#62 The Least Boring Weekend Newsletter

February 12, 2022 • Estimated Reading Time: 14 minutes

Good Morning readers! ☕

Are your weekend plans set? Or, to put it another way, are you ready for Valentine's Day?☀

Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency 😮 exchange, is investing $200 million in Forbes, the 104-year-old magazine and digital publisher.📰 

Binance will replace half of the $400 million in institutional investment commitments made earlier this year, putting it among Forbes' top two largest owners. (Woahh🤯) Will Binance's massive promotion increase as a result of this acquisition?🤔

Almund's newsletter will let you in on all kinds of tips for D2C brands and much much more. 

Alright, so let's get right to it! 

This newsletter is going to dive into :

💵 Crypto Cannabis Club To Launch The First NFT-Powered Cannabis Brand

👌 SuperBowl Campaigns Through The Years You Need To Check Out

🌏 McDonald’s files trademarks for McMetaverse restaurants

📜 Top reads for this week

👩🏻‍💼 Plenty of jobs awaiting you!

So, scroll down already to THE VERY END & read up on what's yet to come your way!

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D2C x CRYPTO

The first-ever NFT-powered cannabis brand will appear in March 2022🎟 , according to Crypto Cannabis Club, an NFT collection and Metaverse forum for crypto and cannabis lovers.😍

Crypto Cannabis Club has collaborated with CampNova, a cannabis direct-to-consumer e-commerce site💻 , to develop a premium packaged cannabis flower product line.➖ 

All legal cannabis customers in California can purchase Crypto Cannabis Club items, but members of the community who own an NFToker NFT will receive a significant discount.  In August 2021, the club unveiled NFTokers, a 10,000 NFT collection that offers "membership privileges" to those who own the club's NFTs.👯🎶 

Initially, the product line will be offered in 1/8th ounce flower bundles with Crypto Cannabis Club-created artwork. 🎨

Three of the overall manufacturing run's packages will also feature an NFToker NFT, which costs more than $600 each.💰

Highsman, Old Pal, Dr. Dabber, King Palm, Higher Standards, Vibes Papers, and Marley Naturals have already announced collaborations with Crypto Cannabis Club, making it the first NFT collection to give its members a real-world cannabis product.🌎

This is only the start. Their vision is for their Metaverse properties to serve as a virtual hub for cannabis enthusiasts, and for our live events and products to serve as a physical gateway to the Metaverse. ( Can't wait to see where it goes) 🥳

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SuperBowl Campaigns Through The Years You Need To Check Out

If you’ve been paying attention to our Tips Section, last week we covered how a DTC brand can create kickass campaigns for special days throughout the year. And we promised we’d bring to you some of the best picks. Well, the wait is over. 

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, there is quite an uproar for the upcoming Super Bowl Sunday. And we’re just as excited about the array of engaging ads running between the matches as we are about the games! 

But why care so much about it?

> The Super Bowl is one of the biggest sporting events in the world with the highest viewership (majority of which is domestic). 

> Leading American television networks, namely ABC, Fox, NBC, and CBS, have rights to telecast the games helping it reach up to every corner of the nation.

> The game garnered a 40 rating & 60 shares on Nielsen television ratings at times as early as 2013—that’s very high & it only got bigger since then.

> It got so big, that Super Bowl Sunday became an unofficial holiday across the United States.

> With a gross viewership count of over 100 million and advances in international telecasts, Super Bowl is set and destined to become the leading sporting event in over 200 countries. 

> Super Bowl 2015 took the prize for one of the most viewed program in the history of the U.S. entertainment industry during the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots game when more than 168 million people tuned in. 

Fun fact: more food is consumed on Super Bowl Sundays when compared to any other day of the year; of course, it still stands behind Thanksgiving.

Now, these numbers are definitely a challenge to beat! So as the ratings skyrocketed, the Super Bowl made the most of the opportunity by allowing brands to bid for buying airtime to run their commercials. 

The total cost of a thirty-second Super Bowl ad slot was $37500 in 1967. The price of the same ad slot rose up to $900,000 by 1994. And by 2015, the price had increased significantly up to $4.5 million! The most iconic Super Bowl commercials include the Budweiser "Bud Bowl" campaign, the announcement of Apple's Mac, and the dot-com ads. 

So why do brands and businesses love to out-bid each other and splurge on a small window to run their ads? They know that millions of people are going to watch their complete ad. That is why developing a fun, creative, out-of-the-box, and engaging ad is necessary to ensure that they are memorable even after the viewers walk away after the game. 

What Goes Into Making A Successful Super Bowl Ad?

A thirty-second airtime slot during Super Bowl LIV was sold at $5.6 million. Even established legacy companies that are known to be industry pioneers can feel pressured with a price tag as big as this. So you must make the most of this opportunity. 

⌚ Take time to educate your audience

You’ve not spent over a couple of million dollars just to run a commercial that the people aren’t going to take something away from. Make extra efforts to ensure that your commercial not only is fun and engaging but also inspiring; allowing the viewers to get a gist of what your business stands for.  

🥣 Plan a campaign bigger than just Super Bowl

At the end of the day, the real reason you are running this ad is for them to check your brand out, the commercial is simply a stepping stone. Just an entertaining commercial would be like running a 30-second clip for the viewers to enjoy in between the game. Build intrigue and communicate your brand’s core values through the ad to push people to look you up. 

🧍 Try to stand out

Standing out during the commercial break is easy. But being a memorable enough ad for them to remember your brand even after the game is the greater catch. Brands go out of their way to create fun campaigns but bear in mind to not be problematic, insulting, or belittling to a community, group, or ethnicity. Always remember: it’s cool to care.

But that’s enough talk! We promised some amazing ads and we’re ready with our collection!

We’ve prepared a list of some of the most amazing Super Bowl commercials from the recent years that we think you MUST see. 

#1 State Farm - “Drake from State Farm” (2021)

Watch the video here!

One of the best strategies most brands use for their Super Bowl commercials is to create a star-studded one. And State Farm did it well. 

They ran an entertaining commercial during the Super Bowl 2021 with Paul Rudd, Aaron Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes, and Drake. 

#2 Toyota - “Jessica Long’s Story” (2021)

Watch the video here!

Toyota took to the opposite direction with their Super Bowl commercial last year. They created an inspiring ad featuring the story of Jessica Long, a 13-time Paralympic gold medalist for swimming, who followed her dreams of being a swimmer even after getting her legs amputated. It sure stirred positivity into the minds of millions across the nation. 

#3 Cheetos - “It Wasn’t Me” (2021)

Watch the video here!

This ad had us grooving to Shaggy’s hit number ‘It Wasn’t Me’ again. The ad featured ‘70s Show co-stars, Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher, with Ashton’s take on the song when he got caught with a bag of Cheetos. 

#4 Amazon - Featuring Ellen DeGeneres & Portia de Rossi (2020)

Watch the video here!

The ad depicts a time before Amazon’s Alexa became a household name (get it?). 

#5 Bud Light - Featuring Post Malone (2020)

Watch the video here!

Post Maline once again partnered with Bud Light and we were sure of getting positive results from this pair.

#6 Doritos - ‘Cowboys’ Lil Nas X & Sam Elliott (2020)

Watch the video here!

In a dance-off that sure made us do double-takes, Lil Nas X dueled with Sam Elliott at a ranch.

What’s even better? We got a little sneak peek at what’s coming during SuperBowl 2022. Here are some ads we’re excited to see. 

#7 SquareSpace with Zendaya

Watch the teaser here!

We can count on the queen for the best!

#8 BMW USA with Arnold Schwarzeneggar 

Watch the teaser here!

This electrifying teaser has us waiting for more. 

#9 Lays’ Good Memories with Paul Rudd & Seth Rogan 

Watch the video here!

This is the best way Lays could tell us to ‘stay golden’!

While not every brand has the capability to bid to win a 30-second slot during the Super Bowl, they sure can work across channels to create content. After all, every ad that reaches the Super-screen, is amazing ads and inspirational. 

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WHAT’S COOKING, HUH?

McDonald's, the iconic American food brand, appears to be preparing to enter the metaverse by registering ten trademarks in virtual reality. 🙆

Josh Gerben, trademark attorney and founder of Gerben Intellectual Property, tweeted on Wednesday that McDonald’s 🍔submitted a trademark application on Friday, including plans for “a virtual restaurant featuring actual and virtual goods” and “operating a virtual restaurant featuring home delivery.” 📮 

The restaurant chain will be able to give "downloadable multimedia assets" for artwork, music and video files, and non-fungible tokens based on the application (NFT).

McDonald's also filed a metaverse trademark application for its McCafe brand.☕️ The company would be prepared to provide entertainment services, such as "online actual and virtual concerts, and other virtual events

 Could McCafe become the new branded virtual venue for attending a sponsored performance by one of your favorite artists?🤔💭 

McDonald's would be competing with new virtual concert organizers such as Animal Concerts. Such concerts remove geographical barriers that have previously prevented fans from seeing their favorite acts perform, as well as significantly lowering the cost of touring. (🤩 Wow) 

It also plans to offer downloadable content, NFTs, virtual food and beverage items, and virtual facilities where users can socialize. ( So are you ready to virtually eat your fries and burger? 😂) 

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TOP READS FOR THIS WEEK

 💪 Neighborhood Goods debuts initiative to support Black-owned brands

🍐 Pearpop, the social media collaboration marketplace, is diving head-first into crypto.

🐭 Disney+ outshines Netflix with 11.8M new subscribers in Q1 and strong forecast

👟DTC footwear brand Skechers posts 24.4% sales growth in Q4FY21 

✨Instagram is Rolling Out a Bulk Delete Feature to All Users

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In need of a  job? We’ve got plenty awaiting you!

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CHOOSE SUCCESS below and have a great week! ‘Get that D2C business runnin’.