When Parker got pulled into an organic LinkedIn challenge to “sell me this pen,” the team at the Newell-owned brand had to decide whether to jump in. At first, they treated it as social listening. But as volume grew, the brand opted to engage. Newell CMO Nick Hammitt takes us through a series of calls made under time pressure and the decision process involved at each step.

The energy drink market is a saturated one. So for challenger brand Accelerator, whose awareness pales in comparison to Red Bull, Monster and Celsius, being creative and nimble is necessary. The solution — which Vice President of Marketing Zach Schotz learned about during a stint at BodyArmor — was to trade equity shares in exchange for celebrity endorsements as a way to boost brand awareness quickly. We spoke with Schotz about the move and the brand’s broader influencer strategy.

Target is again shaking up its top marketing role: the retail chain announced Mark Weinstein, most recently CMO and Head of Luxury Brands at Hilton, as its new Chief Marketing and Guest Experience Officer. Weinstein is charged with shaping a more connected guest experience and Target’s growth strategy. Plus, he’ll oversee Target’s retail media network Roundel and the company's marketplace. More details on the leadership shift here.

Lastly, we look at how custom T-shirt and swag brand Custom Ink is using gratitude marketing and earned media in local markets to grow its K-12 swag sales, with an eye toward showing up in AI-driven search as well.

Until next week,