Single-use plastic is everywhere, from mascara tubes to the multiple forks and knives we get after ordering completely normal amounts of takeout. We’re surrounded by—and also accustomed to—using things that take years to decompose.

When Dan Hernden, co-founder of deodorant brand Wellow, went to Europe in 2018, he saw tons of consumer goods packaged without plastic at the pharmacy: chewable toothpaste tablets, shampoo bars, and crystal deodorant. He was inspired to bring the same concept to the US to help reduce the millions of tons of plastic products and packaging thrown away each year.

While deodorant bars and powders have been sold in the US for years at places like Lush and Whole Foods, Hernden told Marketing Brew he was determined to make something new to attract the average consumer. “What we wanted to do is create a brand that was more on trend, more modern and accessible,” he said.

• In 2020, Wellow came out with a minimalist, push-pop-looking deodorant tube made from 95% recycled paper with an eco-friendly value proposition: When you’re done with it, you can compost or recycle the packaging.
• The deodorant is sold directly to consumers on Wellow’s site, alongside shampoo, conditioner, and body-wash bars—also packaged with recycled paper.
• Hernden said he was eager not to brand Wellow as “earthy” or “hippie,” a look he said felt like traveling back in time.

Playing catch-up

The problem is, even if containers are fully compostable, the infrastructure to actually compost them needs to be in place to make it work. Hernden recognized this while in Europe, where many countries tend to have more robust composting and recycling systems.

• A study from Columbia University found the US recycling and composting rate sits at about 32%. In the EU, it’s closer to 46%.
• Germany, specifically, has a recycling rate as high as 65%, putting us all to shame.

$$$

Still, Hernden said it was important to make Wellow’s products both biodegradable and recyclable to be part of the changing times. “Sustainability does require a new set of values. And it requires thinking long-term and doing things that right now are not that popular, but may turn out to be the standard not too long from now,” he said.

But to set a new standard, there’s also the issue of cost, both on the supplier and consumer sides:

• “The personal-care industry is set up to produce liquid-based products in disposable plastic packaging,” Hernden told us. Therefore, producing an aluminum-free, paper-based deodorant required “a lot of retooling costs and learning costs.”
• At $12 a pop, Wellow’s deodorant costs more than a standard drugstore deodorant. To address the cost barrier, Hernden said Wellow is rolling out a subscription service that brings the price down to $9 per refill.

Click here to read the full story, including how brands like Sweetgreen have run into challenges with compostable products.—KH

In the athleisure industry, a space that hasn’t always exactly had a reputation for being inclusive, UK brand Gymshark is trying to position itself as a brand for every type of athlete. Case in point: the company’s first-ever North American campaign that begins airing Tuesday.

• The spot depicts 11 notable athletes—such as UFC Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou and Paralympic swimmer Haven Shepherd—who are “training specifically for the journeys that they have” in their individual sports, Sennai Atsbeha, Gymshark’s VP of brand marketing, told Marketing Brew.
• It will appear on social media (as well as Gymshark’s e-commerce channels), with paid and organic posts on the company’s TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook, plus the athletes’ own social media profiles.

How they picked these athletes: Gymshark chose athletes that “have a community” on social (Ngannou, for instance, has 3.3 million Instagram followers) for the campaign, Atsbeha told us. But he said the brand also wanted to specifically highlight folks who have an aspirational story to tell.

Atsbeha pointed to multisport athlete Latoya Snell as an example, saying she’s “someone who battled a relationship with food that was not healthy and really took her to a dark place, both physically and mentally.” Snell used her commitment to training and running to heal, he added.

“It’s a very aspirational…relatable story,” Atsbeha said, noting that relatability is a consistent theme with all athletes in the spot.

$$$: Ngannou and Shepherd are on retainer with Gymshark, so they’re financially compensated for work like this on a consistent basis. The rest of the athletes in the marketing push were compensated differently, e.g., one-time payments and apparel.—PB

Yes, it’s happening. CES starts tomorrow—get ready for all the stale air and robots your heart desires.

That’s despite the recent uptick in Covid cases related to the omicron variant. The pandemic forced show organizers to host the conference virtually last year. And some suspect 2020’s conference was an early super-spreader event .

Remind me? The Consumer Electronics Show is one of the world’s biggest tech conferences, where everyone from the automotive industry to the robotics industry (and every marketer in between) shows off their new toys—be it a flying car or a robot that fetches toilet paper—in Las Vegas.

Who’s going? The Consumer Technology Association, the group that organizes the event, expects up to 75,000 attendees, as well as more than 2,200 exhibitors, according to the Wall Street Journal. For reference, attendance hit roughly 170,000 in 2020.

• This year, people can sign up for a virtual ticket if they don’t want to make the trip, gaining access to ~50 sessions and keynotes.
• Featured exhibitors include Sony, Samsung, Verizon, and Stellantis. Executives from General Motors, McDonald’s, and Salesforce are also expected to speak, although some are doing so virtually.

Zoom out: Citing “innovation” in an op-ed published by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, CTA president and CEO Gary Shapiro explained why CES “must” go on: “Certainly, it will be different from previous years. It may be messy. But innovation is messy. It is risky and uncomfortable.”

But Covid is also…risky and uncomfortable. That’s probably why a host of the usual suspects have already pulled out from the in-person show, including Amazon, Meta, and Twitter. And T-Mobile said it’s “significantly” limiting its IRL participation.—RB

If you’re going to CES or dropped out last minute, drop us a line at [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you.

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

Gen Z: When it comes to reaching young consumers over email, less is more, a recent survey found.

Cross my heart: Here’s some practical advice on how to cross-post on social media without seeming spammy.

SEO: Here’s some myth-busting and best practices on internal links.

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

• Some agencies are eyeing the four-day workweek—but there are some hurdles to clear
• Nielsen is taking the wraps off a tool aimed at counting audiences across screens
• For most marketers, the metaverse is, well, a little meh

Welcome to our newest newsletter section, which is pretty self-explanatory: It’s trivia, but in an email. Also, it’s about marketing. Each week leading up to the Super Bowl, we’ll send you questions about the big game. Good luck.

The first-ever Super Bowl, held in 1967, naturally charged advertisers considerably less for ad spots. How much was the average price of an ad that year?

1. $94,600
2. $17,100
3. $56,300
4. $37,500

Keep scrolling for the answer.