7 Marketing Lessons from Ryan Reynolds; Facebook Cracks Down on Hate: Friday's First Things First

Welcome to First Things First, Adweek’s daily resource for marketers. We’ll be publishing the content to First Things First on Adweek.com each morning (like this post), but if you prefer that it come straight to your inbox, you can sign up for the email here. Yes, Ryan Reynolds Really Writes His Own Stuff, and He’s Got 7 Marketing Lessons for You Ad world icon—and, you know, Hollywood superstar—Ryan Reynolds joined Brandweek yesterday for a talk with David Griner about his work with his content studio Maximum Effort and brands Aviation Gin and Mint Mobile. The fireside chat covered his marketing strategy and how his experience in films prepared him to create great and memorable ads. Here are just two of the lessons we learned: To be a good marketer, be a consumer first: While he was shooting Deadpool in Vancouver, Reynolds tried a Negroni made with Aviation Gin. He fell in love and trusted that other consumers would love it too.Speed is key: Part of the success of Aviation and Mint Mobile ads is that they’re able to quickly and nimbly respond to trends. (See: The Peloton Wife parody ad.) Reynolds calls it “fastvertising”—getting a clever idea out as quickly as possible. Discover five more secrets to Reynolds’ marketing success. More Brandweek excellence: NFL legend DeMarcus Ware coached Brandweek attendees through a workout session at the close of Wednesday’s show—and he’s launching a fitness app this year that is officially licensed to connect app users with NFL players.When the pandemic hit and everyone needed new solutions, Brad Hiranaga made General Mills "problem-obsessed" again and focused on solving those problems for the greater good.Learn from RH's Gary Friedman how the brand transformed itself from a retailer of nostalgic discovery items to a $3 billion luxury design platform.The pandemic disrupted pretty much every trend in streaming audio according to SiriusXM and Pandora CMO Denise Karkos.Marketers from TikTok, Chipotle and Simmons came together for a Brandweek Masterclass to discuss what works best on the video platform—and what falls flat. Discover three key tips. Tomorrow is the last day of Brandweek! Don’t miss this final day of our fully reimagined virtual experience. Facebook Cracks Down on Hate Speech in Groups Facebook said that it removed more than 1 million groups and 13.5 million pieces of content classified as hate speech in its groups for hate speech over the course of the past year. These figures were released alongside the platform’s new policies to limit the spread of hate speech in groups and unfounded health advice. The new measures prevent group admins from creating new groups if they’re removed for rule violations, and impose approval restrictions on members who break site rules. More active measures: Find out what else Facebook is doing to address repeated criticism that it has created a space for hate to flourish. Bacardi-Owned Spirit Brand Sponsors ‘Unbreakable’ Shutters for Hurricane-Prone Homes Stillhouse whiskey is lending a hand during a brutal hurricane season by providing 400 metal shutter panels to homes in the Florida panhandle. The materials are inspired by the stainless steel cans that its spirits are packaged in, contrasting with typical glass bottles. “Our brand values resourcefulness and resilience and we are inspired by the strength these families have shown by rebuilding,” said Bacardi global marketing vp Jennifer Pisciotta. Watch: A video featuring the stories of hurricane survivors announced the project. The Latest in Job Moves News After the departure of a series of senior leaders last week, R/GA promoted agency veterans Tiffany Rolfe and Ben Williams to roles as global CCO and global CXO, respectively.One year in, Pete Stein is leaving Huge to take on a role leading experience and commerce at Dentsu Aegis Network’s data-driven customer experience management company Merkle. More of Today’s Top News & Highlights 4A’s Will Soon Debut Yearlong Leadership Program for Black ProfessionalsMarriott Tempts Loyalty Members to Get OutdoorsWFA Readies Cross-Media Measurement StandardProcter & Gamble Names Flashtalking Its Global Ad Server of RecordNBCU Moves Past Campaign Outcome Guarantees to Measure Marketers’ Total Investment ImpactNielsen Introduces Database Designed to Measure Ad Campaign Effectiveness Samuel L. Jackson Muscles in on Amazon Alexa’s Turf Amazon’s smart home devices have a new Samuel L. Jackson-themed wake word: “Hey, Samuel.” Users who want to add Jackson can simply say, “Alexa, introduce me to Samuel L. Jackson,” and then choose “Hey, Samuel” as the wake word. The feature follows the brand debuting Samuel L. Jackson as an add-on for select voice queries on Echo devices. More of the Latest: As Plant-Based Burger Brands Battle, One Faux-Egg Maker Is Dominating a New NicheA Little More Than Half of Consumers Are Buying From Social Ads. Here’s How to Make the Most of It.AMC Networks Continues Walking Dead Platform Expansion With Twitch ChannelWhy ViacomCBS Rebranded CBS All Access as Paramount+ and Not Paramount All AccessYour Consumers Are Looking at Where Your Ads Live