Dunkin’ gets racy with Sabrina Carpenter in ‘Shake That Ess’ campaign

The celebrity-led effort promoting a new limited-time iced espresso beverage is part of the chain’s strategy of building a “cinematic universe” with Artists Equity.

By Peter Adams • Jan. 2, 2025

EV maker Lucid asks drivers to ‘Compromise Nothing’ in first ad campaign

Founded in 2016, the auto brand combats “a legacy of unfortunate trade-offs” among EVs in ads spanning digital, social, print, CTV and OOH.

By Jessica Deyo • Dec. 19, 2024

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Retail Marketing

Top stories that underscore the leading influences on retail marketing, including Gen Z, pop culture and generative AI.

By Marketing Dive staff

Sony, Disney put Mickey on the court for Christmas Day NBA broadcast

The first animated alternate presentation of an NBA game will feature a cadre of cartoon icons, potentially reaching a wider audience.

By Peter Adams • Dec. 18, 2024

Consumers call AI-generated video ads annoying, confusing, per NIQ

Even AI-generated ads perceived as high quality and polished-looking did not leave as memorable an impression as conventional advertising. 

By Peter Adams • Dec. 17, 2024

Wonderful Halos’ edgy campaign sees kids call IRS, cut brake lines

“Hands Off My Halos” highlights the lengths children will go to keep mandarins from their parents and will span social media, streaming and more.

By Jessica Deyo • Dec. 17, 2024

Santa Claus makes the switch to Pepsi in brand’s latest dig at Coke

The Christmas icon, who has a long-standing association with Coca-Cola, proves a fickle soda fan in Pepsi’s holiday social content push.

By Peter Adams • Dec. 16, 2024

Duolingo’s owl mascot plays ‘Squid Game’ with sprawling Netflix tie-up

“Learn Korean or Else” unites the language-learning app with the streamer for out-of-home stunts and social content, including an interactive TikTok filter.

By Aaron Baar • Dec. 12, 2024

Netflix partners with Mastercard as streamer’s experiential ambitions ramp up

Mastercard is the payments partner on Netflix House mall experiences, the “Stranger Things” Broadway prequel and more to tap into growing fandoms.

By Peter Adams • Dec. 11, 2024

Roku will cover the cost to turn branded social content into CTV ads

The platform, which is teaming with Spaceback to help brands make ads, predicts 20,000 new marketers will enter the streaming TV ad market in 2025.

By Chris Kelly • Dec. 11, 2024

Dodge rips into ‘soulless’ EVs to introduce all-electric Charger Daytona

“Save the Planet” flips the script on ads about protecting the Earth, arguing what Dodge is really protecting people from is “lame” rivals.

By Peter Adams • Dec. 5, 2024

Zevia ribs Coke’s AI holiday ads in bigger push for brand awareness

The better-for-you brand’s new commercial, part of a more aggressive ad-spending strategy, shows uncanny AI images nodding to Coke iconography.

By Peter Adams • Dec. 4, 2024

Taco Bell’s drive-thru cameras give diners a shot at Super Bowl cameos

Rewards members who stop by the touring camera stations to snap a pic have a chance to be featured in the brand’s big game ad.

By Peter Adams • Dec. 3, 2024

7 top campaigns from 2024 and the tactics that drove success

These breakthrough strategies propped up brand results, serving as examples for marketing leaders feeling the pressure to do more with less.

By Peter Adams , Jessica Deyo , Sara Karlovitch , Chris Kelly • Dec. 3, 2024

Walmart, NBCU beef up shoppable ads, measurement ahead of retail spree

Walmart Connect is bringing its retail media offering to linear TV for the first time to reach shoppers gearing up for the post-Thanksgiving rush.

By Chris Kelly • Nov. 26, 2024

Super Bowl LIX: Tracking every ad

The details on every Super Bowl spot, from OpenAI’s debut appearance to Ram’s chaotic retelling of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” with Glen Powell. 

By Marketing Dive staff • Nov. 26, 2024

How JCPenney’s ‘Really Big Deal Reveals’ campaign is faring so far

The retailer has been averaging 13% to 15% new customers each week during the campaign appearing during Amazon’s “Thursday Night Football.”

By Jessica Deyo • Nov. 26, 2024

How Sierra Nevada’s AI-powered CTV campaign captured consumer attention

The brand is an early adopter of Kargo’s Narrative format that uses artificial intelligence to generate connected TV ads from images and scripts.

By Chris Kelly • Nov. 25, 2024

Why Google Shopping turned holiday gift-giving into a game show

A campaign around the friendly competition of gifting also includes ads with Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union and Charli XCX and Troye Sivan.

By Chris Kelly • Nov. 25, 2024

Mediaocean acquires Innovid to sharpen focus on creative, CTV

Innovid will be merged with Flashtalking to create a new omnichannel platform that can act as an independent alternative to Google, executives said.

By Peter Adams • Nov. 21, 2024

Trade Desk tries to shake up streaming TV with content-agnostic strategy

The new operating system aims to address advertising supply chain issues and conflicts of interest around content in the streaming TV arena.

By Peter Adams • Nov. 20, 2024

Lexus marks 25 years of ‘December to Remember’ with nostalgic ads

Two new commercials under the brand’s long-running holiday campaign see it continuing to focus on striking a balance between product and emotion. 

By Jessica Deyo • Nov. 19, 2024

Viant seeks CTV edge with IRIS.TV acquisition

IRIS.TV uses an artificial intelligence-enhanced proprietary video content identifier that provides contextual and brand-suitability data to advertisers.

By Aaron Baar • Nov. 18, 2024

Kroger plans Shop the Scene experience on Hulu for holiday campaign

Central to the effort is a 60-second spot, “The Case of the Disappearing Food,” that details how the act of sharing food can ignite the holiday spirit.

By Jessica Deyo • Nov. 14, 2024

Target debuts ‘weirdly hot’ Santa for second holiday advertising push

The retailer is running two distinct holiday campaigns for the first time to appeal to consumers who view the season as too transactional.

By Peter Adams • Nov. 14, 2024

‘Merry and bright’: How marketers are evolving for ambitious holiday shoppers

Amid record spending intentions by shoppers, holiday marketing campaigns reflect more diverse media mixes and experiments with artificial intelligence.

By Jessica Deyo • Nov. 13, 2024