5 Brands Heating Up Marketing Spend for Summer 2019

May 13, 2019

As the summer season quickly approaches, consumers are busy planning vacations, shopping for lighter clothes and searching for new means of entertainment. To help consumers find the best locations and products, brands are heating up marketing spend and bolstering marketing efforts to capitalize on these needs.

By keeping up with the latest brand updates, our in-house research team has curated a list of five brands in particular who are showing significant investment in marketing this summer with shifts in strategy and hires of significant personnel. These triggers indicate that marketing and advertising assistance will be required from all angles including new technology investments, new campaigns, and new partnerships.

These brands are likely to be making significant spending moves throughout the season, and we want to keep you up to date and a step ahead of your competitors when it comes to capitalizing on these opportunities.

Check out five brands making marketing moves in preparation for summer and how you can get involved:

1. Boston Beer

According to our in-house team of researchers, Boston Beer reported that its advertising, promotional and selling expenses for Q1 2019 increased $4.2 million in comparison to that of Q1 2018. These increases are expected to continue as the company invests in advertising, promotional and selling expenses for the remainder of the year.

The majority of these investments will most likely go to Sam Adams and Angry Orchard’s new Rosé which will be promoted more heavily. Along with those brands, Twisted Tea and Wild Leaf may see increases after the promotion of Zach Hotz to senior marketing director of both brands. Tura Kombucha also bolstered its team with the hire of its first brand and executional manager.

With new hires, spend will continue to increase. Sellers are encouraged to reach out, especially with the hire of CMO Lesya Lysyj, who started in late April. Keep an eye out for agency reviews within the next 6-9 months. Competition will include Hearts & Science responsible for media and MMB on the creative front.

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2. Hotels.com

Hotels.com is gearing up for traveling throughout the summer months by rolling out an expansion of its ongoing “Captain Obvious” campaign. There may be last minute dollars available, and also opportunity to capitalize on their top spending period in H1.

When pitching, keep in mind Hotels.com is recently shifting their target demographic towards a millennial and Gen-Z audience. Within the past 12 months, Adbeat reports that the company has spend $26.8 million on digital display placed primarily through Youtube. Other channels of investment include outdoor, radio, print and social.

Hotels.com hired MediaCom to handle media last year and ICF Next picked up PR duties in early 2019, so a creative review may follow. Another signal for shifts is the recent bolstering of their marketing team with several new hires, a review is likely within 12-18 months.

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3. Kohl’s

With the shift of a season comes a need for a new wardrobe. Kohl’s launched a Pinterest-like outfit bar online and in-store to appeal to millennials. The bar will be updated every 30 days and promoted via social near the bar’s 50 locations across the Midwest and Northeast. Sellers near these locations are encouraged to reach out, and while spend is typically highest in Q4 keep an eye out for millennial-focused initiatives.

Kohl’s is undergoing a digital shift being led by newly-hired personnel who will concentrate on personalization and improving millennial awareness. Spend continues to increase across offline channels, national tv, and overall spend in 2019.

Agency and martech readers are encouraged to reach out with all of the strategy shifts, new hires, and spend increases. The retailer’s agency roster is also reaching average agency tenure (3-4 years), so focus pitches on how you can help Kohl’s be successful in their shifts and differentiate themselves from competitors such as TJ Maxx and Target.

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4. Forrest Films

Forrest Films is preparing to capitalize on your summer boredom as it bolsters its marketing team with a slew of hires including Lori Drazen as marketing SVP, Liz Deutsch as in-theater marketing and promotions SVP, and Bryce Campbell as operations SVP. The five-month-old movie distributor named Scott Kennedy its president of worldwide marketing and distribution in December as well.

An increase in spend is likely to follow the multitude of hires, and since the company has not yet established a top spending period, reach out for revenue tied to upcoming films such as Bennett’s War, Roped, American Fighter, and several others.

Those with entertainment expertise are encouraged to reach out to the new leaders as the emerging company continues to grow. Keep in mind they will likely focus on attracting a millennial and Gen-Z audience.

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5. Reef

As the weather warms up for summer, Reef’s success heats up as well. Surfwear brand Reef, which was acquired by The Rockport Group last year, selected Mike Jensen as its president, effective February. The brand also hired Brittany Young as digital marketing manager in April as well as several other new hires. With all of the change in leadership, agency changes are likely in the coming months.

Agency and martech readers with clothing experience are encouraged to reach out, and keep in mind they are attempting to differentiate themselves from competitors such as Billabong, Quiksilver and Rip Curl. Recent campaigns have focused on diversity and “reasons to beach” featuring athletes such as Rob Machado, Alexa Strange, and Evan Geiselman. There’s likely opportunity to secure last-minute dollars from these campaigns, so sellers are encouraged to reach out and keep an eye on continuations throughout the year.

While spend typically spikes in Q1, keep an eye out for new products. Spend has seen a slight decrease lately, but will likely pick back up in an attempt to follow their plan of growth across consumer, product and geographic expansion.

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