• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, January 2, 2024

Judging by the year’s most-read retail stories, Marketing Daily readers can’t get enough information on how companies struggle through multiple industry challenges.

More readers clicked on this story, "Walgreens Disappoints, Shutters Hundreds Of Stores," than any other Marketing Daily story, and it ranked highly for all of MediaPost, too.

Since then, negative buzz about the company has only intensified, with the abrupt departure of CEO Roz Brewer in September, a series of layoffs, and then angry “Pharmageddon” walk-offs among its unhappy army of pharmacists. The Chicago-based retailer, which reports earnings later this week, is wrestling to combine its retail arm with its sprawling medical practice acquisitions.

It's not the only drug chain that’s ailing, with Rite Aid filing for bankruptcy in October.

Another best-read story dealt with the massive changes the category is dealing with: "CVS CMO Says AI Will Have 'Profound' Impact On Agency Biz." And it’s worth noting that Norm de Greve, the CMO in question, fled the retail category entirely, moving to General Motors as its CMO in July.

And who doesn’t like to know how companies stack up against each other? "Top Retailers: Kroger, Target, CVS Rise; Home Depot And Walgreens Fall," which detailed the National Retail Federation’s annual ranking of stores, also made the Top 10.

Readers also often clicked on "A 'Desperate' Victoria's Secret Brings Back The Supermodels," detailing that chain’s tortured efforts to reinvent itself. It’s seeking a marketing platform that can both balance the new rules of marketing underwear, for young women who want down-to-earth realism, with its glamorous (and highly troubled) past.

And speaking of botched reinventions, Elon Musk’s mercurial rebranding, turning Twitter into X, got plenty of criticism at many levels. But "With X, Musk Emcees A Graphic Design Circus" drew so many reads because everybody has an opinion when it comes to logo redesign. And love or hate his approach, polarizing moves keep X in the mix.

Stories about athletic brands, which often represent the best in all of marketing, also got much attention. For Nike,  earning the most clicks was controversial, focused on its first unisex shoe line: "Uproar About Trans Influencer Masks Nike's Real Gender Problem". Readers were also curious about Vans' efforts to shore up plummeting sales with new brand connections in "Vans Turns To The Mouse For Sales Boost."

Also in the Top 10, as is true almost every year, are stories about the ads that stole hearts during the Super Bowl, with "Disney, M&Ms, T-Mobile Early Super Bowl Winners" and "Jeep, The Farmer's Dog Ads Rule As Super Bowl Winners."

Finally, coming in at No. 10 is "Why Walmart, YouTube, Sprite Are Black Americans' Top Brands," based on an analysis from the Collage Group. As brands try harder to connect with Black consumers, this offered a closer look at ways companies can ratchet up relevance, trust, and advocacy in meaningful ways to win with these 39 million Americans.