Good morning. A carefully planned marketing strategy's true test is what happens when it hits the real world.
It's also a test for marketing leaders. What's the right diagnosis when a plan falls short? Who gets held responsible? And how long do you stick with the plan?
(Groupon) said this week that its recent big shift-from seeking consumers whose returns would cover their acquisition costs within seven days to those with greater value over a year-is underdelivering.
"During Q3, we were not overall happy with the results," CEO Dusan Senkypl said on an earnings call for the coupon-centric marketplace. Groupon lowered its full-year guidance as revenue and earnings missed analysts' expectations.
Adjusted Ebitda in the period fell short "because of the revenue shortfall along with higher marketing spend that did not earn the return we expected," Senkypl said, explaining that the company wasn't yet able to fine-tune Google and (Meta) algorithms to reach its new target audience the way it had hoped.
Senkypl praised his marketers, however. "I feel super solid about [the] quality of our paid marketing team," he said. "I actually think that the level of detail and granularity, how they're operating, it's the best which I ever saw in any marketplace or any company, and I'm proud about the results which we are delivering in terms of numbers."
Groupon remains committed to its new course-with some adjustments.
"So for Q4, we slightly switched the operating mode here," Senkypl said. "We are still cracking and changing the way how we operate the campaign so that we evaluate based on 12 months and not seven days. But at the same time, we are keeping much tighter guardrails so that the marketing is under better control."
Groupon is still working on its approach to the algorithms, "pretty much learning and changing it" on an everyday basis, he added.
BODi, the supplement and digital-fitness operator once called Beachbody, likewise described a struggle to execute this week.
The company has been pursuing a new life after shutting down its multilevel marketing model, reducing marketing costs as a share of revenue in the process, and putting its nutrition offer ahead of workouts.
But its growth turnaround isn't where leaders expected, Executive Chairman Mark Goldston said on an earnings call.
"Our rate of attrition has exceeded our rate of addition," Goldston said, explaining that the continuing, gradual loss of old MLM business was still outweighing new customers.
Recent paid advertising, meanwhile, was attracting too-familiar faces.
"The algorithm was putting us in a position where we were bringing back people that frankly already exist in our CRM base and can be more efficiently reached that way," he said.
BODi as a result has pared back its paid ad spending to save money for campaigns that would be more effective at recruiting new customers, according to Goldston.
"We're going to leave our powder dry while we revamp the marketing tools that we're going to use to go top of funnel and broaden the aperture," he said, "and then use those dollars to drive it."
Ghosts of Box Office Past?
With his new movie "Ebenezer," Johnny Depp is suddenly everywhere again, Ellen Gamerman reports for The Wall Street Journal, from commercials during NFL games to billboards and marketing stunts.
Scrooge could be the perfect part for an actor trying to restore his image following his legal battles with ex-wife and actress Amber Heard.
"It doesn't get any more meta than that," said Jeff Bock, senior media analyst at research firm Exhibitor Relations Co. "Postscandal comebacks usually depend on time, loyal audiences and the right role, and this is exactly the right role for him."
Research shows an ongoing appetite for Depp's work, according to a person familiar with the thinking at (Paramount), the studio behind "Ebenezer."
"The concern was really a very small minority," the person said of hesitation around Depp that surfaced in the studio's research. After a test screening, the demographic that raised its hands highest for Depp was women over age 30, the source said: "There was this groundswell of support."
In the past, when Depp was a major box-office draw, he'd reaped huge earnings from blockbusters that brought in nearly $10 billion at the worldwide box office, according to media researcher Rentrak.
There's still a possibility of a box-office backlash as the movie heads into theaters today.
"There are very few movie stars who don't come with some sort of baggage," said Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends at Rentrak, "but whether that baggage affects a particular film's gross is always open to interpretation."
Quotable
"It's easy to be a mature brand and sort of forget that what got you there was disrupting culture." Mark Weinstein, Target's new CMO and former Hilton marketing chief, to Adweek in a conversation on where the retailer went wrong and where he wants to take the brand
The Magic Number
5.9%
Increase in same-store visits at Target in the third quarter, according to Placer.ai, as the company's turnaround effort shows progress
The WSJ CMO Council Summit
This Nov. 17 and 18, CMOs will gather in New York for the WSJ Leadership Institute's CMO Council Summit, featuring marketing leaders such as FUBU founder Daymond John, Visa's Frank Cooper III, Mars Inc.'s Gülen Bengi, IBM's Jonathan Adashek, United Airlines' Josh Earnest, PepsiCo's Mark Kirkham, e.l.f. Beauty's Oshiya Savur, and the National Women's Soccer League's Rachel Epstein.
Together, they'll explore the power of participation in cultural events, social platforms, professional communities and anywhere that passionate consumers gather.
Join the WSJ CMO Council and be part of the conversation shaping the future of marketing leadership.
Inquire about membership
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