Welcome to Father's Day weekend! (Check out our round-up of the best activations honoring dads.) Grab a snack, because our line-up this week might make you hungry.

After a 10-year hiatus from marketing investments, Hickory Farms is powering up a year-round digital strategy that’s driving impressive eight percent YOY growth. CMO Judy Ransford tells all.

UNO is famous for inventing the deep-dish pizza in Chicago in 1943, but it also makes a mean cocktail. A recent $2 margarita promotion, in partnership with Sauza, has driven such significant foot traffic that the party has been extended to the end of June.

Speaking of beverages, MTN Dew and KFC have whipped up a drink exclusive to the fast food brand. Dew is supporting “Sweet Lightning,” a throwback to southern hospitality, with a fictional character nicknamed Sweet, who landed a job with the Colonel. A digital video about the whole deal debuts later this month.

It’s hard to believe in today’s digital world, but TripAdvisor’s SmarterTravel brand had no real SEO strategy a year ago. That all changed when Melissa Sciorra came on board to help the editorial and social teams create SEO infused content that is boosting traffic by 70 percent.

Think everything you do is logical? Think again, says Caterpillar’s Victoria Morrissey. All decisions—from a roll of toilet paper to a $100,000 heavy equipment purchase—involve some level of emotion. She shares why B2B marketers need to emphasize risk and emotion in their storytelling.

And, Rockwell Automation is launching its first You Make It Challenge, a STEM competition to inspire teen makers and innovators. The summer contest is part of the brand’s ongoing efforts to put a human face on industrial automation.

Have a fantastic week, and we’ll talk soon!

Patty Odell

Senior Editor - Chief Marketer