Effective Creative Quest Report
- Evelyn Chou
- Jul 8, 2024
- 4 min read
Mattel
Ynon Kreiz, CEO of Mattel was named "Entertainment Person of the Year" for transforming a stagnant toy company into an entertainment hub. When I attended his talk, it brought perspective in terms of media and toys. The majority of profits for movie companies come from merchandise mainly toys. This explains why brands such as Disney gain millions of profit after a movie is released, mainly from box office and toy sales.
What Mattel did by creating the Barbie movie was not revolutionary, but what they did right was the great marketing placements and an amazing story with themes of feminism as evidenced by winning a Bronze in the Media category. The movie hitting mainstream markets was due to the combination of those two. The Barbie movie revived Mattel and made playing Barbies cool again. It managed to appeal to both young kids and older fans with old Barbie references.
Mattel's next plan is to adapt more movies, with "Hot Wheels" being the most likely pick. Also, Mattel is currently planning to open a theme park in Glendale, Arizona called "Mattel Adventure Park." My opinion is that Mattel is heading to great growth in the company and has the potential to be a powerhouse like Marvel and maybe even Disney if they place their cards right. Currently, their short-term goals of adapting more movies may be a concern as there had been production issues with Barbie as the rights were previously held by Sony. Additionally, by creating more movies, it may be hard to top Barbie and leave consumers disappointed.
Overall, Mattel is doing great with clear goals to expand and grow. I will not be surprised if Mattel dominates in the next 5 to 10 years with Ynon Kreiz being CEO.
David&Goliath
I attended David&Goliath's panel at their Brunch with Contagious. There, the founder, David Angelo, gave a speech about how he started the ad agency. To summarize, he wanted to give back to the community by making a program called BraveU. Being brave has been an essential part of the founder's success. Throughout the slideshows, he mentions how important it is to support talent in under-resourced situations and allow young creatives to grow.
David&Goliath first achieved major success with Kia Motors when they first started the company. Their relationship is kept strong as seen with multiple campaigns."Saving New Year's Eve" was David&Goliath and Kia's entry to the Cannes Lions award in the Outdoor category. Unfortunately, it was shortlisted.
While David&Goliath has a great history of giving back to the community, their work does not reach mainstream levels and personally, many of their campaigns do not feel personal or appeal to their mission. What I would like to see with David&Goliath is working with non-profits instead of car companies. To grow as an agency, backing up your mission with actions will prove to be beneficial.
Brand Activations & Experience (Pop-Tarts vs Sweethearts)
Two of America's most popular sweets both got an award, but only one received the Grand Prix. Let's talk about it.
Pop-Tarts made an edible mascot, which they proceeded to feed to the winning team in a football game. Sweethearts rebranded their defectives, and misprinted candies as "Situationships" in reference to how confused you are in a relationship that's not established.
These two marketing campaigns are extremely similar, as they both utilize humor to deliver a brand experience. Respectively, they are both successful, garnering billions of impressions and media attention.
When I went to the Inside the Jury for Brand Activations, the jury said to win a gold, it must have all four: creative, strategy, execution, and result. From plain sight, both Pop-Tarts and Sweethearts accomplished all four, but Pop-Tarts seemed to have an edge that made them win the Grand Prix. In my opinion, that edge was that Pop-Tarts was funnier and more creative.
To explain, Sweethearts technically was not creating anything new. It was only repackaging defective candy to be sold to the public (although it is great for the planet). When Sweethearts sells all of their Situationships boxes, it does not leave a lasting impression compared to Pop-Tarts. Additionally, Pop-Tarts appealed to a wider audience. A child would laugh at a Pop-Tart mascot being eaten, but won't understand the meaning of situationships. Looking at hard data, Pop-Tarts earned 4B+ impressions vs Sweethearts 3B+ impressions. While the numbers are similar, Pop-Tarts proved their results to be slightly more successful.
Both these campaigns aimed to target the younger generation, with Pop-Tarts being more successful at appealing to everyone, and Sweethearts appealing to GenZ or those in a relationship. But Pop-Tarts succeeded in being a brand that does not take itself seriously. That is the reason why Pop-Tarts won the Grand Prix.
Pop-Tart's The Edible Mascot
Sweethearts' Situationships
Interview with Wall Street Journal & Gramercy Tech
I had a wonderful time meeting with Rebecca McNaughton, Strategist at Wall Street Journal and Justin Pontier, Executive Producer at Gramercy Tech. As I have a strong interest in working in strategy at an ad agency, this interview served me to expand on the certain job market and understand the role working in marketing/PR.
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