Sports equipment and apparel brand Salomon is largely known around the world for its winter sports gear, and for good reason. The company, which has been around since 1947, contributed to the invention of seven Olympic sports, including ski cross, boardercross, snowboard halfpipe, and freestyle skiing, according to Global Chief Brand Officer Scott Mellin.

While winter sports remain core to the brand, Mellin wants its reputation to stretch further beyond the slopes and deeper into culture, much like how Jordan Brand is linked to basketball, or how Vans has come to represent surf and skate culture.

“We’re the icon of the mountain sport lifestyle,” Mellin told Marketing Brew at Cannes Lions. “The elevator pitch for Salomon is we’re the modern mountain sport lifestyle brand. The dream that we create—you can see this in all of our advertising, all of our communication—is that you can be part of the mountain sport lifestyle.”

Salomon’s history with the Olympics and the Winter Games means that that property is still a major part of the brand’s marketing strategy each year, and Salomon will serve as a premier partner of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Games. But Mellin also has an eye on other sports like running, as well as partnerships outside of the sports space.

Continue reading here.—AM

Podcasts have long been known for a very personal style of host-read ads that are often sold directly. So when it comes to programmatic ad sales, the sector has sometimes been viewed as a rare holdout.

But, much like the worst person you know starting a podcast, the introduction of more ad tech and automation in podcasting seems all but inevitable.

In one of the latest signs of the time, Spotify rolled out its Spotify Ad Exchange this spring, marking the first time the audio giant is letting ad buyers participate in true open-marketplace programmatic bidding through demand-side platforms like The Trade Desk and Google DV360.

“Marketers want more flexibility and more agility to make decisions,” Brian Berner, Spotify’s head of global ad sales and partnerships, told Marketing Brew at Cannes Lions. “They don’t want to be held to the traditional, long-term upfronts. We’ve been getting that feedback for a while.”

As of now, the exchange includes music and video content, but podcasts are soon to come, Berner said. We spoke with him about the new ad exchange and the current state of the audio ad ecosystem.

Read more here.—AM

When Juliet Wine launched in 2022, founders Allison Luvera and Lauren De Niro Pipher tasked themselves with an ambitious marketing goal: overcoming the negative stigma that has long settled around boxed wine, a product some associated with low quality, low prices, and even a notorious college drinking game called “slap the bag.”

“We thought there was a really unique opportunity to create something that had all of the wonderful attributes—the convenience, the sustainability aspects—of box wine, but really transcended the category” in terms of both quality and design, Luvera said.

Yet the brand’s proprietary “eco-magnum” packaging pushes the definition of “boxed.” Rather than a brown cardboard square or rectangle, Juliet’s six wine varieties are packaged in colorful 1.5-liter cylinders meant to stand out on the shelf next to more traditional competitors in the boxed wine category.

Now Juliet is testing its ability to make an impression on shoppers in much bigger marketplaces. Starting in 2024, the direct-to-consumer company launched its wholesale business, linking up with distributors in six different states and finding a place on shelves in big box chains such as Costco, Whole Foods, and Safeway.

“We always envisioned this reaching a larger audience via a higher-end big box store,” De Niro Pipher said.

Read more on Retail Brew.—AV

Join us September 10 at the Marketing Brew Summit to explore how Spotify is turning up the volume on brand engagement. Bridget Evans, Spotify’s global head of ads business marketing, will dive into the power of audio to drive connection, creativity, and conversion. Grab your ticket now before it sells out.

Tired of tabs? The Refill brings the top Marketing Brew stories straight to your ears, no reading required. This week, get an update on which brands are ignoring heritage months in their marketing calendars—and which ones remain loud and proud. Find out the benefits of your brand opening its own coffee shop and how Carvel created the first-ever ice cream-dispensing billboard.

Catch the latest episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your audio media.

Stories we’re jealous of.

• The New York Times wrote about why brands like Loewe and Dusen Dusen are turning to in-house creators.
• The Times also wrote about the increasing use of “hot” in political messaging geared at young people.
• Digiday wrote about how marketers aren’t sold on the idea of a US-only TikTok app.