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Mastercard Names a New CMO; Zaslav’s Future Hangs in the Balance; Cracker Barrel CEO Says New Logo Was Designed for Roadside Visibility
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Good morning. Today, Mastercard names its first new marketing boss since 2013; it’s David vs. Goliath in the fight for the future of Warner Bros. Discovery; and Cracker Barrel just wanted to be seen (from the highway), the CEO says.
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Jill Kramer will join Mastercard after nearly a decade as head of marketing and communications at Accenture. Photo: Mastercard
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Mastercard has named Accenture veteran Jill Kramer its next chief marketing and communications officer, Patrick Coffee writes. She succeeds Raja Rajamannar, the card giant’s top marketer since 2013.
Mastercard hired Kramer in part for her experience in business-to-business marketing and related technologies, CEO Michael Miebach said. The payments sector has grown increasingly competitive, most recently with Capital One’s acquisition of Discover and the rise of stablecoin payments.
Mastercard during Rajamannar’s tenure continued its long-running “Priceless” ad campaign while venturing into unconventional marketing spaces. The company in 2019 launched its True Name card for transgender and nonbinary customers to use their preferred names, and in 2022 it entered the metaverse with campaigns tied to that year’s Grammy Awards and Pride Month celebrations.
It has also pursued a multisensory branding strategy, including a new Mastercard melody and custom fragrances it called Priceless Passion and Priceless Optimism.
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Content from our sponsor: Deloitte
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Klarna CMO on Marketing in the AI Era
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Klarna is evolving beyond its buy-now, pay-later roots with a balanced approach to marketing that combines data-driven decisions and emotional connections. Read More
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Paramount’s play for Warner Discovery is the latest complication for David Zaslav, who has endured a rocky tenure running the home of HBO Max and Warner Bros. Photo: Mike Blake/Reuters
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Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav is in the fight of his professional life to stop the company from being swallowed by Paramount, the rival entertainment giant controlled by David Ellison, Joe Flint reports.
Paramount is smaller than Warner Discovery, home to the “Harry Potter” and DC Comics film franchises and HBO’s “The Last of Us.” But Ellison has backing from his father Larry Ellison, the world’s second-richest man.
Warner Discovery already has rejected two offers from Paramount. On Tuesday, the company said it would review “strategic alternatives” that could include a sale of all or some of its assets.
Raymond James analyst Ric Prentiss called it a “come one, come all” situation. Analysts have said that potential interested parties could include Amazon, Netflix, Apple and Comcast, all of which already have significant entertainment operations.
Zaslav has told associates he would rather the company continue with his plan to split the media giant into two, a strategy he says opens the door to more potential suitors because its Warner Bros. studio and HBO Max are seen by many as rare gems.
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$11.5 billion
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Netflix revenue in the third quarter, up 17% from the period a year earlier. The company said Tuesday it recorded its best-ever quarter for ad sales and is on track to more than double revenue from that business this year.
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Julie Felss Masino, CEO of Cracker Barrel, said the attempted logo change was about being seen, not ideology. Jeenah Moon/Reuters
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Cracker Barrel CEO Julie Felss Masino said the company was trying to make its logo easier to see on highway billboards when a design change prompted fierce backlash this summer, Lauren Thomas reports.
It wasn’t meant to be ideological, she added.
Masino made the comments at the 13D Monitor Active-Passive Investor Summit in New York City on Tuesday.
The new logo eliminated a man in overalls leaning against a barrel to feature just the chain’s name. But Cracker Barrel gave up on the change in late August after everyone from die-hard customers to President Trump weighed in, accusing it of abandoning its heritage and tradition.
“Part of this transformation is setting up success for the long term,” Masino said Tuesday.
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“This isn’t a vanity metric for us.”
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— Stitch Fix CFO David Aufderhaar on user growth. The fashion company believes it can accelerate sales growth by catering to customers who keep coming back to the site instead of chasing shoppers purely to boost its number of active users.
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Self-described theme-park ‘superfan’ Travis Kelce is part of Jana Partners’ campaign for changes at SIx Flags. David Smith/Zuma Press
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An activist investor pushing for big changes at Six Flags has enlisted Travis Kelce, a self-described theme-park “superfan,” as it pushes the company to improve its marketing and the customer experience. [WSJ]
Labubu maker Pop Mart said third-quarter revenue more than tripled as sales from the Americas soared. [WSJ]
Netflix struck deals with Mattel and Hasbro to make “KPop Demon Hunters” toys and games. [CNBC]
The New York Times app added a section for a feed of vertical video. [Adweek]
The National Hockey League struck licensing deals with prediction-market startups Kalshi and Polymarket, boosting their efforts to disrupt traditional sportsbook operators such as DraftKings and FanDuel. [WSJ]
DraftKings is starting a predictions market to let users trade “contracts” on the outcomes of events in finance, culture and entertainment. [WSJ]
Welch’s named Andrew Hartshorn to the newly created role of chief brand and innovation officer, assuming duties that had been handled by CMO Scott Utke, who has left the company. [Marketing Dive]
OpenAI is introducing its web browser, Atlas, with an “Ask ChatGPT” sidebar. [Axios]
🎧 CMO Today’s Katie Deighton spoke to Marketplace about her recent article on the ballooning business of translating Gen Z to brands, and vice versa. She’s at the 21:50 mark. [Marketplace]
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