Citizen Watch is marking 50 years of its proprietary Eco-Drive technology with a new marketing campaign and creative touting the tech’s ability to convert any light — natural or artificial — into a power source.

The brand spot for the campaign, dubbed “Powered by Any Light,” follows two twentysomethings as they teleport through various indoor and outdoor settings, from a sunlit park to a strobe-lit club scene to an underwater dive — each a potential power source for the eco-friendly timepiece.

The campaign spotlights Citizen’s sustainability story, but it also points to a shift in the brand’s visual creative and an attempt to connect more with Gen Z and millennial consumers. We spoke with CMO Carla Wilke about the campaign’s origins and inspiration; Citizen’s pivot to more narrative-driven creative; accommodating the unique tastes of Gen Z consumers; and the marketing challenges within the timepiece industry.

Speaking of Gen Z, DSW’s new campaign is hoping to attract a consumer that skews younger than the footwear chain’s typical consumer. But it’s aiming to do so without alienating its loyal customer base. So far, the campaign is beating its ROAS and AOV benchmarks. The retailer’s VP of Marketing shares the strategy.

Peanut, a social networking app for moms, is on a mission the add the word “matrescence” to the dictionary. The brand recently ran an ad campaign calling out the word’s conspicuous absence, despite an anthropologist coining it in the 1970s. The term describes the psychological, social and developmental transitions associated with becoming a mother, and is important to the app's community of 5.5 million active users, according to President Michelle Battersby. We review the campaign details and early results.

Lastly, with the FIFA World Cup set to kick off in June, Major League Soccer has a unique opportunity to showcase U.S. soccer fandom and introduce new audiences to the league’s culture. Here’s how the MLS is capitalizing on World Cup fever.

Until next week,