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Greetings to you,

We know…it’s the end-of-year rush. Between crunching numbers, 2023 planning, holiday shopping and not seeing daylight past 5 pm, it's an overwhelming time.

During busy seasons, we lean into our core philosophy of "always learning", which is rooted in tapping into community knowledge to draw inspiration and inform smart decision-making. This issue is dedicated to just that.

We have 2022 learnings and predictions from RG thought leaders, a primer on what's to come for Uber advertising (from actual Uber employees), advice from a recent ANA conference on how to button up your brand marketing efforts, and more.

As always, thank you to our clients, partners, and Brain Candy readers for engaging with us this year. Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday filled with good cheer, some much-needed R&R, and your drink of choice.

Cheers!

The RG Team

The Insiders’ Insights: 2022 Learnings & Predictions

This year had it all—a Twitter takeover, crypto fraud, a viral marketing campaign around sinister smiling, and an Oscars slap. When we sum it up that way, the 2022 BINGO card was pretty chaotic.

However, we're here to highlight some of this year's marketing gems and share steadfast predictions for 2023 from RG leaders: Marisa Ricciardi, Meredith Rowley, Jennifer Ogden, and Jay DiPietro.

Here are some key takeaways from the interviews below, but you can head on over to the blog to read the full article.

2023 will likely see a shift back to local and regional events, and brands will pay more attention to micro-communities.
Brands that refuse to skimp on marketing activities during economic uncertainty will have a major advantage over those who “go dark.”
Human beings are back: people want to connect with people, not screens.
The most impressive brand campaigns this year were brave in taking a bold position on building trust and credibility.
Avoma, VideoAsk, and ClickUp are three must-have tools to add to your arsenal.

Get the inside scoop

Always Learning Series: Uber Trendspotting

In addition to being the world’s leading rideshare service, Uber has seamlessly if not stealthily managed to edge into various logistics-related verticals from food delivery to freight to advertising. We recently hosted a lunch and learn with Uber, to capture insights on B2C advertising trends and hear what they are doing specifically in order to give their customers a first-class experience.

Here are some of the highlights below. For more in-depth insights from our discussion, head on over to our blog.

Uber provides a first-class customer experience by…

Tailoring advertising experiences to specific riders, depending on where they’re going, which type of Uber they’re riding (X, Black, etc.), and so on.
Building on major trends in ad tech over the past several years: developing best-in-class mobile ad tech.
Taking advantage of the “walled garden” of the Uber app to provide advertisers with organic attention and comprehensive data about how that attention can be best directed.

Read the full write-up

Out With the Old and in With the New... Ditch It or Pitch It (Brand Marketing Edition)

We recently attended an ANA B2B Master Class entitled “Unleashing the Power and Navigating the Challenges of Storytelling in B2B today,” led by Ogilvy’s managing director, Marina Biglione.

The informative session was full of insights and thought-proking statistics.

For starters, did you know B2B customers with high emotional brand connections are...

2x more likely to consider that brand in the future
4x more likely to purchase that brand in the next six months
10x more likely to pay a higher price for that brand

If that doesn’t make a strong case for infusing emotion into your next campaign, we aren’t sure what will!

Here are some dos and don'ts we derived from the session that will help you start the new year on the right track:

When it comes to your traditional marketing campaigns...

DITCH IT 🗑️: Approaching B2B marketing as static and old school circa the year 2000 where you are simply imparting information.

PITCH IT 🚀: Incorporate the “best of” from B2C marketing into your B2B campaigns, infusing creativity and emotion.

When it comes to brand storytelling...

DITCH IT 🗑️: Reserving the power of story for PR and communications.

PITCH IT 🚀: Realizing your brand story is vital for building connections and ensuring an excellent customer experience.

When it comes to stakeholder relationships...

DITCH IT 🗑️: Not understanding the motivations of various stakeholders within a B2B business, and treating them as one-dimensional.

PITCH IT 🚀: Being mindful of what your stakeholders, both internal and external, need and want in order to stay loyal.

A Few of Our Favorite Things: Books, Podcasts, Movies & More

We hope you are able to spend some time over the holidays to disconnect from work and get caught up on the latest entertainment or leisure activities.

If you’re looking for some inspiration, classic and contemporary, we’ve pulled together a few of our team’s favorites to jump-start your binge-worthy vacation days:

📚 Books

🎧 Podcasts

📩 Newsletters

🎥 Movies

A Year in Review: Roll The Tape

Although there have been moments this year we'd like to forget, there are many more that we'd like to remember, and, among those are our client collaborations. Head over to our blog to see some of the highlights.

We are very proud to partner with innovative brands and would like to tip our hat to the accomplishments achieved this year. Without the clients who trust us, and without our internal team's commitment to making the complex compelling, we can safely say this year would have been much more challenging. We are truly grateful.

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