Male D2C Media Update Opps: Mack Weldon debuts first creative work from new CMO (Score 73)

Update: Mack Weldon (MW) introduced its "Buy Some Time" campaign on July 7th. This is the first campaign since hiring CMO Talia Handler in May, and its first ever fully integrated campaign. The company filmed two 30-second spots that will mainly be supported on streaming TV. Sellers should reach out to secure possible last-minute ad revenue. 

Please refer to the article below for spend and targeting data. 

Agency & martech readers-- MW worked with brand agency Bullish on the new campaign, but I am not sure if this relationship is permanent. Keep reaching out to the new CMO to pitch your services and see if you can pick up any of MW's business. 

The original article was published on May 20th:

Effective May 2021, men's D2C clothing brand Mack Weldon (MW) welcomed Talia Handler as its first-ever CMO to fuel its next phase of growth. In her most recent position as TaliaKate's brand marketing and business strategy consultant, Handler led (or, you know, Handled) brand strategy, pitches and marketing/communications engagements for various companies. Now, she will handle MW's marketing, creative and communications teams with the initial goal of executing go-to-market strategies that highlight the company's product innovation, improve its brand engagement and support its cross-category product adoption. Considering MW has never had a CMO before, I expect Handler's leadership to seriously shake up its marketing strategy.

MW also added to its team with the hire of social media marketing lead Adam D'Aleo in March 2021. This addition shows an increased focus on paid social.

Of course, demand for MW's products remained steady during the pandemic since it makes essential items (underwear, socks, etc.) and operated online already.

So far this year, iSpot reports MW has spent approximately $1.8m on national TV commercials. The company made its TV debut in mid-2020, and its spend this year has already reached around double the approximately $862.8k it spent by the end of the year. MW's 2021 commercials have targeted Gen-X (male skew) viewing shows such as PGA Tour Golf, Johnny Carson, Women's College Basketball, CNN Newsroom with Pamela Brown and The Rachel Maddow Show.

According to Pathmatics, the company has allocated roughly $1.2m toward digital ads YTD, down 14% from the roughly $1.4m allocated within the same 2020 timeframe. MW's estimated full-year 2020 spend grew by % to $3.9m from that of $2.7m in 2019. Since the beginning of 2021, the company has earned ~246m digital impressions via desktop display (46%), Instagram (27%) and Facebook (27%) ads. This year's desktop display ads have been placed onto site destinations such as reddit.com (13%), nytimes.com, youtube.com, nypost.com and budgettravel.com.

Additionally, per Magellan, MW has aired 217 podcast ads within the past 12 months, up 48% from the 147 it aired within the prior 12-month period.

Don't let the company's slight drop in digital spend deter you from offering high-ROI strategies among Gen-Z, folks; remember it has a new social media marketing manager who will likely strengthen these efforts. MW's male target demographic also largely consists of millennials and Gen-X, though. Per Kantar data, MW also invests in radio and local broadcast.

Agency & martech readers - Agency reviews could easily follow this CMO hire; get in touch soon to see what work is available.