Adweekly: Starbucks Just Dropped Its Global CMO Role. Here’s Why
Welcome to Adweekly, the LinkedIn newsletter giving you an inside look at the advertising industry. Each edition will highlight some of Adweek's most important stories from the past week to help marketers, agency leaders, creatives and publishers better understand the industry they work in. By senior media reporter Mark Stenberg
Good morning, and welcome back to Adweekly.
The top story this week is the continued attrition of the chief marketing officer role. This week, Starbucks announced that it was eliminating its global chief marketing position, according to ADWEEK brand editor Rebecca Stewart .
Instead, the coffee chain has unveiled a new structure that will see regional chief executive officers take responsibility for the business in each market, working alongside regional marketers.
The news comes as part of a broader rollback of the CMO title.
Brands are increasingly rethinking where the sometimes-nebulous role sits within their business, changing the title to reflect a broader range of responsibilities, hiring “fractional” CMOs in consulting-style positions and, in some cases, cutting it entirely.
Read more: What Starbucks' Triple Shot with Two Pumps transformation plan means for its marketing strategy
Influencer Marketing Needs to Adapt: A Cautionary Lesson From Tarte Cosmetics
The popularity of the lavish influencer trip has evaporated—to quote the old Hemingway line—gradually, then suddenly.
Once a mainstay of influencer marketing, the trips often followed along as a dozen or so beautiful social media creators were flown to a tropical locale, then showered with glitzy gifts and inimitable experiences—all in exchange for organic mentions, tags and weeks of buzzy discourse.
But over the last year or so, the mood in the feed has soured, and followers that once followed along breathlessly with their favorite influencers' sponsored experiences have since begun to turn up their noses at the opulent displays.
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The latest instance of this reversal in influencer marketing comes from a recent trip sponsored by the cosmetics brand Tarte Cosmetics , writes Christina Garnett, EMBA , the fractional chief customer officer and advisor of Pocket CCO .
When the influencers soundtracked their TikToks with the Fergie song "Glamorous," for instance, the lyrics struck an embarrassingly tone-deaf chord.
The choice "drove home the point that this is a parade of haves, and yet this display was created to make people want to hand over their purses to Tarte."
Read more: Why consumer sentiment toward influencer marketing has shifted, and how brands should respond.
The Delta Lounge Bucked Recent Experiential Trends at SXSW—and People Loved It
The annual South by Southwest festival in Austin is many things—a bastion of music, technology and culture, yes—but it is first and foremost a testing ground for the new and the now in the world of experiential marketing.
And of all the activations she attended in covering the event, none stood out quite so much to sustainability reporter Kathryn Lundstrom as The Delta Lounge.
The event, with its focus on delivering a luxury experience to all SkyMiles members, new and old, opted for a more sustainable version of the relatively cookie-cutter model for in-person brand activity.
In addition to sustainable touches, such as serving drinks in glassware, food on ceramic plates and no single-use plastics, the event was also staffed by Delta flight attendants and gate agents, who brought a depth of institutional knowledge to the event.
"If we’re going to be anywhere, then it has to be really meaningful, and it has to be very connected,” Delta Air Lines chief marketing officer Alicia Tillman told ADWEEK.
Specialist in Content Marketing, Brand Strategy, and Public Relations (xDell | xGoogle | xAmazon | xTechnology Journalist | xMICA)
10moWow. That's something.
Journalist | Writer | Editorial & Content. Expertise in fashion, luxury goods, beauty. Fashion made in NY Maven. Unexpected NFL fan. Made a Charlie's Angels cry mid-interview.
11moI’m just surprised leaning about “fractional” management roles. Thought that term was reserved for a kind of skin resurfacing laser device! Gotta get skme mire coffee to process.
Retired from Vice President,General Counsel, and Secretary at Porsche Cars North America, Inc.
11moI haven't set foot in a Starbucks in years. I used to be a regular, tired of the dirty stores and slovenly, surly staff. And there is a lot of better coffee.
Cross-Channel Marketing Pro | Serving Customers with Insight-Driven 360 Campaigns
11moIMO Starbucks doesn't have a branding problem, they have a product problem. They're supposed to be a coffee chain, yet a simple cup of drip at Starbucks is among the worst in the business. Fix the product and the brand will fix itself. Case study: The Philz store in the Mission was an absolute dump. But it thrived for decades because they offered a superior cup.
CHIEF FREQUENCY OFFICER at Omniverse City | Dream Weaver | Cultural Connector | Architect of Dreamology | Storytelling Magician | Chronicler of the New AI Era | Gamifying w/AI the "New Immersive World"
11mo👨🚀 👩🚀 👩🚀 WE NEED EXPLORERS 🚀 👍 NOT TOURISTS. ✈ 👎 This new frontier demands a different type of marketing leader. People who can navigate uncertainty with a data compass and a seat of discovery. WE NEED NARRATORS WHO CAN WEAVE MAGIC WITH NUMBERS, demonstrating the value of each wild expedition. 🤖 The marketing world feels like we've all fallen into a whole new jungle, doesn't it? Gone are the days of following a single, well-trodden path. Now it's about "breaking through the undergrowth", adapting to the unknown, and emerging with a roar! 🦁 GRRRRR! 🙈 It's a challenge, sure, 🙉 but an exciting adventure too! 🙊 The companies that embrace this new landscape of this new brave world, with its twists and turns, ARE THE ONE THAT WILL DISCOVER HIDDEN TREASURES: 🐲 💎 💥 loyal customers, 💥 booming brands, and a 💥 marketing legacy that remains strong.