Momvertising Opps: McCormick launches rebrand, campaign amid CMO search (Score 53)

Sales Lead: McCormick & Co. recently rolled out a bottle redesign with an initiative partnered with Doug E. Fresh.

• This is the company's first bottle redesign in almost 40 years.
• The campaign also involves an experiential activation through which consumers can enter a sweepstakes to win participation in a NY-based cooking class.
• The company will likely:
  • Invest in additional influencer partnerships and experiential activations
  • Continue ramping up digital spend
  • Implement strategy shifts
  • Make additional roster shifts following a recent hire (more below)
• Target demographic: 
  • Gen-Z and millennial moms and household decision-makers in general

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Recent leadership shifts:

• McCormick parted ways with its former CMO, Jill Pratt, in November 2022 and has not yet named a successor.

Additional spending insights:

• Broadcast insights (TV ad creative spend, effectiveness, impressions, and performance)
  • YTD spend: McCormick has allocated roughly $10.3m toward national TV commercials YTD, 16% less than the roughly $12.3m allocated by this point last year.
  • Last year: The company allocated around $25.3m toward this channel last year after allocating 15% more, around $29m, in 2021.
  • 2023 ad programming: McCormick's 2023 commercials have targeted Gen-X watching shows such as Rosie's Rules, Murder, She Wrote, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Elinor Wonders Why, and Bones.
• Digital and social insights (digital ad spend, effectiveness, impressions, and performance)
  • YTD spend: Since the beginning of 2023, the company has spent approximately $15.5m on digital ads, 28% more than the approximately $12.1m spent within same 2022 timeframe.
  • YTD data: McCormick has earned ~1.7b digital impressions YTD via Facebook (40%), YouTube (40%), Instagram (15%), desktop display (2%), Twitter (1%), mobile display (1%), and desktop video (1%) ads.
  • Last year: In 2022, the company's estimated full-year spend decreased slightly (less than 1%) to $23m from that of $23.1m in 2021.
• Additional channel insights  
  • The company utilizes Google Ads along with print (magazines), digital, local broadcast, radio, OOH, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and online video (via Youtube.com, Youtube Android, and Youtube IOS) ads.
  • McCormick invests in short-form DRTV ads.
    • ​​​​​​​It has incredibly highly concentrated network TV coverage and will not likely launch a new campaign soon.

Additional agency insights:

• Opportunity: If you haven't yet done so, reach out soon to see if any additional agency hires follow McCormick's January 2023 appointment of media AOR dentsu X.
  • ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Global marketing campaigns director Megan O'Brien handles, among other things, internal and external agencies.
• Current agency roster:
  • ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​dentsu X: Media AOR (January 2023)
  • Grey Group: Creative AOR
  • Fitzco: Creative AOR
  • Marriner Marketing Communications: AOR
  • Blue Chip Marketing & Communications: AOR
  • Sunshine Sachs Morgan & Lylis: PR agency partner

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