What’s shaping marketing right now

Case Studied Brief
Courtrooms, callouts, and consolidation

This week’s Brief looks at how brand equity is being leveraged, tested, and questioned across the industry. 

High-stakes trials are progressing. An open letter on LinkedIn is causing a stir. And the ripple effects of agency consolidation are becoming clear. 

We unpack what it means today and what it signals for the future. 

Campaigns of the week 📺

Folgers 

The jingle lives on

In a new 60-second spot, Folgers remixed its famed jingle, “The best part of wakin’ up is Folgers in your cup.” The music-forward film follows everyday people through their morning routines, with each scene soundtracked by a different “wake up” song before ending with the classic Folgers jingle. The selected tracks span across decades, from Aretha Franklin and The Everly Brothers to Evanescence and Avicii. As Folgers aims to reach a younger audience, the campaign is running across national CTV, online video, Spotify, TikTok, Meta, and Pinterest.

Why it stood out: With specialty coffee hitting a 14-year high and TikTok making sophisticated brewing routines aspirational, legacy brands like Folgers are left fighting for relevance. With this campaign, the brand is reviving what’s worked well for it in the past. It’s a strong example of a legacy brand leveraging its equity while also evolving the brand.

📖 Read more: AdWeek

Burger King

Call the boss 

In a press release, Burger King president Tom Curtis published his direct phone number and invited customers to call or text him with honest, unfiltered feedback. The brand requested input on everything from the menu to restaurant design to brand campaigns. Every message will be reviewed and responded to, and Curtis said he'll personally take as many calls as possible each day. 

Why it stood out: In a world of AI chatbots and automated responses, handing out a brand president's phone number is an eye-catching tactic. For consumers, it can signal accountability at the top while turning a standard feedback loop into a statement. But the real test is whether the calls actually change anything. If they do, Burger King could emerge with stronger brand trust and loyalty. 

📖 Read more: Burger King Newsroom

Telstra

Making new music from old tech

Telstra, Australia’s largest phone provider, created a synthesiser made entirely from reclaimed e-waste: old phones, modems, soundboards, and a vintage game controller. Made in partnership with Aussie music legends The Avalanches, the instrument will live in Telstra's flagship discovery store in Melbourne for two months. The goal is to bring attention to Australia’s e-waste problem and encourage folks to give their devices a second life. Australians produce 22kg of e-waste per person annually, one of the highest rates in the world. Telstra set a target to reuse, recycle, repair, or donate one smart device for every two sold by 2030.

Why it stood out: Telstra put their commitment to e-waste on display in an engaging way. Partnering with The Avalanches gave the campaign genuine cultural credibility, while the instrument’s in-store display provides an engaging experiential element. For marketers, it’s a useful reminder of how you can effectively and creatively show (not tell) your brand’s values. 

📖 Read more: Little Black Book

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Industry news 🤝

Opinionated’s founder gets ousted after acquisition 

Mark Fitzloff, who founded the Portland-based creative shop Opinionated in 2017, was fired by Tombras shortly after the acquisition closed. The move caught many industry folks off guard and no official explanation has been given as of this writing. The deal was framed as a natural evolution, with Opinionated set to operate as "Opinionated, a Tombras Company" before eventually transitioning to Tombras West in 2027. Fitzloff had been publicly enthusiastic about the partnership, making the abrupt exit all the more jarring.

What it signals: Breakdowns between founders and acquirers can serve as cautionary tales. When a founder's identity is the agency (i.e. the culture, the clients, the creative voice), removing them post-acquisition is a risky move. In some cases, it can threaten and destabilize everything the buyer paid for. For anyone watching the indie agency merger and acquisition wave, this is a flashing yellow light.

📖 Read more: Ad Age

Hershey vs. heritage 

Brad Reese, the grandson of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups inventor H.B. Reese, posted an open letter on LinkedIn accusing Hershey of swapping out milk chocolate and peanut butter in multiple Reese's products. Reese claims Hershey replaced these core ingredients with compound coatings and peanut-butter-style crème. He called a Valentine's Day Mini Hearts bag "not edible," a devastating verdict from someone who used to eat a Reese's product every single day. Hershey pushed back, insisting the classic cups haven't changed, but acknowledged recipe variations across its expanded product line. 

What it signals: This letter was directed to Todd Scott, Hershey’s manager of corporate brand and editorial. Reese said, “This isn’t a supply chain question. It’s a brand governance question… It’s about whether consumers are being asked to believe a story that no longer matches what’s inside the REESE’S orange wrapper.” For marketers, this is a sharp reminder that brand equity lives in the product first and the story second.

📖 Read more: Associated Press | LinkedIn Post

McCann checks out with a $391m win

Kroger named McCann as its new US creative agency of record, ending a six-year relationship with DDB New York. Following a competitive pitch, McCann will now be responsible for developing a new brand platform and creative work across Kroger's network of over 2,700 stores, including Ralphs, Dillons, and Pay-Less Supermarkets. The move keeps Kroger's estimated $391 million ad spend inside the Omnicom family, following the holding company's $13.5 billion acquisition of IPG (McCann's former parent company) in December.

What it signals: Kroger staying in the Omnicom ecosystem after the DDB brand was retired reflects how holding company mergers can reshape the agency landscape. As consolidation narrows the field of options, AOR expectations are also shifting. For marketers, it's a reminder to audit whether your agency setup aligns with where your business is headed. 

📖 Read more: Ad Week

MarTech moves 🤖

Zuckerberg takes the stand, the industry watches

Mark Zuckerberg testified before a jury in a social media trial, pushing back against allegations that Instagram was intentionally designed to be addictive to young users. The case is seen as a bellwether, as its outcome could shape the fate of over 1,500 pending lawsuits from parents and school districts nationwide. Plaintiffs argue that social platforms are defective products engineered to exploit young people's psychology, drawing direct comparisons to Big Tobacco.

What it signals: This story has a lot of layers but brand trust is a big part of it. If the courts start treating social media algorithms as product liabilities, the entire engagement-first playbook is in flux. For marketers who've built strategies around Instagram's algorithm and reach, this trial may change the rules of the game in a very significant way.

📖 Read more: Associated Press

Unilever ups its AI bet with Google Cloud 

Unilever entered a five-year strategic partnership with Google Cloud to expand its use of AI and cloud technologies across marketing and commerce. The company will migrate key enterprise systems and data platforms to Google Cloud to build what it describes as an “AI-first digital backbone.” The partnership includes the use of Google Cloud technologies to enhance brand discovery, campaign effectiveness, and marketing intelligence.

What it signals: Enterprise AI adoption is starting to impact infrastructure. When a global advertiser like Unilever embeds AI into its core data and cloud systems, it suggests that AI is becoming foundational to how marketing operates. For marketers, this is indicative of how AI is changing expectations on speed, personalization, and content volume.

📖 Read more: Marketing Tech News

Editors Choice 👀

📱 In the era of Generative Engine Optimization, brands are now writing content for AI chatbots to read.  📖 Read more: New York Times

🏅 Ad Age breaks down which Milano Cortina 2026 athletes brands should've been paying attention to and why. 📖 Read more: Ad Age

💔 DoorDash, JCPenney, and Sweethearts ditched romance this Valentine's Day and leaned into realism. 📖 Read more: Marketing Brew

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