BRAND STRATEGY

Illustration: Morning Brew Inc., Photos: Instagram via @pinterest, @generalmillscereal, @libertybiberty

A regular day for a brand manager might involve pulling strings to orchestrate a perfect image for consumers.

These days, it could also involve pulling literal strings—of a puppet, that is.

Companies like Liberty Mutual, General Mills, and Pinterest have in recent years employed puppet characters to embody brand messaging and star in campaigns. The puppets’ exact characterizations can range from ongoing roles in a brand universe, as in the case of Liberty Mutual’s new fuzzy yellow blob Liberty Biberty, to one-off appearances that personify products the brand wants to emphasize, like Pinterest’s talking cabbage puppet promoting its Pinterest Predicts report or General Mills’s use of puppet versions of Count Chocula, Franken Berry, and Boo Berry on limited-edition boxes of Monster Cereals.

As brands embrace the fun of felt and googly eyes, pop culture is shining a spotlight on puppetry, too. Bob Baker’s Marionette Theater enjoyed a massive moment in April with a puppeteered rendition of Ben Platt’s cover of Addison Rae’s “Diet Pepsi” at Coachella, while Rocky, the puppeteered alien character in this year’s blockbuster Project Hail Mary, took on another life when videos featuring its puppeteer and behind-the-scenes breakdowns of its creation grew popular on social media. Most recently, as part of the star-studded FIFA World Cup final halftime show, some of the Muppets took to the pitch to participate in a cover of “Seven Nation Army.”

Whatever form a puppet may take, anthropomorphization seems to be a trend with legs…and arms, or potentially no limbs at all, depending on the puppet in question. Dayna Castillo, marketing strategist and founder of the marketing and digital culture newsletter Silence, Brand!, said puppets are perfectly poised to become brand representatives amid a renewed interest in the art form.

“It’s time for puppets to shine,” Castillo told us.

Continue reading here.—JN

      

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Register for the webinar (it’s free).

SOCIAL & INFLUENCERS

DoorDash

Hemorrhoid cream, a plunger, anything remotely sexual. Some items are so embarrassing to buy people would often rather go without than deal with any potentially awkward interaction at the checkout counter when purchasing them.

DoorDash is taking that embarrassment up to 11 in a social series aimed at promoting “CringeMart,” a new shopping hub on the delivery app that collects such items in one dedicated area.

In the series, which uses a hidden camera concept and stars content creator Tana Mongeau, actors playing customers purchase embarrassing items and are made to become the center of attention, unable to avoid an uncomfortable conversation about what they’re buying. Most cringe-worthy of all: Another, real customer is positioned behind them, and is made to watch the unsettling social encounter play out.

“We’ve all experienced being in-person, having to buy a super cringe item, and how awkward and annoying that feeling is,” Zaria Parvez, head of social at DoorDash, told us. “DoorDash almost feels like the solution to avoid that moment and avoid that cringe…[It’s] an actual, practical use case of the DoorDash.”

The series, which will have five episodes, exaggerates the scenario, making someone’s worst social nightmare come true—and later presenting DoorDash as the solution. Calling the shopping hub “CringeMart” is a recognition of common vernacular with a younger generation that may be looking to avoid being cringe at all costs.

“Having that secondhand embarrassment through the screen exemplifies the tone of why this is important,” Parvez said. “It’s less about saying that, ‘Oh, there’s a stigma behind these products and they are cringe,’ but more of we already feel discomfort as a person. It’s a human thing that we all feel for some reason. So we’re just trying to normalize it a bit more.”

Read more here.—KM

      

RETAIL

Marcello Bevilacqua

It’s easy to reduce Gen Z’s shopping behavior to TikTok trends or viral “cores.” But that overlooks the bigger picture. While this generation has grown up with infinite choice and constant access to products and services, they’ve also dealt with persistent periods of inflation, economic uncertainty, and rapidly changing technology.

The result? A generation that can sometimes impulsively spend $200 while late-night shopping and, at the same time, spend weeks researching a $30 skin care product.

For retailers, this has translated to mixed signals. But here at Retail Brew, we have kept a close watch on the always-online younger cohort. From their willingness to pay for convenience and ease to their growing appetite for protein-packed foods and changing attitudes toward value, a few consistent themes emerge.

We broke down Gen Z’s shopping behavior into three categories that are reshaping the retail landscape.

Read more on Retail Brew.—JS

      

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EVENTS

Morning Brew Inc.

We could’ve teased this agenda for three more weeks. Instead, here’s the entire Marketing Brew Summit lineup in one shot—sessions, speakers, the works, live now for Sept. 30 in New York. Grab your ticket before the good seats disappear.

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Morning Brew

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

Take my word for it: Why trust is the top KPI in creator marketing, according to YouTube.

Sound familiar? More than a dozen trending sounds to use on Instagram.

Quick fix: Tasks to get in order before Google ends target overperformance.

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Jobs

Real jobs shared through real communities. CollabWORK brings opportunities directly to Marketing Brew readers—no mass postings, no clutter, just roles worth seeing. Click here to view the full job board.

• Brand Manager at The Clorox Company
• Program Manager, Brand Management at Whirlpool Corporation
• Brand Manager, Shave Category at BIC Corporation
• Marketing Manager at Henkel
• Brand Manager at Warner Music Group

Quiz

Amelia Kinsinger

The week’s biggest Marketing Brew stories, now in quiz form. Test yourself on the latest headlines in brand strategy, social media, influencer trends, sports marketing, and more in a quick, competitive challenge built for marketing pros. Challenge your coworkers and see how your score stacks up!

WISH WE WROTE THIS

Morning Brew

Stories we’re jealous of.

• Inc. wrote about a marketer who manipulated AI search results to promote a fake product.
• The New York Times wrote about Tate McRae’s not-so-convincing sponsored Neutrogena post on TikTok that prompted a slew of parodies.
• Bloomberg wrote about Suno, an AI-generated music app that’s taking over social media.