Male Millennial, Gen-X Opps: AutoZone promotes marketing DM amid spend declines (Score 43)

Sales lead: This promotion will affect both the company's marketing strategy & agency roster. 

• AutoZone promoted Bill Hackney to EVP of merchandising, marketing, & supply chain.
• Hackney joined AutoZone in 2000 and was promoted to merchandising SVP in 2015. 
• He is now the company's top marketer. 

Target demographic: Gen-X & millennial men with a Hispanic skew

The company will likely:

• Return to higher ad spending
• Try new ad channels
• Conduct agency reviews

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

• YTD spend: AutoZone spent nearly $12m on national TV ads YTD, down 23% from $15.5m spent in this channel during the same time period of 2022. 
• 2021-2022 spend: Full-year spend fell by 27% from $26.5m in 2021 to $19.4m in 2022. 
• Ad programming: It placed ads during programming such as SportsCenter, NBA Basketball, College Football, Fútbol Mexicano Primera División, and La Rosa de Guadalupe. 

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

• YTD spend: AutoZone spent about $5.5m on digital display ads YTD, a 26% decrease from $7.4m spent in this channel during the same time period of 2022. 
• YTD data: 665.2m impressions via Facebook (35%), YouTube (29%), Instagram (23%), desktop display (9%), desktop video (2%), and mobile display (2%). 
• 2021-2022 spend: Full-year spend equaled $9.3m in 2021 and $9.4m in 2022. 
• Ad location: It placed 98% of these ads directly onto sites such as facebook.com, youtube.com, instagram.com, hotrod.com, and motortrend.com. It placed 2% of these ads through multiple indirect channels onto sites such as hotrod.com, motortrend.com, caranddriver.com, brainly.com, and dailymemphian.com. 

Additional channel insights  

• Vivvix: AutoZone also utilizes print, radio, and local broadcast. 
• Top podcasts sponsored: The Herd with Colin Cowherd, The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz, The Dan Patrick Show, Adam Carolla Show, and Hidden Killers With Tony Brueski | Breaking News & Commentary. 

Agency analysis:

• Opportunity: The new marketing head may decide to review the agency roster. 
• Current roster:
  • (human)x: digital
  • Havas Worldwide Chicago: media, creative, & digital
  • Starcom Worldwide: media buying & planning