Now that you’re rested and returned from a long weekend break, it’s time to catch up on all marketing and advertising news you missed. Check out the latest clever campaigns from innovative brands in our Weekly Must Reads.

Nissan Launches Annual “Heisman House” with Zillow

Nissan is back with their annual “Heisman House” campaign for the start of football season. This year, they’re partnering with Zillow to showcase the house itself. The new ads feature several Heisman award winners, including recent picks Caleb Williams and Bryce Young, as they settle into the Heisman House property and test drive Nissan’s newest vehicles. In addition, consumers can explore the house for themselves through a virtual tour on Zillow’s website.

To further promote “Heisman House” outside of traditional TV commercials this year, Nissan will also partner with influencers on TikTok and create an NFT pass for access to exclusive content. Watch the first ad and find out more about the ongoing campaign here: https://www.marketingdive.com/news/nissan-college-football-NIL-marketing-Heisman-House/692437/

Yeti’s Viral Sustainability Billboards

In a new sustainability-focused out-of-home campaign, Yeti highlights how their containers stand the test of time. Yeti is a high-end manufacturer for outdoor products, including coolers, drinkware, bags and more. With their latest series of ads titled “Built for Generations,” Yeti shows how their products stand up against cheaper single-use alternatives. For example, one billboard pits a Styrofoam cooler against Yeti’s drink cooler, with the former labeled as “generations to break down,” and the latter as “generations to break in.”

The ads, which are displayed in Los Angeles, New York, Boston and Chicago, quickly went viral on social media, with other marketers and creatives praising the clever effort. The campaign is also a natural continuation of Yeti’s positioning as durable products you will only need to buy once. See the ads and dig into more details about Yeti’s strategy here: https://www.thedrum.com/news/2023/08/14/yeti-campaign-shows-how-its-products-stand-the-test-time

The US Open Celebrates 50 Years of Equal Pay

For 50 years, both men and women have received equal prize money from the US Tennis Association for competing in the US Open Tennis Championships. To celebrate the achievement, the USTA created a new AR lens inspired by tennis legend Billie Jean King, who helped pave the way for equal pay in the sport. The filter adds sunglasses to users’ faces with reflections of iconic New York landmarks in the lenses. In addition, it fills the background with raining tennis balls. Social media users can activate the AR lens on most social platforms, including Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok.

According to the director of social media for the USTA, the promotion hopes to educate younger audiences about the history of equal pay in the sport of tennis. Learn more about how USTA is using AR to extend their reach here: https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/us-open-augmented-reality-equal-prize-money/

Capri Sun Gives Parents a Break

In a new, snarky back-to-school campaign, Capri Sun is mimicking noise-canceling headphones packaging to market their juice pouches as wireless kid-noise canceling technology. The brand’s limited-edition product packaging is designed to look like a headphones case, with two juice pouches and a $100 gift card to Taskrabbit inside. A limited number of boxes were available last week on a Capri Sun landing page with no purchase necessary. The idea behind the campaign is that the Capri Sun pouches will give parents some peace and quiet, while the Taskrabbit gift card will help take odd jobs off their plate.

To promote the giveaway, Capri Sun created a short video, featuring real parents testing out this “kid-noise cancelling technology.” They also supported the campaign with paid social ads on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. Check out all the details of the playful promotion here: https://www.marketingdive.com/news/capri-sun-partners-taskrabbit-give-parents-break-mischief/692425/