.”

Loop launched in March 2021 and, since then the company has seen consistent double-digit growth in its membership base, tripling this base since the start of the year. A great many of Loop’s new consumers can be attributed to word-of-mouth recommendations, a key factor in the company’s rising success. “Our proof of concept is in the Loop experience,” Ali said. “Word of mouth is probably the most essential marketing tool when it comes to parents. There are any number of critical touch points that can make or break the experience - the products, the logistics, the warehousing, the customer care. You can have a great value proposition, but if you’re not delivering on it, it’s not worth it. Our goal is to make the Loop experience extraordinary.”

The Loop experience, in and of itself, is very good reason for the company’s success. So, too, is the fact that today’s parents are not doing things the same way as have past generations. Consumers, in general, are growing increasingly accustomed to lifestyle solutions fueled by ease, technology and greater convenience. This is why experience disruption as a business model is dominating more and more categories. While we are all creatures of habit, we can be convinced to change if someone gives us a good reason to do so. Loop, like so many other businesses today, is doing just that. In its case, making parenting simpler, and simply more enjoyable.

It is not my custom to share dirty laundry with friends, family, let alone readers of my columns but, in this case, it provides good context for the branding topic at hand. So, here it is.

​After serving our family well for many years, our washing machine bit the dust, leaving us no choice but to purchase a new one. Beginning our search, both online and off, my wife and I were presented with a host of familiar names, from Maytag to Samsung to Whirlpool and GE. All were recognizable, each with generally good quality associations, yet there wasn’t one brand that stood out as representing something uniquely better or different, a factor which might have helped us quickly choose one versus another. Certain brand names, Apple being a prime example, are mental “shortcuts,” for consumers with buying decisions such as ours. With “shortcut” brands, there’s little need to get into compare and contrast mode. The brand name, in and of itself, triggers powerful feature-based associations, as well as strong emotional cues. When a brand name doesn’t help you sort through the sea of similarity, you’re on your own to start comparing features, assessing this bell or that whistle, hoping your eventual choice meets your needs.

​Brands lucky enough to serve as mental shortcuts are becoming fewer and farther between in most categories, especially in home appliances. There are few, if any, that stand out as unique and relevantly different, the Holy Grail for marketers. The fact is that differentiation across a broad spectrum of products and services has been diminishing for years. This makes comparing the minutia of one brand to another, one model to another, availability, size, price, and everything else, a very complicated process.

​In the old mom-and-pop store days, you could count on the owners’ sound and personal advice to help with the decision. With the advent of the big box stores and the rise of online sources for goods, consumers began to turn for help with purchase questions to online reviews. As most of us know, this presents not just a surfeit of information, but a three-ring circus of conflicting data. Which reviews to believe, and which are, excuse me here, fake news? A much more reliable resource is, of course, Consumer Reports. However, delving into Consumer Reports product analysis can, at times, leave with you with more questions than answers. It practically requires an MBA . But, even for the business consultants among us, the detailed Consumer Reports assessments, the full-circle, half-circle, quarter circle designations (known as Harvey Balls), though well-intentioned, can be confusing.

Discussing this with media entrepreneur, Bob Pittman, former CEO of MTV and a cofounder of iHeartMedia, he told me that what he’d like is a “shopping concierge.” Someone to do the copious research, to sort through the sea of similarity in headphones, washers, dryers, vacuum cleaners – the multitude of products with indistinguishable feature sets – and take over the heavy lifting of the research process. “I don’t want 100 options,” he said. “Just give me the top three. People just want easy.”

People do just want easy. And convenient. And more efficient. And, maybe, just more enjoyable when taking on the activities of daily life. And, guess what? They’re getting it. Over the past few years, asking “how,” not “what,” has become the driving force behind more and more of today’s most successful businesses. Smart thinkers and innovators are transforming everyday experiences, rethinking how we do the stuff we do every day. They’re getting us to change out our old ways, long-standing behaviors, for new and never imagined better ways. And because experience differentiation is harder to replicate than product differentiation, this group is gaining incredible and sustainable market advantage. Yes, Bob, among them is someone who looked at how we make purchase decisions when faced with a vast array of seemingly indistinguishable products and services.

​Wirecutter, offers a “shortcut” to comparison shopping

Much as Apple has earned shortcut brand status, so too has Wirecutter, a product review site that literally cuts to the chase relative to its major competitor Consumer Reports. Founded in 2011 by Brian Lam, a technology journalist and former editor of Gawker Media’s technology site Gizmodo, it was sold to The New York Times Company in 2016. The site focuses on writing detailed guides to different categories of consumer products, but recommends just one or two of the best items in the category, thus alleviating both time-consuming analysis and stressful analysis paralysis. It differs from Consumer Reports by its explicit recommendations of top picks, its younger readership (of which I am not, but do appreciate given the early adopter status of the demographic), and its acceptance of vendor-supplied test units. The Wirecutter effect is described as a phenomenon “in which recommendations become so popular they sell out.”

​As stated on the Wirecutter website, its mission is to “recommend what really matters.” After independently testing and reviewing thousands of products, they won’t post a recommendation unless its writers and editors have deemed something the best through rigorous reporting and testing. Clearly stated is the fact that they earn money through subscriptions and various affiliate marketing programs, and get paid commissions on products purchased through links to retailer sites. There is no incentive for them to pick inferior products or to respond to pressure from manufacturers – if a reader returns a product or the recommendation is bad, there is no commission paid.

​While Wirecutter was successful when it started, mostly as a tech-buying service, the acquisition by The New York Times Company is an example of another smart branding strategy. Combining two like-minded brands to better serve consumers has made the Wirecutter even more successful. The addition of The New York Times brand name, which stands for credibility, trustworthiness and thoroughness in fact-checking, offers an even greater degree of confidence to Wirecutter’s many loyal customers, and is a powerful attraction for new customers. The reputation of Wirecutter and its parent company rests on a shared promise for vigorous reporting and editorial integrity.

​Those asking “how” will only continue to drive marketplace success stories

As I said, today, a growing number of success stories are being written by those who are solving consumer problems not by making something new, or even creating new tech to do something, but by changing the experience of what people do every day. They are taking what we already do – ride, shop, invest, dine, travel, you name it – and transforming it in some relevantly different way. They are seeing and seizing opportunities for competitive market advantage through experience disruption. They’re jumping on opportunities to upend business models and gaining consumer loyalty, as a result.

​These “experience disruptors” have become a, now, natural part of our routines. We ride in Ubers and stay with our families in Airbnb residences. We buy our pets their food and supplies through Chewy, spend evenings with Netflix, turn to Warby Parker when in need of new eyeglasses, buy clothing on Stitchfix, get dinner from DoorDash, and set up our Zoom meetings on Calendly and, when life gets to be too much, seek counseling from Betterhelp. And, we look for the gadgets that best fit our needs with Wirecutter. “How,” not “what” is the basis of for their significance in our lives.

​The epilog to my story? We purchased a new washing machine, the brand which I will not disclose given my desire to show neutrality and integrity as a brand professional. But, suffice it to say, I was given guidance on the purchase by Wirecutter, and now the only "how" I still may need a little guidance on is whether to wash in hot or cold. Thankfully there's Siri and Google for that.