Marketing Minute — February 2025
The shortest month of the year packed a punch in PR and marketing. February brought a huge win to the NHL, AI to X, death to Duo Lingo, video to Substack and new anchors to the nightly news.
Here’s the February Marketing Minute.
4 Nations Mania
The 4 Nations Face Off dominated sports headlines in places where hockey generally doesn’t. In a stroke of genius, NHL executed a marketing coup, capitalizing on a notoriously quiet week in sports and elevating the league in a way that it hasn’t in years. The league took an innovative approach to a stale format (all-star games) and turned it into something new. A fusion of the current political environment and 45th anniversary of the Miracle team further fueled the conversation around the tournament—making hockey feel more mainstream. The tournament had great games, dream matchups and compelling fights (3 in 9 seconds…). All while the NBA all-star game floundered and the decades-long MLB / ESPN relationship splintered.
Gloves Hats to the NHL’s marketing team.
Duo Lingo, Dead?
The internet’s favorite anthropomorphic bird, the Duo Lingo owl, was pronounced dead this month. The announcement spurred thousands of videos, reactions and commentary across social media from fans and brands like Scrub Daddy, Tarte and Kleenex. Perhaps most impressively, Duo received a shoutout from his unrequited love interest, popstar Dua Lipa, who tweeted, “Til’ death duo part.” The best part is, Duo faked it the entire time.
This stunt didn’t come out of left field for the company, as it’s known for its out of the box social strategy and leaning fully into the nuance of Gen Z humor. But, while the company’s social strategy is exceptional, others shouldn’t rush to kill off their mascot or attempt to replicate Duo Lingo’s success. Duo Lingo’s virality and growth is a result of leadership buy-in, trust, risk taking and unflappable commitment. For those looking to strengthen their social presence, identify what makes your brand resonate authentically and lean into that.
Substack Doubles Down on Video
Substack is evolving beyond newsletters and making a bold move into video. The platform recently announced that creators can upload and monetize videos directly within the Substack app — a significant shift that could reshape how brands and creators connect with audiences. It’s a smart play: 82% of Substack’s top 250 revenue-generating creators already use audio and video in their content mix. By adding native video (and the ability to put it behind a paywall), Substack positions itself as a serious alternative for creators seeking reliable subscription revenue — especially if platforms like TikTok face regulatory challenges in the U.S. For marcomms teams, this expansion is worth watching. Substack’s growing creator ecosystem presents fresh opportunities for partnerships, branded content, news and insight amplification and new ways to reach highly engaged niche audiences. If your brand hasn’t explored Substack yet, now’s the time to get familiar — and get creative.
X and AI Ads
X is introducing AI-generated ads to the platform. While new to X, AI in advertising is relatively common across platforms like Amazon, Meta and Google, used to curate ad copy and optimize performance. Similarly, Grok—X’s AI assistant with text- and image-generating—will enable advertisers to create a sponsored post by analyzing a website’s homepage and churn out copy and imagery from that content.
Major Changes in Nightly News
The journalism industry has had its fair share of shakeups and the last few weeks is a prime example of the ongoing upheavals. At the end of January, Norah O’Donnell said farewell to “CBS Evening News.” After nearly a decade of serving as the anchor on “NBC Nightly News,” Lester Holt is transitioning to NBC’s news magazine show “Dateline” at the beginning of the summer. Following the entrance of Rebecca Kutler, MSNBC’s new president, former White House press secretary Jen Psaki will anchor nightly weekday show in prime time. At the same time, “The Reid Out” was canceled and host Joy Reid let go from the network, incurring backlash from other MSNBC hosts.
See you in March!
