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NEW YORK and KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Sept. 1, 2022 — Stagwell (NASDAQ: STGW), the challenger network built to transform marketing, has expanded its presence in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region with the opening of its newest global office, Stagwell Malaysia. Stagwell opened its regional headquarters in Singapore in November 2021. Stagwell’s travel content and media brand, Ink, and Assembly, a global omnichannel media agency delivering media and more, will collaborate in the new location.

As part of the office opening, Ink has grown its partnership with Malaysia Airlines to offer sponsorship and advertising opportunities online and offline at the airport, onboard flights, and at home. Ink is actively hiring to support the expansion.

Assembly, which recently won recognition from two of the most prestigious local marketing award bodies, Marketing Excellence Malaysia and MARKies Malaysia, for its leading work in the market across media, will expand its staff to support the growth ambitions of local Malaysian brands and continue to support global businesses in the market.

“As Malaysia celebrates its Independence Day, we are excited to establish our newest global entity in Kuala Lumpur,” said Randy Duax, managing director, Asia-Pacific, Stagwell. “Malaysia’s GDP grew 9% last quarter and e-commerce transactions are expected to grow 25% per year over the next few years. For the kinds of innovative and disruptive clients our network serves and the kind of talent we have in our portfolio, we’re uniquely positioned to amplify brands into, out of, and within Malaysia.”

Stagwell boasts nearly 2,000 employees in the APAC region at agencies including creative network 72andSunny, communications firm Allison+Partners, creative agency Anomaly, global omnichannel media agency Assembly (named the 2021 Media Agency of the Year for Asia-Pacific by The Drum), digital transformation agency Code and Theory, creative collective Forsman & Bodenfors, (named top creative agency in Singapore by Campaign Brief), travel content and media brand INK, multilingual content agency Locaria, path-to-purchase shop MMI Agency, and consumer research agency National Research Group. 

In addition, Stagwell’s innovative affiliate network now boasts 70 active and independent agency brands. In APAC, Stagwell’s affiliate partners include Beyond Media Global (Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Sydney, Taipei), creative agency Enormous (Gurgaon, Mumbai), influencer agency Metric Design Studio (Shanghai), and digital and content full-service agency Serviceplan (Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai, Seoul).

Stagwell is the challenger network built to transform marketing. We deliver scaled creative performance for the world’s most ambitious brands, connecting culture-moving creativity with leading-edge technology to harmonize the art and science of marketing. Led by entrepreneurs, our 13,000+ specialists in 34+ countries are unified under a single purpose: to drive effectiveness and improve business results for their clients. Join us at www.stagwellglobal.com. 

Media Contact:
Sarah Arvizo
pr@stagwellglobal.com

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CONTACT

Beth Sidhu
pr@stagwellglobal.com
202-423-4414

Global Affiliate Brand New Galaxy joins the challenger marketing group to accelerate connected commerce and digital transformation for global brands; will operate as part of Stagwell Media Network

New York, NY & Warsaw, PL – April 21, 2022 (NASDAQ: STGW) – Stagwell, the challenger network built to transform marketing, today announced the acquisition of Brand New Galaxy (BNG), a leading provider of scaled commerce and marketplace solutions for 150+ global brands and 500+ e-retailers worldwide. With 600 experts across Europe, MENA, and the United States, BNG adds deep, digital-first specialization in connected commerce solutions, scaling Stagwell’s broad e-commerce capabilities to service more complex global clients. BNG has served as a partner of Stagwell via its Global Affiliate Program since 2021 and is the first acquisition Stagwell has made of one of its affiliates.

“We are pleased to welcome Brand New Galaxy to the Stagwell platform, expanding the reach of our global e-commerce offerings. Their state-of-the-art e-commerce and digital transformation technology is another reason clients are choosing Stagwell over traditional holding companies,” said Mark Penn, Chairman and CEO, Stagwell.

BNG will join the Stagwell Media Network, a global community of leading omnichannel agencies that collaborate to deliver future-facing solutions driven by digital, data, technology, and media expertise. In addition to complementing Stagwell’s data-led digital transformation capabilities, BNG offers a range of tailored solutions for accelerating end-to-end multimarket commerce, based on international insights that translate into local market opportunities.

“It is incredibly exciting to welcome Brand New Galaxy and their leadership teams to Stagwell Media Network,” said James Townsend, Global Chief Executive Officer of Stagwell Media Network and its global media agency, Assembly. “Their deep and extensive expertise in all things connected commerce sits in perfect complement to our growing portfolio of omnichannel media agencies. The addition of BNG is the natural and front-footed next step for our network to further empower the modern marketeer with more cohesive and integrated solutions across the marketing services spectrum.”

As part of Stagwell Media Network, Brand New Galaxy will continue to go to market under the BNG brand as well as collaborate with other members of the Stagwell Media Network.

Piotr Morkowski, CEO of Brand New Galaxy Holding said, “BNG was born as an ecommerce-native business and over the last five years of incredible growth, we have built a set of unique, world-class capabilities to support our global clients across the entire path to purchase. Building a global business of 600 experts in less than five years is no small achievement, but we are hungry to do much more. Joining forces with Stagwell Media Network at this stage in our journey as part of an integrated go-to-market approach is the best way for us to grow even faster and deliver on our ambitions.”

Stagwell Media Network is now home to more than 3,500 experts distributed globally across more than 20 countries and 40 offices, managing close to $5 billion in media. The Network offers omnichannel media, led by data and digital expertise that challenges the antiquated media models of legacy advertising giants. The BNG acquisition follows the January 2022  acquisition of Goodstuff Communications, one of the United Kingdom’s leading independent media agencies, supporting Stagwell’s scale and global footprint with local activation.

The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

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About Stagwell Inc.

Stagwell is the challenger network built to transform marketing. We deliver scaled creative performance for the world’s most ambitious brands, connecting culture-moving creativity with leading-edge technology to harmonize the art and science of marketing. Led by entrepreneurs, our 10,000+ specialists in 34+ countries are unified under a single purpose: to drive effectiveness and improve business results for their clients. Join us at www.stagwellglobal.com.

About Stagwell Media Network

Stagwell’s Media Network is a group of leading omnichannel agencies home to more than 3,500 experts with an expansive global footprint across 40+ offices in 20 countries, managing close to $5 billion in media. Agencies include Assembly, Brand New Galaxy, MMI Agency, Goodstuff and Grason, creative consultancy GALE, B2B specialist Multiview, multi-lingual content agency Locaria, and travel and media experts Ink. The network offers marketers a more dynamic partner for global B2B and B2C solutions spanning data, technology, media, and creativity aimed at accelerating business growth for brands worldwide.

About Brand New Galaxy

Brand New Galaxy is a fast-growing leading provider of marketing and technology solutions built to drive commerce and digital transformation for brands. Founded in Warsaw, Poland, in 2017, BNG has grown to 600+ employees with offices in Europe, North America, and the Middle East. BNG has been named “Debut of the Year 2018”, “Success of the Year 2019 & 2020,” and “Growth of the Year 2021” by PRESS magazine’s prestigious agency ranking, proving its position as a dynamic global agency. BNG’s data-driven approach makes brands better connected with consumers in complex marketing and technology ecosystems. This gives more than 150 brands and Fortune 500 clients a true strategic partner, both on a global and local level.

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NFTs – short-term hype or a serious, lasting trend? One thing at least is certain: Hardly any other topic is currently shaking up the digital world as much as non-fungible tokens, or NFTs for short. Whether it’s the crypto scene, the games market, the art world or the music world – everyone wants to participate in the latest digital gold rush. The NFT market was worth around $44 billion U.S dollars in 2021 (Chainalysis Inc.), rivaling the global art and antiques market, which generated sales of around $50 billion U.S dollars in the same period. No wonder marketers are interested in the technology. Read on for a short explainer on the phenomenon.

WHAT ARE NFTS (NON FUNGIBLE TOKENS)?

Non-fungible means “not arbitrarily replaceable”, i.e., they are individual pieces that cannot be duplicated. The term typically refers to digital assets such as images, videos, animations, audio pieces or graphics. NFTs take on the function of a digital certificate of authenticity and ownership, making the associated digital file a unique and uniquely identifiable asset – which is also quite forgery-proof: each NFT is given an individual ID and stored on a blockchain as a record that can be viewed online.

Non-fungible tokens are traded in cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum. The value of such a digital certificate can sometimes rise to astronomical heights, depending on whether it is a sought-after collector’s item or not. For example:

• In the spring of 2021, for example, the first tweet ever sent by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey on March 21, 2006, was auctioned off as an NFT for $2.9 million.
• The first source code for the World Wide Web by Tim Berners-Lee changed hands as an NFT for $5.4 million.
• An NFT from the legendary CryptoPunk series, which helped to trigger the hype surrounding tokens, achieved the fabulous price of almost 24 million dollars.
• The most expensive NFT traded so far is the digital artwork “The Merge” by the artist Pak, which fetched $91.8 million in December 2021.

HOW ARE NFTS BEING USED IN MARKETING?

The uses vary across industry.

• AUCTIONS
  • Just before Christmas, for example, Vodafone auctioned off the first SMS sent via the British mobile company’s network in 1992. The telco giant donated the proceeds – 132,000 euros – to a good cause. The PR effect was far greater: more than 3,500 articles on the campaign were published worldwide in online alone, generating around two billion contacts. Coca-Cola was probably also concerned with the positive PR effect: In the summer of 2021, the beverage manufacturer auctioned four multisensory NFT collectibles for International Friendship Day, which could be experienced and used in different ways. The bright red “Coca-Cola Bubble Jacket Wearable,” for example, can be “worn” on the Decentraland 3D virtual reality platform by the avatar of the user who unlocked it. The “Sound Visualizer,” on the other hand, is designed to give an acoustic experience of enjoying an ice-cold Coke, from the fizz of an opening Coke bottle to the refreshing taste. The NFT auction raised a total of more than $ 575.000, which Coca-Cola donated to Special Olympics International.
• TRANSFERING BRANDS INTO THE METAVERSE
  • Adidas Originals recently launched its first NFT collection under the slogan “Into the Metaverse.” The tokens give owners exclusive access to special products and experiences designed by Adidas in cooperation with NFT pioneers Punks Comic, Gmoney and Bored Ape Yacht Club, who are well-known in the scene. The roughly 30,000 NFTs, worth a total of more than $22 million, sold out in a matter of hours – even though the “physical” goods – a hoodie, tracksuit, and orange beanie – won’t be released until later in 2022. The digital counterparts of these are to be worn by NFT owners ins in the blockchain game “The Sandbox,” where Adidas has purchased a plot of land for its NFT community.
• INVESTING IN NFT ASSETS
  • Nike is also heavily involved in the NFT business. In 2019, Nike patented the “CryptoKicks” system. Here, the sporting goods manufacturer wants to link limited shoes with a digital asset and “breed” new shoes virtually, which are then produced in real life. Finally, at the end of 2021, the company announced the acquisition of the world’s leading NFT producer RTFKT, which specializes in the design of exclusive digital sports shoes and sneakers.

WHAT SHOULD BRANDS WATCH OUT FOR AS THEY EXPERIMENT WITH NFTS?

The business of non-fungible tokens is not without its pitfalls. With the explosion of interest in the technology, the risk of crypto crime is also increasing. Wash trading is also becoming increasingly common in the NFT market — meaning the owner of a digital asset artificially drives up the price of an NFT through continuous buying and selling.

Additionally, there are questions about the ecological impact of NFTs. Blockchain can consume an enormous amount of energy and leave a large CO2 footprint. Both the production of an NFT and its sale on the blockchain require the computing power of thousands of computers. Brands for whom sustainability is key to positioning could face reputational issues with the use of NFTs.

WHAT IS THE OPPORTUNITY FOR BRANDS NOW?

It has always been the task of strong brands to be pioneers in emerging technology to drive new dimensions of the consumer experience. For brands whose identities are predicated on being challengers, or strong bridges believe this will also be the case in the area of Web 3.0, that of NFTs. Especially for a brand like Nike, whose essence is to build strong bridges to the popular culture of the new generation again and again, or even to be a cultural core itself, NFTs offer chances and opportunities to build ties that are truly “non-fungible”.

WHERE DO I GO NEXT?

Explore Stagwell’s content series on NFTs to learn more about:

• Three Ways NFTs Create Consumer Value
• What Psychology Explains About the NFT Explosion
• The Long-Term Brand Value of NFTs
• The PR Advantages of Being a First-Mover on NFTs

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NEW YORK, Feb. 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Stagwell (NASDAQ:STGW), the challenger network built to transform marketing, today announced a meaningful expansion of its global footprint across MENA with three affiliate partnerships: public relations and marketing network Orient Planet Group, data-driven strategy consulting firm, Phronesis Group, and events and talent management firm FLC. Together, the affiliates scale Stagwell’s leading digital transformation, creative production and modern media services while expanding the roster of local and international talent available to Stagwell and its growing global client roster.

Each will collaborate with Stagwell’s flagship global media agency Assembly in MENA and existing regional affiliate partner Brand New Galaxy. Additionally, the new affiliates will benefit from best-in-class product solutions in the Stagwell Marketing Cloud, a suite of business transformation solutions for in-house marketing teams.

“Now in its second year, the Global Affiliate Program continues to allow Stagwell to chart agile global expansion and collaborate with regional experts to drive international value for brands. said Mark Penn, Chairman and CEO, Stagwell. “Our partners at Orient Planet Group are already deeply entrenched with teams across the network, and I’m excited to build on our new partnerships with Phronesis and FLC as we continue our mission to transform marketing.”

The new affiliates are leaders in creative production, digital media, and data-driven strategy consulting:

• Phronesis Group is a global strategy consulting firm which helps clients achieve global growth through more effective and efficient marketing communications executions. Focused on measurable client outcomes, Phronesis is headquartered in Chicago with offices in the UK, EU, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, UAE and Indo-Pacific Region, where they serve a distinct portfolio of clients. These clients include BOD’s and CXO’s of Fortune 100 global corporations, sovereign wealth funds, private equity firms and ministries from emerging market countries.
• Orient Planet Group is one of the most rapidly growing public relations, marketing and communications consultancies in North Africa and the Middle East. Orient Planet’s expertise in creative communications coupled with contemporary thinking provides unparalleled marketing communications services to its clients across numerous sectors. Orient Planet Group recently extended its strategic partnership with Stagwell global communications firm Allison+Partners, scaling their combined expertise in the region.
• FLC is a leading Dubai-based production & model management agency that services clients across two key verticals – Print & Video Productions and Fashion Shows – while supporting casting via a range of local and international models, casts, photographers, and stylists.

“Phronesis is excited to be joining Stagwell through their affiliate partnership program. After an exhaustive review, we found that Stagwell possessed the extraordinary talent, services and will to challenge the traditional holding company status quo with an execution ecosystem that our clients expect,” said Jeffrey Hupe, Chief Executive Officer of Phronesis Group.  “Unlike other strategy consulting firms, we partner with our clients through the entire process from strategy to execution to help them realize growth outcomes that deliver business value.  Our highly disciplined delivery and services execution model is now aligned with a global, premier marketing services holding company that will finally meet client demands by truly integrating their arsenal of services.

“Orient Planet Group is well-entrenched in the Middle East and North Africa with in-depth understanding of the local landscape,” said Nidal Abou Zaki, Founder and Managing Director of Orient Planet Group. “As the regional affiliate of Stagwell and Allison+Partners and having maintained a strong network and long-standing partnerships over the years, we are encouraged to see more organizations engaging and connecting with their markets across a diverse population.”

To date, Stagwell’s Global Affiliate Program has added over 50 partners representing countries across Latin America, MENA, Asia-Pacific, and Eastern Europe. In addition to expansion via this program, Stagwell in January 2022 launched an international office in Singapore to accelerate its growth in APAC.

About Stagwell Inc.

Stagwell is the challenger network built to transform marketing. We deliver scaled creative performance for the world’s most ambitious brands, connecting culture-moving creativity with leading-edge technology to harmonize the art and science of marketing.  Led by entrepreneurs, our 10,000+ specialists in 20+ countries are unified under a single purpose: to drive effectiveness and improve business results for their clients. Join us at www.stagwellglobal.com.

Contact: Beth Sidhu
beth.sidhu@stagwellglobal.com 
202-423-4414

Originally released on

New York, New York – February 23, 2022 – Stagwell, the challenger network built to transform marketing, today announced an expansion of its global marketing services into Africa via new affiliate partnerships with three firms: Incubeta in South Africa, SBI Media in Nigeria, and Orient Planet Group, whose footprint spans North Africa, including Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, and Morocco. As part of Stagwell’s Global Affiliate Program, these firms will collaborate with agencies across Stagwell’s network to scale omnichannel media, content, and production capabilities for leading global brands. 

“With the cementing of our partnerships with Incubeta, SBI, and Orient Planet Group, our Global Affiliate Program now empowers Stagwell to scale our modern marketing expertise across six continents, driving further value for our clients,” said Mark Penn, Chairman and CEO, Stagwell. “By 2025, two-thirds of African households are expected to have increased consumer power in the global economy. As a worldwide leader in culture-moving creativity and modern marketing services, Stagwell’s growth in the region will guide global brands to engage authentically with consumers across Africa.”

The new cohort of affiliates represent best-in-class digital media and global communications services:

• Incubeta is a digital-transformation focused network of experts in marketing and technology committed to driving business-wide growth for modern brands. Incubeta has steered digital growth for clients across multiple sectors, including retail, travel, finance FMCG, iGaming, entertainment, automotive, app development and more.
• Based in Lagos, Nigeria, SBI Media is an innovative full-service agency with a deep focus in media planning and buying. SBI Media’s capabilities span branding, strategy and planning, PR strategy formulation, media management and digital marketing. With SBI Media’s expertise, Stagwell will tap into a rapidly growing digital and traditional media environment with a hyper-localized approach.
• Orient Planet Group is one of the most rapidly growing public relations, marketing and communications consultancies in North Africa and the Middle East. Orient Planet’s expertise in creative communications coupled with contemporary thinking provides unparalleled marketing communications services to its clients across numerous sectors.

“Incubeta is a market-leading specialist that uses the power of digital to unlock and amplify business growth potential. We do this through bespoke, localized digital solutions, powered by global expertise,” said Roan Mackintosh. “Stagwell’s focus on digital-first marketing solutions is a strong complement to our expertise, and we’re excited to collaborate with its network to deliver and enable our client’s growth.”

“We are pleased to join Stagwell, the world’s challenger marketing network. Stagwell’s vision to transform marketing communications is not only in-sync with our DNA, it is at the core of what we stand for at SBI Media Group,” said Rotimi Bankole, Founder and CEO, SBI Media Group. “In 2013, we floated SBI Media Group, and the Nigerian media and marketing landscape has felt our impact. Our story, culture and impact have transformed the way agencies exist in the larger economy.”

 “Africa’s growing economies and the boom in digital technologies provide strong potentials for innovative communications to thrive in the region,” added Nidal Abou Zaki, Founder and Managing Director of Orient Planet Group. “Orient Planet Group is well-entrenched in the Middle East and North Africa with in-depth understanding of the local landscape. As the regional affiliate of Stagwell and Allison + Partners and having maintained a strong network and long-standing partnerships over the years, we are confident to see more organizations engaging and connecting with their markets across a diverse population.”

Stagwell’s focus will initially be in the North and South African markets, with continued engagement and collaboration in Central Africa, supporting the localized needs of consumers.

Stagwell’s Global Affiliate Program is an agile solution to global expansion, enabling Stagwell to partner with regional experts to drive added value for clients and scale marketing capabilities into new regions. To date, Stagwell has added over50 affiliates to its roster, representing countries across Latin America, MENA, Asia-Pacific, and Eastern Europe.

About Stagwell, Inc.:
Stagwell is the challenger network built to transform marketing. We deliver scaled creative performance for the world’s most ambitious brands, connecting culture-moving creativity with leading-edge technology to harmonize the art and science of marketing.  Led by entrepreneurs, our 10,000+ specialists in 20+ countries are unified under a single purpose: to drive effectiveness and improve business results for their clients. Join us at www.stagwellglobal.com.

CONTACT

hello@stagwellglobal.com

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Americans swear by the marketing value of the Super Bowl and a host of mythologies surround ideal slot placement, annual “best of” lists, and more. But price tags, declining viewership, and the global pivot away from traditional TV advertising makes us wonder. As the Super Bowl concludes and the Olympics continue, we asked global leaders from Stagwell and our affiliate partners for their thoughts on this key question: what is the value for modern brands in major sporting tentpoles like the Super Bowl, World Club or Olympics? Explore four POVs below. 

WTF (Where’s the Freaking Value?)
Toby Southgate, Global CEO, Forsman & Bodenfors

Welcome, both linear and on-demand viewers, to the annual season of marketing insanity that is the Super Bowl. Welcome to lists, best-ofs, some epic voiceover casting and – for a limited time only! – music licensing and talent fees that’ll make grown adults weep.  

This year, as happens with frequency on our rolling global events calendar, we get to layer the Winter Olympics on top of the Super Bowl boondoggle. “Where should I be investing my media dollars?” comes the plaintive cry of marketers across the land. “Who cares, it’s the freakin’ Super Bowl! Snap it up while you can!” And when snapping up comes in at a couple hundred thousand dollars a second – airtime only – then maybe a cynical voice of reason somewhere should ask the simple question: WTF? Where’s the Freakin’ Value?  

Whoever it was who really said “half my marketing budget works, I just don’t know which half” could probably hold up the Super Bowl, or any one of the other tentpole global sporting properties, as the primus inter parus examples of this dichotomy. If you’re there and you get it right, people will talk about you. If you’re there and you get it wrong, people will talk about you. If you’re not there, people will talk about you not being there.  

For Super Bowl specifically, there’s a purity of value by association that no other event can command. This remains the most-watched live event on the planet. It happens in one evening (unlike the Olympics or the FIFA World Cup), and – here’s the incredible part – it’s maybe the one televised event where real people in the real world will engage in conversations about the advertising they see. You could probably run a very simple segmentation analysis and find 3 major buckets of Super Bowl advertising – the funny, the emotional, and the weird. All have the power to engage and stimulate, or to isolate and offend. But what unites every marketer committing to this opportunity is the knowledge that just being there is no longer enough.  

What happens around the 30 seconds your brand is on air? If you do break through sufficiently to provoke a conversation in the real world, how do you keep that momentum moving? How do you translate it into commercial impact? If your agency partners aren’t pushing that agenda as hard as they are the creative execution of the timing of the placement, then they’re not helping you resolve the “which half works?” question. Because now it’s all linked. And it all has to work.  

Unifying Moments Make the Investment Worth It
Anna Panczyk – Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board, Brand New Galaxy, UK

For me, the answer is built into the question. Yes, the world is fragmented and people do feel disconnected – and so now, especially after the past two years, there’s a renewed impulse for people to find reasons to connect and be together. Sport offers a great way for brands to connect to families, groups of friends and fans – and sometimes even a whole country – with a straightforward common understanding and message.   

Sports allows brands to generate this reach and awareness on a huge scale, but also to tie itself into those personal feelings of togetherness, connection, pride. Sport involves powerful emotions – and let’s not forget, playing, watching and sporting is enjoyable and fun.    

On the other hand, being directly commercially involved in these sort of events is one of the most expensive routes to market. Brand Keys research (https://brandkeys.com) showed that only about 20% of the brands that advertise during prestigious events like the Super Bowl actually emotionally engage viewers. So, you could say – and many do - that involvement like this s a waste of money. But the actual impact of these things is harder to measure. There are plenty of Olympic or Super Bowl ads that stay with you, resonate beyond, become shared, transform into memes. And there are plenty of lower–level activation that don’t carry the same cost, but still allow brands to benefit (activations on social media, sales promotions etc). 

What sporting events prove to us every time is that it is always about the journey you take, not just the ultimate goal. And the same logic applies to those great campaigns which – yes, at the level of buying a Super Bowl ad, can also be hugely expensive. But brands continue to recognise the fact that these are rare and unique moments to be shared with their potential users or brand lovers. Moments of national unity, mass awareness, positivity, togetherness and fun – which brand wouldn’t want to get involved?!

Sport is the New Fireplace in a Modern Household
Ashish Khazanchi – Managing Partner, Enormous Brands, India  

Where does broadcast stand in the time of Reels, Stories, OTT and the severely divided attention economy? Sport, for most, is possibly the last remaining bastion of appointment viewing across the world. The bigger the stage, the bigger the draw of it.

Events like the Super Bowl, FIFA, Olympics, IPL are important for brands for reasons larger than just the univariate way of looking at it for pure reach. The key for brands really is the intense engagement. Sport for most audiences is a part of identity, and identity narratives. There’s intense identification with the heroes and the myths and their teams. This makes big sporting moments the last remaining lean-forward viewing platform in the era of skip ads and incessant scrolling. Sport is the new fireplace in a modern household. It gets families, friends and communities together. There’s joy, conversations, laughter, tears, jubilation and people huddled together over shared nervous energies. These moments are prime for brands to tap into this energy and audience engagement to drive the conversations towards greater brand love.

How Can Culturally Important Moments Help Tell Brand Narratives?
Daniel Felipe Cuervo – Strategic Planning & Growth VP, Buentipo, Colombia   

Culturally important moments for each country, such as the Super Bowl, World Cup, or Olympics, are moments that brands should take advantage of, for the good and not for the bad. These types of events are perfect for brands to talk about their values and beliefs beyond the product they want to advertise or sell.

The budget investment that brands need for these spaces should be leveraged as a  long-term strategy, rather than their bottom lines in the short-term. Our recommendation to brands: Be smart. Take advantage of this space to create advertising pieces that are highly relevant and above all, tell a story that answers why your brand exists. Go beyond the hunger to sell your product and use this as a chance to communicate your purpose, values and beliefs as a brand.  

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