Marketing Currents is a weekly current events news service that highlights unique and relevant business and marketing campaigns throughout the school year. The questions provided for student discussion will help to create a bridge between industry strategies/trends and the topics you are covering in class.
KFC restaurants nationwide will add Beyond Meat’s plant-based chicken to its menus, starting Monday for a limited time. The launch comes after years of testing from the Yum Brands chain and Beyond Meat to create a meat substitute that mimicked the taste and texture of whole muscle chicken, like chicken breast, rather than Read more…
Along with supply chain issues, the rising cost of raw materials and other lingering business challenges stemming from the pandemic, a big focus in the C-suites of many of the world’s largest corporations has been the creation of a new executive rank: Chief Customer Officer. Click here to read the Read more…
El Pollo Loco earlier this month launched its first-ever merchandise store, selling branded shirts, totes and even skateboards designed by Latino creators. Click here to read the story at restaurantbusinessonline.com. Discussion Questions: What is a brand? What is branding? Why would El Pollo Loco offer branded merchandise to its customers? Read more…
The Hershey Company has found a new way to interact with its Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup fan base. The American chocolate company’s marketing team has begun an interactive online campaign for a fictional Reese’s University, which has a branded website, Instagram page and a TikTok page that appears to be Read more…
Despite 2021’s unfulfilled promises across many fronts, some creative efforts have proved enduring. They captured the cultural moment or felt keyed into what’s coming, with brands jumping on viral TikTok trends based on classic TV spots or rolling the dice on the emerging concept of a metaverse. A sense of Read more…
Depending on the breaks, 2022 could be a very eventful year for new tech products and even whole new tech categories. From gaming to electric vehicles to mixed reality wearables, next year’s releases could even begin a shift in the way we view tech’s role in personal and business life. Read more…
KFC (YUM) is bringing back its famous 11 Herbs & Spices Firelog for the fourth consecutive year. The viral holiday staple typically sells out in just hours. And the 2021 edition features new special packaging and an “enhanced extra crispy scent to fill your home with the aroma of KFC’s Read more…
For many people in the Dew Nation, the great outdoors offers that sense of adventure. The new MTN DEW Outpost not only celebrates the majesty of Doe Mountain but it looks to forward a positive conversation on the inspiration that nature provides. Click here to read the story at foodsided.com. Read more…
Duane Schlosser discovered Spokane, Washington, by accident. And he’s glad he did. Schlosser, a retired delivery driver from Loretto, Minnesota, booked a Columbia River cruise for this fall. When it fell through because of the surging COVID-19 delta variant cases, he didn’t know what to do with his nonrefundable airline Read more…
Skittles and Simmons Bedding Company have formed an unlikely alliance, revealing a “Simmons Sweet Sleep Bed” that combines a candy-dispensing unit with a murphy bed. Click here to read the story at hypebeast.com. Discussion Questions: What is publicity? What is a “stunt” as it relates to marketing? How do marketing stunts Read more…