Adspeak

The beauty market is flooded with new launches and celebrity-backed brands. Therefore, few manage to break through with both cultural credibility and real business results. Yet Pattern Beauty, founded by Tracee Ellis Ross after a decade of rejected pitches, is one of them.

Recorded live at Brandweek, in this episode of Adspeak by ADWEEK, host Imani Ellis speaks with Christiane Pendarvis, Co-Chief Executive Officer at Pattern Beauty, and Kristen King, Executive Vice President and Managing Director of ATTN:. Together, they discuss how a challenger beauty brand leveraged culture, comedy, and community insight to achieve 50 million impressions and drive 200% growth in customer site traffic.

What You'll Learn:
How Pattern Beauty challenged outdated industry testing protocols
Why comedy became the brand’s creative differentiator
How a Girlfriends reunion cameo helped generate over a billion earned media impressions on a modest budget
What it means to build a brand where culture is the strategy

About the Guests:
Christiane Pendarvis is the Co-CEO at Pattern Beauty. Joining the brand a little over two years ago, Christiane has led Pattern through a key growth phase: spearheading mass awareness campaigns, overseeing the launch of Pattern Body, and pushing the beauty industry to rethink standards that have historically excluded textured hair consumers. Under her leadership, Pattern has landed in the top 10 fastest-growing beauty brands in social influence and overall brand popularity, while staying deeply rooted in the community it serves.

Kristen King is the Executive Vice President and Managing Director of ATTN:. Kristen partnered with the Pattern Beauty team to develop the brand's breakout Pattern Lounge campaign, which repositioned Tracee Ellis Ross from model to facilitator, leaned into sitcom-style comedy, and incorporated the iconic Girlfriends reunion, all on a limited media budget. Her approach centers on creating work that earns cultural conversation rather than buying its way into it, and she views the agency-brand relationship with Pattern as a rare case of instant creative chemistry that elevated the work from the start.

Host and Guest Resources:
Imani Ellis on LinkedIn
Christiane Pendarvis on LinkedIn
Kristen King on LinkedIn
Pattern Beauty Website
Blue Hour Studios Website
ATTN: Website
ADWEEK Website

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What if the next big opportunity in beverage marketing wasn't about alcohol, but about reimagining social drinking altogether?

In this episode of Adspeak by ADWEEK, host Mark Stenberg speaks with Jake Bullock, co-founder and CEO of Cann, about building one of the fastest-growing names in the THC beverage space. Jake explains how Cann is redefining social drinking by creating low-dose, hemp-derived products designed for mainstream consumers. He discusses the challenges of marketing in a fragmented regulatory environment, why authentic influencer partnerships outperform traditional advertising, and how Cann balances e-commerce with expanding retail distribution.

The conversation also explores the rise of sober-curious consumers, the importance of taste in category adoption, and the company's strategy for scaling nationally through alcohol distribution channels. Jake shares valuable lessons on creating new consumer habits while navigating compliance, retail partnerships, and the future of adult beverages across the United States in an increasingly competitive and rapidly evolving consumer market.

What You'll Learn:
How to Position a New Category in a Crowded Retail Environment
Why Influencer Marketing Outperforms Direct Advertising in Cannabis Education
The Regulatory Arbitrage Strategy for National Expansion
How to Build a Subscription and Multi-Channel Revenue Model
The "Sessionability" Framework for Adult Beverage Innovation
How to Navigate Venue Partnerships and Liability Complexity

About the Guest:
Jake Bullock is the co-founder and CEO of Cann, a pioneering cannabis beverage brand revolutionizing the adult drinking category through microdosed THC drinks. With deep expertise in cannabis product innovation, regulatory navigation, and brand building across fragmented state markets, Jake has scaled Cann from a niche dispensary product to a multi-channel consumer brand available in liquor stores nationwide.

Host and Guest Resources:
Jake Bullock on LinkedIn
Cann Website
ADWEEK Website

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What if your brand could become a lifeline for LGBTQ+ youth in crisis?

In this episode of Adspeak by ADWEEK, we turn the mic over to Jaymes Black, CEO of The Trevor Project. A nationally recognized LGBTQ+ advocate and nonprofit leader, Jaymes oversees the organization’s crisis intervention, research, education, advocacy, and peer support programs serving LGBTQ+ young people across the United States.

Jaymes shares how brands can become powerful allies in suicide prevention by moving beyond sponsorships and embracing meaningful partnerships. They explore why LGBTQ+ youth mental health should be treated as a universal human issue, how authentic storytelling and celebrity engagement can amplify impact, and why visibility matters during moments of crisis.

From mobilizing corporate resources to building long-term trust, Jaymes offers a compelling look at how creativity, compassion, and collaboration can help create lifesaving outcomes for young people who need support the most.

How to reframe corporate engagement from transactional to transformational
Why depoliticizing LGBTQ+ youth mental health positions your brand as a defender of universal human values
The "Field Catalyst" framework for scaling impact
How to mobilize celebrity partnerships and authentic storytelling
Why brand presence functions as a lifeline for at-risk youth
How to move from judgment to partnership with brands navigating fear and uncertainty

About the Guest:
Jaymes Black is CEO of The Trevor Project, the leading suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ+ young people. With more than 20 years of leadership experience spanning the nonprofit, technology, and finance sectors. She has led teams at organizations including Family Equality, Charles Schwab, Sabre Corporation, and Northrop Grumman. Jaymes made history as The Trevor Project’s first Black and first nonbinary CEO and has been recognized by TIME, Out Magazine, and numerous advocacy organizations for their leadership and impact.

Host and Guest Resources:
Jaymes Black on LinkedIn
Jaymes Black on Instagram
The Trevor Project Website
ADWEEK Website

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In this episode of Adspeak by ADWEEK, Jamie Warner sits down with Trent Thacker, Senior Director of Market and Customer Research at Cox Automotive Inc. and currently Senior Director of Industry Intelligence, to explore how iconic brands like AutoTrader and Kelley Blue Book consistently produce high-performing creative in an increasingly competitive media landscape. Trent shares Cox Automotive's research-first approach to campaign development, revealing how consumer tracking, competitive intelligence, and multi-stage testing help reduce risk while improving results.

The conversation dives into why automotive advertising demands a different playbook, with consumers spending up to 100 days researching vehicles and relying heavily on informative content. Trent also explains how Cox Automotive is embracing AI, from generating animatics for rapid testing to creating AI-powered consumer personas, without losing the human judgment required to protect brand equity.

What You'll Learn:
How to structure a creative development process that mitigates risk
Why the Information Score matters more than you think in automotive advertising
How to use AI to accelerate creative iterations without sacrificing quality
The strategic value of AI-powered generational personas for script refinement
How to protect brand equity while staying competitive
Why cross-brand integration amplifies performance

About the Guest:
Trent Thacker is the Senior Director of Market and Customer Research at Cox Automotive Inc. and currently Senior Director of Industry Intelligence at Cox Automotive, where he leads research and market intelligence initiatives for major consumer-facing brands including AutoTrader and Kelley Blue Book. With over a decade of experience at Cox Automotive and previous roles at Phillips and AT&T, Thacker has developed deep expertise in campaign development, consumer research methodologies, and creative testing across competitive markets.

Jamie Warner is a highly motivated sales leader with a proven track record of exceeding goals and building lasting client relationships. As Enterprise Account Executive of Brand Partnerships at iSpot, Jamie brings extensive experience in business development, revenue generation, and account management. Known for a solution-oriented approach, Jamie excels at identifying client pain points and creating mutually beneficial outcomes. A positive leader, strong motivator, and effective communicator, Jamie is passionate about helping brands achieve measurable success through strategic partnerships.

Host and Guest Resources:
Trent Thacker on LinkedIn
Cox Automotive Inc. Website
Jamie Warner on LinkedIn
iSpot Website
ADWEEK Website

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How do you maintain brand momentum when tariffs spike, supply chains collapse, and private equity demands quick returns?

In this episode of Adspeak by ADWEEK, Audrey Kemp sits down with John Solomon, Ex CMO at Therabody and currently CMO at Mozilla, to explore how bold marketing decisions can drive growth during periods of uncertainty. Drawing on his experience leading marketing at Therabody, John shares why brands shouldn't automatically cut marketing spend during economic pressure and how strategic investments can create long-term momentum.

He explains the shift from thinking about brand versus performance marketing to demand creation versus demand capture, offering a framework that resonates with investors and leadership teams. John also discusses building specialist agency partnerships, developing an agile in-house creative studio, leveraging celebrity collaborations authentically, and measuring both hard and soft marketing metrics.

From navigating tariffs and supply chain disruptions to making asymmetric bets on innovation, this conversation offers practical lessons for ambitious marketers leading through change.

What You'll Learn:
How to reframe marketing budgets to private equity stakeholders by shifting language from "brand marketing vs. performance marketing" to "demand creation vs. demand capture"
Why cutting performance marketing spend instead of brand spend is the counterintuitive move that allows retailers to thrive
The asymmetric bet framework for pitching bold creative ideas
How to build a specialist agency model instead of relying on an all-knowing AOR
The in-house creative studio strategy for content velocity
How to use science-backed differentiation as a moat in crowded categories
Why measuring soft metrics alongside hard KPIs matters for stakeholder confidence

About the Guest:
John Solomon is the ex-Chief Marketing Officer at Therabody and currently CMO at Mozilla. He brings over 15 years of experience in navigating complex market challenges, from supply chain disruptions and tariff pressures to private equity dynamics. John has established himself as a strategic marketer who refuses to compromise brand investment during crises. Previously at Beats by Dre, he brings deep expertise in building cultural relevance and driving growth through innovative creative partnerships and omnichannel expansion.

Host and Guest Resources:
John Solomon on LinkedIn
Therabody Website
Mozilla Website
Audrey Kemp on LinkedIn
Courier Website
ADWEEK Website

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