Matthew Schwartz

To describe 2020 as annus horriblis would be charitable. The year is mercifully over, but 2021 is off to a harrowing start after rioters breached Capitol Hill January 6 as both the House of Representatives and Senate met to ratify President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College win.

Mailchimp's latest ad campaign draws on classic animation to help its small business customers build big ideas. Michael Mitchell, director of brand marketing at Mailchimp, calls the campaign a "love letter" to entrepreneurs making their way through the pandemic.

Judy Hoffstein, CMO of Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, talks about the nonprofit’s first PSA in several years, the importance of partnerships, and how to discuss an extremely delicate matter.

In gender-related marketing, ads no longer adhere to pink-and-blue protocols. An increasing number of companies realize that moving beyond the binary is not only good business, it cultivates brand affinity among communities that might not otherwise pay attention to their products and services. Here’s how P&G, Mastercard, and Mattel, among others, are evolving their marketing to avoid gender stereotypes and be more inclusive of trans and nonbinary people.

When the coronavirus began to spread in late March, most brand advertising took on a somber tone. At the time, the messages seemed to resonate with consumers. But as the crisis unfolded, people’s appetite for ads that emphasized the impact of the virus started to wane.

Amy Brothers, brand manager for Pebbles cereal, and Brian Hurley, creative director at Public Works, discuss the kid-centric “Daily Yabba Dabba Doo” series and provide insight into the most effective ways for brands to harness user-generated content.

As marketers face a crossroads — and alter both their internal practices and their overall messaging to reflect the larger changes throughout society — they may also consider reevaluating their marketing lexicon and the language they use to communicate with their constituents, customers, and the public.

As the COVID-19 pandemic upended the country, many nonprofits reconfigured their marketing strategies and budgets to place a sharper focus on their missions and help people through a difficult period in inspiring ways. Here are four examples of how nonprofit organizations successfully dealt with the crisis, as well as lessons learned.

Marketing Maestros reached out to a few senior marketing executives to get a better sense of how the pandemic will affect certain aspects of marketing for the long-term and what brand managers can do to respond to the changes proactively.

Drip, drip, drip. The average CMO tenure fell from 43 months to 41 months, according to the 16th annual CMO Tenure Study, continuing a downward trend for the last few years.

A number of inspiring brand stories have emerged over the past several months, with companies providing ample resources to both combat the pandemic and make things easier for first responders. Here’s how Budweiser, Crocs, Publix, and Hyundai, among others, have seized on opportunities to help in the fight against COVID-19.