Gen-Z, Millennial Parents Opps: Kiwico appoints first CMO amid spend increase (Score 69)

Katie Soo, the former growth marketing SVP at HBO Max, recently joined kids' subscription-based science kit brand KiwiCo as its first CMO, effective July 2021. Since being featured on Ad Age's 2020 40 Under 40 list and amid the global pandemic, Soo's leadership reportedly helped increase HBO Max's domestic subscriber count by around 25%. With a new marketer handling Kiwico's budget, the company's spend will likely continue climbing upward.

**We have been unable to verify Soo's email at the time of publication, but will update as soon as we learn more**

So far this year, Pathmatics reports the company has spent roughly $8.8m on digital ads, up 52% from the roughly $5.8m it spent within the same 2020 timeframe. Kiwico's estimated full-year spend of $16.2m in 2020 more than doubled that of $5.9m in 2019. It has earned ~1.7b digital impressions YTD via desktop video (62%), Instagram (22%), Facebook (14%) and desktop display (2%) ads. Most of this year's desktop video ads aired on sites such as news.yahoo.com (29%), yahoo.com (25%), finance.yahoo.com (24%), yahoo.com/health (11%) and sports.yahoo.com (1%).

Additionally, according to Magellan, Kiwico has aired around 1,005 podcast ads within the past 12 months, around double the 521 it aired within the 12 months prior.

As you can tell, this company is currently targeting millennials via desktop video and Gen-Z via paid social. As I briefly mentioned, this company tends to target parents in particular. As it continues targeting Gen-Z, I expect Kiwico to make forays into additional digital channels such as OTT. I expect spend to continue rising under the company's new CMO, particularly ahead of September (when the majority of American kids have their birthdays) and December (winter holidays).

Agency & martech readers - It's safe to say you have a shot at work here, especially since this is the first time Kiwico has had a CMO. I expect PR shops whose assistance can build brand awareness to have an upper hand.