The holidays are here, and brands are bringing out all the (jingle) bells and whistles to connect with people IRL. In a nod to the holiday storefronts of department stores past and present, Amazon recently rolled out a holiday-window showcase in New York City. Now, gin brand Bombay Sapphire has one of its own.

The Bombay Sapphire “Holiday Storefront Series” will take place December 9–19, consisting of three window displays in the heart of Soho. Those passing by will be able to see holiday-inspired fashion, art, and live dance performances. And, of course, free drinks are involved.

The event is part of what Sapphire’s brand director, Jaime Keller, calls “thoughtful experiential” marketing. Keller sees the reemergence of intimate, in-person events as key to the brand’s marketing strategy in 2022. Part of the reason, she told Marketing Brew, is consumers feel “tired of being constrained from the pandemic.”

• “It’s important for brands to inspire and connect with people through genuine experiences and connections because that will resonate most,” Keller elaborated.

Measuring connection

When it comes to measuring the impact of the brand’s latest experiential campaign, there are a few metrics Sapphire is keeping tabs on:

• QR codes: Once a black sheep in marketing, QR codes have emerged as a Covid–friendly way for users to get information about practically anything in real time. Keller said Bombay Sapphire will place QR codes on the storefronts to drive and track sales of holiday gift tins on its website.
• Partnerships: Nearby restaurants Dante West Village, Ama Raw Bar West Village, Gelso & Grand, and Lil’ Frankie’s will be offering free drinks to visitors. All passersby have to do is scan a QR code while at the storefronts, then show the page to bartenders at any one of the locations. According to Keller, success here will be measured in positive feedback and partners’ willingness to re-partner on future campaigns.
• Share of voice: The brand will also watch how much buzz the event generates online.

But we’re still in a pandemic

Even with boosters and vaccine mandates, there’s still a lot of uncertainty around experiential marketing with new variants on the loose (looking at you, Omicron).

• Keller said Sapphire uses local and CDC guidelines as their “guiding light” when planning in-person events. In the case of its storefront activation, being outside worked in the company’s favor.
• For indoor events, Keller said Sapphire has staggered entrance times to ensure social distancing. Proof of vaccination was also required to enter The Other Art Fair, which the company sponsored in November.

Looking ahead to 2022, Keller expects brands to continue engaging with people on a personal level:

• “I think experiential will come back to life,” she said. But, “I think different brands will have a different point of view on what scale looks like to them.”
• She’s also keeping an eye on the metaverse and the potential for virtual gatherings: “We will always love to push the envelope in terms of how we show up.”—KH

It’s Friday, so maybe you’ll relax this evening by opening a nice bottle of wine, a Chianti perhaps? Or indulging in a bit of sugar, opening a pack of Oreos instead? Some would say these are the small moments that make the toil of a long day worth the effort.

Others want to create chaos—and those folks probably work for the marketing department at Barefoot Wines.

This week, the wine brand released a collaboration with Oreo Thins, creating a red blend the companies described as having hints of “chocolate and cookies and creme along with notes of oak,” according to USA Today. The wine, which comes with a package of Oreo Thins, went on sale yesterday (and is already sold out).

Because these things tend to happen in threes, it wasn’t the only bizarre collaboration to roll out this week:

• Lebron James’s agent Rich Paul signed a deal with New Balance, though James is famously endorsed by Nike.
• Poo-Pourri, the scented spray for your toilet, announced a partnership with coffee brand Super Coffee—oh wait, never mind, this one actually makes sense.

+1: And who could forget Van Leeuwen Ice Cream’s Kraft Macaroni & Cheese flavor that set the world abuzz over the summer?

So, what the heck is happening in the collab world? Well, marketers still need to break through, and your average campaign doesn’t always cut it.

“The amount of clutter and noise is so great...nobody shares the ordinary. It’s pushing marketers to go from unexpected to ridiculous,” said Allen Adamson, cofounder of brand and marketing consulting firm Metaforce and an adjunct associate marketing professor at NYU Stern. “The only media that matters is word of mouth…there’s no recipe for that.”

But you can’t hate the brands for trying to find one.—RB

We know that pay inequality is alive and well in 2021, but the details around the who, the what, and the how much can often be shrouded by lack of transparency and data. Especially in newer industries like influencer marketing. A recent study by PR group MSL US and The Influencer League looked at the compensation of more than 400 influencers in the US and found that Black creators, on average, made 35% less than their white counterparts.

Around 77% of Black influencers were classified as “nano” and “micro” influencers, meaning they have less than 50,000 followers. Within that range, annual compensation averaged at about $27,000 per year.

Compare that to the “macro” tier (50,000+ followers), where influencers typically make upward of $100,000 per year. The demographics there were found to be 41% white and only 23% Black, contributing to the divide.

But it’s bigger than that...

This is less about influencer-on-influencer competition and more about power structures:

• Nearly half of Black influencers said they received below-market offers, at least in part because of their race.
• And they often felt unfairly chastised for speaking out on issues that directly impacted them—59% said they felt negatively impacted financially when posting about race versus 14% of white creators.

So where do we go from here?

As with most industries, the first proven step toward pay equity is knowing what to ask for in the first place and being able to compare rates with peers in your industry. When asked what they thought would help eliminate the racial pay gap, 92% of responses brought up pay transparency.

While some states have passed laws around salary transparency, there is still a lot of gray area around contract-based or freelance opportunities—leaving most of the work to those advocating for change.

• Based on the study results, MSL committed to creating an Influencer Pay Index to track diversity and pay parity.
• Platforms like FYPM are emerging to champion transparency by allowing influencers to share details around brand deals, including compensation.
• Social media platforms like TikTok have proven to be very efficient for crowdsourcing compensation.—KH

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

No cap: Here are 65 examples of brands using Instagram captions to their advantage.

Brand safety: Google has a new guide on user-generated content.

Social: Check out these nine goals and success metrics to keep in mind for social campaigns.

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

• Here’s the business model behind the media bias chart that’s gone viral
• Twitter’s third-annual #BestOfTweets (for brands) list is out
• Mood Board: The storied inspirations behind the NBA’s 75th-anniversary campaign

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

1. Mtn Dew seeks park ranger to oversee outdoor enthusiast “playground”
2. Meet Prince Cheddward, the Cheez-It Bowl’s first-ever mascot
3. Doritos taps Wes Anderson to direct Super Bowl commercial
4. Miller Lite releases “beernaments” that fit around an eight-ounce can of beer

Keep scrolling for the answer.