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CEOs Ask for ‘De-Escalation’ in Minneapolis; Surprising Super Bowl Matchup Favors NBC; The Wait List for a Birkin or Rolex Is Getting Shorter
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Good morning. Today, the sidelines shrink in Minneapolis; TV’s biggest event of the year is set; and the scarcity effect ebbs for luxury brands.
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A small crowd held a sit-in at a Target in Saint Paul, Minnesota, last week to protest what they called the chain’s complicity with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty
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We’ve noted the increasingly difficult efforts by Minnesota companies to stay out of the headlines around the federal immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, avoiding public statements as much as possible.
But leaders of more than 60 companies and sports teams based in the state signed an open letter calling for “peace” on Sunday, one day after a federal officer fatally shot Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse who had been filming Border Patrol agents.
“With yesterday’s tragic news, we are calling for an immediate deescalation of tensions and for state, local and federal officials to work together to find real solutions,” they wrote.
Signers on the letter, which was released by the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, include leaders at Target, Best Buy, General Mills, 3M, U.S. Bancorp, UnitedHealth, Sleep Number and the Minnesota Vikings, Timberwolves and Lynx.
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More Minneapolis: How the Minnesota Star-Tribune is handling the turmoil in its hometown. [Semafor]
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Content from our sponsor: Deloitte
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How Brands Can Reshape Loyalty Programs in a Value-Seeking Era
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Loyalty programs could be the differentiator as consumers seek more value. Brands can focus on three strategies to transform these programs and deepen customer engagement. Read More
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Drake Maye and Sam Darnold are set to meet in Super Bowl LX. Maye (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images); Darnold (Jane Gershovich/Getty Images)
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The Super Bowl teams are set after yesterday’s wins by the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots.
The cross-country (and unexpected) championship matchup serves NBC’s quest to maximize its audience for the game on Feb. 8. Super Bowl commercials don’t get ratings guarantees, but the network has other business priorities in play.
Here’s Eric Fisher at Front Office Sports:
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The Comcast-owned NBC is leaning into its upcoming Super Bowl LX coverage by combining much of its promotion and ad sales for the event with coverage next month of the 2026 Winter Olympics and NBA All-Star Game. The Super Bowl will also represent one of, if not the single largest, event ever on its Peacock streaming service.
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More Super Bowl:
“Don’t let the know-it-alls fool you,” Jason Gay writes. “Nobody saw this showdown coming in August.” [WSJ]
NFL players will sing the Mr. Rogers song “You Are Special” in a 30-second ad during the Super Bowl to promote the league’s“Inspire Change” program. [Ad Age]
Many teasers for this year’s Super Bowl ads aren’t raising expectations very high. [Creative Bloq]
Budweiser has released its Super Bowl ad “American Icons,” about the friendship between a Clydesdale and a bald eagle. [People]
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“The word ‘diet’ is from a different era. For a lot of younger consumers, it’s radioactive.”
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— Kevin Ryan, CEO of Malachite Strategy and Research, on Gen Z’s rejection of “Diet” sodas for alternatives with a “Zero Sugar” brand
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Value retention, a proxy for underlying demand, is falling even for scarce brands. AP
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A caution light is flashing at luxury’s scarcity specialists: Supply is getting closer to meeting demand.
Resale premiums for Patek Philippe and Rolex watches have been slipping for three years, Carol Ryan writes for The Wall Street Journal.
Hermès Birkin and Kelly handbags shows a similar trend, according to a Bernstein analysis of auction results. The bags’ resale premium is at the lowest level since 2017.
“Current resale premiums seem to suggest that waiting lists have shortened, and that the total supply for Hermès’ bags is now closer to demand than before,” says Bernstein luxury analyst Luca Solca.
A few things could be contributing, including a return to normal after speculators sent luxury prices soaring during the pandemic and rising secondhand supply as people try to liquidate expensive watches for cash.
Falling premiums in the resale market are bad news for brands whose wait lists are dwindling, partly because robust premiums are a form of free advertising:
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The rise of online secondhand retailers such as Watchfinder.com and The RealReal means shoppers can see at the click of a button which brands do and don’t hold their value. This reinforces hype around scarce brands and might help to keep their marketing budgets unusually low. Hermès’ annual ad spend is equivalent to just 4% of total sales.
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Harry Styles has re-emerged after close to four years without a new release. Johnny Dufort
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A Scarcity of Styles: Harry Styles' fans scrambled to look at flights after the pop star announced a 50-night tour in only seven cities, taking his mini-residency strategy to new extremes. [WSJ]
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The community where marketing leaders drop the corporate speak and share what’s actually happening. The WSJ CMO Council unites leaders from the world’s most influential brands including Adobe, Audi, Google, IBM, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, Meta, Taco Bell, P&G and Verizon.
Tap into the connections and WSJ intelligence that move careers forward and separate the prepared from the scrambling.
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An AI-generated editorial image for Alice + Olivia. ‘I look at AI as a creative explosion,’ said Stacey Bendet, the brand’s founder. Alice + Olivia
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Brands like Kate Spade and Alice + Olivia are using AI tools to make clothing and accessories. Will shoppers care? [WSJ]
The deal to keep TikTok in the U.S. may be done, but plenty of questions remain unsettled. [Digiday]
TikTok’s new owners will no longer let Shop merchants handle their own shipping to consumers. [Adweek]
The European Union launched an investigation into Elon Musk’s X following a public outcry over sexualized deepfake images created by its Grok AI service. [WSJ]
Disney’s surprise box-office champion is “Zootopia 2,” thanks to China. [WSJ]
Some of the world’s largest companies are jumping on the co-working bandwagon, including Pfizer, Amazon.com, JPMorgan Chase, Lyft and Anthropic. [WSJ]
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