Social impact is the latest responsibility to descend upon brand marketing teams. Now, along with promoting reasonable prices and high-quality products, brands must advertise the causes they believe in and how they’re supporting them. From Black Lives Matter to local farming, brands are expected to take a stand in solidarity with social movements.
In fact, 64% of consumers surveyed said contributing money alone isn’t enough. Brands should integrate social good directly into their business and raise awareness, too.
Ironically, in a time where consumer loyalty is dwindling (Instacart is the latest to take a hit), consumer expectations continue to rise. According to the Cone Communications/Echo Global CSR Study, 91% of consumers said they would switch to a brand that supports a cause if it offered a similar price and quality. In the same study, 92% said they would buy a product with a social or environmental benefit.
Winmo users: We just added Social Impact to our Advanced Search feature. Now, you can create custom reports filtering by the brands, and more importantly, the contacts, that have taken on social impact marketing. Here’s a sneak peek, and tons of additional spending details, of four brands with social impact titles planning in Q4 2021:
AutoZone recently selected Starcom as its media buying and planning AOR, concluding a competitive pitch. AutoZone also promoted a new merchandising, marketing, and supply chain EVP, Phil Daniele. Daniele joined in 1993 as a commercial and customer satisfaction SVP. Expect the company’s strategy to notably shift with a new roster and marketing leader.
Since the beginning of 2021, Pathmatics reports AutoZone has spent approximately $8.1M on digital ads, already 33% more than the approximately $6.1M it spent in all of 2020. AutoZone has earned around 720.3M digital impressions YTD via desktop video (34%), Instagram (23%), mobile video (19%), Facebook (13%), desktop display (7%) and mobile display (5%) ads.
Daily Harvest hired brand marketing campaign manager Mary Rose Barrett in August from Zeno Group, where she served as integrated brand solutions VP.
According to Pathmatics, Daily Harvest earned 1.4B impressions YTD through desktop video ads (60%), Facebook (19%), Instagram (18%), and Twitter (2%). It spent around $16.9M on digital display ads YTD, a 54% increase from $11M spent in this channel during the same period of 2020. Full-year spending skyrocketed from $3.8M in 2019 to $15.6M in 2020.
Magellan reports DH placed about 880 podcast ads over the last year.
Stitch Fix is about to invest in an updated brand story while opening up new marketing mix channels such as product listing ads. Additionally, according to execs in its latest earnings call, the company is also experimenting with influencer and affiliate partnerships.
So far this year, iSpot reports the company has allocated $14.5M on TV commercials, down 16% from the $17.3M it allocated in 2020. Its 2021 commercials target millennials watching shows such as Friends, The Golden Girls, Rizzoli & Isles, Family Guy, and Chicago P.D. Additionally, per Magellan, the company has aired over 1.1K podcast ads within the past 12 months.
Zulily is preparing to launch its holiday campaign with fresh creative work from its new agency Baldwin&. This includes 15- and 30-second audio/video spots, social media, and digital ads. The company is targeting moms with this campaign, which showcases Zulily as a “one-stop-shop” for the holidays.
According to Pathmatics, Zulily earned 1.4B impressions YTD through Facebook ads (50%), Instagram (39%), desktop display (10%), and mobile display (1%). It spent around $10.5M on digital display ads YTD, a 19% increase from $8.8M spent during the same time in 2020. Full-year spending jumped 16% from $15.7M in 2019 to $18.2M in 2020.