Male Millennial, Gen-X Opps: Discount Tire appoints marketing SVP as it increases digital spend (Score 55)

Sales lead: This hire will likely lead to spend shifts & agency changes. 

• Discount Tire (DT) hired Jeffrey Lack as marketing SVP in September 2023.
• Lack most recently served as Rite Aid's marketing VP.
• He now leads all of DT's marketing operations.
• We told you about DT's new sports AOR in June. 

Target demographic: Male millennials & Gen-Xers

The company will likely:

• Keep ramping up digital spend
• Try new ad channels
• Build out its agency roster

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

• YTD spend: DT spent around $2.8m on national TV ads YTD, the same amount spent in this channel during the same time period of 2022. 
• 2021-2022 spend: Full-year spend plummeted by 52% from $7.3m in 2021 to $3.5m in 2022. 
• Ad programming: It placed ads during programming such as The Five, Your World With Neil Cavuto, NBA Basketball, America Reports, and Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. 

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

• YTD spend: DT spent around $8.2m on digital display ads YTD, more than double the $3.2m spent in this channel during the same time period of 2022. 
• YTD data: 1.2b impressions via desktop display (57%), Facebook (25%), Instagram (15%), YouTube (2%), and mobile display (1%). 
• 2021-2022 spend: Full-year spend fell 17% from $3m in 2021 to $2.5m in 2022. 
• Ad location: It placed 79% of these ads directly onto sites such as facebook.com, espn.com, instagram.com, youtube.com, and hgtv.com. It placed 29% of these ads through multiple indirect channels onto sites such as espn.com, littlethings.com, flightaware.com, hgtv.com, and dailymail.co.uk. 

Additional channel insights  

• Vivvix: DT also invests in OOH, radio, and local broadcast. 
• Top podcasts sponsored: Dateline NBC, Crime Junkie, and The John Batchelor Show. 

Agency analysis:

• Opportunity: Contact the new marketing SVP now to be top-of-mind. 
• Current roster:
  • In-house: media
  • ANC: sports AOR