Meet Archie, Archer™’s talking blue bull created from a hybrid of AI technologies and a real, human being for the “Stick to Real” campaign. Archie was introduced in the new national ad campaign promoting Archer’s clean-ingredient meat snacks with a humorous twist on the absurdity of life. See the 30 second spot here.
For our first Q & A series with those in the industry, we spoke with our client, Director of Brand Marketing at Archer Meat Snacks, Lauren Castillon.
Country Archer has a new name, a new look, and a new marketing campaign. It's not easy managing a makeover like the one Archer just went through, and after the dust settled on the search for multiple agencies, we asked Lauren what her thoughts are on the new brand and the search and selection process.
1. What excites you the most about this rebrand?
What excites us most is the timing. We're experiencing 90% year-over-year sales growth and 187.4% growth in meat sticks, so this rebrand comes at the perfect moment to cement our category leadership.
The streamlined name from Country Archer Provisions to simply 'Archer,' combined with our distinctive orange, navy blue, and cream color palette, breaks us away from the sea of black and red packaging dominating the category. We're asserting our leadership at the exact moment when consumers are seeking high-protein, clean-ingredient snacks. As we close in on surpassing our goal of $300 million in revenue this year, this rebrand is the visual identity that will carry us forward.
2. What advice do you have for first-time marketers when deciding if it's time/how to engage an agency?
My advice for first-time marketers:
"The streamlined name from Country Archer Provisions to simply 'Archer,' combined with our distinctive orange, navy blue, and cream color palette, breaks us away from the sea of black and red packaging dominating the category."
- Lauren Castillon, Director of Brand Marketing
3. How do events/activations and PR play a role in your marketing strategy?
Events and activations are critical inflection points in our growth strategy. We debuted the new Archer branding at Natural Products Expo West 2025, where attendees previewed packaging and sampled our products. We've also increased consumer sampling through our partnership with the Los Angeles Dodgers and a pilot program in LA.
On the PR front, earned media is a cornerstone for storytelling and raising awareness. It's important to differentiate consumer from trade and business media strategy—each serves different objectives. The key insight: sometimes you need to invest in building brand equity before you can fully optimize and measure every dollar.
4. How do you manage the collaborative and creative process between the in-house team and the agency?
The key to successful collaboration is establishing who owns what, creating feedback frameworks, and maintaining trust even when it's uncomfortable.
In general, the:
Agency brings: Category expertise, creative horsepower, objectivity, and consumer testing methodology
In-house team brings: Deep brand knowledge, operational constraints, retail relationship insights, and strategic priorities
5. What advice do you have for new marketers finding an agency to work with?
Look for strategic partners, not order-takers: The right agency challenges your assumptions. When we reached out to the agency, they didn't just accept our brief—they helped us articulate problems we hadn't fully defined.
Prioritize process over portfolio: Sure, look at their work, but ask deeper questions: How do you conduct research? How do you approach our competitive set? How do you balance creative boldness with commercial viability?
Assess cultural fit: You'll be in constant dialogue during a rebrand. We invested two years in research to inform this rebrand. That requires patience, intellectual curiosity, and collaborative problem-solving. Make sure your agency's working style matches yours.
Start with a pilot project: Test the relationship before committing to a full rebrand. This reveals their process, responsiveness, and quality.
Check references ruthlessly: Ask past clients: 'What was challenging about working with them?' and 'Would you hire them again?' Those answers tell you more than any case study.
Understand specialization: We needed different partners for different needs—brand strategy and packaging, digital transformation, campaign development, activation planning. Build a roster of specialists rather than expecting one agency to excel at everything.
Image sourced from Marketing Brew, image owned by Huggies/GUT Miami
The Fifa World Cup is coming... Are you ready?
In case you were wondering how many months until the FIFA World Cup, don’t worry—the Huggies brand is here to remind you: it’s nine months away. Brands that aren’t traditionally sports-related are tapping into the excitement with clever campaigns. If your company is curious about capitalizing on the buzz around the games, we’ve got a deep bench of agency partners who can help. In the meantime, catch up on the latest FIFA campaign trends in this recent Marketing Brew article.
Shimek's Gen Z insider, Susanna Mann shares the campaigns from the year that still spook her.
It’s spooky season, and my apartment is decorated with cobwebs and skeletons. I went to a haunted house last night and am planning a horror movie marathon with my roommates this weekend. But, as a college student studying AD/PR, nothing gives me nightmares more than a bad ad. This month, in honor of Halloween, I’m highlighting what I think are the spookiest, eeriest, and scariest advertising campaigns of the year (so far). Warning: jump scares ahead.
American Eagle x Sydney Sweeney: “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans” is the tagline of this ad campaign, appearing to establish Sydney’s specific features (caucasian, blonde hair, blue eyes) as “great” genes through a dangerous play on words. It's clever in concept, but comes off as grossly out-of-touch and exclusionary, leaving many viewers uncomfortable instead of inspired. Compared to the diverse Katseye x GAP campaign, it’s a shoe-in for one of the worst ads of this year.
E.l.f. Cosmetics x Matt Rife: Another influencer campaign that just missed the mark. On the surface, it’s fun: two “beauty attorneys” fighting overpriced makeup in a parody of legal commercials. The kicker: Matt Rife, a viral stand-up comedian, has a recent history of making jokes about domestic violence, women, and transgender people. Of all the people in the world, he’s one of the worst options to be the face of a cosmetics brand with a largely female customer base. It came off as unauthentic and poorly thought out.
Poppi's Vending Machines: Ahead of Super Bowl LIX, the popular prebiotic soda brand, Poppi, sent out full-sized vending machines stocked up with its sodas to influencers. The influencers, naturally, immediately flaunted their new goodies online, sparking controversy and discourse. The campaign drew criticism for being wasteful: these vending machines will likely end up in a dumpster somewhere, and many felt the products could have gone toward a community initiative instead of gifting the rich.
"A lot of advertising this year has been downright spooky. From tone-deaf taglines to cursed casting choices, 2025’s biggest campaign flops prove that even major brands can scare off their audiences faster than a haunted house."
- Susanna Mann, Shimek's Gen Z insider
Each month, Shimek's Sarah Daniels invites someone she thinks you should know into "The Salon", a space to share ideas around vocation vs. corporate ladders with individuals making a difference in the best way they can. The first episode launched last month with "A Climate Week Connection" featuring former Global Innovation Officer for Champion, Stephanie Martell. Listen here.
Shimek is built on connection. We’ve counseled more than 1,400 companies on their agency search and marketing strategy at no cost to the company.
Reach out anytime, we'd love to be a resource.
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