Ethan Davenports Blog

Netflix's 'Stranger Things' at Target: The End Begins Here https://www.marketingdive.com/news/target-retail-marketing-blitz-stranger-things-final-season/761526/ https://www.target.com      This article was interesting because I have heard a lot about targets recent marketing strategies in the news and how consumers reacted. Target was recently under a lot of scrutiny for removing DEI initiatives and brands by minority owned businesses. In 2023 there was much controversy over the "tuck" swimsuits being sold at target.       The article outlines Target’s national marketing blitz around the final season of Stranger Things , which includes over 150 themed items such as Demogorgon popcorn buckets to walkie-talkie phone cases in-store and online, with more than half exclusive to Target. Target recreated a 1987-era store environment, both physically and in ads, to transport fans to Hawkins, Indiana. Target is the only retailer running a campaign developed dir...

 https://www.marketingtechnews.net/news/from-ads-to-ai-to-podcasts-why-social-media-is-the-centre-of-every-marketing-strategy-in-2025/     This article by Marketingtechnews states how social media is the centre hub of marketing strategy for companies. This article  shows that 96% of social media marketers use AI in some form for ideas such as  content ideation and writing captions with tools like ChatGPT, Canva, and Gemini leading the pack. Six in ten marketers find AI-generated content performs as well as or better than human-made posts. Social advertising acts as "intelligent digital billboards," with TikTok surging 85% in reach campaigns and delivering 94% higher click-through rates than Meta, capturing 75% of conversions via UGC and influencers. Meta, however, leads in sales (61.3% of total conversions) at a fraction of the cost, urging brands to use TikTok for discovery and Meta for closing deals in video-first formats. Success in 2025 demands video-first a...