+

INSPIRATION
FROM OUR 2022
BRAND GENIUS
HONOREES

SEPTEMBER 12, 2022

BRAND VISIONARY
PHARRELL WILLIAMS
THE MUSIC MOGUL DEFTLY BUILT AN ENTREPRENEURIAL EMPIREÈ
INCLUDING FASHION, BEAUTY AND NFðïÈÞñðäåïéëïð
IMPORTANT BRAND IS STILL HIMSELF.
BY ROBERT KLARA
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Congratulations, Marcel Marcondes, for
being named an Adweek Brand Genius.

Cheers, from your friends at IPG.

 THE W EEK IN MEDIA A ND M A RK ETING

IN THIS ISSUE
S E P T. 1 2 , 2 0 2 2 | V O L . L X I I I N O . 17

56

HUT, HUT,
BRAND PURPOSE
SOLD! SUPER BOWL 57 AD INVENTORY IS
95% GONE. BY MOLLIE CAHILLANE

Planned Parenthood has The NFL season kicked off Sept. 8, but if brands want to
never been more essential. see themselves in the Big Game, they better move fast.
Two months after Fox wrapped its upfront negotiations,
its Super Bowl 57 ad inventory is nearly gone, with 95% of in-
DATA
Just how much 18 game slots already sold five months before the event.
“We came out of the upfront marketplace with over
do we trust
influencers? 90% sellout in the Super Bowl, which has never happened
before,” said Mark Evans, evp of ad sales for Fox Sports.
This was Fox’s biggest upfront ever because of Super
Bowl 57, which will take place Feb. 12, 2023. Multiple
30-second spots sold for more than $7 million, according
to sources close to negotiations. The majority of 30-second
spots sold in the mid-to-high $6 million range. Last year, the
most expensive spot NBCUniversal secured was $7 million.
And after Anheuser-Busch gave up its 34-year run as
the Super Bowl’s exclusive alcohol advertiser in June,
“You’ll definitely see a beer other than Anheuser-Busch in
a Fox Super Bowl for the first time ever,” Evans added.

CREATIVITY BRANDS

BIG NUMBER
20
A WINDOW
$402 INTO TIKTOK
Indie creative agency Mother’s latest venture is a MILLION Like many brands on TikTok,
Microsoft Windows is seeking
design and development company called Mother
Goods, which creates and sells socially conscious FINANCIAL attention. And it started with
products, ranging from absurd accessories to advocacy PENALTY FOR the one person who wouldn’t
apparel. It’s an extension of the agency’s mission, “Make META OVER listen: comedian Emily
SPACES Our Children Proud,” developing ideas that mirror VIOLATING Zugay, known for her goofy
Kim Crawford Wines takes THE EU’S DATA redesigns of brand logos.
what’s happening in society and popular culture, with
fans to grown-up summer camp. PRIVACY LAWS When she finally did,
a bent toward deserving causes and social issues,
from gun control to LGBTQ+ and women’s rights. The FOR CHILDREN Microsoft put Zugay’s version
64 products are available to buy—or rent. —Kyle O’Brien ON INSTAGRAM. of its logo on one of its stores
and made a TikTok that’s
become the most-watched
video on its account.
MOOD BOARD The Week in Emojis The stunt is emblematic of
the brand’s strategy: leaning
on how people already see it,
making silly puns and playing
into nostalgia for old Windows
products. It’s worked, gaining
PERSPECTIVE more than 1 million followers
Known as the snack that smiles in less than a year.
back, Goldfish continues to delight. “[The Windows account]
is not about demand gen or
COVER PHOTOGRAPHY BY performance marketing,” said
D R I E LY S C A R T E R F O R A D W E E K KELLOGG’S SLICE BONOBOS Kelley Myers, director of social
MADE A CEREAL BOWL A P P G O E S B -T O - B T O HIRES NICK KROLL TO GET
ADWEEK PUBLISHES NEXT ON SEPTEMBER 19. T H AT D O E S N ’ T N E E D M I L K , CLOSE TECH GAP FOR C O M F O R TA B L E I N N E W
media at Windows. “It’s that
©2022. All rights reserved. ADWEEK® is a registered trademark owned
by Adweek, LLC and used under license. Adfreak®, Adweek Brandshare®,
J U S T WAT E R LOCAL PIZZERIAS WORK-FROM-HOME LINE brand space driving that brand
AgencySpy®, Brandweek®, Brand Genuis®, Brand Save®, Hot List®,
Mediaweek®, Social Times®, TVNewser® and TVSpy® are registered love.” —Catherine Perloff
trademarks owned by Adweek, LLC and used under license.
 UPFRONT

ROAD TO BRANDWEEK
MARKETING VISIONARIES SHARE THEIR INSIGHTS AHEAD OF
ADWEEK’S BRANDWEEK MIAMI EVENT. BY ADWEEK STAFF

‘I am both
excited and
humbled when
big national
global partners
want to get on
board with us.
… They see the
‘Our marketing vision in value of who
particular rests on the idea that we are past,
we need to invite more people present and
‘We are to the bar … people of color, but future.’
intentionally also women and members of
KEITH DAWKINS,
expanding the the LGBTQ+ community.’ PRESIDENT,
ecosystem of SOFIA COLUCCI, GLOBAL VP, MILLER HARLEM
who we serve FAMILY OF BRANDS AND ECONOMY GLOBETROTTERS
to better match
today’s definitions ‘As long as there are opportunities to
of “sport” and organically link a metaverse activation back
“athlete.”’ to broader marketing strategy and efforts,
KALEN THORNTON, we will stay on the edge of discovery.’
CMO, GATORADE BRIAN POVINELLI, SVP OF BRAND, LOYALTY
AND PORTFOLIO MARKETING, MARRIOTT

‘The future consumer

‘You have to focus experience won’t be
PHOTO: FIRST LASTNAME

on the present but physical or digital—it

invest in the future.’ will be “phygital.”’
ANGELA ZEPEDA, TODD KAPLAN,
CMO, HYUNDAI CMO, PEPSICO
4 SEPTEMBER 12, 2022 | ADWEEK ®
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EDITOR’S LETTER
THE BEST A BRAND CAN GET
Between Brand Genius and Brandweek, ’tis the season to celebrate marketing excellence
We are certainly fond of awards and
honors at Adweek, and while they’re all
special in their own way, Brand Genius
remains the crème de la crème. That’s why
our annual Brand Genius issue continues to
be a highlight of each year. Long considered
“the Oscars of marketing,” Brand Genius
spotlights 10 industry leaders who are
at the very top of their respective games,
finding novel and masterful ways to connect
with consumers in challenging times.
From Airbnb’s Hiroki Asai to AB InBev’s
Marcel Marcondes to Google’s Lorraine
Twohill, 2022’s Brand Genius honorees
are among our most impressive ever.
We’ve given a much-deserved spotlight to
Planned Parenthood, our Purpose Brand
winner, which has proven more essential
than ever following the Supreme Court’s
landmark decision overturning Roe v. Wade
in June. As senior story editor Nicole Ortiz
details, the organization has been improving
representation efforts to ensure all patients
can have autonomy over their bodies.
Topping off our Brand Genius package
is Brand Visionary, our marquee award
each year, recognizing a career’s worth
of branding and marketing achievements
and honoring those who transcend
fame with a combination of marketing
and entrepreneurial talent to transform
6 SEPTEMBER 12, 2022 | ADWEEK
themselves into living brands. This year’s
honoree, Pharrell Williams, is more than
worthy of the honor. Senior editor Robert
Klara goes deep with Williams to chronicle
his incredible story of not only how he’s
created his personal brand, but also how
he expanded from a music mogul into an
thriving entrepreneur.
“My brand boils down to authenticity,”
Williams tells Klara. “To me, everything is
Pharrell Williams
photographed
by Driely S Carter
for Adweek in
New York City.
just about being honest and in trying
to express that in the most accessible
way possible.”
We will be celebrating several of our
Brand Genius honorees, as well as our
Brand Visionary, during our fifth annual
Brandweek Summit, which returns live
and in person this week in Miami for the
first time since 2019. I hope you’ll be
there, either in person or virtually, for five
invigorating days alongside world-class
brand leaders who will share their thoughts,
challenges and the transformative
strategies that will shape their futures.
Finally, I wanted to mention that this is
my first editor’s note in my new role as editor
of Adweek. In this role, I’ll be overseeing the
magazine and building out our digital covers
(though I’ll still stay involved in all things TV,
especially our biggest packages and events).
I’m very excited about my new position and
will be helping to evolve the magazine while
keeping it an essential part of the overall
Adweek brand—look for much more on that
in the coming months. In the meantime,
what better way to find inspiration for the
tasks ahead than by looking to the Brand
Geniuses spotlighted in this week’s issue?
Jason Lynch
Editor
@jasonlynch
®
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Insights T
TRENDS YOU NEED TO K NOW
WHY RADIOSHACK AND LIMEWIRE CLAMBERED FROM
THE GRAVE TO BRING NFTS TO NOSTALGIC FANS.
BY JESS ZAFARRIS
he age of the reanimated
brand is stumbling forth
to a new future. Formerly
irrelevant retailers and
torpedoed platforms of yore are
clawing their way from brand history
into today’s zeitgeist—but in some
cases, the association with the
original brand is only skin deep.
Following two bankruptcies and
an acquisition by Alex Mehr- and
Tai Lopez-owned holding company
Retail Ecommerce Ventures (REV),
RadioShack rose from the grave and
shuffled to social media, unleashing
a near-constant stream of crude,
R-rated commentary that has
gone on for weeks and prompted
an astronomical surge in social
engagement.
Meanwhile, LimeWire has also
emerged from the netherworld. In
2010, the platform was shut down
due to copyright infringement, but
over a decade later, the brand has
returned to reestablish itself as a
legitimate venture.
Neither RadioShack nor LimeWire
is precisely what it once was.
RadioShack was previously the
ubiquitous purveyor of electronics,
dotting every strip mall across the
U.S. Meanwhile, ’90s kids cut their
teeth on music and entertainment
piracy—and learned a thing or two
about malware—in the labyrinth of
LimeWire. Now, both are nonfungible
token (NFT) marketplaces out to
capture consumer attention and make
cryptocurrency collectible purchases
simpler and more mainstream,
in particular playing off potential
consumer nostalgia for their brands. 
In terms of generating attention,
it’s working. And in RadioShack’s
case, it’s hard not to look.
But what kind of longevity do
these zombie brands have, and are
they just out to devour the attention
and cash of the fans they once
inspired? RadioShack’s strategy
bears little resemblance to its past, M A N _ H A L F -T U B E / G E T T Y I M A G E S
while LimeWire carries on the brand’s
connection to the music world, if not
its associations with piracy.
About that RadioShack
social strategy
RadioShack is hitting shock value
and the “rogue social manager”
strategy with reckless abandon,
with results that are crude and often
SEPTEMBER 12, 2022 | ADWEEK ®
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INSIGHTS | SOCIAL MEDIA
overtly sexist, eliciting a constant
stream of disbelief from followers.
At first, many believed that the brand
had been hacked, but as the weeks
trailed on and people examined
the reputations of those who had
purchased the brand, it became clear
that the pivot was entirely intentional.
But will the strategy pay off in the
long run? Analysts and experts from
marketing and tech think not.
“They seem to be trying to
create controversy to promote their
crypto play,” said Jean Foster, svp
of marketing and communications
for the Consumer Technology
Association, who thinks it’s probably
an unwise move if the brand truly
wants to tap into the consumer
electronics category again.
“RadioShack was a storied brand,
and this could turn off that core
consumer base.”
RadioShack CMO Ábel Czupor,
the mind behind the brand’s social
strategy, did not respond to Adweek’s
requests for an interview, but told Input
magazine the goal was to get people
talking about the brand. And it has
done that: RadioShack’s activity has
drawn in hundreds of thousands of new
Twitter followers since it committed
to its new, horny tone, and Czupor said
that as of early July, 30 million people
had clicked on the brand’s profile since
its revival in spring 2022. Czupor also
maintained the brand is “way cooler
than it used to be.”
Then again, “cool” seems to be a
matter of opinion. Lee Kebler, director
of worldbuilding at innovation and
design consultancy Journey, is
unimpressed with RadioShack’s
R-rated social activity.
“RadioShack is now RadioShock
and is all of a sudden ‘edgy’?” he
said. “They sold soldering irons and
RC cars. Come on, RadioShack, chill
out—we used to be friends.”
Simply put, the brand claims to
be targeting an older generation,
but its social media presence can be
off-putting to many of those potential
customers. And it doesn’t seem to
have a strong connection to the brand
it once was.
“I don’t think anyone is thinking
about the legacy of RadioShack and
making sure that it is preserved for
future generations so that the values
of the great retail brand endure,” said
Douglas Rushkoff, professor of media
theory and digital economics at
Queens College/CUNY. “This is about
selling things.”
A zombie with a soul?
In contrast, LimeWire is leaning
into its own history while also
establishing more legitimacy and
10
funds for musical artists, and the
brand’s connection to the music
space is arguably as meaningful now
as it was in the past.
“We naturally focused heavily on
digital collectibles because of the
brand’s innate link to music,” said Ivis
Buric, chief communications officer
at LimeWire. “LimeWire was among
the first companies to provide people
with online access to music back in
the 2000s, and it was a key player in
the on-demand and streaming world
that we now inhabit.”
The new marketplace ensures
that musical artists get paid for
the work peddled through the
marketplace, providing additional
revenue streams, unlike its past role
in music piracy.
“By resurrecting the brand via
blockchain technology, we are
leveraging a fascinating new frontier
of technology while also making it
accessible to music enthusiasts and
fans who aren’t crypto specialists,”
Buric said.
Of course, it also helps that
LimeWire’s social presence isn’t
aggressively R-rated and therefore
not at risk of disaffecting those who
might be turned off by crudeness.
Instead, LimeWire’s launch
campaign featuring Soulja Boy’s iconic
song “Crank That” was more authentic
to its past, evoking what it was like to
use LimeWire in the ’90s and what it’s
like to discover it again now.
Before LimeWire relaunched,
fans were still creating memes,
Googling the brand and discussing
their fondest memories of using
the past iteration of the platform,
Buric said. She characterized the
brand’s current customers as “a
healthy mixture of Web2 and Web3
(Clockwise, from
top) RadioShack
aims to educate web
users about whether
it is wise to invest
in cryptocurrency
via NFTs. LimeWire
collaborated with
Soulja Boy on its
launch campaign, and
NFTs were given to
early supporters. Atari
worked with Brazilian
artist Butcher Billy on
its ‘50 Years of Atari’
NFT collection.
audiences” connecting with LimeWire
across social media, Discord and
Telegram, and compared them to
collectors of limited-edition records.
“It’s about gathering, exchanging and
consuming content that is otherwise
hard to find.”
NFTs made easy (and
trustworthy)
Another factor LimeWire and
RadioShack share is the goal of
lowering the barrier for entry for
customers who are unfamiliar
with the crypto space. Many NFT
platforms require crypto wallets
and advanced knowledge of tech
and terminology.
“Our strategy is to provide a
marketplace … where a lot of the
technical complexities are handled
in the background,” Buric said of
LimeWire, and RadioShack seems to
be pursuing a similar angle.
The two brands also aim to foster
trust in a space where the value of
currencies and NFTs may spike and
fall dramatically, not to mention one
that’s rampant with scams—another
side effect of a lack of education in
the space.
Adam Ilenich, head of community
at creator-centric NFT marketplace
Rarible, said it’s a tall order for
brands to overcome the inherent
sense of risk in the crypto category.
One potential exception he pointed
to is Nike, which has generated
$185 million in revenue from 67,000
transactions following its acquisition
of NFT studio RTFKT, according to
Dune Analytics, making it the highest
earning brand in the space to date. 
“The responsibility to educate
people on how to safely engage with
this new, emerging technology is an
industrywide one, and also a deeply
personal one,” Ilenich said.
Will more brands rise
from the underworld?
These aren’t the first largely defunct
brands that have committed to an
NFT-focused future. For instance, in
spring 2021, Atari gained attention
for creating a new division, Atari
Blockchain, and launching nostalgic
NFT collectibles associated with its
classic games Pong and Centipede.
For better or worse, these brands
provide examples of how nostalgic
fixtures may convince skeptics to
revisit them through crypto and
metaverse initiatives.
“The metaverse presents a
new platform for creative brands
to reimagine themselves,” Foster
said. “Maybe we will see traditional
clothing brands come back with
outfits for avatars or food brands
giving NFTs with a real-life purchase.”
Meanwhile, Kebler said, a
cohesive, “fully meshed” metaverse
is critical for sustained momentum.
C O U R T E S Y R A D I O S H A C K , ATA R I A N D L I M E W I R E
“As NFTs inevitably grow into
owned 3D assets and those assets can
be tracked in multiplayer ‘metaverse’
style games and platforms,” he said,
“I’m really looking forward to decking
out my avatar in some Bugle Boy
jeans, Reebok Pumps high tops and a
Hypercolor T-shirt.”
JESS ZAFARRIS IS THE DIRECTOR
OF AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT AT
ADWEEK. SHE IS AN AWARD-
WINNING CONTENT AND MARKETING
STRATEGIST. @JESSZAFARRIS.
SEPTEMBER 12, 2022 | ADWEEK ®
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INSIGHTS | TELEVISION
Buyers Dish On Upfronts
THOUGH MEDIA COMPANIES SAW RECORD COMMITMENTS, THERE IS NO
GUARANTEE OF STAYING POWER. BY BILL BRADLEY
NBCUniversal’s
2022 upfront was
its biggest ever.
If you only listened to the major
media companies, the 2022 upfront
couldn’t have gone better. Warner
Bros. Discovery, in its first upfront as
a merged company, received $6 billion
in commitments. And in its biggest
upfront ever, NBCUniversal secured $7
billion, while Disney earned $9 billion.
But that’s not the whole story.
“The biggest thing to look out for
right now is how much of this money is
going to stick,” one buyer familiar with
talks told Adweek.
After Warner Bros. Discovery
crossed the upfront finish line in
August—the last upfront week
presenter to complete negotiations—
Adweek spoke with several buyers
to get an insider’s perspective.
The marketers described their key
takeaways from the 2022 negotiations,
including their thoughts on the CPM
(cost per thousand viewers reached)
increases, what to expect in the scatter
market and whether those record-
setting commitments would remain.
The Covid-19 pandemic made
the last two upfronts virtual affairs,
but 2022 saw the first in-person
presentations since 2019. And
unlike the previous two years, which
were early markets that saw some
broadcasters demanding CPM
increases of more than 20%, 2022
shifted back to the buyers. CPM
increases were still meaningful,
with many announcing increases in
12
the high single digits to low teens.
Still, with economic uncertainty,
ongoing supply chain issues and
record-high inflation, broadcasters
were more interested in locking down
commitments than playing hardball.
After all, several categories have
taken major hits recently, including
CPGs, auto and insurance. One buyer
noticed $1 billion in bounce as budgets
fluctuated wildly—by hundreds of
millions in any given week.
“I think everyone knew there was
uncertainty. … But it made things a
lot easier to move along,” a media
buyer told Adweek.
The Warner Bros.
Discovery of it all
Unfortunately, talks weren’t as easy
with Warner Bros. Discovery, which
held out for CPM increases in the low
to mid teens for its Premiere package,
a mix of the company’s top-rated
programming. Ultimately, the plan may
have cost the company hundreds of
millions of dollars in commitments as
budgets moved elsewhere during what
one buyer called the “most frustrating
negotiation” they ever had.
Mere weeks before its upfront
presentation, Warner Bros. Discovery
completed its $43 billion merger and
had the unenviable task of combining
two very different sales teams. It didn’t
necessarily go well.
Speaking at a Credit Suisse
UPFRONT
STREAMING
HIGHLIGHTS
The shift from linear to streaming
was on full display at the 2022 upfront.
40%
of Disney’s total upfront dollars
went to streaming and digital.
Peacock doubled its upfront
revenue to more than
$1 billion.
Investment in TelevisaUnivision’s
ViX more than doubled, with
70%
of clients investing in linear
also leaning into ViX.
AVOD service Tubi received
significant commitments
in only its second year as part of
the greater Fox upfront offering.
BILL BRADLEY IS ADWEEK’S DEPUTY
TV EDITOR. HE JOINED ADWEEK
FROM SCREEN RANT, BEFORE THAT,
BILL SPENT 7 YEARS AT HUFFINGTON
POST AS ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR.
@GUMGUMERSON
conference in June, Warner Bros.
Discovery ad sales chief Jon Steinlauf
said advertisers “really like what we’re
doing” with the Premiere package.
However, buyers told Adweek the
company “couldn’t figure out” what
was in the Premiere packages, the
Warner Bros. and Discovery teams
weren’t collaborative with each other,
and the company was “out of their
minds” with the proposed increases.
“Nobody was going to sit there and pay
those,” a buyer declared.
However, some buyers were also
sympathetic, saying Steinlauf and his
leadership team did a great job under
the circumstances, and they ultimately
feel secure in their partnership with
the company.
The shifting narrative
Meanwhile, sports was a winner in the
upfront, according to several buyers,
and DEI efforts were on the minds
of many. But the main story was the
extreme shift from linear to streaming.
Multiple buyers said linear dollars
were flat or down, with unexpected
softness in cable. Clients were more
willing this year to move dollars into
digital, including social video such as
Snap and TikTok.
And with more enticing digital
options continuing to arrive, including
Disney+’s ad tier and Netflix’s future
ad-supported option, it appears the
shift is here to stay. One buyer called
it “a tipping point” as clients looked at
all the available opportunities, often
without the premium prices of linear in
order to incentivize dollars.
“Last year, [clients] were dipping
their toe a little bit. Now they’re like,
‘Yeah, we need to spend more here,’”
the buyer said on the digital shift.
On an earnings call in August,
Warner Bros. Discovery CFO Gunnar
Wiedenfels said the scatter market
had “softer” demand, and several
buyers who spoke with Adweek
concurred. As one put it, “If the upfront
is working, then scatter market should
not be.” It may come down to whether
clients cutting orders amid economic
woes want to reenter scatter later.
ERIC LIEBOWITZ/NBCUNIVERSAL/GETTY IMAGES
“I’d be lying if I said that I haven’t
seen any slippage from hold to
order,” one buyer said. Another
commented on advertisers backing
off from commitments: “I don’t think
they’re going to be alone.”
Of course, the record-setting
commitments have flexibility and options
built in, a safeguard if the economy turns
sour. Regardless, media buyers are on
high alert as deals start going to order.
“If anything were to change, it would
change between now and those next
couple of weeks,” one buyer said. “We’re
monitoring that really, really closely.”
SEPTEMBER 12, 2022 | ADWEEK ®
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I N S I G H T S | S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y
TAKING ON BIG OIL’S MESSAGING
THIS NONPROFIT IS TRYING TO INSPIRE RADICAL CLIMATE ACTION BY DELIVERING
SCIENTIFIC FACTS WITH A HUMOROUS TWIST. BY KATHRYN LUNDSTROM
As Peter Kalmus sees it, the
advertising and public relations
industries have been a primary
arena for climate communication for
decades. It’s just that polluters have
shaped the dominant narrative.
That’s why Kalmus, a climate
scientist at NASA, teamed up with
Harold Moss, founder of animation
and production studio FlickerLab,
to create the nonprofit Climate Ad
Project in 2020.
The group aims to take the
climate narrative back from fossil
fuel companies, combining humor
and climate science with a goal
of inspiring a billion people to
activism. While still in its early
stages, the project will fill a gap
that Kalmus and Moss perceive in
the current climate communications
landscape: a culturally relevant
and science-backed challenge to
the disinformation that’s defined
the public’s understanding of global
warming. That work will come
packaged in short-form, informational
videos and a monthly comedic variety
show about major climate issues.
“We’re definitely in a climate
emergency, but the public doesn’t seem
to agree with that assessment,” Kalmus
told Adweek, speaking on behalf of the
Climate Ad Project, not in his capacity
as a NASA employee. “There’s no
coherent attempt to educate the
14
public on the climate emergency.
There’s no ad agency for the Earth.”
Fighting disinformation
Kalmus believes more compelling
narratives are needed to counter
climate disinformation, and scientists
need better outlets for sharing
information about climate change
with regular people. But climate
scientists’ work is largely relegated to
academic journals and reports from
the United Nations’ Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change.
“The public doesn’t read scientific
papers or IPCC reports,” he added.
Starting in spring 2023, the Climate
Ad Project will produce a monthly variety
show on YouTube and Vimeo tackling
different climate-related issues in each
episode, such as wildfires, extreme
heat or biodiversity. Clips of the show, in
addition to timely, short-form educational
or news-related content, will receive paid
media placements (initially only on digital
and streaming platforms).
But changing the public’s
understanding of climate change is no
small task. Nearly a third of Americans
(30%) believe global warming is
caused by natural changes rather than
humans burning fossil fuels, despite
a clear scientific consensus to the
contrary, according to a 2021 survey
from the Yale Program on Climate
Change Communication.
In addition to addressing
misconceptions through its variety
show and videos, the Climate Ad
Project’s content will also seek to
raise the profile of activists engaging
in direct action and civil disobedience.
Kalmus sees this as an important
tool in pressuring governments and
corporations to act.
“We want to shift the cultural
narrative on [civil disobedience],”
Kalmus said.
Under the spell of Big Oil
As has been widely reported following
an initial bombshell report from
Inside Climate News in 2015, oil
and gas companies were aware of
the role burning fossil fuels plays in
global warming for decades. Rather
than warning the public and shifting
to renewables, they buried that
information and used PR and advertising
to sow uncertainty around the science.
But the impact of that PR
and ad work still shapes the way
consumers think about fossil fuels
and climate change.
“[The Climate Ad Project is]
trying to disrupt the hold that the
fossil fuel industry has on the culture
of America and the world,” Ben
Franta, senior research fellow in
climate litigation at the University
of Oxford, told Adweek. “For a very
long time, fossil fuel companies—
and especially oil companies—have
executed public relations campaigns
to enmesh themselves with the idea
of ‘the good life’ and what it means to
be an American.”
That can be as simple as
promoting the “Great American Road
Trip” in an attempt to encourage more
fuel consumption, Franta explained,
or as complex as influencing public
school curriculums to portray oil and
gas as vital to the American economy.
Normalizing civil
disobedience
Still, the Climate Ad Project isn’t the
first to attempt to use ad campaigns to
educate the public on climate science.
David Karpf, associate professor of
media and public affairs at George
Washington University, pointed to Al
Gore’s Climate Reality Project and
the Alliance for Climate Protection as
early iterations of such work.
Given the complexities of movement
building, an ad campaign is unlikely to
inspire a billion climate activists on its
own, Karpf said—that would take “a
world-historic organizing effort.” But
popularizing civil disobedience could be
within the project’s reach.
“Well-produced advertisements
shared on social media among existing
climate activists could help change
the narrative among activists about
how they view direct action and civil
disobedience,” Karpf said.
On April 6, Kalmus was arrested
after chaining himself to the doors of
a Los Angeles JPMorgan Chase bank
to draw attention to the severity of the
climate crisis and the financial system’s
role in funding the fossil fuel industry.
Footage of his emotional speech made
the rounds on Twitter, garnering millions
of views. The Climate Ad Project put
together a video of the event.
“We’ve been trying to warn you for
so many decades,” Kalmus said at the
event, his voice breaking. “We’re going
to lose everything.”
This is the first installment of a three-
part Insights series on how advertising
is being used to spur climate action.
PART 1 The quest to build an
army of climate activists.
PART 2 How a coalition of agencies
is cutting through politics to push
for better climate policy.
PART 3 Combating climate doom-ism
with solutions-focused content.
KATHRYN LUNDSTROM IS
ADWEEK’S S U S TA IN A B IL I T Y
E D I TO R . PRE V IOUSLY, SHE WROTE
ABOUT POLITICS FOR THE DAILY
DONUT AND ANALYZED POLICY AT
THE TEXAS CAPITOL. @KLUNDSTER
SEPTEMBER 12, 2022 | ADWEEK ®
 s.
w.

The
Trust
Economy
HOW COMPANIES CAN
EARN GOOD BRAND
KARMA. BY RAJA
RAJAMANNAR
Editor’s note: This piece is part of
our Columnist Network series, which
explores the tactical thoughts and
actions from Adweek’s community
of high-level experts.
In his stand-up routine on
advertising, comedian George Carlin
said, “America’s leading industry is
still the manufacture, distribution,
packaging and marketing of bullshit.”
Although the bit is decades old, the
public’s attitude toward advertising
unfortunately hasn’t changed much.
But something has: We are now more
connected than ever before.
Digital technologies and social
media give brands greater access
to consumers and create new ways
to engage and interact. But they
also make it easy for customers to
abandon, or even damage, a brand
they feel has done wrong.
It is tougher to earn brand
loyalty in this environment, so
marketers must continually nurture
these relationships as their role in
consumers’ lives changes.
Consumers expect the businesses
they support to behave ethically,
operate transparently and take
a stand on issues that matter.
Businesses that do this will earn
consumers’ respect and loyalty—and
will be rewarded through a virtuous
circle of good brand karma.
The trust deficit
To fully appreciate our responsibility
as marketers, we must acknowledge
our industry’s reputation for trickery,
one that we largely earned.
There’s no shortage of examples
of common marketing practices
that are unfair or exploitative to
consumers: Food or other products
labeled “natural” or “organic” can
be full of surprising additives, a
tactic that’s deceptive in spirit even
if technically legal. Expensive skin
care products are sold in hefty glass
jars that appear inexplicably tiny
once you open the lid. The entire
16
VOICE
concept of mail-in rebates is rigged
in businesses’ favor, with very
few willing to go to the trouble of
claiming them.
As marketers, our livelihood
depends on consumers, so it’s
counterproductive to trick them.
The 2022 Edelman Trust Barometer
shows that consumers may buy a
product based on its reputation, but
59% would stop buying it if they didn’t
trust the company.
One thing is true: If consumers
feel they have been wronged, the
company has made a mistake.
Correct the business model or
correct the perception if that’s where
the problem lies. In the digital age,
marketing and communications
it’s easier than ever for consumers
officer and president of health
to throw a brand overboard, and
care at Mastercard. Rajamannar
word spreads quickly when a brand is
is an accomplished global
found to be behaving badly.
business executive with more
than 25 years of experience.
Quantum karma
Thankfully, karma isn’t all about
Twitter @RajaRajamannar
punishing missteps. As trust becomes
more important to consumers’ buying
decisions, brands that do the right
thing have the chance to shine.
In the same Edelman survey,
59% of respondents said it is worth
paying more for a brand that has
earned their trust, and 55% will pay
more for a brand that does good
for the world. Younger consumers
are driving this change, with 65%
of millennials and Gen Z adults
awarding a trust premium.
As brands overall become less
relevant and important in people’s
lives, this renewed spotlight on ethics
creates major opportunities, and trust is
becoming a huge competitive advantage.
As marketers, here’s how we earn it:
Reset our priorities around
data. Data is absolutely crucial to
a marketer’s job today. Consumers
will entrust us with it as long as
we use it responsibly and handle
it transparently. The industry
must value people over data and
maintain a strong sense of collective
accountability for data ethics.
Commit to straightforward
practices. Packaging, pricing and
advertising should reflect reality. No
tricks, no deception.
Stay truthful and genuine. Embrace
the chance to connect, but don’t
manufacture opportunities or exploit
a situation.
Hold partners and vendors to high
standards. Trustworthy brands
carefully vet every entity they do
business with. A shady partner can
damage a brand—and consumers
will sniff them out if your leadership
does not.
Respect consumer privacy. This is
nonnegotiable. I am a big proponent of
simplifying privacy laws, but nothing
beats the self-regulation that comes
from having an ethical North Star.
Get ahead of negativity. If a problem
surfaces for your brand or product,
own up to it. Honesty and transparency
can help head off a social media and
public relations firestorm.
Make ethics contagious. Marketing
teams must reflect the spirit of
integrity they set out to sow. Diversity,
equity and inclusion start in-house.
Specs
Claim to fame Raja
Rajamannar is the chief Full circle
There are no shortcuts to building a
I L L U S T R AT I O N : C S A I M A G E S / G E T T Y I M A G E S
trustworthy brand, but the disruption
of marketing’s fifth paradigm
has given us new opportunities.
Consumers are increasingly
connected to the world around them
and attuned to the issues they care
Base New York
about. For brands, the expectations
and the stakes are high.
That’s why it’s more important
than ever to embrace ethical practices,
act with integrity and rack up good
brand karma. Treating consumers with
respect will be rewarded in kind.
SEPTEMBER 12, 2022 | ADWEEK ®
 P R I VA C Y - F O R W A R D
MACHINE LEARNING-POWERED
P R O G R A M M AT I C A D V E R T I S I N G

Scan here to
learn more about
AdTheorent’s
privacy-forward
approach
 D ATA P O I N T S

Under the Influence

PEOPLE REALLY TRUST INTERNET-FAMOUS STRANGERS IN THEIR SOCIAL FEEDS. BY EVA KIS
Mixed in with our friends on social media feeds are influencers sharing bits of
their lives for our entertainment: furniture rehabbers, makeup artists, cleaning
wizards and more. We like watching their lives and work—but how do we feel about
them recommending products and services?
Turns out they have more than a little clout. In a survey of nearly 1,500 women
by online platform for women’s voices SheSpeaks, 60% have bought something
on the recommendation of an influencer. This went as high as 65% for the 18-24
crowd, versus 40% for those 55 and older.
In fact, slightly more than half of all respondents (51%) actively turn to
influencers for information before making a purchase, rivaling brand/retailer sites
as a reliable source. But that number is once again much higher among younger
audiences: While word-of-mouth is the top way people across all age groups get
information about products and services, 74% of those 18-24 rely on social media
influencers, while only 24% of those over 55 do the same.
When it comes to making a purchase, 90% of respondents of all ages would
trust an influencer over a celebrity.
“When you have enlisted content creators who are telling smart stories
that focus on why a particular product or service is useful in someone’s life, the
audience becomes engaged and doesn’t view it as sponsored content,” said Aliza
Freud, CEO of SheSpeaks.
“Instead, they get excited and actually want to share it with others,” she added,
noting that 17% of users are even willing to share sponsored content.

Do you trust

65%
Have you ever
product/service bought something
after seeing
recommendations a social media
from someone post from

72%
someone
you follow on you follow?
social media?
Ages
18-24
15%
53%
25-34
35-45
No 46-55
55+

55%Yes
50%
40%
78% 51% 50%
Which sources 48% are open to
do you rely 74% Only 51% of people say sponsored content
on for information 18-24 24% influencers properly if the influencer
about products/ declare when content offers a discount
services? 55+
Word-of-mouth Brand/retail site Influencers is sponsored. code or giveaway.

When I see Where do you 77% 80

a sponsored follow influencers? 74%

INFOGRAPHIC: CARLOS MONTEIRO; SOURCE: SHESPEAKS

post, I … 65%
Ages 64% 62%
18-24 60
Read/watch 25-34 52%
35-45 58%
64%
46-55
Like 55+
37% 40
35%
Buy/learn more
20% 23%
32% 26%
20
Comment
13%
21% 11%
8% 7%
Share 0 0
17% Twitter Snapchat Pinterest Facebook TikTok YouTube Instagram

18 SEPTEMBER 12, 2022 | ADWEEK ®

 Proud sponsor
of Brandweek
September 12-16,
Miami

How do you supercharge your commerce engine?

Commerce is all about brands and shoppers finding each other.
Bazaarvoice operates on a single premise—making this happen
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 S PACE S

BETTER LIVING THROUGH NO PRESSURE

Instead of traditional camp
competitions, Camp Kim

SELF-CARE (AND WINE) attendees were encouraged

KIM CRAWFORD’S SUMMER-LONG CAMP KIM EMBRACED
OUR ‘EAGERNESS FOR SELF-DISCOVERY.’ BY EVA KIS
to participate in communal
events like Splash and Sip
(1, 2). Open bars served wine
cocktails and Kim Crawford’s
classic and new products (3). 1

2 3

20 SEPTEMBER 12, 2022 | ADWEEK ®

+
S PACE S

Wellness is, objectively, a good

thing. The problem is it often requires
so much effort to keep up—from new
superfoods to hot yoga and freezing
showers—that you may not end up
feeling better at all.
Kim Crawford Wines takes a
gentler approach when it encourages
women to embrace self-care, which
the company has been advocating for
since early in the pandemic. 
“Wellness is whatever makes you
feel good,” said Julie Rossman, vp of
brand at Kim Crawford. “The brand’s
positioning is really about empowering
women to be their best selves.”
And this summer, it took that
message on the road with the brand’s
largest activation ever: Camp Kim,
a four-city series of summer camp-
inspired gatherings, which finished 1
its tour in New York on Sept. 7. The
events were created in partnership
with Refinery29 and Black Girl ‘MAKE IT
Ventures, the latter of which supports AMAZING’
Black and brown woman-identifying Beginning in April,
entrepreneurs. Camp Kim toured
Attendees were encouraged to four cities with ever-
changing activities,
shake off the last two-and-a-half but always good
years of monotony by trying different vibes. Attendees
activities, all designed to bring out celebrated each
creativity and make new friends other with 29
Questions (1), Diva
without the pressure of perfection. Davanna showed
There was a paint splash project in New Yorkers how to
Los Angeles, a BOYBoots dance class walk the runway (2),
in Dallas, collaborative mural painting and Dallas campers
in Chicago and a New York Fashion got to take a dance
class in cowboy
Week-inspired catwalk strut session boots (3).
led by runway coach Diva Davanna
alongside HBO Max’s Legendary star
and journalist Milan Garçon. 
Camp Kim also featured live DJs,
photo booths, a shredding station
for attendees to write down and
then tear up the things holding them
back, a confession session called 29
2
Questions and more.
“If you think about yourself
growing up, that carefree version
of yourself from summer camp and
that eagerness for self-discovery,”
Rossman said, “we wanted interactive
creative activities where our attendees
could connect with themselves again,
and then also the sense of community
with those around them.”
And in these moments of bonding
and self-discovery, of course,
everyone also happened to be holding
a glass of Kim Crawford or a wine
cocktail. Camp Kim also served as an
introduction to its prosecco, which
launched in May, in addition to a lower-
alcohol, lower-calorie rosé called
Illuminate.
“We’re all coming out of the
pandemic really tired,” Rossman said,
“and we just felt like it was the right
moment to go big and help inspire 3
consumers.”

22 SEPTEMBER 12, 2022 | ADWEEK ®

 s.
w.
These industry
leaders epitomize
their brand values
while elevating
performance
THE LAST TWO YEARS have seen political and social
upheaval unlike any other, not to mention soaring
inflation that has crowded out personal values in favor
of price value. But consumers have spoken out about
what they want, both online and in their shopping
habits. They expect brands they choose to be both
attuned to their ethical and moral standards while also
being mindful of the strains on their wallets.
Ensuring that brand values and performance are
mutually reinforced, as opposed to being seen as
exclusive, is the challenge that signifies an Adweek
Brand Genius. That right brain-left brain balance is
the primary thread running through the profiles of
this year’s honorees.
While no single executive or brand is monolithic
in their thinking, all people and organizations have
natural tendencies and leanings. Our 10 Brand Genius
award winners—along with our Brand Visionary and
Purpose Brand honorees—are ones that don’t simply
play to their strengths; each found unique ways of
making purpose practical.
Each of our honorees recognizes that brand
marketing is foundational. A brand is defined by the
familiarity consumers, stakeholders and rivals have
formed by a brand’s design, actions, wins and losses—
all of which merge to show what that brand cares
about. They succeed when they create a connection
that goes beyond the immediate utility or desirability
associated with a particular product. A clear, strong
brand identity is grounded in clearly conveying values
that are as tangible as they are ethereal.
The stories that follow explain how marketing
leaders synthesize branding, product, growth and
strategies to manage businesses that inspire on all
levels. —David Kaplan
 CONGRATULATIONS, MARCEL, ON BEING
SELECTED AS AN ADWEEK BRAND GENIUS.
 BRAND
VISIONARY

PHARRELL
The singer-producer
has deftly transposed
his musical fame into an
entrepreneurial empire.
BY ROBERT KLARA
PHOTOGRAPHY BY DRIELY S CARTER

ven in a nation that had grown accustomed
to “challenging times,” few months in recent
memory were as dire as November 2020.
Some 4 million Americans contracted
Covid-19 that month, more than most coun-
tries had reported for the entire year. Refus-
ing to concede the November election, former
President Donald Trump was instead filing
lawsuits to overturn it. The number of dem-
onstrators killed while protesting the death of
George Floyd by police had risen to six. Some
3.6 million people were out of work. Prices for
everyday necessities were climbing. And, that
month, the CDC suggested Americans cancel
any holiday travel plans.
It was probably the worst time imaginable
to launch a new brand—but that was exactly
what Pharrell Williams was doing.
The artist, songwriter and producer had
already invested countless hours in Human-
race, a venture that would kick off with a skin
care collection, though Williams envisioned
extending it to a range of products. Already
envied for his perennially youthful glow, Wil-
liams was pretty sure that his starter pack
(rice powder cleanser, lotus enzyme exfoliator
and humidifying cream) would go over well.
As for the timing, however, even the experts
had advised him to wait.
“We launched in the middle of the pandem-
ic, against a lot of people’s advice,” Williams
recalled. “A lot of the advice was: ‘Man, you
shouldn’t do it.’”
But Williams knew something that the
MBA-equipped experts apparently did not:
The frightening news tumbling out of a de-
pressed and divided country had created a
longing in people to pamper themselves, to
find comfort in routines that would make
them, however briefly, feel better.
“When people are down and things are feel-
ing weird, sometimes people turn inward,”
28
Williams told Adweek. “What if you could of-
fer people something that really did help them?
Give them something that really works? We
bet on that.”
And as is usually the case for Williams—Ad-
week’s Brand Visionary for 2022—his bet was
a good one.
Humanrace went live on Nov. 25, 2020, via a
website that sold directly to consumers. With-
in hours, the Instagram page had 26,000 fol-
lowers. By the end of day one, the entire stock
sold out.
But Humanrace’s launch is more than just
the story of a business deal that worked out. In
a sense, it’s also a tableau of Williams himself:
a man who has deftly maneuvered an envi-
able reputation in the music industry into the
realm of entrepreneurship, all while keeping a
hawk’s eye on his personal brand and using a
keen read of popular culture as his guide.
“As a musician, your name is your brand and
your product is the work that you do,” Williams
said. “My brand boils down to authenticity. To
me, everything is just about being honest and
in trying to express that in the most accessible
way possible.”
THE BEAT OF HIS OWN DRUM
Williams, now 49, has been expressing him-
self for a long time.
His musical career kicked off in 1992 when
he wrote the lyrics for Wreckx-N-Effect’s
song “Rump Shaker,” which reached No. 2
on the Billboard Hot 100. Together with high
school friend Chad Hugo, Williams started
the Neptunes, a production team whose
signature twist—“a mixture of brashly syn-
thetic keyboard sounds and off-the-wall poly-
rhythmic percussion,” as Complex described
it—became a kind of hip-hop analog to Phil
Spector’s wall of sound.
Throughout the 2000s, the Neptunes added
the secret sauce to hits for everyone from Brit-
ney Spears to Justin Timberlake. Rap legends
including Jay-Z, Nelly and Snoop Dogg have
Williams to thank for many of their chart-
busters. After CeeLo Green took a pass on a
tune called Happy, Williams performed the
song he’d written himself—and turned it into
the bestselling single of 2014.
As a writer, producer and performer, Wil-
liams now boasts no fewer than 13 Grammy
awards. Earlier this year, he and Neptunes
partner Hugo were inducted into the Song-
writers Hall of Fame.
In 2003, Williams began the first of what
would become many forays into the fashion
world. When Jacob “the Jeweler” Arabo, re-
nowned maker of diamond-encrusted bling,
introduced Williams to Japanese fashion
designer Nigo, the two started streetwear
brand Billionaire Boys Club. BBC was es-
sentially an American riff on Bape, Nigo’s
Tokyo emporium that sold his trendy, lim-
ited-edition T-shirts. BBC was so well re-
ceived that it led to sub brands Icecream and
Billionaire Girls Club.
Williams doesn’t regard fashion design as a
departure from his musical talents, but rather
as an organic extension of them.
“I have always seen fashion and music in-
trinsically linked in the same way that space
and time are linked, right? There’s no space
without time. There’s no music without fash-
TAY L O R H I L L / G E T T Y I M A G E S
ion,” he said.
SPEAKING FOR HIMSELF
And since there are no brands without pro-
motion, Williams took matters a step further.
From the beginning, he departed from the
usual celeb-label formula by not only taking
an active role in the design process but also
 BUILDING
PHARRELL’S
BRAND
UNIVERSE
Co-founds The
Neptunes in 1992, a
production powerhouse  
that would define the French fashion
sound of the 2000s. boutique Colette
  does capsule collection
Founds Billionaire with Billionaire Boys
Boys Club apparel Club, 2014.
brand, 2003.  
  2014–2017: Williams
Founds Icecream appears as a judge on
apparel, 2004. NBC’s The Voice.
   
Launches Millionaire Kicks off partnership
sunglasses with with hospitality
Louis Vuitton, 2005, entrepreneur David
kicking off long-term Grutman, 2019.
partnership.  
  Founds youth
Becomes creative education nonprofit
director for recovered Yellow, 2019.
plastics textile company  
Bionic Yarn, 2008. Collaborates with
  Richard Mille on
Pharrell Williams x a limited-edition
Moncler outerwear wristwatch, 2019.
collection launches,  
2010. Starts nonprofit
  Black Ambition to
Founds Billionaire Girls financially support
Club apparel, 2011. Black and Latinx
  entrepreneurs, 2020.
Creates I Am Other,  
2012, an umbrella for his Launches
business ventures. Humanrace brand,
  starting with a skin
Williams’ tune Happy care collection, 2020.
drops in late 2013,  
becomes most Billionaire Boys Club
successful song of 2014. drops wristwatch
  collection with
Uniqlo launches Bamford London,

L O U I S V U I T T O N : G R EG O RY PAC E /G E T T Y I M AG E S
limited I Am Other 2022.
collection, 2014.  
  NFT brand Doodles
Adidas Originals x signs Williams as chief
Pharrell Williams brand officer, 2022.
debuts 2014, starting  
long-term partnership. The Neptunes
  inducted into the
Starts long-term Songwriters Hall
partnership with of Fame, 2022.
Chanel, 2014.

30 SEPTEMBER 12, 2022 | ADWEEK ®

 modeling the clothes himself.

‘What if In the 2003 music video for “Frontin’”—a

house party to which Lenny Kravitz, Jay-Z
and Nigo attend—Williams took center stage
in a T-shirt with the Billionaire Boys Club
logo. A year later, he showed up at the Spike

you could TV Video Game Awards wearing an Icecream

graphic shirt.
This kind of casual yet clearly delibera-
tive promotion has since become a signature
marketing move. On Snoop Dogg’s Neptunes-

offer people produced 2004 hit “Drop It Like It’s Hot,” Wil-
liams shouts out his Icecream brand with the
line: “I’m a nice dude with some nice dreams /
See these ice cubes, see these Icecreams?”

something
No TV spot could have reached a target au-
dience better than that.
You’ll see similar cross-pollination tak-
ing place within Williams’ other ventures.
In 2014, the Adidas Originals x Pharrell Wil-

that really
liams clothing and sneaker line hit stores,
kicking off what’s since become a long and
fruitful partnership.
But Williams’ Humanrace brand has its
own collection with Adidas, too. In 2014, I

did help
Am Other, the corporate umbrella Williams
launched in 2012 to oversee his various enter-
prises, created a T-shirt collection for Uniqlo.
And Billionaire Boys Club has partnered with
brands as varied as wristwatch maker Bam-

them? ford London, the New York Yankees and Poké-

mon. (Williams’ brands are privately held and
as such do not release financial figures.)

AN ARBITER OF FASHION

Give them The plausibility of Williams’ fashion proj-

ects stems in no small part from his own
sartorial flair.
Not long after the Neptunes’ royalty checks

something
began arriving, Pharrell bought himself a
purple crocodile Hermès Birkin bag, which
quickly became his trademark accessory. A
kind of internal fashion GPS allowed him to
dress down (T-shirts and jeans) and dress up

that really
(sherpa jacket, Louis Vuitton scarf) in the
same outfit. With the paparazzi tailing him,
Pharrell spread his fashion cred simply by get-
ting dressed.
In 2005, Esquire added Williams to its

works?
best-dressed list, crediting him with “inject-
ing dressed-up luxury into hip-hop style and
thereby influencing a new generation of guys
to consider more than just a pair of baggy jeans
a reflection of their youthful vitality.”

We bet Little wonder, then, that Williams has also

found himself collaborating with some of the
most prestigious fashion labels in the world.
Louis Vuitton has retained him to design jew-
elry and accessories; Colette has done “two ex-

on that.’ clusive drops” with Billionaire Boys Club.

And then there’s the storied atelier of Cha-
nel, which rarely signs male brand ambassa-
dors—but it signed Williams.
After modeling the house’s pre-fall 2015
collection in a short film with Cara Delevingne,
Williams made a surprise appearance as a
Pharaoh in gold lamé pants in Chanel’s 2018
Métiers d’Art  runway show. A year later, the
house invited Williams to design its first uni-
sex capsule: the Chanel Pharrell Collection.
It’s hard to imagine Wiz Khalifa or Post
Malone being allowed into style sanctums
such as these. But according to media and cul-
ture watcher Dan Runcie, founder of research
firm Trapital, Williams passes with ease be-
cause fans have embraced his style and eclecti-
cism from the beginning.
“There’s a throughline that you could see
with everything that he did,” Runcie said.
“There’s a handful of people who were truly
able to create a lifestyle around aspects of their
business. The brands that Pharrell partners
with—the brands that he creates—all tie back
into this image that people have had of him.”
THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN
Williams is so much about creation that he’s
occasionally withheld his name from his
own brands. Bionic Yarn, a company that
makes textiles from recovered ocean plas-
tics, counts Williams as its creative director,
but you’ll be hard-pressed to find his name
on the website. And while it’s widely known
that Billionaire Boys Club is Williams’ brand,
you’ll have to click all the way to the found-
ers’ page to find his name.
These intentional omissions of his name are
evidence of something that Williams takes
pains to avoid: fans thinking that he’s making
a cash grab.
“Sometimes what comes along with your
name can lead people in a direction to assume,
‘Oh, it’s going to be another one of these?’” Wil-
34
liams said. “Sometimes I like an idea to just be
pure—to be what it is. And I’d rather put my
brain behind it than my face.”
Like many consumers, Williams has seen
the cavalcade of celebrity-branded products
that hit store shelves with little actual involve-
ment from the celebrities in question. He wants
no part of that. Williams is acutely aware that,
regardless of how many brands he becomes in-
volved with, his most important brand is still
himself. He guards it carefully.
When brands dangle cash in front of celeb-
LOSING HIS VOICE
He was a coach on NBC’s The Voice
from 2014-2017 but said he realized
a steady TV gig was ‘not for me.’
rities, Williams said, some of those stars “are
mesmerized by the dollar amount, and they
don’t realize the damage that could be done.”
“Unlike a lot of other celebrities and influ-
encers we’ve seen today, he’s clearly more in-
terested in the work than he is in the rewards,
the fame and the money,” said Lola Bakare,
brand strategist and inclusive marketing con-
sultant. “He’s pure creative. And that’s why I
see the diversification of his portfolio as some-
thing that I might even expect. It started with
music, but he’s always been about creation.”
ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE
Another key ingredient of Williams’ formula
is that—be it in magazine stories, on the red
carpet or YouTube videos—he is soft-spoken
and genuine, free of the arrogance that’s his-
torically characterized much of the music
business and the celebrity class overall.
With no prodding, Williams admitted
he’s “not perfect”—a possible reference to his
co-written lyrics for the controversial 2013
Robin Thicke hit “Blurred Lines,” which crit-
ics claimed furthered rape culture and whose
unrated video was eventually banned by
YouTube. “You know,” Williams continued,
“sometimes I say things and they don’t neces-
sarily age well.”
Even so, this is also the man who, in 2014,
appeared on Ellen to advocate for marriage
equality. And when the Pharrell of today talks
about issues like inclusivity, he is clearly sin-
cere. As WWD has pointed out, Williams
was thinking about gender-neutral clothing
a decade before the apparel industry was. His
stripped-down apparel for Adidas is captioned
as “a celebration of inclusivity and equality.”
His Humanrace skin care products will work
for any skin tone or gender.
“My fan base are human beings,” Williams
said. “It’s not just a gender-based fan base.
These are humans—people with hearts and
blood pumping through their bodies.”
A similar note of humility drifts into his
voice when asked if his four-year residency on
NBC music competition mainstay The Voice
led him to any backstage deals or taught him
any shrewd business moves. Quite the con-
trary: Being on TV taught Williams about his
limitations.
“Being on [TV] and being in front of people?
And that responsibility of having to be in front
of people? And doing it so consistently? Man,
that’s not for me,” he said. “I’m very grateful for
that lesson.”
Besides, Williams has way too much on
his plate for a regular TV gig. Looking ahead,
there is a rumored collaboration with Tiffa-
ny & Co. that he has refused to comment on.
There’s the ongoing partnership with Miami
hotelier David Grutman, which in 2024 will
see the opening of Somewhere Else, a tropical
modernist reinterpretation of Morris Lapi-
dus’ famed Beach hotel on Paradise Island in
the Bahamas.
Williams has even involved himself with
Web3 by taking the post of chief brand officer
for nonfungible tokens brand Doodles. Speak-
ing at VeeCon earlier this year, Williams ex-
pressed the hope that a more decentralized
internet will lead to social change, allowing
people to push back “against governments that
seek to limit or strip away human rights.”
That’s heady stuff coming from a guy who,
not so long ago, was known only as a music pro-
ducer. But it doesn’t surprise Jimmy Newson, a
noted adviser to startup entrepreneurs.
“When you think about the type of ventures
that he’s going after, he’s looking at the future,”
Newson said. “He’s thinking about longevity.
T R A E PAT T O N / N B C U / G E T T Y I M A G E S
Half the stuff [he’s doing], nobody even knows
about because he’s more about just getting
things done. He’s an action-oriented person.”
But as usual, the Brand Visionary said it best
himself: “What I’ve learned about myself is I’m
much more of a hermit that comes in and comes
out. If you think about my career, I’m the guy
that comes from out of nowhere. When things
are a bit confused, or people are not sure which
way to go? Yeah, that’s when I shine the best.”
SEPTEMBER 12, 2022 | ADWEEK ®
To a future with even more cheers.

Marcel Marcondes,
2022 Adweek Brand Genius winner
Najoh
Tita-
Reid
GLOBAL CMO,
LOGITECH

GABI VOGT

T
ita-Reid began her role as the global CMO
for Logitech just weeks after the pandemic
first put the world on pause. It was a
circumstance whose ill timing quickly gave
way to an opportunity for the electronics company.
The 40-year-old Swiss business had earned
a reputation as a trusted maker of sophisticated
computers and their peripheral technology. But
Tita-Reid knew the brand could tap into a larger
market, one poised for growth as lockdown
measures settled in. 
Under her leadership, the hardware firm set its
sights on the expanding universe of digital creators
and gamers, an audience whose ranks would soon
swell during the doldrums of the pandemic. 
In February 2021, Logitech unveiled its first-
ever Super Bowl commercial. The spot was a
kaleidoscopic montage of artists, graphic designers
and digital entrepreneurs building businesses from
scratch on the backs of Logitech tools. The visuals
were perfectly matched with a soundtrack of an
unreleased single from Lil Nas X titled “Montero.”
The song would later soar to the No. 1 spot on
charts across the U.S. Behind the scenes, Tita-Reid
also marked the debut of “Defy Logic,” the first
brand campaign from Logitech in its history, which it
created with Vice agency Virtue.
In January 2022, Logitech released its encore:
a digital spot anchored by musician Lizzo. That
effort featured a similarly dazzling array of digital
creators, hustling and gaming in backlit neon rooms
scattered across the globe.
‘We want to
an increase of 76% from the year prior. And in the
second quarter of 2022, sales revenue grew 4% to
empower people $1.31 billion. 
“We want to support people who are changing
who are redefining the game,” Tita-Reid said. “We want to empower
people who are redefining the status quo by
the status quo by providing them the tools they need to do so.”
But young consumers demand more than
providing pedigreed products. To win their continued business,
Tita-Reid knew the “Defy Logic” campaign would
need to communicate a larger slate of brand values. 
them the To do so, Logitech leaned into the tenets of
diversity, sustainability and inclusivity that the
company has sought to champion. The video
tools they spots featuring Lil Nas X and Lizzo centered Black
creatives pushing the boundaries of their fields
need to alongside rising influencers whose backgrounds
featured mixed racial, sexual and gender identities. 
As the company builds on the traction it’s
do so.’ gained, its next challenge involves translating the
momentum into a b-to-b offering. Such a feat will
require marrying its new brand identity with its long
history of product marketing. The blurring boundary
between business and creator naturally complicates
The campaign emphasized the ability of this balancing act. But under Tita-Reid, that overlap
Logitech technology to democratize content is a feature, not a bug.
creation, Tita-Reid said. Rather than a staid “There is more to our products than their
supplier of office products, Logitech sought to functionality,” Tita-Reid said. “When you choose
redefine itself as the most stylish purveyor of Logitech, you know that our values and our
pickaxes in a digital gold rush.  commitments are real. You are buying a product that
The narrative landed. Between April 2020 and reflects your lifestyle, and that has a different level
March 2021, Logitech reported sales of $5.25 billion, of value.” —Mark Stenberg

CONGRATULATIONS
TO O U R V E R Y OW N B R A N D G E N I U S

ZACH ENTERLIN
EVP, HBO Max Marketing
 Hiroki
Asai
GLOBAL HEAD
OF MARKETING,
AIRBNB
A
irbnb debuted an ambitious new booking
approach this past summer, breaking all
listings on its app and website into 56
categories. What’s more, the company
began arranging listings by date rather than location.
That might not seem like a major innovation, but
it reflects Airbnb’s recognition of subtle changes in
travelers’ mindsets.
By last summer, the world was grappling with
the contradictions of living life in a new phase of the
pandemic. There was a sense of openness, almost
like a return to the “before times.” At the same time,
Covid-19 surges continued to wax and wane.
For Airbnb, those two feelings don’t represent a
dichotomy. It’s not a choice of paths or a clear divide
in travelers’ sensibilities.
Asai, Airbnb’s global head of marketing, echoed
company CEO Brian Chesky, who said that “travel as
we know it” was over.
That’s why, in 2021, Airbnb made more than 100
upgrades to its platforms. Changes included flexible
dates, arrival guides and trip planning ideas, its
biggest redesign in 10 years. The key word here, for
Asai and Airbnb, is “flexibility.”
“We think there are some long-standing habits
that are emerging from the depths of the pandemic,”
Asai said. “Staying away from home for longer
periods is one of them. That’s really what’s been
informing all the product changes we’ve had, and our
marketing along with it.”
While Airbnb initially cut its marketing spend
to devote more dollars to improving its online
experience, the enhancements drove word-of-
mouth. In the end, the brand saw a marketing ‘Coming out of [the
and revenue bonus, as Q3 2021 was one of its
strongest financially. pandemic], we feel
Recognizing that its travelers tended to want
to combine leisure and work trips for extended like [work from
stays, Airbnb embraced “work from anywhere” as a
companywide rule. home] is the future.
The anti-back-to-office message to employees
was designed to resonate with Airbnb users as well.
One aspect of the change in travel habits among its
We do think
younger, more affluent and tech-focused customer
base is the shift toward long-term rentals. The
weekend getaways are still there, but as Asai noted,
that’s where
Airbnb believes its primary business is in driving
stays beyond one-week vacations.
“Like everyone, we were forced into this work-
the world
from-home world,” Asai said. “Coming out of it, we
feel like that is the future. We do think that’s where
is going.’
the world is going. And we do think that’s what
employees—especially our employees—want.”
That feel-good stance gave Airbnb greater bookings resulted from them.
flexibility as well, Asai noted. There’s the ability Building in flexibility when it comes to the choice
to recruit the best talent in the world, no matter and timing of destinations represented a reemphasis
where they are, and it could also attract a more of Airbnb’s focus on experiences as opposed to just
diverse workforce. short-term home rentals.
In summer 2022, Airbnb continued to build out its “The flexibility features are also exciting for our
remote philosophy and tailor the message to digital hosts because it actually allows them to reveal
nomads it coveted as its prime customer base. their stays that wouldn’t have otherwise come up
Since flexible dates debuted, Airbnb claimed on the search,” Asai said. “It’s fascinating to see
it has attracted more than 500 million searches— flexible search leading to a redistribution of some
though the company didn’t say how many actual of our supply.” —David Kaplan
Lorraine
Twohill
CMO, GOOGLE

I
n 2021, Google’s revenue grew by a staggering
41% to $257.6 billion. With media consumption
at new highs and advertisers eager to
capitalize on pent-up demand, one of the
world’s biggest media and advertising technology
companies stood to benefit. 
Twohill, Google’s CMO, took advantage of the
attention and dollars the tech giant had at its
disposal in 2022 to not just accelerate growth
but also make a difference. Much of Google’s
brand messaging this past year involved the
company’s efforts to use technology to benefit
underrepresented communities. 
Starting early in the year, Google used its
coveted spot in the Super Bowl to highlight its
Real Tone feature, which captures the nuances
of diverse skin tones, on the Google Pixel 6. The
soundtrack for the spot was Lizzo’s “If You Love
Me,” which garnered extra attention since the track
had not yet been released.
The “Real Tone” campaign satisfied two of
Google’s aims. First, it highlighted the company’s
goal of using technology to address a social wrong
(cameras not taking flattering photos of darker skin
tones). Second, the marketing of “Real Tone” was
meant to show how the search giant could challenge
its rival, the iPhone, where it appeared to be lacking. 
“We felt ‘Real Tone’ actually differentiated us
and what our phone could do,” Twohill said. “We
also knew Pixel would be more successful because
of it, since real people could finally see themselves
recognized in a photo, in a camera, in a phone that
put their needs first.”
While most marketers use their voice purely to
serve as brand cheerleaders, Twohill previously
made sure to not frame Google as the hero of the
story. “For too long, camera technology, including
our own, has failed people of color by either making ‘Being able to help Some of the marketing team’s other wins were
rooted in Google’s global responsibility. 
them look washed out or too unnaturally bright or
dark,” she wrote in a blog post.  [in global crises], Google partnered with NGOs and governments
during the pandemic on the Covid-19 information
Accountability is a throughline in Google’s campaign “Do the Five,” which educated the global
marketing strategy, Twohill said. She noted that
every year, the brand audits its work. As a result,
when our products public on how to avoid spreading and contracting
the virus. The five-point message presented
Google has gleaned interesting insights about how its
advertising can be more reflective of the larger world.
and services are simple tips, including frequent hand-washing and
social distancing. 
“We took a typical Google approach and
measured everything to hold ourselves
most needed, Other Google efforts to curtail the pandemic
included the search-focused “Get Back to What
accountable,” Twohill said.
Google also works to help other marketers avoid
the same mistakes. The company launched the
is the biggest You Love” ad, which helped consumers find nearby
vaccination sites. The company also used its

All In initiative to help advertisers eliminate bias in

their creative. At this year’s Cannes Lions, Google
win we can
said it was expanding the project by including an
Accessibility Marketing Playbook.  have.’
marketing channels to raise money for Ukraine and
promoted an air raid alert app to keep people safe.
“Being able to help, when our products and
services are most needed, is the biggest win we
can have,” Twohill said. —Catherine Perloff

40 SEPTEMBER 12, 2022 | ADWEEK ®

Dear Fawn,

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR
SUCCESS WITH UNCLE NEAREST
PREMIUM WHISKEY.
Like you, Nearest Green was a pioneer
and a trailblazer. Congratulations on
being awarded Adweek’s 2022 Brand
Genius award.

Cheers to you,
JACK

PLE A SE DRINK RE SP ONSIBLY

JACK DANIEL’S AND OLD NO.7 ARE REGISTERED TRADEMARKS. ©2022 JACK DANIEL’S. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Sarah Franklin
PRESIDENT AND CMO, SALESFORCE

SPENCER LOWELL
A
t a time when spending more than two
years at a company signifies someone as
practically a lifer, Franklin’s 15 years with
Salesforce is an impressive milestone. And
yet, there is a degree of newness in her role as CMO. 
She was promoted to lead the SaaS marketing
giant’s brand efforts in January 2021. And she’s
brought with her the deep institutional knowledge
of Salesforce’s identity. At the same time, Franklin,
who has degrees in chemical engineering and
biochemistry, has absorbed a lifetime’s work
around science and technology.   now that is not
She’s found her scientific background a useful
approach to the creative industry. It’s allowed her
to marry what she calls “beginner’s brain” with
technical expertise.  of our population.’
“You’re taught in engineering school [to]
write down your given problem statement, the
assumptions that you’re making, the solution that
you’re trying to find, and then you have to write the
unknowns. … When you are a marketing leader, you
have to think about not just what you see in market,
but what you don’t see—and how you can bring new
perspectives,” Franklin said.  said. “When you go into cartoon land, you can defy
Since taking on the top marketing role, Franklin
has brought the company in a direction wholly
unique for a SaaS tech platform, characterized by an
astute b-to-c approach.   is the development of Salesforce+. Like other
The team built out a cast of childlike animal
mascots to inspire brand affinity by emphasizing
Salesforce’s simplicity and friendliness to the marketer
clients it serves. The project was first conceived with
‘We can
change the
face of tech,
an industry right
representative
its “No Software” mascot, which was named SaaSy.
Other corporate creatures have since emerged, like
Astro Nomical, a nonbinary character who assumes
different personas by changing costumes.   passions and interest in the causes close to her heart.
“We bring this level of fun, which helps you
escape from the world of the known,” Franklin
gravity. … That’s the spirit of empowerment that we
wanted to bring to Salesforce.”  is involved with Girls Who Code and advocates for
Another outgrowth from the consumer world
brand-plus names, it’s a streaming service with
live and on-demand broadcasts, original series and
podcasts. The aim is to translate the platform’s
events-oriented expertise and reputation into a
full-fledged business media channel with content
focused on “inspirational storytelling,” featuring
interview exclusives and successful case studies.  
Since its September 2021 debut, the free
streaming service has drawn 5 million viewers across
its 15 original series and given rise to 17 tentpole
events, including the annual Dreamforce conference,
available in-person, via livestream and on-demand.  
The emphasis on education-meets-entertainment
is a natural extension of Franklin’s marketing mindset:
The Trailblazer series features Black entrepreneurs
who have transformed their lives using the company’s
free, online and gamified coding program, Trailhead.
Franklin launched the program previously in her
tenure, and it’s specifically designed to prepare
women and people of color for successful STEM
careers. Her goal is to advance that mentality into the
overarching business strategy from the C-suite.  
Franklin’s career outlines a significant track
record of consistent decisions in line with her
   
“We can change the face of tech, an industry
right now that is not representative of our
population,” said Franklin, who recently joined the
board of performance platforms Hiya and Qualified,
removing barriers to employment, such as the need
for an accredited degree as a hiring requirement.  
“There’s never been a more important time to be a
CMO at a company,” she continued, “because you are
the voice, you are the EQ, you are the understanding,
you are the pathway to the future.” —Will Russo
CONGRATS, NICK!
 I
f mere mention of the words “beer” or “cold one”
conjures a mental image of the red Budweiser logo
or a blue can of Bud Light, that’s largely due to good
marketing. 
And parent company Anheuser-Busch InBev is great
at marketing. So great, in fact, that this summer the
Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity named
the planet’s largest brewer its Creative Marketer of the
Year, placing AB InBev into a venerated realm populated
by Apple, Google, Burger King and Coca-Cola for its
history of exceptional work. 
“It’s an incredible recognition for our company and
the entire team’s work to transform our business,” said
Marcondes, the company’s global CMO. He believes being
relevant is more crucial for connecting with consumers
than being visible. 
“But our mission is far from done,” he added. “We
remain humble in our journey to learn every day and
ambitious to act as a leader for our category and our
industry.” 
In a world that’s changing as rapidly as ours, that
mindset is necessary. Consider how the average
American reads the news and watches shows today
compared to, oh, say, a couple decades ago, when Netflix
built a business around sending DVDs in the mail, and
Facebook didn’t exist. 
In a bold move that breaks with tradition to better
keep pace with modern media habits, AB InBev recently
decided to walk away from its position as the Super
Bowl’s sole alcohol advertiser, an agreement it had in
place every year since 1989. 
“As we continue to evolve our strategy to focus
on future growth, we are focused on meeting our
consumers where they are throughout the entire year,”
said Marcondes, who noted the NFL remains a big part
of the company’s advertising push. “The shift away from

‘We remain exclusivity allows us to rebalance our media investments

in key moments all year during both football season and
the summer selling season.” 
humble in AB InBev’s discernment on how and when to reach
people through various mediums has proven sound:

our journey Marketing intelligence firm WARC singled out AB InBev

as the world’s most awarded advertiser for creativity and
effectiveness throughout 2021. 
to learn every day As more people gravitate to canned cocktails and
hard seltzer, AB InBev has also had to remain in tune with
and ambitious to changes in taste. Creativity and innovation, after all, are
not limited to advertising. 
act as a leader for To that end, the company has succeeded in promoting
new products. Last year, the company’s Beyond Beer
our category and portfolio, which includes young brands such as Cutwater
Spirits and Nütrl Vodka Seltzer, grew more than 20%,
our industry.’ contributing $1.6 billion in revenue. 
“As a consumer-centric organization, meeting people’s
needs is our main priority,” Marcondes said. “We pay
close attention to consumer behavior and macro industry
trends to understand where the world is going.” 

MARCEL
Bottom line: Despite major challenges during the
pandemic—closed bars and empty concert halls weren’t
good for business—AB InBev has more than recovered.
Last year, the business generated $54.3 billion in revenue,
up from $46.9 billion in 2020 and $52.3 billion in 2019. 

MARCONDES
Looking ahead, Marcondes plans to remain focused on
creative effectiveness, thoughtful resource allocation and
giving the people what they want. 
“By aligning our marketing efforts with our strategic
priorities, we can deliver on the fundamental strengths
of our business while supporting our transformation

GLOBAL CMO, AB INBEV toward an even more customer-centric organization,”

he said. —Paul Hiebert

44 SEPTEMBER 12, 2022 | ADWEEK ®

Congrats to
Zach Enterlin
HBO hasn’t had anyone behind this
many hits since a guy named Tony.

Hearts & Science celebrates you for

being named an Adweek Brand Genius.
Fawn
Weaver
CEO AND FOUNDER,
UNCLE NEAREST

E R I C R YA N A N D E R S O N
U
ncle Nearest Premium Whiskey’s story is “We’re a premium whiskey company, but what our
one of multiple founding stories. But all
those stories of the spirit brand named for
‘I want to identity is really about is building a legacy, the legacy of
bringing his story to light, and sharing his legacy with
Nathaniel “Nearest” Green, the former slave
who taught Jack Daniel how to distill, converge around
make sure the world,” said Katharine Jerkins, Uncle Nearest’s chief
business officer.
CEO and founder Weaver.
Weaver has been a serial entrepreneur for more that every In addition to being white, those famous whiskey
names are also exclusively male. As the head of a
than 25 years. Her career profile includes real estate
executive, historian and marketing maven. Inspired by brand has the women-led company, Weaver strives to change the
lopsided membership in that club as well.
a news story highlighting the previously overlooked “She’s like a true, traditional visionary entrepreneur,”
Green, Weaver contacted his descendants to start the team in place, Jerkins said. “Think about everything you read about
company in 2016. Two years later, the Nearest Green entrepreneurs. The ones at the top percent that just
Distillery opened.
Since then, Uncle Nearest has sold 3 million
that it has the have the drive. They won’t take no for an answer. They
will basically walk through walls and do whatever it
bottles. Not only is Uncle Nearest the fastest-growing
American whiskey brand in U.S. history, according to
right kind takes to get something done. That’s her in a heartbeat.”
As Weaver and her team look toward the end of
Inc. magazine, but it’s also the best-selling African
American-founded spirit brand of all time.
of founder: 2023, the focus is on issuing new expressions, including
its first rye and a single-barrel whiskey.
Weaver has quickly endeavored to address the
lack of Black distillery founders. In June 2021,
she started the $50 million Uncle Nearest Venture
the focused On the advertising front, Uncle Nearest’s explosive
growth has been driven largely through a mix of social
media and word-of-mouth marketing. Still, some
Fund to invest in fast-growing minority-founded and
-owned spirit brands.
“I am not in a rush to just put the money
founder that traditional methods are used here and there. For
example, travelers flying into Nashville International
Airport are greeted by the distiller’s billboards.
somewhere. I want to make sure that every brand has
the team in place, that it has the right kind of founder:
the focused founder that is ready to build a legacy
is ready to All those tools will be aimed at the next achievement
Weaver and her team are eyeing. “We’re starting to
put our footprint outside the U.S. market,” Jerkins
brand,” Weaver told Adweek last year.
Weaver’s idea of crafting a brand identity is two-
fold: raise the profile of an essential figure in the story
build a legacy said. “We’re just laser-focused on that growth. Our
expectations for expanding every year are high. But we
know that we can knock it out of the park. And, truly, our
of American whiskey while making space for more
Black founders in an overwhelmingly white industry. brand.’ team’s goal is to continue to ensure that demand always
outpaces our supply.” —D.K.
 Conny
Braams
CHIEF DIGITAL AND
G R E G O R S E R VA I S

COMMERCIAL OFFICER,
UNILEVER
W
ith control over an $8.5 billion
ad budget across a roster of 400
brands, from Dove to Ben & Jerry’s,
overseeing Unilever’s marketing
department is one of the biggest jobs in the
business. So it was surprising when, in April 2022,
it was announced that chief digital and marketing
officer Braams had a new title: chief digital and
commercial officer.
“We’re not dropping marketing; we’re adding
sales,” Braams told Adweek at the time, saying the
shift was designed to reflect the “blurring lines”
between sales and ecommerce. Since then, she has
appointed new category managers across beauty
and well-being, personal care, home care, nutrition
and ice cream to drive this transformation.
Six months in, it’s proving to be the right
choice, with Braams revealing Unilever is well
on in its journey to stop treating ecommerce as a
“sales channel,” instead designing and innovating
for different digital ecosystems.
In the first half of 2022, Unilever’s digital
commerce business saw underlying sales growth
of 25%, and it now accounts for 14% of the CPG
giant’s business.
“Marketing and sales working together
[is helping] to drive category growth with
our retail partners, starting with identifying
consumer demand spaces and using data and
AI to identify the right opportunities for mutual
growth,” she explained.
As media, entertainment and commerce edge
N AT I O N A L F O O T B A L L L E AG U E
CONGRATULATES
MARCEL
MARCONDES
ANHEUSER-BUSCH GLOBAL CMO
WINNER OF THE 2022 ADWEEK
BRAND GENIUS AWARD
‘Marketing and
sales working
together [is helping]
to drive
category
growth with
our retail
partners.’
closer together, Braams has also been leading
the evolution of Unilever’s 47 digital hubs—
physical spaces where its marketers build data-
driven campaigns in real-time—to encompass
ecommerce and media. In line with this, digital
now accounts for 40% of 90-year-old Unilever’s
total media spend.
“We’re tapping into emerging growth
opportunities and spending significantly more
in areas like gaming, influencer marketing,
entertainment and digital commerce,” Braams said.
Under the stewardship of chief executive
Alan Jope, Unilever has committed to weeding
out and selling off brands that do not contribute
something meaningful to society.
Though purpose-driven marketing has been
given a hard ride in recent years, a huge part of
Braam’s remit is marrying purpose with imperatives.
She pointed to the company’s 13 “big” brands,
which draw in more than a billion dollars in sales
each year, as a solid example of how marketing
underpinned by both innovation and values is
essential to drive growth.
These brands saw underlying sales growth of
9.4% in the six months to June 2022, supported by
a “magic triangle” of “product superiority, the right
price and relevant values.”
One recent campaign that exemplified this was
Hellman’s “Make Taste, Not Waste” push, which
leaned into the brand’s purpose of addressing food
waste with practical tips and recipe inspiration.
This campaign boosted the brand’s growth to the
tune of 11% in 2021.
Over the next 12 months, Braams said
sustainability initiatives will be imperative to
continue this success, meaning Unilever-owned
brands will need to show “dual value.”
Right now, 60% of its turnover is generated by
brands its customers believe to be sustainable.
The next step is to close the intention gap between
how people want to live versus the products they
buy. —Rebecca Stewart
 W
hen Enterlin joined HBO in 2002, streaming
didn’t exist at the company. Now, as evp of
marketing for HBO Max, Enterlin is tasked
with overseeing strategy, development and
marketing for HBO and HBO Max brands and programming.
He’s also leading campaigns for some of the most high-profile
series out there.
“I’ve essentially grown up at HBO and HBO Max. I really put
down roots at HBO at the right time as original programming
was continuing to take off and expand,” said Enterlin, who’s
worked on campaigns over the years for original series like
Westworld, Veep, True Blood, Big Little Lies and, of course,
Game of Thrones.
“From where I sit as a marketer, I have the great fortune of
being able to market the best programming in the world,” said
Enterlin, pointing to newer series like Euphoria, And Just Like
That, White Lotus, Succession and Game of Thrones prequel
House of the Dragon.
When Enterlin and his team think about marketing HBO’s
programming, technique and quality are essential.
“We invest the same level of craft and storytelling into our
marketing that our viewers expect from our programming,” he
said. “Our focus is to reinforce the key qualities of our brand
and our programming: unique, innovative, high quality with
everything we do.”
That also includes meeting viewers where they are,
whether through traditional paid media, social, digital, in real
life or through virtual experiences.
“The other thing that is essential to our approach is
authenticity. We fundamentally strive to speak authentically
to our fans and drive advocacy,” he said, adding that the team
works to consistently celebrate fans’ passions.
Such priorities are evident in HBO’s approach to marketing

‘We invest House of the Dragon. Enterlin oversaw a campaign that

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav called the “biggest”
in HBO history. It included a Comic-Con activation that drew

the same nearly 4,000 attendees and a House of the Dragon: DracARys
app that lets fans raise and name their own baby dragons. The
app is currently in 99 countries.
level of “We’ve gotten a lot better at how we [bring the brand to
life and connect] to much more scalable digital experiences,”

craft and he said, emphasizing HBO’s global ambitions. 

Game of Thrones, in general, has been a career highlight
for Enterlin. From a cross-marketing perspective, the

storytelling climax came with a 2019 Super Bowl spot in collaboration

with Bud Light.
“I feel like often today, it’s truly hard to have a real
into our marketing surprise,” Enterlin said, “and we were able to do that in the
biggest moment for marketing.”
that our viewers Enterlin knows that marketing HBO Max series cannot
be boiled down to a one-size-fits-all approach. Instead, the
expect from our streaming TV brand requires creating custom campaigns
based on the programs themselves.
programming.’ Take a series like Succession: The best tool to sell the
story of a fractious, family-run media conglomerate was the
show itself. The audience connection was particularly driven
through traditional media and short-form social. 

Zach
Throughout the Season 3 campaign, Succession’s
dedicated social platforms drove more than 341 million
impressions and 4.5 million total engagements. The show
also received 25 Emmy nominations this year.
For a series like Euphoria, with a fan base that is “very

Enterlin
allergic” to traditional ads, authenticity was critical. It
generated 6.2 million new fans on show handles since the
Season 2 teaser premiere and had 143.7 million engagements.
“It’s so competitive, there’s so much clutter in the
market, your campaign and your creative absolutely has to
break through, and we’ve gotten a lot more sophisticated in

EVP, MARKETING, HBO MAX identifying that right message, right time, right audience,”
Enterlin said. —Mollie Cahillane

50 SEPTEMBER 12, 2022 | ADWEEK ®

 ̍+¸ę&èèÄܸˑû¸â´ øĘĂĂè<è÷÷ Ìâ¸
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 Nick
Chavez
CMO, KFC U.S.
W
hen Chavez made the leap from “strong engagement” on its mobile property and
gaming to fast food, he didn’t ‘There’s good, website. The campaign also resulted in average
just ease into the role—he hit the social engagement of 6.1% across the platforms
ground running.  
Chavez left Nintendo after 11-and-a-half
and then there’s it uses. Chavez ultimately noticed that app-
led effort even earned KFC 5.8 billion media
years last November to become the KFC U.S.
CMO. The initial goal for his new role was to
‘finger lickin’ impressions, making it its “most-talked about
launch in brand history.” 
“usher the brand into its next phase of growth
and customer acquisition,” he said.  
good’—that applies Campaigns like this are just the tip of the
iceberg in terms of how Chavez and his team are
The fast-food chain immediately went to work.  
Just a month after Chavez settled in at
to our delicious moving KFC into its next growth phase.   
At the start of his tenure as CMO, the brand
KFC, the brand collaborated with agency
partner Nimbus on a yearlong partnership with
fried chicken and did an overhaul of its leadership, strategy
and even agency relationships, selecting
Grammy-nominated rapper Jack Harlow, who
happens to be from Louisville, Ky.  
homestyle sides, MullenLowe and Spark Foundry as its new
creative and media agencies. From there,
Between a concert series in Harlow’s
hometown and a $250,000 donation to the
and it’s also an Chavez has been able to zero in on consumer
insights and build a connection between
American Red Cross for those impacted by
the Kentucky tornado in December, the brand
attitude and younger audiences and KFC’s expanded food
menu by doing things like collaborating with
also introduced the Jack Harlow Meal, a Beyond Meat to introduce chicken-free nuggets
limited-time offering consisting of some of the
rapper’s favorite menu items. The campaign
a lifestyle in the U.S. at the beginning of 2022.  
Looking ahead to the future of KFC’s
was complete with TV ads, social media ads,
exclusive experiences and even a merch line. 
The signs of success appeared quickly.
that we think marketing, Chavez is excited to continue
shaping the brand as something relatable and
appealing to consumers. 
The Jack Harlow Meal ended up aligning with
Chavez’s goal of bringing in new customers,
particularly the millennial and Gen Z audiences
appeals to “There’s good, and then there’s ‘finger
lickin’ good’—that applies to our delicious fried
chicken and homestyle sides, and it’s also an
Harlow resonates with. The KFC app reported
a rapid spike in new users, and the brand saw customers.’ attitude and a lifestyle that we think appeals to
customers,” he said. —Tiffany Moustakas

Major League Baseball

congratulates

MARCEL
MARCONDES
Global Chief
Marketing Officer and Global President,
Beyond Beer Co.
Anheuser-Busch InBev
on his
felection as a 2022 Adweek Brand Genius
Russell
Wager
VP, MARKETING,
KIA AMERICA

F
or the past two years, carmakers have been
shifting lanes to prove they’re out in front
of the electric future. As the last, best hope
for capturing a true mass of viewers, the
Super Bowl has been at the center of automotive
brands’ efforts to balance appeals to sustainability.
Six electric vehicle ads appear in the 2022
Super Bowl. All were obviously entertaining, but
one stood out: Kia America’s spot for the EV6—aka
the “robo dog ad.”
It was Kia America’s 13th appearance in a
Super Bowl. The spot touched on both the practical
aspects of marketing while reflecting on Kia
America’s brand purpose. Specifically, robo dog was
part of a wider campaign that included a partnership
with the Petfinder Foundation designed to help
shelter animals find their forever homes.
“With the new brand purpose, ‘Movement That
Inspires,’ Kia was repositioning itself into a symbol
of challenge and innovation, and a champion of EVs
and sustainable mobility solutions,” said Wager, vp
of marketing at Kia America.
During the pandemic, Wager and his team
created Kia’s “Accelerate the Good” corporate
social responsibility (CSR) program. With each new
product launch, the brand delivered campaigns
that drove awareness of environmental and social
causes, including support for homeless youth and
sea turtle conservation.
“When we were developing our creative, we
wanted to convey one of the vehicle’s unique launched its new brand direction with a 60-second
technical stories—not in a cold ‘science fiction- ‘If an EV6 can inspire EV6 commercial and in-show integration. The
esque’ or technical way, but in a warm and inviting 2021 show garnered household ratings up 13%
manner,” Wager said. a lonely piece of year over year, and the crucial adult segment ages
25-54 was up 36% year over year. 
The narrative therefore focused on the platform’s
ability to recharge and power other electrified items,
such as lights at a campground or air compressors
plastic to make real “Based on this success, we are now looking
forward to the 2022 Emmys, where Kia
to fill rafts. In another advertisement, this same V2L
technology brought robo dog “back to life,” allowing
and meaningful will continue its integrated partnership and
reintroduce the audience to the most awarded
him to find his forever home.
“In the end, the Super Bowl spot not only
connections, vehicle in Kia America’s history—the ever-popular
Telluride SUV—which we think is a perfect
introduced the Kia EV6 as a new mode of complement to this award-filled event,” Wager
transportation but also as a new mindset,” Wager
said. “If an EV6 can inspire a lonely piece of plastic
imagine what told Adweek a week before the broadcast.
In the coming months, Kia will continue to
to make real and meaningful connections, imagine
what it could do for the rest of us.”
Kia has also looked to other high-profile media
it could do for explore the ideas associated with movement while
expanding the “Accelerate the Good” effort. Expect
more high-profile appearances and talk about new
events to spread its message of purpose, including an
appearance in the 2021 Emmys where the automaker the rest of us.’ hybrid, plug-in hybrid and EV models, as well as
the new version of Kia’s Telluride SUV. —D.K.

54 SEPTEMBER 12, 2022 | ADWEEK ®

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PURPOSE BRAND

PLANNED
PARENTHOOD
WITH ROE V. WADE
DISMANTLED,
THE NONPROFIT
IS BRACING
FOR BATTLE.
BY NICOLE
ORTIZ

President and CEO

Alexis McGill Johnson
has worked to ensure
Planned Parenthood’s
brand identity is
clearer than ever.

 

 










































































 




































































































































 

 


  



































  



































































































































































































































































































































































PURPOSE BRAND

W
hen Alexis McGill Johnson became act-
ing president and CEO at Planned Par-
enthood in 2019, after serving as a board
member for more than 11 years (including
a 2013-2015 stint as board chair), there
were some pressing items on her to-do list.
One of them became increasingly critical
after she permanently assumed the role in
2020, particularly in the last three months:
She needed to build up the infrastructure
around abortion services as threats to
Roe v. Wade mounted in the form of gerry-
‘FORCE OF NATURE’
was a rallying call to garner
support behind the Bans Off
Our Bodies movement.
mandering and limits to abortion access on a
state-by-state basis.
When the Supreme Court overturned
Roe v. Wade in a landmark decision on June
24, it didn’t necessarily change how Planned
Parenthood, Adweek’s 2022 Purpose Brand
honoree, approached its day-to-day work. In-
stead, the ruling made the organization’s mis-
sion and identity more critical than ever.
Planned Parenthood’s tagline is “Care, no
matter what.” The “no matter what” has be-
come increasingly integral to both how the
nonprofit defines itself following the ruling
and how it will continue to evolve in the com-
ing months—particularly after the midterm
elections during which the organization will
spend $50 million, more than it has in any
previous election.
The nonprofit is bracing to fight, as it has
for the last decade as lawmakers nationwide
have chipped away at abortion access, while
it also ensures that all patients feel repre-

‘In a moment of
crisis, [being clear
as a brand] helps
us understand
exactly how
we need to
show up.’
sented and seen, “not just as a patient, but
literally for who they are,” McGill Johnson
told Adweek. “Our job is to make sure that
we help provide not just the services, but
support the mindset of [patients] to be able
to live free lives.”

The fight continues

When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v.

P R E V I O U S A N D N E X T PAG E S : PAU L O F I L G U E I R A S
Wade, trigger bans went into effect in eight
states. Currently, at least 12 states have banned
most abortions outright. But even in areas
where abortion is now banned, Planned Par-
enthood employees, providers and clinicians
‘BE SEEN’ WAS, IN FACT, SEEN continue to support patients however they can,
from finding child care and housing for patients
The “Be Seen” campaign saw a lot of engagement from Planned Parenthood supporters,
which aligns with data that shows abortion is an important issue for voters.
to making appointments at clinics where the
procedure remains legal.
“It becomes even more important that
62.5 M 38 M 19 M 1.5 M 161.2 M we’re really clear as a brand about who we
total total audio video earned media projected are,” McGill Johnson said. “In a moment of
impressions listens/video completes (50% impressions impressions crisis, it helps us understand exactly how we
views completion rate) need to show up.”

58 SEPTEMBER 12, 2022 | ADWEEK ®

 ‘If we were
going to actually
make sure that
our values were
consistent with our
behaviors, it really
meant taking on
our own history and
asking ourselves
how that same
history … was
being replicated
in the future.’
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PURPOSE BRAND

Shortly after the Supreme Court deci-
sion, Planned Parenthood released the ad
“Force of Nature,” created with Vice agency
Virtue, that served as a war cry for support-
ers to join the organization’s Bans Off Our
Bodies movement, which organizes rallies
and campaigns to contact politicians about
abortion access. Though the spot didn’t
have a paid push, it received 197,000 organic
views on Instagram.
“This film celebrates the very people
who refuse to cower in the face of a threat
and choose to confront the storm with all
their might instead,” said Heather McTav-
ish, group creative director at Virtue, in a
statement. “It was also important to show
the humanity of who this affects. And who
is affected is not a monolith. It’s Black and
brown women and lower income women
who will be affected most.”
Research from the Kaiser Family Foun-
dation in July indicates that 65% of the
public disagrees with the Supreme Court’s
Making peace with a thorny past
For McGill Johnson, part of ensuring that
TIME TO STEP UP equity involved Planned Parenthood itself
addressing the elephant in the room that
Morning Consult partnered with Politico to poll was its founder’s past—Margaret Sanger’s
voters on what they felt a brand’s responsibility alignment with eugenics and racism—
was in the fight against abortion access. which the company tackled via a New York
Times op-ed and numerous public state-
ments. It was an important step toward
Planned Parenthood’s renewed commit-
51% 49%
of voters support support a brand
ment to DEI and representation, but it cer-
tainly wasn’t the only one.
“If we were going to actually make sure
brands speaking making a statement that our values were consistent with our be-
haviors, it really meant taking on our own
about abortion in opposition to the history and asking ourselves how that same
access.* Roe v. Wade ruling, history, that same inconsistency of replicat-
while 29% would like ing inequality, was being replicated in the
future,” McGill Johnson said.
to see a statement The nonprofit created its “Be Seen” cam-
72%
of Gen Z respondents
endorsing the ruling. paign to let Black and Latinx millennials and
Gen Z know it saw, valued and prioritized
them. The campaign included a documenta-

decision, with almost three-quarters say-
ing they don’t want laws banning abortion “strongly” or
in their state. Meanwhile, Pew Research “somewhat” support
also found that 56% of registered voters be-
brands discussing
lieve abortion will be a major factor in the
upcoming midterm elections. And that’s abortions, compared
something Planned Parenthood Action
to 56% of millennials,
Fund is banking on with its big spending
49% of boomers and
plans aimed at electing pro-abortion can-
didates nationwide. When Kansas voters 42% of Gen X.*
overwhelmingly voted to keep abortion le-
gal in the state last month, it only fueled the
momentum.
“[Increasing spend on the midterms]
means that we have to educate people and
mobilize them and turn them out to hold
51% 70%
support brands
the people who are taking their rights away
covering medical
accountable,” McGill Johnson said. “The
number of people who showed up in a very services, travel
conservative state, really defying our own and lodging for
expectations of what was going to happen,
employees traveling
proved how deeply unpopular these bans and
restrictions are.” to another state for
According to research from Morning
Consult in partnership with Politico, 51%
of voters polled before the ruling wanted
abortion access.
brands to speak about abortion access. Once
the ruling went into effect, 52% of respon-
dents said they wanted to see brands donate
money to pro-abortion organizations. For
56%
support brands
McGill Johnson, brands will be essential
in their fight, especially as consumers hold allowing employees
them more accountable. to relocate to a
“The reason we are here in this moment
state that provides
is because we have allowed inequality to be
codified in these laws, and companies that access to abortions.
say they stand for equality—they believe in
gender equality, they believe in race equity— *These stats were gathered before the
it’s really important to also stand up for ac- Roe v. Wade ruling went into effect.
cess to abortion and the ability to govern our
own bodies,” McGill Johnson said.
52%
ry-style video that followed four young peo-
ple of color and featured audio spots from
artists like Big Freedia and Rebecca Black.
want brands to It targeted younger generations in hopes of
donate money emphasizing Planned Parenthood’s values
and showing the link between issues young-
to organizations er generations care about, such as LGBTQ+
protecting abortion, rights and climate change, and abortion and
while 31% oppose sexual wellness.
Planned Parenthood is also focused on
such donations. increasing accessibility, affordability and
education around abortion and sexual well-
ness through initiatives aimed at removing
barriers for marginalized groups. The Black
community, for example, is often more af-
fected than non-marginalized groups by
of Gen Z respondents
HIV/AIDS and breast cancer. (Black women
believe abortion
are 40% more likely to die of breast cancer
should be legal than white women, according to data from
the organization.)
in most or all cases.
In its fight for abortion access and ap-
proach to increased representation, the
nonprofit is reimagining and reconstruct-
44%
of Gen Z respondents
ing how it’s grounded in equality and free-
dom, according to McGill Johnson. And
while the national conversation tends to
be mostly about abortion, especially lately,
said they would
not accept a job
that did not offer a
McGill Johnson said gender-affirming care
is tied into every facet of what Planned
Parenthood provides. From education on
sexual health to access to abortions, all of
health insurance plan the organization’s services share one goal:
covering birth control, helping patients advocate and govern their
own bodies.
compared to 35% of
“We are a proud abortion provider,” she
adults ages 18-44. said. “It’s really important, particularly in
this moment, when the ripple effect from
not having rights to abortion is impacting
not just people seeking access to abortion,
but is actually impacting people in a host of
other ways.”

62 SEPTEMBER 12, 2022 | ADWEEK ®

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 ON THE ORIGINS OF BR ANDS AND THE PEOPLE WHO BUILD THEM

Perspective
THE SMILE
THE COLOR Added in 1997,
The classic the grin made it
orange comes “The Snack That
from annatto, Smiles Back.”
from the seeds of
the achiote tree.

Goldfish «

THE SHAPE
Crackers
Swiss inventor
HOW A WOMAN FROM CONNECTICUT
Oscar Kambly MADE A FISH FROM SWITZERLAND
chose a fish shape INTO A CLASSIC AMERICAN SNACK.
because his wife
was a Pisces.
BY ROBERT KLARA
 For each of the 135 flights it made, the space
shuttle program never failed to churn up plenty
of media coverage. But few launches drew more
attention than STS-26, Discovery’s launch on 4
Sept. 29, 1988. This was the Return to Space 2
mission following the Challenger explosion two
years and eight months earlier. Accordingly,
reporters scoured NASA’s 68-page statement to
expound upon features like the new Crew Escape
System and the redesigned solid rocket boosters.
But few (if any) noticed a detail that
appeared at the bottom of page 57. It, too, made
STS-26 a distinctive launch in its own tiny way.
That page listed the meals the crew members
would be eating in space, plus their snacks—
3
including one box of Goldfish crackers.
Pepperidge Farm’s famous crunchy orange
snack was literally about to hit its peak.
In a sense, that development wasn’t so 1
surprising. Lower Earth orbit was one of the few
places that Goldfish crackers hadn’t been yet.
With Campbell Soup Company’s new baking
facility in Willard, Ohio, cranking out 50 million
Goldfish crackers daily, it’s little wonder these
snacks—which turn 60 this year—have swum
their way into millions of cupboards.
As we know, two years of pandemic living
have made snacking something of a national
pastime. And that’s much to the benefit of
these tiny orange munchies. According to data
from market research firm IRI, dollar sales of
Goldfish in the 2022 fiscal year were up 9% over
2021, as Americans took home more than 334 5 6
million boxes of the snack.
“When you look at it from
an equity perspective—what it OFF THE HOOK
means to people—but then also Starting with home-baked
7 bread in 1937, Margaret
what it means financially to us,”
Campbell Snacks CMO Janda Rudkin (1) built Pepperidge
Lukin told Adweek, the Goldfish Farm (2) into a baking
cracker “is incredibly important colossus by the 1940s (3).
to the company.” Originally billed as Goldfish
Curiously or not, however, Tiny Crackers (4), the
the R&D gurus at Pepperidge crunchy, fish-shaped snack
Farm—which Campbell’s bought from Switzerland was an
in 1961—didn’t invent them. instant hit in America (5).
Baker-turned-entrepreneur In 1988, astronauts on the
Margaret Rudkin, who started Space Shuttle Discovery took
her business in 1937 (and really Goldfish to space (6). Today,
C O U R T E S Y P E P P E R I D G E FA R M ; S H U T T L E : H U M I M A G E S / G E T T Y I M A G E S

did live on a farm in Connecticut the brand’s many varieties

called Pepperidge), was always
on the lookout for new products.
During a vacation to Switzerland
in 1962, she came across some
crunchy, fish-shaped crackers
called Goldfischli and arranged with Swiss
biscuit maker Kambly to bake them here.
When Goldfish crackers hit U.S. store
shelves later that year, they came in flavors
like smoky and barbecue. The signature orange
cheddar-flavored fish didn’t appear until 1966.
Among the crackers’ early fans was none other
than Julia Child, who put them out for dinner
guests. “She thought they were the perfect
pairing to have with her Reverse Martinis,” Lukin
said.
Two decades later, NASA thought Goldfish
was a perfect pairing, too. Shelf-stable snacks
were just what the astronauts needed: The
shuttle had no refrigerator.
include Flavor Blasted with
extra cheddar, varicolored
Goldfish and unlikely flavors
like vanilla cupcake (7).
HOW BIG WAS THAT FISH? One of Goldfish
crackers’ enduring qualities is their size. In fact, the
product’s original name was Goldfish Tiny Crackers.
(The company soon dropped the “tiny” because
consumers understood.) According to Campbell’s,
a serving size is 55 Goldfish. And since that fistful
of fish has only 5 grams of fat, many snackers feel
comfortable helping themselves to more than one
scoop. Earlier this year, however, Pepperidge Farm
stirred things up by introducing Mega Bites—fish
that were 50% larger than their forebears. Bigger
fish might take some getting used to, but the sharp
cheddar taste and orange color remain unchanged.

ADWEEK | SEPTEMBER 12, 2022

®
65
 LOOK BACK

1930

What Are You Driving At?

Geniuses come in all shapes and sizes. But as brilliant as they are, there’s one attribute big dreamers
often lack: a sense of practicality. So it was with Buckminster Fuller. An architect, engineer and
philosopher of indisputable brilliance, Fuller invented the geodesic dome (which sort of caught on) along
with floating cities and igloo housing (which didn’t). His most dashing creation, however, was the Dymaxion
car. A portmanteau of “dynamic,” “maximum” and “ion,” the three-wheeled Dymaxion could turn on a dime,
carry 11 passengers and—owing to its aerodynamic profile—notch 30 miles per gallon (great economy
even by today’s standards). But in 1933, when the prototype model flipped over and killed its driver, this
vision of the automotive future was quietly consigned to the garage of history. —Robert Klara

IRVING HABERMAN/IH IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES

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