Latest Strategies
Navigating Common Objections for Marketers with Structure, Not Spin
Why Objections Matter More Than the Pitch Every growth conversation eventually circles back to the same set of questions. They appear in different forms, with different phrasing, at different points in the relationship, but they always surface. A founder might whisper them. A CMO might sharpen them. A private-equity partner might mask them in spreadsheets. [...]
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Management Fees for Agencies Explained: What They Are, Why They Exist, and How Both Sides Benefit
Marketing budgets rarely fail because of the creative. They fail because the business relationship is unclear, underfunded, or structured in a way that forces the agency to make tradeoffs their clients never see. That is where management fees come in. They shape how an agency allocates time, talent, and accountability. They influence how a client [...]
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Brita’s Subversive TikTok Strategy: Personified Voice and Viral Engagement
Brita has recently rebranded its social media presence, especially on TikTok, into a surreal, subversive performance that’s racking up millions of views. Gone are traditional, polished product ads. In their place? Singing sharks, glum robots, and a kitten-inspired hydration anthem called “Bwita.” These chaotic characters anchor Brita’s absurdist, meme-friendly content strategy. They croon, lament thirst, [...]
Read More![Grow Smart: The ROI-Driven Marketing Playbook [Part 2]](https://hawkemedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/v1-Part-2-Karlon-Group-Social-Post-819x1024.jpg)
Grow Smart: The ROI-Driven Marketing Playbook [Part 2]
This is the second article in a five-part series about ad spend ROI, authored by Karlon Group. In this article I’ll explain how to look at ad spend ROI in the early days, when you have a modest marketing budget, a limited marketing tech stack, and a lean team. Before diving in, let’s recap a [...]
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Paris Fashion Week 2025: What Happened, Why It Matters, and How to Turn the Afterglow into Growth
Paris closed the season with a burst of new leadership, high-impact staging, and a reassuring signal that luxury appetite is stabilizing. What follows is a clean, marketer-friendly readout you can hand to your CMO or use to brief your team. It blends the on-runway story with practical moves you can execute across ecommerce, content, and [...]
Read More![Grow Smart: The ROI-Driven Marketing Playbook [Part 1]](https://hawkemedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/v2-Karlon-Group-Social-Post-819x1024.jpg)
Grow Smart: The ROI-Driven Marketing Playbook [Part 1]
Article #1 Introduction: The Fundamentals of Performance Marketing ROI This is the first article in a five-part series about performance marketing ROI, authored by Karlon Group. The series is meant for professionals in the digital consumer space that want to better understand how to measure ad spend ROI. If you’re a CEO, CFO, or CMO [...]
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The AI Advantage for Black Friday and Cyber Monday: Do’s, Don’ts, and Lessons Learned
The best Black Friday and Cyber Monday teams do not win with bigger promo codes. They win with sharper decisions made faster than the competition. Generative AI helps you do that at scale, but it only pays off if you pair the tools with real customer insight, guardrails, and a clear revenue model. Consider this [...]
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Black Friday Without the Bleed: The Deep Discount Dilemma
Every November, the digital marketplace feels like a battlefield. Retailers drop prices by 40, 50, sometimes even 70 percent, hoping to drown out competitors and capture fleeting customer attention. But behind the curtain, a different story plays out: profits shrink, returns surge, and customer loyalty erodes. One founder described it bluntly after last year’s Black [...]
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The Labubu Playbook: Turning Oddities into Obsessions
Walk down any street in Hong Kong or spend a few minutes on TikTok and you will encounter that plush-faced, rabbit-toothed creature that has become one of the most recognizable icons in Asia’s pop-culture zeitgeist. Labubu, created by Kasing Lung for the The Monsters series from POP MART, has transcended toy status to become a [...]
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Beyond the Bell: How Brands Can Capitalize on the Post-Back-to-School Market
September does not end the consumer surge. It shifts it. Parents exhale after the supply-list scramble. College students settle into dorms with new routines. Teachers, coaches, and administrators start thinking about the long school year ahead. For marketers, the post-back-to-school window is less about sharpened pencils and more about momentum. The buying frenzy does not [...]
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