Male Millennial, Gen-Z Opps: CKE loses CMO (Score 57)

Sales lead: Be prepared to reach out as soon as this company hires a new CMO.

• CKE Restaurants lost its CMO, Tana Davila, in June 2023. 
• Davila is now the CMO of Dutch Bros. 
• We will be sure to update you as soon as CKE announces a replacement. 
• We told you about CKE appointing Camelot as its US media AOR in May.

Target demographic: Male Gen-Zers & millennials

Once it names a new CMO, the company will likely:

• Make additional agency changes (media AOR appointment in May)
• Revise marketing strategy
  • Shift ad dollars around
  • Try new channels

Broadcast insights (TV ad creative spend, effectiveness, impressions, and performance)

• Hardee's:
  • YTD spend: Hardee's spent approximately $164k on national TV ads YTD, just 14% of the $1.2m spent in this channel during the same time frame of 2022. 
  • 2021-2022 spend: Full-year spend equaled $2.9m in 2021 and $2.7m in 2022. 
  • Ad programming: It placed ads during programming such as Women's College Basketball, NHL Hockey, College Basketball, Live on the Line, and The Rally Rewind. 
• Carl's Jr.: 
  • YTD spend: Carl's Jr. spent nearly $12.4m on national TV ads YTD, a 22% decline from $16m spent in this channel during the same period of 2022. 
  • 2021-2022 spend: Full-year spend increased by 11% from $27.5m in 2021 to $30.5m in 2022. 
  • Ad programming: It placed ads during programming such as NBA Basketball, SportsCenter, Friday Night SmackDown, Bob's Burgers, and WWE Monday Night RAW. 

Digital and social insights (digital ad spend, effectiveness, impressions, and performance)

• YTD spend: CKE spent nearly $18.2m on digital display ads YTD, a huge increase from $3.4m spent in this channel during the same time period of 2022. 
• YTD data: 2.1b impressions via Facebook (58%), YouTube (22%), Instagram (17%), and desktop video (2%). 
• 2021-2022 spend: Full-year spend plummeted from $26.6m in 2021 to $10.2m in 2022. 
• Ad location: It placed 100% of these ads directly onto sites such as facebook.com, youtube.com, instagram.com, twitch.tv, and witn.com. 

Additional channel insights  

• Vivvix: CKE also invests in OOH, radio, and local broadcast. 

Agency analysis:

• Opportunity: Start working on your pitches so that you are ready to reach out as soon as CKE names a new CMO. 
• Current roster:
  • LaForce: PR AOR
  • 72andSunny: creative AOR
  • Camelot Strategic Marketing & Media: media AOR

Insight Sources: Broadcast insights estimated by iSpot; digital spend insights estimated by Pathmatics; additional channel insights estimated by Vivvix.