• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, December 31, 2024

Columbia Sportswear's marketing moonshot

This year’s most-read stories in research, retail, beauty and apparel are a humbling reminder that while every journalist has their personal favorites, Marketing Daily readers are voracious omnivores. They want lots of information, better ideas about getting closer to their customers, and inspiration to find ideas that are literal moon shots.

Seriously. "Columbia Sportswear Is Over The Moon—For Real" made the Top 10, detailing how the company got its Omni-Heat Infinity fabric technology on the Odysseus robotic moon lander.

Amazon’s innovation got noticed, too, with "Amazon Rolls Out Shopping Assistant Rufus, Ad Sales Top $14.65 Billion," landing in the Top 10.

They’re also always eager for essential industry intelligence, including forecasts that might help them tweak or shift their own strategies. Economic patterns and demographic shifts are especially important, which explains why "Forecasts Point To Retail-Healthy Holidays," focusing on data from the National Retail Federation, and "Upper-Middle-Income Surge Will Drive Holiday Increases," drawing from extensive seasonal research from Deloitte, ranked No. 1 and No. 2.

Inclusivity and representation are also top of mind, and -- despite the headlines focusing on many companies pulling back from internal diversity efforts -- companies want to know more about reaching diverse audiences. Both"Black Audiences Want Better Representation" and "Giant, Google, PNC Best Ads For Black Consumers" rocketed near the top of our most-reads, as did "L’Oreal, Kotex Kick Off International Women’s Day Campaigns." Brands understand that representation is no longer just a buzzword; it’s a business strategy that drives loyalty and engagement.

Our readers are also intensely focused on companies’ big moves and strategic decisions, including "Home Depot Debuts Orange Apron Media, Announces $18B Deal" and "Takeover Fight Looms Over Macy’s."

Finally, a "Top of the News" story about a misguided PR effort shot into the top 10: "United Healthcare’s Crisis Response Backfires." It described experts’ reaction to an op-ed from Andrew Witty, CEO of United Health Group, lamenting the murder of U.S. Healthcare  CEO Brian Thompson, which had happened two weeks earlier.

While few would dispute Witty’s sentiments about the tragedy, experts say the misstep came from positioning the company as “one of the good guys,” committed to fixing a broken healthcare system.

Observers decried that stance as tone-deaf, stunned that even after almost two weeks of a tsunami of online hate and contempt for U.S. Healthcare’s business practices, Witty was so clueless. Consumers and doctors seemed pretty convinced that Witty was in fact, not just a bad guy, but the worst guy.

It’s possible, of course, that the story resonated with readers because of simple schadenfreude. More likely, readers ate it up because they think understanding their customers -- knowing their fears, worries, pain points, and passion -- is the marketing superpower that matters most.