VIRTUE Worldwide | Agency Profile, Contacts, AOR, Client Relationships

• Blonder joined from Wolverine Worldwide, where he served as the global e-Commerce president.
  • Now, he will focus on CG's digital innovation and strategy.
• CG's growth plans will also involve doubling its brick-and-mortar footprint, hitting $3b in revenue by 2028, and expanding its product offering.
  • D2C sales are the primary focus, though, since they are expected to account for 80% of CG's total revenue by 2028.
• This hire comes not long after CG named Richard Mcleod as its brand SVP in February 2023.
  • Kevin Galbraith also joined CG as its marketing director in January 2023.
• The company will likely:
  • Implement strategy shifts
  • Keep increasing digital spend
  • Seek new agency partners
• Target demographic: 
  • ​​​​​​​Gen-Z and millennials with a male skew

Additional spending insights:

• Broadcast insights (TV ad creative spend, effectiveness, impressions, and performance)
  • YTD spend: CG hasn't utilized national TV since allocating around $24.6k in 2021.
  • 2021 ad programming: Its 2021 commercials targeted male sports enthusiasts watching shows such as NBA Basketball, NBA GameTime, NBA GameTime Live, NBA TV Marquee Matchup, and Game of the Day.
• Digital and social insights (digital ad spend, effectiveness, impressions, and performance)
  • YTD spend: So far this year, the company has spent roughly $818.6k on digital ads, more than double the roughly $353.9k spent by this point last year.
  • YTD data: CG has earned an estimated 61.7m digital impressions YTD via YouTube (87%), Facebook (8%), and Instagram (5%) ads.
  • Last year: In 2022, the company spent approximately $1.2m on digital ads, less than half of the approximately $2.5m spent in 2021.
• Additional channel insights
  • The company sponsors podcasts such as Sound Opinions.
  • As you can tell from the video above, CG works with influencers and utilizes cause marketing.

Additional agency insights:

• Opportunity: Agency reviews could easily follow this appointment, so get in touch soon to remain top-of-mind.
  • Digital hires are especially likely considering the CDO hire.
• Current agency roster:
  • ​​​​​​​: Media AOR
  • : Creative agency partner

Insight Sources: Broadcast insights estimated by Podchaser. 

Note: CG is headquartered in Canada, so you might want to familiarize yourself with its Anti-Spam Law (CASL) before reaching out.