Gen-Z, Millennial Digital Opps: Calvin Klein hires CMO amid spend decreases (Score 64)

Calvin Klein (CK) has filled the CMO vacancy we told you about last year. The company hired Jonathan Bottomley as its CMO from Boll & Branch, where he also served as CMO. Bottomley was the EVP and CMO of Ralph Lauren prior to that. In his new role, Bottomley will be responsible for all marketing duties. Keep an eye on this company because this hire will affect its marketing strategy and could lead to agency appointments. 

**Bottomley does not officially begin until June 6th, so he will not show up in Winmo just yet. We believe his email will be jonathanbottomley@ck.com.** 

According to Pathmatics, CK earned 132.2m impressions YTD through Instagram ads (64%), Facebook ads (30%) and desktop display ads (6%). It placed the majority (99%) of these ads directly onto sites such as instagram.com, facebook.com, amazon.com, yahoo.com and spin.com. It placed the remainder (1%) indirectly through Google AdX+AdSense onto sites such as yahoo.com, thesaurus.com, spin.com, wibw.com and wearemitu.com. It spent approximately $1m on digital display ads YTD, just 23% of the $4.4m spent in this channel during the same time period of 2021. Full-year spend increased by 26% from $6.8m in 2020 to $8.6m in 2021. 

Per iSpot, CK Fragrances spent $933.2k on national TV ads in 2021 during programming such as SportsCenter, The Big Bang Theory, Rizzoli & Isles, ¡Despierta América! and Chicago P.D. It has not allocated any budget towards this channel so far this year.

Sellers-- CK mainly targets Gen-Zers and millennials. The company allocates the majority of its marketing budget towards digital display ads, with a heavy emphasis on social channels. It has significantly reduced spend YTD, but I predict the new CMO will ramp spend back up once he has time to implement his strategy. The company does utilize national TV ads from time to time, but the channel does not appear to be a high priority. Digital ads likely provide a much better ROI, considering its young target audience. It also invests in OOH ads, per Kantar. Sellers should reach out for more information once Bottomley starts to see what types of ad space you can offer. 

Agency & martech readers-- To the best of my knowledge, the only agency CK works with is creative & social shop Laird + Partners. It also takes care of some media and creative in-house. Start preparing your pitches so that you can reach out once Bottomley starts on June 6th.