ADWEEK Advantage is part of a new series where every month, our top editors interpret what happened in each vertical and what it means for the future.
Challenger brands like Liquid Death and E.l.f. are known for culture-led marketing and collabs.
This year, legacy brands also leaned into culture and put their spin on it by using it to showcase their heritage, something upstarts just don’t have.
Consider recent marketing experiments from Johnnie Walker, Dove, Coca-Cola, Gap, and Delta, all of whom took to the stage at ADWEEK’s Brandweek event Atlanta event in November.
In March, Dove parent Unilever said it would invest 30% to 50% of its annual $9 billion ad budget in creator-led campaigns.
