Here Are the 10 Most Popular Op-eds We Published in 2019

While we at Adweek focus on breaking news and analysis around every facet of advertising, marketing, media and tech, we also give industry executives a platform to share their opinions and advice around these topics in our Voice channel. We feature a range of contributors, from our Advisory Board of C-suite leaders to professors who belong to our Academic Council to other executives who have a perspective to offer. [kickout id="1"] As we close out 2019, we're looking back at some of our most popular op-eds and analyzing why they were such a huge hit with our readers. 10. What Marketers Can Learn From the Fyre Festival Fiasco Who can forget about the disaster that was the Fyre Festival? And who can forget when we were all reminded about that disaster when both Netflix and Hulu released documentaries on how said disaster came to be? Right after those documentaries were released, LinkedIn Marketing's Keith Richey shared some takeaways on what marketers can learn from watching a PR nightmare unfold in a very public way. We've seen a lot of op-eds tied to specific cultural moments, like Fyre Festival, do well with readers, especially when there are takeaways marketers might find valuable. Even though it may seem to be a stretch to equate something like the Fyre Festival to marketing, there are parallels. And identifying them is what helps the article really shine. 9. Cannabis Brands Put Too Much Focus on Women Who Want CBD Without a High As the cannabis industry continues to boom, Kimberly Dillon points to how we're seeing a rise in certain stereotypes in brands' advertisements. Specifically, a lot of brands are focusing heavily on women who only want CBD but don't want cannabis or any product that will get them high. But, frankly, Dillon pointed out, this just isn't the case because plenty of women do want to use cannabis for more than just self-care or wellness. "We imagine the woman who, at the end of a long day, hits the bathtub with a CBD bath bomb and tags it #SelfCareSunday," Dillon wrote. "I’m not saying that women don’t want that experience, but a lot of women also want a joint—and they don’t need to justify it with a bathtub." Readers are looking for opinions on specific niches in the industry. And when it's about a topic that some still consider taboo and we're watching grow up in real time, it's fascinating to get these perspectives from those who are fully immersed in it. 8. How These ‘Second-Best’ Brands Capitalized on Chance the Rapper’s SNL Shoutout [kickout id="2"] If you're a fan of Chance the Rapper or Saturday Night Live, you probably saw his monologue where he listed off a bunch of the "second best" brands, inspired by his roots in Chicago and the city's infamous Second City improv. And even if you didn't see it, you might've seen how some of the brands he mentioned capitalized on the moment by tweeting about it and interacting on social. Some brands ignored it, some posted too late, but those that timed it right saw great engagement. Vivid Seats' Stephen Spiewak used data and discussed capitalizing on a timely moment, two elements that we've seen really resonate with readers, to make this piece work so well. 7. How Gillette’s New Ad Flipped a Narrative and Challenged Men to Live Up to Different Standards Unsurprisingly, an opinion piece on Gillette's "The Best Men Can Be" spot is on this list. The ad called on men to step up and be better advocates and allies for women in a variety of situations, starting with helping guide their own sons. Alaina Shearer wrote about how much she loved the spot, which was a controversial take for some consumers who felt the razor brand was out of line, because she felt it could push the dialogue further for women in ads and in general. When a legacy brand drops a new ad that starts a debate among consumers, readers are essentially waiting to see what hot takes come out of it. Capitalizing on these buzzy moments gets a lot of traction with readers, we've found. 6. What Instagram and Facebook’s Algorithm Changes Might Mean for Marketers [kickout id="3"] When Instagram and Facebook announced changes to their algorithms (again), a lot of users were confused, frustrated and scared about how this would affect them. Instagram announced it was removing likes from posts and Facebook announced plans to do the same on its mobile app. YourSocialMediaExpert's Yesim Saydan laid out what would be happening on both platforms, the impact on brands and users and how marketers could take advantage of the changes to improve their social game. It was another advice-driven piece that did well for us based on the fact that our readers are eager for tips to grow their own strategies. Couple that with something time sensitive that has a lot of people nervous, and you've got a hit article that readers find a lot of value in. 5. Why Your Brand Needs to Identify a Brand Character One of the main purposes of our Voice channel is to have marketing execs offer advice to others in the industry, which is exactly what 250ok's Sam Douglass did with this article. Douglass based his premise on the brand archetype wheel, suggesting that marketers use it to find traits and characteristics that make up their brand values and motivations. In this way, you'll be creating a brand character that will help marketers identify what their brand needs. "The core brand motivations must be selfless, but in order to be relatable, brands should exhibit traits of selfish archetypes," Douglass wrote. This piece worked for our readers because Douglass did a great job really spelling out what brand character means, how it can benefit a brand and how to use the archetype wheel to craft a character. 4. Nike’s Air Force 1 Low Puerto Rico Shoes Illustrated a Lack of Cultural Competency [kickout id="6"] Everyone secretly loves watching a brand scandal unfold in real time, releasing a sigh of relief that they didn't make the misstep. When Nike released Air Force 1s ahead of the National Puerto Rican Day Parade, it seemed like a move forward in terms of diversity. However, Nike didn't fully do its research and used a mola design for the sneakers that's specific to an indigenous group living in Panama (the Guna people) and not related to Puerto Rico. What was supposed to be a step forward ended up making the brand look culturally unaware of the nuances within the Latino community. Freelancer Janel Martinez wrote this piece for us. She runs through what happened with and uses her expertise and background to influence the direction she took it in. It worked and resonated with our readers. 3. Peloton’s Holiday Ad Shows How Marketing Once Again Fails to Understand a Movement Even though everybody's least favorite holiday ad just launched a couple of weeks ago, this op-ed has skyrocketed to the top half of our list for all of 2019 already. Together Digital's Amy Vaughan didn't hold back with her thoughts on how the ad made her feel and her take that it undercut an entire feminist movement of progress toward equality. "Having an already seemingly fit woman act nervous about getting on a stationary bike while filming her every workout five times a week for her husband for a full year while her token child looks on is like a trigger wrapped in a trigger wrapped in a trigger," Vaughan wrote, pointing to three different tropes that are often projected onto women. We've seen time and again that opinions on recent campaigns or spots tend to do very well with readers. Seeing industry execs dig their heels in and earnestly express their opinions, whether they find it to be successful or think it flopped, is what helps shape the industry and will incite future change, and readers want more of it. 2. A Brief Rundown of Racism Within Advertising and Why It’s Still Happening Today [kickout id="5"] Op-eds that delve into the history of a certain topic, especially one that's still very much present in the industry, like racism, tend to grab readers' attention. Quiet Storm's Trevor Robinson analyzed recent racist moves by brands, such as Gucci and Dove, and dove into some of the more problematic characters and brand values we've seen, like Aunt Jemima and skin bleaching jokes. But he also highlighted some positive moves like the black Santa in an Instamatic Ebony spot and Louis Vuitton designer Virgil Abloh's menswear campaign that featured black actors. This article, published during Black History Month as part of a push to focus on black voices, has had consistent success throughout the year. Almost every week since February, it has gotten a surge of traffic and is one of our most successful evergreen Voice topics. Robinson wrote about how we need more diversity in advertising, a topic that isn't exactly new, but he covered it in a way that made it completely unique and insightful. A piece like this that's pegged to something timely with recent news peppered throughout can be wildly successful, as demonstrated here. 1. The Data Behind Gillette’s Ad Shows It Had the Biggest Impact With Women When Gillette launched its "The Best Men Can Be" spot early in the year, it clearly resonated with people, and two op-eds on the topic landed on this list. This one is a bit different, though. Instead of focusing on the writer's thoughts on the spot, Jane Zupan at Crimson Hexagon instead did a deep dive into data around the ad. And it turns out, perhaps unsurprisingly, that it resonated most with female consumers. It's a type of op-ed we've played around with before and seen good results, such as when Lou Jordano also from Crimson Hexagon looked at the data behind the iHob name change, which was our breakout op-ed hit of 2018. When a writer looks into very niche data around a certain campaign or ad, it resonates with our readers who are looking for the facts and figures behind whether a bold move is worthwhile or not.

Year in Review

The 10 Most Popular Op-eds We Published in 2019

What we've found resonates with readers most is timeliness and a strong take

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