In 2000, a now defunct IT company called Electronic Data Systems bought an ad in the Super Bowl. The spot, conceived by creative agency Fallon, imagined what the life of a literal cat herder might look like.

Bill Clinton, who was president at the time, called the spot (which was for a former presidential campaign rival’s company) his favorite commercial of the game that year. “This was before celebrities, or even presidents, commented on things like that,” Greg Hahn, co-founder and chief creative officer at Mischief USA, told Marketing Brew.

• It was Hahn’s first Super Bowl ad, so seeing the president comment on something he’d worked on was “surreal.” But also a stark reminder that the tens of millions of other people who watched it probably had an opinion as well.
• “We get that in advertising a lot, but it’s usually just ad people that are critical. Now it’s your third-grade teacher,” said Hahn, who’s also worked on Super Bowl ads for brands like Snickers and Mountain Dew.

Under pressure

Of course, that’s what makes the Super Bowl unique—historically, football’s biggest game has also become known as the one time of year where people actually want to see ads. Or at least, they aren’t as quick to tune them out. And each year, brands spend more and more money (and hire more and more celebrities) in hopes of making a splash that day.

For these reasons, working on a Super Bowl campaign can be a pretty unique experience for creatives compared to the work they typically do.

“The expectations are just very different. Everything is turned up to 11 every step of the way,” Stefan Copiz, a creative director at Goodby Silverstein & Partners, who worked on the Cheetos Super Bowl spot last year, told us.

Click here to read more about what it’s like creating an ad for the game, including the “creative endurance” and thick skin needed.—MS

Gen Z is all about thrifting. But they also love buying new things, according to a new report from Pinterest.

The company, citing data from IRI, said Gen Z—which Pinterest defines as those born between 1997 and 2012—bought 80% more new products in the last year than their older counterparts. In the report, Pinterest’s global head of strategy and marketing, Ashish Arya, wrote Gen Z is “far more likely” than other generations to try new products, partly because of their love for “novelty.”

Why? According to Pinterest, it’s one part timing, another part clout.

• Growing up in the internet era has inherently made young people less attached to certain brand names, per the report.
• Beyond that, being one of the first to own something brings a sense of identity to Gen Zers. “They’re constantly craving new experiences to cultivate their own individuality. And for those reasons, they’re more motivated to buy and consume new products, to discover and express who they are and how they want to show up in society,” wrote Pinterest researcher Alvin Li.

Zoom out (get it?): So where is Gen Z getting inspiration for all of these purchases? Mostly friends and (of course) the internet.

• A 2021 Momentive survey of more than 5,000 people found that of its Gen Z respondents, shopping sites, social media, and friends and family were their top sources of inspiration.

A recent eMarketer report said Gen Z tends to source info from a wide variety of places, like “ratings and reviews, social media, online influencers, and in-person experiences,” before buying.—KH

The CW—the network we watched basically nonstop in the aughts for new episodes of Supernatural, Gilmore Girls, and One Tree Hill—is up for sale.

ViacomCBS and WarnerMedia, the network’s joint owners, are considering a possible sale of the teen and young adult-focused network. Among the interested buyers, according to The Wall Street Journal: Nexstar Media Group, the largest local broadcast television group in the US.

A spokesperson for the CW declined to comment to Marketing Brew, but its CEO Mark Pedowitz told CW employees the network is exploring “strategic opportunities” in a memo to staff, per Deadline.

If the deal goes through, Nexstar would most likely take a controlling stake, with ViacomCBS and WarnerMedia remaining minority owners, per the Journal. That could do a few major things:

• Help boost original programming at Nexstar, which has recently invested in its cable news channel.
• Give CW affiliates a typical broadcast arrangement with a single network owner; Nexstar’s nearly 200-station portfolio includes several CW network affiliates, which presently must strike periodic contract renewal agreements.

Cha-ching: A sale would also free up resources for ViacomCBS, which wants to focus on creating content for its own properties like streamer Paramount+. WarnerMedia, in the midst of merging with Discovery Inc., is similarly circling the wagons around its core assets, like streaming service HBO Max. The CW doesn’t quite fit into either of those visions.

Stream queen: As a broadcast network, the CW has never been profitable, but it has made money selling shows to streaming giants like Netflix. Originals like Riverdale and All American thrived on streaming, even if they performed poorly on linear TV. That put the network in something of an unusual predicament as its owners began their own streaming outfits and have begun rerouting CW shows to their own services.—KS

There are a lot of bad marketing tips out there. These aren’t those.

Reading the tea leaves: Eight aesthetics that will dominate Instagram in 2022.

FYI @CMOs: 5 social media trends that executives should keep an eye on this year.

Teamwork makes the dream work: Tips on building an A+ content marketing team and reaching your company’s goals.

Dropping knowledge is what we do: Check out Marketing Brew’s article on the Great Resignation, sponsored by Salesforce.*

^{*This is sponsored advertising content.}

Catch up on a few Marketing Brew stories you might have missed.

• Live on Peacock, it’s the (full) Winter Olympics
• Match partners with Sex and the City author Candace Bushnell for new dating app feature
• The corporate vaccine mandate is upon us, but the rollout could be rocky

Which headlines are real marketing news, and which one is fake?

1. Kraft Mac & Cheese Wishes Consumers a ‘Happy No Year’
2. Barbie and Balmain Want to Make Toys the Next Big Fashion Frontier
3. Ryan Reynolds taunts Disney with “Winnie-the-Screwed” ad as copyright battles heat up
4. PetSmart joins the metaverse with a pet adoption simulation

Keep scrolling for the answer.