Essence Ventures Has Been a Definitive Voice for Black Women. It’s Time Brands Start Listening.

During the summer months, it’s natural for the connotation of word “festival” to conjure thoughts of parties, performances and celebrating with abandon (i.e., music festivals), whereas in the autumn months the term has been co-opted by semi-cerebral media companies packaging glitzy, thought leadership programming for audiences clamoring to attend networking functions where they can meet…

Pepsi’s Recipe to Spark Up July 4th Weekend: Hot Dogs, ‘Colachup’ and Joey Chestnut

This Fourth of July weekend, Pepsi is encouraging consumers to celebrate classic holiday traditions while also embracing innovative new ways to enjoy them in its latest effort to prove everything is “better with Pepsi.” The brand–which typically sees a sales spike on the patriotic-themed holiday for its red, white and blue-packaged products–rolled out “Hot Dogs…

Marketers Are Caught Between Rainbow-Hushing and LGBTQ+ Controversies

After backlash led Target and Anheuser-Busch to pull back on some of their Pride-related marketing and merchandise earlier this year, a chilling mood settled over the LGBTQ+ community’s annual celebrations. At the same time, threats of violence from anti-LGBTQ+ groups, in addition to a longstanding skepticism from the queer community regarding the authenticity of corporate…