It was a big year all around in digital marketing. From video and social to martech and ad tech — there was no slowing down when it came to the ways marketers could engage their audiences, share their content, interact with consumers or measure their outcomes.
Marketing Land kept a close eye on all the latest digital marketing trends throughout the year, but we wanted to know how CMOs would remember 2016. So we turned to StubHub, Peloton, Mizzen+Main, Olapic and HopSkipDrive to ask what major milestones helped shape their brands during the last 12 months.
From StubHub’s major rebrand and Olapic’s acquisition by Monotype to Mizzen+Main’s “Portrait of a Patriot” campaign and Peloton’s event that brought 400 cyclist to NYC — it appears these brands had just as big a year as the digital marketing industry that serves them.
Top Brand Moments in 2016
Jennifer Betka, CMO, StubHub
In May, StubHub unveiled a new brand identity and launched a new advertising campaign. I see this as the moment we opened the aperture on our brand to better reflect the mindset of our customers.
In the past, StubHub had appealed to a primarily male, sports-focused audience. StubHub’s new identity — with its more modern logo, dynamic imagery, vibrant color palette and ability to convey the emotion inherent in live experiences — gives us an opportunity to be clear about our purpose — to connect people through live experiences — and appeal to a wider audience, across more event types, and in more cities around the world.
Today, the StubHub brand reflects a broader view of live experiences, to appeal to fans of singer Adele as much as fans of boxer Anthony Joshua.
As importantly, it’s working. New customer metrics for 3Q 2016 showed that we attracted more new female customers than new male customers, and for the first time, more new customers purchased first in the music genre versus the sports genre.
But we’re only getting started, and we’re working to realize this vision across more of our marketing and brand programs in 2017.
Carolyn Tisch Blodgett, VP of Brand Marketing, Peloton
Our best brand moment was our “Home Rider Invasion” event in NYC in May, where over 400 riders descended upon our flagship Chelsea studio from around the country to participate in a weekend of live classes and activities. Home riders traveled thousands of miles to meet each other in person for the first time and experience the Peloton community all together.
To watch the utter joy and excitement these riders felt from being together in person — it brought the definition of “brand love” to a whole new level!
Jen Lavelle, CMO, Mizzen+Main
At Mizzen+Main, we have supported United States veterans and their families since the founding of the company. This year our veterans campaign, which ran the week of the holiday, was the best moment of 2016.
Titled “Portrait of a Patriot,” we featured a veteran and their personal story each day of that week on our social media channels and Mizzen+Main blog. The campaign as a whole was well received by our audience and gave us an opportunity to express gratitude for our nation’s heroes.
Making the campaign all the more meaningful, we shared the stories of Mizzen+Main team members and their family members who have served, including our COO, Ryan Kent, and Customer Engagement Associate, Justin Feagin.
Rachel Meranus, CMO, Olapic
Olapic celebrated two key milestones in 2016: Olapic proudly grew to a new level with a major rebrand and introduced “Earned Content” as a critical category for marketers to fill a massive demand for engaging branded content. On the heels of the rebrand, Olapic was acquired by Monotype, a public company that helps empower expression and engagement through font types, technology and expertise.
Janelle McGlothlin, CMO, HopSkipDrive
2016 was such a great year for HopSkipDrive, so it’s hard to pick just one moment. I think filming our new brand videos tops the charts for me. We interviewed a handful of parents who use HopSkipDrive regularly and hearing their testimonials was so encouraging.
We get feedback from customers all the time; our customer support team is in constant communication with parents and we’re always hearing how we are improving their lives, but having the chance to connect with parents who have benefited from the service directly really validates our service and reinforces the difference we’re making in families lives.
To see what digital marketing trends were top of mind this year, check out Marketing Land’s most popular CMO columns of the year: Getting down to business: Our top CMO Zone columns for 2016.
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