Broken Marketing by Anvara - Week 8

Welcome to Broken Marketing

Welcome to the 8th weekly edition of Broken Marketing by Anvara, where we discuss marketing that breaks.

For those of you that are new here, we’re Nick and Andrei, the co-founders of Anvara. We’ve included you here because one way or another we’re connected. We’re happy to have you a part of the Anvara family. 

All Eyes (and Dollars) on Formula 1

Formula 1 is growing almost as fast as its supercars, becoming one of the biggest and certainly most luxurious sports in the world. F1 surpassed 1.5 billion total TV viewers and increased revenue 25% to over $3 billion last year. Netflix’s “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” has been a key catalyst in its growth, with 1 in 5 F1 fans in the US becoming fans because of the show. F1’s rapid growth has driven massive sponsorship interest from the world’s top brands shopping for placements on the grid.

LVMH, Bernard Arnault’s luxury powerhouse, just announced a 10-year, $1 billion partnership deal with Formula 1. F1 will now be sponsored by LVMH brands like Louis Vuitton and TAG Heuer. Some brands choose to sponsor the cars and racing teams themselves, like Red Bull, Stake, Visa, Firestone, and Oracle. LVMH is choosing to sponsor the house, with signage throughout the races around the globe. Previously, Rolex was the global watch sponsor, like the image below. We imagine TAG will be taking over the clocks. LVMH will also be involved in events and hospitality associated with F1 races. This highlights the growing demand for brands to be involved in sports and real world experiences. Brands that can win the bids for exclusive sports placements win an air of luxury and dominance.

For kids, there’s nothing better than candy and cars, and KitKat has brought the two together. Nestle signed its first global marketing deal with F1 to make KitKat the official chocolate bar of the race. An odd pairing at first glance, Nestle is marketing to the younger fans of F1 who can’t indulge in the race’s other consumption habits just yet.

Going global, Spanish bank Santander has signed a full sponsorship with Formula 1 after ending its previous deal with F1 team Ferrari. Such major cosigns solidify F1 as a major market in the world of sports.

F1 sponsorships are priced higher than anything right now, and it’s because of exclusivity. Think of an Hermes Birkin bag. What makes it special is that we all can’t have one. It costs over $200 million to add a team to F1, and there are only 10 teams on the grid, so when brands begin buying up sponsorships, everyone wants a piece. 

Even better, when F1 wins, brands win. Sponsors want to be seen crossing the finish line first, associating their brand with winning. And when groups like LVMH whose brand image is built around exclusivity become sponsors, F1 becomes a winner too.

“U Up?” – IKEA Slides into the DMs 

IKEA got a little lonely (or something else) on Valentine’s Day, sending out thousands of DMs asking “U Up?” to their Instagram followers in Canada. In a promotion for their loyalty program IKEA Family, IKEA slid into the DMs offering 15% discount codes for new mattresses to customers. IKEA sent the messages between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. to capture late night scrollers (70% of customers make purchases after their bedtime according to Eachnight). 

Alongside IKEA’s Canadian marketing team, the directors of the campaign, Rethink and Carat, sought to whimsically promote IKEA against competitors Simba and Emma who are strong in the Canadian market. To bring home the message, IKEA also put it on a billboard, making sure those who didn’t catch the trending stunt firsthand saw the humorous ad in the real world. 

We like this Valentine’s Day Campaign from IKEA. They used a classic phrase and advertised a product that fits the seasonal trends; according to Trakwell, furniture stores see an increase of revenue upwards of 30% near Valentine’s Day. Why? We don’t know. But people are buying mattresses. And by integrating events like holidays in your creative, you can make your campaign feel more relevant.

Importantly, Ikea found a unique way to connect to their audience digitally without using common marketing efforts like emails and ironically, Instagram ads. It’s become a winning strategy for brands to adopt a personality and speak from the perspective of a human. It has a strong effect on the customer - expectedly, making the brand feel more human. Others do this too. Wendy’s does it by replying to tweets with sassy clapbacks. Duolingo does it by jokingly threatening users who skip their lessons. IKEA does it by trying to get in bed with their customers. Pick your poison.

This week’s news

Here’s a brief update on marketing news from this week:

• X enters AI marketing – Grok AI makes adverts for you. Musk’s Grok AI will work as the in-house advert machine for X. The official @XBusiness account wrote: “simply input your website URL, and Grok will generate ad copy, imagery, and a call-to-action (CTA) headline tailored to your brand.” While this is not a novel feature as competitors like Reddit have their own AI advertisement tools, it is another push by Musk to make X the top content sharing platform and drive ad dollars. Grok 3 also beat other model benchmarks with an impressive launch, so Musk seems to be pulling ahead in the AI race too.

• Celsius Buys Alani Nu for $1.8 Billion. Celsius, the third-largest U.S. energy drink brand, has acquired Alani Nu, previously the fifth-largest brand in the market. The deal boosts Celsius’ market share to 11.8% while eliminating a faster growing competitor. Compared to Celsius’ gender neutral positioning, Alani Nu has a 92% female social media audience, giving them an edge as legacy brands like Monster Energy and Red Bull continue to lose market share. With PepsiCo as a minority owner, Celsius has the potential to scale Alani Nu further, strengthening its hold in the energy drink market.

• The Duolingo bird died? Earlier this month, Duolingo announced the death of its famous cartoon mascot. People cared a lot. For years, Duolingo has used its mascot as a meme to engage customers with their lessons. As AI increasingly makes translation and learning easier, apps like Duolingo need to find ways to stay relevant amidst new competitors. This was simply a marketing stunt, and it worked. The bird’s death went viral across social media platforms and got people asking questions. Now the bird is back, which was likely the plan from the start. 

• A$AP Rocky becomes Ray-Ban’s first creative director. As creative directors increasingly become a branch of brand identity (like Virgil Abloh at Louis Vuitton), Ray-Ban is getting in on the fun. Following his acquittal, A$AP Rocky headlined tabloids, and the well-timed announcement of his new position places him back in the fashion limelight. The partnership seems well fitted, driving relevancy to Ray-Ban through Rocky’s current buzz, and bringing Rocky legitimacy with big brands.

That’s all for this week. Happy Wednesday and remember, fortune favors the brave.

What’s Anvara?

Anvara is a first-of-its-kind platform that connects brands with premium real-world advertising opportunities like live event sponsorship, sports marketing, and guerilla marketing. With a focus on innovation, AI, and advanced measurement, Anvara makes it easier for brands to create memorable real-world experiences and measure their ROI. For more information, visit https://www.anvara.com/.

Quote of the week

''Haters are a good problem to have. Nobody hates the good ones. They hate the great ones.'' - Kobe Bryant