Disney’s centenary, raised eyebrows at McDonald’s, the 2023 outlook for marketing and sports sponsorship, and turnaround rebrands for Arsenal and Barnes & Noble all feature in the latest order of Trippant Takeaways – our weekly look at creative and provocative communications trends in sport, technology and culture.
The Economist on Disney’s tech-shadowed milestone
The Walt Disney Company will begin its 100th anniversary celebrations within the next few days.
It is a landmark made all the more notable by the sheer scale and influence the group has now achieved. In many ways, it is thriving more than ever, with a stake in several of the world’s most popular entertainment franchises and a huge user base for its Disney+ streaming service.
But its story – with recent financial losses, share price falls and boardroom tumult – is also one that encapsulates just how hard digital transformation is to pull off, as The Economist explains.
Marketing Week on McDonald’s eyebrow-raising ad
McDonald’s, like Disney, has rooted its global brand in some recognisable visual shorthand: in its case, the golden arches.
Even so, it was a bold choice by beloved movie director Edgar Wright to lean into signifiers and behavioural cues in a TV spot that marks the fast-food chain’s biggest advertising shift in 20 years.
Wright’s characteristically playful and snappy offering features no images of McDonald’s products or restaurants but the early signs are that it is scoring well on key commercial metrics, as well as creatively.
Little Black Book on marketing in a recession
Economic conditions are going to be tough for many consumers throughout 2023 and that leaves brands and marketers in a delicate position. How do you sell to a public that has less money to buy your products – or worse, might be affronted by your pitch?
With all that in mind, a selection of agency heads have spoken to Little Black Book about marketing through difficult times.
SportsPro with the outlook for sponsorship in 2023
In sport, the economic downturn is bringing its own pressures to bear on the sponsorship sector, while other factors, like the rise and rise of women’s sport and the crypto implosion, will reshape it in other ways.
Industry title SportsPro has collected some expert predictions for sponsorship over the next 12 months.
TechCrunch on Discord gassing up
Bit by bit, away from the high-profile travails at the major platforms, the future of social media is being assembled.
Chat server Discord’s purchase of ‘compliment-based’, teen-focused app Gas, is definitely worth keeping an eye on in that context.
The Athletic on the Arsenal stadium remastering
They may well be building something in north London, too, where the mood at Premier League leaders Arsenal has been transformed on and off the pitch.
The next phase in that turnaround is a series of upgrades to the nearly 17-year-old Emirates Stadium, where the club have canvassed opinions and contributions from fans and community members for a redesigned outer wrap. The Athletic goes deep into one of the most ambitious creative projects in the team’s modern history.
Fast Company on the Barnes and Noble rebrand
For years, Barnes and Noble was synonymous in the US with the kind of monolithic, avaricious and soulless enterprise decried as enemies of culture by commentators and in films like 1998’s You’ve Got Mail.
A couple of decades of ecommerce-led disruption later, any bricks-and-mortar bookstore has come to be seen as the underdog – and a resurgent Barnes and Noble is cultivating a friendlier, more literate and locally-minded persona.
…and on your 15 seconds of Times Square fame
At a time when anyone can theoretically reach a global audience in seconds, what price would you put on a single digital billboard appearance in the heart of New York City?
TSX Entertainment reckons it’s $40 for 15 seconds, as it bids to build ‘the world’s largest social feed’.
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