Adweek reported Publicis Media is pushing diversity efforts in media through something labeled “DIME Marketplace”—an acronym for Diverse and Inclusive Media Exchange. Seems like an appropriate moniker, as minority media probably gets a dime—or crumbs—versus every dollar received by White media.
Has Byron Allen approved this initiative?
Oh, look! TikTok celebrates Black History Month with the 2022 Black TikTok Trailblazers. It’s sort of a TikTok twist on the annual Black inventors concept.
Advertising Age published a long and laborious report on the perceived “Booming Freelance Economy”—and later announced U.S. advertising employment fell in January 2022. Well, sure, the stories are related, as job losses will spike self-employed numbers. Yet labeling the scenario as booming is misleading. More bodies desperately seeking gigs ultimately drives down standard payments and day rates, which have shifted to hourly wages doled out for actual time worked.
On the flipside, operating remotely has blurred the boundaries between professional and personal, where all employees are expected to be on call and online 24/7. In short, the free agent environment is not booming—it’s dooming.
Most outrageous is that the first Ad Age piece spotlighted increased marketing and promotions from talent platforms and staffing companies. That is, the enterprises gouging jobless people are profiting—while perpetuating the underrepresentation of minorities in Adland. For marginalized groups, glooming is looming, blooming and zooming.
Booming Freelance Economy Fuels Ad Battle Among Job Search Brands
Fiverr, Upwork and CareerBuilder are flooding social media and TV with new advertising
By Adrianne Pasquarelli
January is traditionally a period of career change, as workers evaluate their current jobs and often begin searches for new employment. This year, amid a continuing “Great Resignation” and pandemic-induced demand for more worker flexibility and career fulfillment, job changes are occurring at a breakneck pace. The transitions are fueling demand for talent platforms and staffing companies such as Fiverr and Upwork, which are dialing up their marketing to seize on the trend.
“There has been a growing interest in flexible work from both companies and individuals, and the pandemic has accelerated that in all sorts of ways,” said Barry Asin, president of Staffing Industry Analysts, which covers labor market trends. “We just did this giant experiment in flexible and remote work and companies that were previously resistant to that have realized that it actually works and it’s opening up a whole new labor market.”
Companies including freelance talent marketplaces such as Fiverr and Upwork, and traditional recruiting sites like CareerBuilder, are flooding TV and social media with new advertising as they try to capture a piece of growing demand. Upwork recently hired Melissa Waters, formerly global VP of marketing at Instagram, as chief marketing officer as it boosts its ad cred. Fiverr, fresh on the heels of its first Super Bowl spot last year, has been on an acquisition spree that includes last year’s purchase of Working Not Working, which connects freelancers in creative jobs to potential employers.
Even business-to-consumer marketplaces such as home services site Thumbtack, which connects homeowners with contractors, are investing in marketing with the recent hire of Amanda Reierson as head of marketing. She came from Farmers Insurance, where she was involved with digital marketing.
“These marketplaces are popping up because people are in a one-click-world. And marketplaces, from a digital perspective, enable more of that one-click-world by making things like a pro available for hire without having to talk to someone,” said Reierson, who is planning significant headcount growth for her marketing team. “That’s the root of why a lot of these marketplaces have popped up because now we have the digital technology to match people with whatever product or service you need.”
Growing gig economy
Both workers and employers are responding—and the so-called “gig economy,” worth $1.3 trillion in the U.S., is exploding. In 2020 talent platforms grew 25% year-over-year in gross spend volume, compared with 20% growth in 2019, according to Staffing Industry Analysts. It found that large organizations are using such platforms as resources now more than ever, with 22% of big employers using such sites in 2021 compared with only 14% in 2020. Talent platform sites like Upwork and Fiverr are not nearly as large as traditional temporary staffing firms, representing just 3% of the $392 billion global staffing industry. But the platform startups are growing and could reach $15.1 billion in gross revenue this year, SIA found.
“These guys are spending a lot of money on marketing—there’s a network effect and they want to be the winners of that networking effect. They’re willing to spend advertising dollars to make sure they’re the biggest,” said Asin.
The pandemic shifted career requirements for many workers, who began to place a premium on location flexibility and shifting hours rather than things like foosball or free beer. A survey last year from Working Not Working, called “Adland Careers Now and in the Future,” found that over 50% of creatives want to switch career paths.
“It used to be people who got laid off were the only ones freelancing, but that totally changed,” said Justin Gignac, co-founder, noting that COVID “added an incentive of people going ‘Hey, what do I want to do with my life, what are my priorities, what am I willing to tolerate with a job?’ The things that people were attracted to before—the jig is up. All that stuff that used to be the perks are not the perks anymore.”
Moving beyond word-of-mouth marketing
In the past, Working Not Working, which counts brands such as Apple, Google and Airbnb as its top clients, has primarily relied on word-of-mouth to grow its platform to 1,000 high-level creatives, ready for roles including anime directors, photographers and illustrators. Employers pay an annual or monthly membership fee to access Working Not Working’s pool of talent. Yet this year the company is focused on expanding its talent pool, and that means doing marketing for the first time, Gignac said. It will run its first marketing campaign, a short film that will run on digital channels such as YouTube.
“We were whispering about our brand for so long—now we have the opportunities and we feel an obligation,” said Gignac.
Waters left Instagram for Upwork earlier this month because she saw a chance to grow the 20-year-old brand beyond its low awareness at a time when talent marketplaces are all the rage. Upwork, which has a robust in-house team that works with outside agencies, debuted a national campaign in November. A series of films, “The Perfect Fit” campaign focused on how Upwork can solve talent gaps for businesses. It’s the latest in what Waters expects to be a heavy marketing investment this year—particularly at a time when revenue is also growing. In its most recent quarter, Upwork reported a 32% rise in revenue to $128.1 million.
“We will be leaning into marketing,” she said, noting that Upwork is rolling out new product lines as well. “Because we have single-digit awareness, we have such an opportunity—so much headroom to grow not only how much people think about us and consider us, but also for people who know and love us to be able to introduce them to our portfolio of products.”
Fiverr, a public company that started in Israel, has continued to pour more into marketing since going mainstream last year with its first Super Bowl ad. While the company isn’t planning a 2022 game day spot, it is “investing significantly” in marketing such as TV, according to Duncan Bird, VP of brand marketing and digital.
The 2021 Super Bowl spot positioned Fiverr as a resource for small businesses by playfully referencing the Four Seasons Total Landscaping company used in Rudy Giuliani’s infamous press conference during the 2020 presidential election aftermath. The ad “exceeded expectations,” Bird said, especially because Fiverr ran a social media campaign in conjunction with the Big Game spot. It followed that ad with a campaign called “Something From Nothing,” which shows how people can follow their dreams into reality. This month it is expanding that campaign into out-of-home advertising, including digital ads and hand-painted ads in New York City. Fiverr is also experimenting with influencer marketing and podcasts.
“We are always trying to experiment with our marketing and make sure we are learning—that is one of our great skills as a company, that we don’t just find something and keep repeating it,” said Bird, noting that the majority of marketing is done internally. “We want to be the poster child for this is the way to work.”
So far, the strategy is paying off. Fiverr reported third-quarter revenue of $74.3 million, a 42% increase over the year-earlier period. The company reports fourth-quarter earnings in February.
Getting creative
Traditional online job listing sites like CareerBuilder are also trying to remain top of mind with fresh marketing that taps into the new mindset of job seekers. The brand recently ran a campaign called “Let’s Job it Up” designed to recruit around the “Great Resignation.” It was the first marketing push in at least two years, according to CMO Kristin Kelley. She said all of the job movement has put a strain on talent acquisition organizations to build awareness. Now, CareerBuilder has to be more creative with job descriptions, adding video and using TikTok and other social media to market the brand. The company is tapping Instagram influencers, like a female truck driver, and using ploys like contests as well as QR codes in cinema ads. Later this quarter, the company plans to roll out a new initiative called Colab, where candidates who are not on LinkedIn can network and get resume guidance.
“The job of a place like CareerBuilder is a mathematical equation—we have to keep awareness levels high because candidates aren’t exclusive to any job board, they will apply to the jobs served in front of them,” said Kelley. “It’s incredibly important that CareerBuilder be seen,” she added, noting that “we are maximizing the avenues around us to get the word out.”
Of course, the marketing blitz may be short-lived. That’s because experts expect an eventual shakeout as some marketplaces gain ground over others. In addition, rising advertising costs could result in a pullback by some brands that will be unable to invest as heavily in customer acquisition.
“In 2020, the cost to advertise went down quite a bit and talent platforms were very opportunistic on that and invested heavily to drive brand awareness—a lot of enterprises were simply unaware of what talent platforms are and that has been a huge driver of growth,” said Brian Wallins, research manager at Staffing Industry Analysts. “I expect that to subside to some degree because the cost is bouncing back up.”
Baton Rouge invites folks to visit during BHM and explore the Black History Trail. Gramps is expected to stroll the course while hampered with a walking cane?
Gee, look at all the content of color that Adweek is running during Black History Month, including a feature titled, “Profiles in Black Creativity”—spotlighting creative people of color. Does Derek Walker receive royalty payments for hatching the original idea?
Kellogg’s
commemorates Chinese Lunar New Year—and Year
of the Tiger—with Special Edition Frosted Flakes boxes…? For cultural appropriation,
they’re gr-r-reat!
Advertising Age reported the Washington Football Team—formerly known as the Washington Redskins—will become the Washington Commanders. Well, at least they voted against the Washington Comanches—and opted not to announce the new moniker during National Native American Heritage Month.
Washington Football Team Becomes The Washington Commanders
The team received more than 40,000 name suggestions from fans after axing its long-time ‘Redskins’ name in July 2020
By
The Washington Football Team, as the Washington, D.C.-based franchise has called itself since dropping its former “Redskins” moniker two years ago, today officially debuted a brand new identity: the Washington Commanders.
After months of speculation, the new name was confirmed this morning on social media, NBC’s “Today” show and at an event at FedEx Field, the Commanders’ home stadium. The club’s new look keeps the same burgundy and gold color scheme used by the Redskins for decades, but swaps the brand’s indigenous imagery for military-inspired flair, such as a band of stars.
The announcement closes a temporary, rumor-filled chapter of team history that had seen the Washington Football Team hint at its new identity for several months, including by releasing cropped images and teaser videos that gave fans a vague—but inconclusive—idea of what they could expect from the new look.
“As an organization, we are excited to rally and rise together as one under our new identity while paying homage to our local roots and what it means to represent the nation’s capital,” Dan Snyder, the team’s owner, said in a statement.
A year in the making
After initially refusing to consider any changes, the then-Washington Redskins made the call in July 2020 to abandon their long-controversial name amid mounting pressure and a wave of social justice protests in the U.S., with the team’s leadership committing to revamp its name and logo—both of which were considered by many to be offensive to Native Americans.
Last February, the 90-year-old team officially handed its rebrand duties to Stagwell Group’s Code and Theory, which was the incumbent agency that also crafted the franchise’s interim identity and its “No Name But Team” ad campaign that coincided with the NFL’s 2020-2021 season.
As part of the rebrand, the New York-based creative shop solicited public input for the franchise’s permanent identity, opening a “Brand Journey” webpage dedicated to the process that eventually received over 40,000 name and logo suggestions from fans.
Last summer, team CEO Tanya Snyder revealed on an ESPN podcast an unofficial shortlist of finalists that included the names Armada, Brigade, Defenders, Presidents and Red Hogs.
The new Commanders name “doesn’t seem to have a strong tie-back to the history for the franchise or the locale of the franchise, but I wouldn’t say it’s awful,” said Mike Carr, director and co-founder of branding firm NameStormers, which has helped develop names for clients including hard cider brand Angry Orchard and auto seller CarMax.
On the plus side, the revamped identity is uncontroversial and not politically incorrect—two major considerations for a team once decried as racist—and, importantly for Carr, it also follows two core principles of brand names: “It’s easy to say [and] it’s easy to spell,” he said.
Loose lips sink armadas
Despite earlier teasers—and assurance from the team’s president, James Wright, that additional names were still in play—the Washington Football Team appears to have gone to great lengths in recent months to conceal its new identity, which may have included using limited liability companies and registering in far-flung countries with obscure copyright databases.
It’s not an unheard-of step. In 2009, Apple filed its trademark application for “iPad” in Trinidad and Tobago with the owner listed as IP Application Development LLC, while Google originally filed the paperwork for its Pixel phones in Tonga. Even the Cleveland Guardians professional baseball team, formerly known as the Indians, filed in Mauritius before announcing its new name in July 2021.
But some keen sleuths seem to have predicted the existence of a “Washington Commanders” team in recent days.
Last week, a Twitter user by the name of Larry Legend mused that “commanders.com” had been transferred to MarkMonitor, a secure platform used by many NFL teams to manage their web domains. Joe Theismann, a former quarterback for the then-Redskins, also appeared to accidentally confirm the team’s adoption of the Commanders name in a CBS Sports Radio interview on Monday.
“I think the Commanders is a name that is going to be one that hopefully people like going forward,” said Theismann, who played for Washington in the 1970s and ’80s, noting that there are “a lot of commanders in Washington, D.C. and the Pentagon, and a lot of different branches of the service.”
“So to me, that’s the way I’m looking at it, as positions of leadership when it comes to the new name,” he continued, later suggesting to a Washington Times reporter that he had no advance knowledge of the new name.
Last night brought the most significant clue yet, when a local news helicopter making the rounds above FedEx Field—which is technically in Maryland, a few miles east of the nation’s capital—spotted a Washington Commanders banner inside the team store. Someone inside the shop allegedly dimmed the lights shortly after photos of the signage began circulating, making it harder to see, local media reported.
Unfortunately for Commanders fans, they’ll have to wait several months for the newly rebadged team to prove their mettle; while this year’s Super Bowl will see the Cincinnati Bengals take on the Los Angeles Rams on their home turf on Feb. 13, the Washington Football Team didn’t even make the playoffs this year, finishing the season with a paltry 7-10 record. It wasn't a shock for the team's longstanding fans. The Washington team, then the Redskins, last appeared in—and won—the Super Bowl in 1992.
Arnold Schwarzenegger plays Zeus in a Super Bowl commercial hyping electric vehicles from BMW. Was this produced before or after Schwarzenegger crashed his Yukon SUV into a Prius?
Just in time for Black History Month, Advertising Age reported on the relaunch of the iconic Madam C.J. Walker brand, acquired by Unilever—yes, Unilever—when the mega-advertiser picked up Sundial Brands in 2017. Hey, Jimmie “JJ” Walker is available for advertising opportunities. Expect a “When C.J. Met JJ” promotional video soon.
Black Beauty Brand Madam C.J. Walker Relaunches In Bid To Reach Younger Buyers
After being acquired by Unilever, the historic Black haircare brand is reaching out to Gen Z while reminding customers of its roots
By Jade Yan
More than 100 years after it was founded, Black beauty brand Madam C.J. Walker is relaunching with new products and a brand overhaul that includes a new name: Madam by Madam C.J. Walker. The brand, created in the early 1900s by Black entrepreneur and self-made millionaire Madam C.J. Walker, is supporting the overhaul with a campaign that mixes the brand’s traditional focus on quality with an appeal to the diverse needs of a younger customer.
The brand, acquired by Unilever under Sundial Brands five years ago, is targeting Gen Z consumers with the new ads. Agencies involved in the campaign include Black-owned The Kitchen Table, and Black-owned Team Epiphany.
The campaign promotes 11 new products, which focus on scalp care and hair growth. While seeking to appeal to new audiences, the brand is also pointing towards its heritage—and there is plenty of history behind the brand. It began when Sarah Breedlove, who changed her name to Madam C.J. Walker, founded a beauty company in 1910. Walker, who had been a farmworker and laundrywoman, was inspired to start her business after trying to find remedies for her own scalp problems.
According to Walker’s great-great granddaughter and brand spokesperson A’Lelia Bundles, Walker’s reputation when she founded her company was based on high-quality products and hair health. She was also an activist, donating time and money to causes such as anti-lynching legislation, according to a website created by Bundles. Her story inspired a Netflix series called “Self Made,” which debuted in 2020 and stared Octavia Spencer, Tiffany Haddish, Carmen Ejogo.
The brand today is showing that it is staying true to these roots. “We wanted to honor that legacy and also have a remix on it,” said Cara Sabin, CEO of Sundial Brands, which includes Madam C.J. Walker, along with SheaMoisture, Nubian Heritage and Nyakio.
According to Sabin, the brand is going after consumers who value quality but also are interested in experimenting with their hair.
The campaign includes a spot showing women rocking a variety of hairstyles, from flicking their braids around to touching their new curls—“Let’s stop asking: did you change your hair?” says a voiceover. “And no—you know you can’t touch it.” Sabin called these questions “a wink to our consumer, because we know that often she gets asked that question.”
The spot brings in the brand’s history by switching to shots of women reading a book bearing an image of Madam C.J. Walker. “We’re locking down the legacy,” says the voiceover.
The brand sees the Gen Z consumer as more diverse and more willing to experiment with their hair, said Sabin, partly because of social media offering more opportunities for learning. The pandemic has also prompted consumers to become more involved with their haircare.
Wil Shelton, CEO of Wil Power Integrated Marketing, which specializes in marketing ethnic personal care products, said one challenge is navigating how Unilever’s acquisition of Sundial Brands might have changed consumer perceptions. Acquisitions can cause people to think that the brand has changed, said Shelton, even when this isn’t the case. As a result, the brand should focus on transparency and letting customers know that they “still have the same mission, the same authenticity,” said Shelton, who isn't affiliated with the brand.
The acquisition could also continue to prompt conversations among consumers about the pros and cons of supporting Black-led versus Black-owned companies, said Shelton. When big conglomerates acquire a Black-owned brand, consumers can “feel like you’re diluting the brand’s authenticity,” he said.
Unilever has a history with moves towards racial justice, but the company has also dealt with some controversy after releasing an ad for Dove in 2017 that was criticized as racist because it showed a Black woman taking off a brown shirt to reveal a white woman.
Sundial Brands was also perceived by some as moving away from its African-American base after producing a commercial in 2017 for Shea Moisture that showed white women using its haircare products.
The new campaign is digital-only, which is what Sundial usually focuses on, and includes spots on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, as well as specific partnerships with Black-owned media such as Afropunk. The products will only be sold at Walmart, which partnered with Sundial brands for the campaign.
The Walmart partnership has the potential to put these products in close “proximity to where their consumers are,” said Shelton.
This campaign will be the brand’s biggest campaign, said Sabin; it hasn’t had a campaign since Sundial Brands was acquired by Unilever in 2017. “It really just feels like a brand new launch,” said Sabin.
The official theme for Black History Month 2022 is Black Health and Wellness.
The Association for the Study of African American Life and History states it as follows:
The theme for 2022 focuses on the importance of Black Health and Wellness. This theme acknowledges the legacy of not only Black scholars and medical practitioners in Western medicine, but also other ways of knowing (e.g., birthworkers, doulas, midwives, naturopaths, herbalists, etc.) throughout the African Diaspora. The 2022 theme considers activities, rituals and initiatives that Black communities have done to be well.
From an Adland perspective, it’s worth examining the health and wellness of Black representation in the industry. The diagnosis is bad. The prognosis is not much better. The patronizing promotions to celebrate the annual 28-day event are sure to be, well, anemic.
Happy Black History Month 2022!
