New Year, New Brands

Shanita Akintonde:

Hello, my beautiful people. This is Shanita Akintonde, professor, author, career coach, and marketing shero. I'm thrilled to welcome you back to another episode of Marketing Insights, the first one of the other side of 50. Today's episode is all about six magical words, new year, new brands, new you. Yes, the clock has struck midnight, the ball has dropped, and 2025 is officially here. You know what that means, Marketing Maestros. Folks everywhere are clearing out their closets, signing up for gym memberships and dusting off those new year, new me mantras.

But guess who's also hitting reset right now? Brands. That's right. While we're out here setting personal goals, businesses are working overtime to meet us where we are, motivated, hopeful, and ready to transform. Today, we'll explore how brands are cashing in on this season of renewal and highlight five companies, that's right, five in 2025 that are doing it in the most innovative, creative ways. So buckle up because we're about to take off and take a stroll down brand strategy lane.

Let's start with the psychology of the new year. This isn't just about flipping the calendar page. It's about reinvention. Studies show that we're more likely to adopt new habits, buy new things, and even change our routines when January rolls around. Brands know this and they use this momentum to position themselves as part of our fresh start.

Think about it. Those New Year sale emails that are flooding your inbox aren't just random promotions, uh-uh. They're invitations to align your life with their product, good or service. Smart brands don't just sell, they inspire. Go back and listen to my other podcast, "So You Want to Build a Brand?" I talk all about it. But back to this podcast. These brands become partners in your personal transformation and the really savvy ones, well, they make you feel like you can't transform without them. Holla.

Now, let's dive into the juicy part like that turkey that some of y'all ate for Christmas. Here are some examples. I'm going to bring you the fast five innovative ways, let me say that word again, innovative ways that brands are capitalizing on our collective reset in 2025. I came up with my own mantra, Marketing Maestros. You know me, Professor Podcasting here. My mantra is, it's your time to shine in 2025. So let's pay attention to marketers and entrepreneurs, like myself, who are giving you opportunities to do that because this is your blueprint for success and shining.

Brand number one, Peloton. "Fresh routines for fresh starts" is one of their campaign slogans. So Peloton is one of my favorites, y'all. I have one here at the house. My husband, I don't know if he was trying to tell me something, purchased us one pre-pandemic. So I have no excuse to not be in my pre-pandemic jeans. But anyhoo, I love Peloton. It gives you scenes. It lets me ride the bike and pretend that I'm in Paris or Italy or Milan. I guess that's Italy, same thing, but you get the point, right from my home.

Well, here's what they do beyond my personal insights on the brand. They have gone beyond the typical workout pitch this year. In 2025, lean in y'all, let me tell you what they're going to do. They've launched, as I just mentioned, their, "Fresh Routines for Fresh Starts" campaign. But so what, you say. All right, "Fresh routines, fresh starts," da, da, da, da, da. But here's where it gets jiggy. They've gamified the experience by rewarding users with exclusive, hear me now, exclusive virtual coaching sessions if they compete their first 30 days of workouts.

Well, I said compete their first 30 days. Y'all too much eggnog for me. Let me say it again. If they complete their first 30 days of workouts because Peloton knows that that's the hardest part of any resolution is to stick with it. Not to make it, but to stick with it. So they created a built-in support system to keep users coming back. Well, I'll be honest and tell you all, I'm probably not going to do that 30-day workout thing. I already have my groove set, but I am applauding Peloton for being innovative and creative and getting people engaged to do their workouts. That's always something that's a little bit tricky.

Here's brand number two. It's called Headspace. Am I in yours right now? The mindful reset movement, so mindfulness apps like Headspace are tapping into the mental health aspects of the new year. Now this is serious, so let me put on my serious voice. I'm not being facetious right now, by the way. Their campaigns aren't just about mediation, it's about redefining productivity. So they've introduced something called Mindful Mornings, which is a series of guided exercises that combine mindfulness with daily goal setting.

And here's the kick. They partnered with brands like Google and Apple to integrate these exercises into workplace routines. Now, they're just not helping you all as individuals, or me as an individual because I'll include myself here, they're reshaping the office culture dynamic as well, which is awesome because we all know at work sometimes you do need some things to help get you through the day.

All right, I said I was going to be serious. Number three, Nike, another personal favorite brand of mine, not so much for their products, but because of their marketing strategies. I've always been a big fan of how Nike has done their campaigns, to be quite candid, because they weren't just talking to athletes. I think that's a smart strategy. They understood much earlier than a lot of other brands did the need to talk to the everyday person, to make the everyday person feel as though they were an Olympian or a gold medalist or someone who could do something that they may have seen or may have thought was unfathomable previously.

So what they're doing now is personalizing wellness goals via AI. And I'm going to do a podcast in the near future on AI and branding. I've touched on it, but I'm really going to delve deep in 2025 because this is the wave. This is where we're going. This is where we are. Forget where we're going, and so I am surprised being the marketing maven and shero that I am, that I have not touched on this before now, but it's 2025. It's my time to shine too. So stay tuned for more on AI.

But again, back to this podcast. This year, Nike has stepped into the future. You know that movie, Back to the Future? Have some of y'all seen it? It's one of my faves. Maybe I'll do a podcast on that too. Anyway, Nike has stepped into the future with their AI-powered resolution coach. Ooh, this was really intriguing to me you all when I looked this up, but listen, listen, listen. This is a feature on an app that syncs with your wearable devices to create a customized workout just for you, which includes hydration and sleep plans. So you can think of it as a personal trainer, a personal life coach, both of whom are in your pocket. Nike knows that personalization is key, and ooh wee, let me pause again. You all know that personalization, personalization, personalization is what I am all about.

If you go back and did a semantics overview of all of my podcasts, I was trying to think of another way to say it, but if you took each word of a podcast of mine and scored it and put it up against a personalization measuring stick, I think you would see that I am off the Richter with the way I focus on that, whether I use that term explicitly or not. Because one of the reasons why I am so excited about being a marketer, being an advertising professional, being a public relations person, a communications expert, all of those things is because at the end of the day, the key tenet that drives everything that I do, that I advise my clients to do, circles back to personalization. As simple as that may sound, most people miss it, and so this would be part and parcel to why Nike is one of my personal brand faves because they get that and they understand that.

And so they're using technology to deliver on the new you promise in the way that feels tailor-made. And it's like when you put on your new outfit or you put on a new pair of shoes, or like me, y'all can't see me yet, but a new pair of eyeglasses because I really like frames. There's no better feeling than putting on something that's been suited and booted for you, and that is what you want to keep in mind, Marketing Maestros, such as Nike has done here.

Number four is Lego. Now, this is another one that is a very personal favorite of mine. Not so much for me, but my sons when they were younger, loved Legos, particularly my oldest son, Jimmy. He could build whole nations with his Lego blocks. I was always impressed with his ability to take those little pegs and create civilizations. Seriously, my son would go in his room and spend hours and I would come in there later, it would be rivers, valleys, castles, I mean, airplanes. He just has always been a very talented analytical thinking type young man. He still is now. Now my younger son, Anthony would come in and break it. He would break everything that his brother had built. That's another conversation. But he is a summa cum laude graduate of Morehouse College, my youngest, Anthony. So see, sometimes you break things because that's how you learn to rebuild them, which is what Lego is about.

So the brand took a playful twist on the new year with their Rebuild Yourself challenge. The idea is that customers can create a model that represents their goals this year. They upload it then into a digital gallery and share their story. So this is now not just a marketing campaign. It's now a community building exercise, which is unique and niche-oriented because it's talking to a specific audience in a specific way. And with a special edition, kits are designed for goal setting as well. So Lego has found a way to make the reinvention idea fun for all ages.

And one of the things that you should know about me, Marketing Maestro's, if you haven't picked this up already on 50 plus episodes, now this is episode 51, so if you have not listened to me the duration of my podcasting career here with McGraw Hill, go back and take a listen. It's been doing this with you all for five years now. What you should have picked up, because it's not so subtle, is that I have always been in touch with the kid inside of me, and I think we should all be able to at least tap into it as needed.

And so when I use that frame of reference, it doesn't speak to immaturity, obviously, it doesn't speak to childish behavior, but it does speak to a childlike wonder which I think in the field of marketing in particular, you need to be able to tap into because it allows you to do what I'm talking about in this podcast, be creative and innovative. When we're our most creative and innovative selves, or if you look back on your life when you were most creative and innovative, it tends to be when you were a young kid.

If you were like me, I was an only child for a long period of time before my sister was born. And though my parents loved me dearly, they weren't the play with you kind of parents. They didn't sit me down and do games and stuff like I did with my sons. So I had to create things myself. But I'm so appreciative of that because now when people ask, "Well, how do you come up with all these crazy ideas or creative ideas, Shanita, or Professor Akintonde," I can tell them it started at a young age and it has only grown better.

All right, number five, Starbucks. I don't drink coffee by the way, because as y'all can see, I'm hyped enough so I don't even need it. But Starbucks makes hot chocolate, so I do drink that sometimes there. They have a Cheers to Change subscription service, and that's what I'm going to highlight in this last brand that I'm focusing on this podcast, which again, I didn't say the name, so let me repeat it, "New year, New Brands, New You". And some of you become new people after you've had Starbucks coffee, I must add that.

Starbucks knows the new year often means cutting back, but they're flipping the script. In 2025, they introduced their Cheers to Change campaign, which is a subscription service offering plant-based drink bundles, how about that, plant-based drink bundles and personalized wellness tips. There we are back to that personalization tip, tip, tip, tip. They're not just serving coffee. They're serving self-care. And with a sleek app feature that tracks your spending habits and offer rewards, they've made budgeting feel like a treat and not a chore. Wow, I don't know about that Starbucks, but there you go. I don't budget though, so maybe that's why. Everything is a treat for me.

All right, I'm going to conclude this podcast at this point before I go off on a tangent that I don't need to with you, my wonderful listeners. There you have it. The five brands that are turning the new year into a launch pad for creativity and connection. Whether it's through gamification, mindfulness, personalization, play or reinvention, these companies are providing their customers and proving to them that the best way to grow your business is to grow alongside of them.

So as we step into this new year, let's take a page out of their playbooks. Take a page out of this playbook. Take a page out of every Marketing Insights podcast playbook. Let's innovate this year. Let's inspire, and let's never forget that the best brands don't just sell products, what do they do, Marketing Maestros? They help people become the best versions of themselves, just like I seek to do with you and each in every one of these podcast series.

So until next time, which will be our best time, this is Shanita Akintonde, professor, author, career coach, and marketing shero signing off. If you enjoy listening to these podcasts, be sure to subscribe on your favorite platform such as Stitcher, iTunes, Apple Music, Audible, Google Play, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. Be sure to like them and subscribe wherever you hear them. Connect with me on LinkedIn at Professor Shanita Akintande or follow me on Twitter at _shanitaspeaks. That's _shanitaspeaks. And remember, the revolution isn't coming. It's here, and it starts with you. Bye-bye.