APG Sideways
About our guest: Sarah Rogers
Sarah is a strategy leader at Arrivals + Departures with nine years of experience in creative, communications, PR, and media agencies. Known for delivering business and brand success through innovative strategies, Sarah has worked with clients in CPG, retail, QSR, cannabis, wellness, and tech. Outside of work, you can find Sarah putzing around her garden, backcountry camping, hibernating with a good book or spending time with family and friends.
Previous Posts
Brilliant Weird Best
Planners are curious folks so we asked Sarah to tell us the most brilliant, weirdest and best thing she’s come across recently.
Brilliant: Marc Jacobs Fuels Brand Love With Memes
I’m the furthest from a fashion girly, but I do appreciate a smart strategy when I see one. Instead of following the expected playbook—celebrities, influencers, and the like—Marc Jacobs has focused on something more tolerable: funny people who go viral. Whether it’s a fast-food cashier, corporate life parody star, vogue dancer or up and coming DJ, Marc Jacobs tracks them down and gives a simple direction: do you, but in our clothes. The results are entertaining–see for yourself–I don’t work here, DJ Mandy’s remix, day in the life with MainlyMannie– and prove the brand understands this audience’s unique flavour of ironic and self-deprecating humour.
Weird: Bumble’s Fumble
What’s weirder than a (supposedly) feminist brand creating a campaign that tells women what to do with their bodies? Bumble’s latest “rebrand” found several ways to mock women, including their choice of celibacy as an alternative to dating. In the desire to connect with Gen Z, they publicly shamed them instead, and that (obviously) didn’t go down well. Clearly Bumble failed to thoughtfully invite Gen Z into the room, or they would have known that this group has been championing their “boysober” eras and celebrating a range of other options beyond traditional dating. Bumble has since apologized, but it’s going to be a long, hard comeback if they want to win (back) Gen Z’s hearts and swipes.
If you, too, are a millennial tasked with being an expert on youth consumer trends, After School by Casey Lewis will keep you abreast of the trends, and up to date with what Gen Z finds hot or not.
Top Guilty Pleasures
Not all of our consumption habits can be academic. In fact, sometimes the most random things can spur our thinking. So we asked Sarah to give us the sources to her creativity.
YouTube: Chicken Shop Date
Amelia Dimoldenberg’s unapologetically and intentionally awkward interviews of herself flirting, unsuccessfully, with musicians, actors, and cultural figures in chicken shops around London are somehow enjoyable to watch. The animated opening titles are stop motion handmade felt props—adorable!
Podcast: Sounds Like a Cult
Sounds Like a Cult has had me laughing and gasping in public. Host Amanda Montell analyzes different zeitgeisty groups to answer the big question: Does this group sound like a cult, and if so, how bad is it? From Lululemon to Gary Vee, Montell will have you healthily questioning the “cult” in culture.
TikTok: @Rooshome
Like many of us, I crave a tune-out treat between meetings. I find Roo’s videos of scrubbing and steaming soothing for the soul.
This month on Slack
In case you haven’t been following us on Slack lately, here are some of our most recent and popular links.
"The problem isn't the briefs, it's the briefing."
Contributor: Michelle Lee
That's the conclusion that one of our BIPOC Hackathon teams came to and now you can benefit from their thinking. Check out the Blueprint for Inclusive Briefs which outlines how to change key conversations for more inclusive briefings created by Rami Dudin, Andy Ng, Manasi Damle, Ibukun Adeleye, and Mrigini Iyer.
Marketers are no better at promoting ad effectiveness than random chance
Contributor: Cameron Fleming
This is a pretty scary chart. Have you considered enrolling in the IPA Advanced Certificate in Effectiveness course to dramatically improve your odds? The next registration date is Aug 30th.
“This isn’t a new A24 film. It’s one of the boldest Lynx ads ever made.”
Contributor: Spencer MacEachern
Check out this new work from Lynx (which is Axe in the UK).
System1 tested the ad by LOLA MullenLowe and it showed a huge spike in humour. "It perfectly shows how to tell a story that holds attention and builds positive emotion."