Tired of the doom and gloom in the news cycle? Perhaps a brand can interest you in a romantic distraction.

As romance shows like The Summer I Turned Pretty take social media by storm, as brands like Audible, Neutrogena, Vera Bradley, and even Doritos have rolled out campaigns that are meant to not only appeal to romance fans but also celebrate the genre—all while, potentially, providing some light entertainment.

“The world is on fire for all of us,” Nic Climer, executive creative director of the marketing agency Rapp, said. “So I think the thing we are all trying to do right now, and we’re all trying to attach to, is to feel something real.”

It’s not just a matter of making consumers feel something; brands are aiming to give them something to feel good about in a time where positive feelings can be hard to come by. “The rise of romance in pop culture is about escapism and joy, two things people are craving right now,” Neha Minj, senior marketing director for face care at Neutrogena, told Marketing Brew in an email. “For brands, it is an opportunity to meet consumers where they are and connect through creativity and shared experiences, rather than just transactions.”

Leaning into stories with a romantic bent to them is almost a cheat code to making people feel something, which is why some marketers see the trend as having legs.

“Romance is having its moment,” James Finn, SVP, global head of brand and content marketing at Audible, told Marketing Brew. “There’s highly, highly engaged conversations [and] brands are seeing that, and with streaming content, movies, and TV shows, it’s a category that continues to grow.”

Continue reading here.—KM

Lawyers for Google and the US Department of Justice were once again in a federal courtroom in Alexandria, Virginia, to present their cases during day two of the remedy phase of United States v. Google LLC.

While some proceedings were spent on both sides’ opening arguments on Monday, on Tuesday, they were all in on questioning witnesses, notably about the effects of a potential divestiture of Google’s ad offerings and the impact of generative AI on Google’s ad-tech dominance.

Marketing Brew broke down some key points made by those who took the stand, below.

James Avery, founder and CEO of retail media firm Kevel: While being questioned by the DOJ, Avery was walked through proposed solutions to ease Google’s ad-tech monopoly, including a divestiture of Google’s ad exchange, AdX. Such a divesture could benefit Kevel, he said, which currently can’t access the demand that AdX sees.

• However, when being questioned by Google’s team, Avery said that a connection into AdX could benefit competitors like Kevel too, with the caveat that they would need to be able to access demand the way DFP does. (Google has proposed that, as a remedy, it could increase AdX’s interpretability.)

Luke Lambert, partner and head of reputation marketing and insights at Omnicom Media Group: When questioned by the DOJ, Lambert discussed the nature of Google’s ad tech. Transparency is a major concern for him, which he said he feels Google has failed to deliver on.

“I don’t know why my bid wins,” he said.

Continue reading here.—JS

Fall is right around the corner, which means apple picking, pumpkin spice, and spending every Saturday watching college football. But that’s not the only college sport with a fandom.

• Women’s volleyball, for instance, has been making waves ever since the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers filled a stadium with more than 92,000 fans in 2023, setting an attendance record.
• And with the World Cup coming to North America in less than a year, US soccer fandom is on the rise, which could translate to the college level.

With more athletes across sports leveraging social media and taking control of their brands through NIL deals, sports marketers seemingly have more sponsorship choices than ever. To help get them started this fall sports season, NIL platform Out2Win ranked 50 college athletes from football, volleyball, soccer, and field hockey based on their marketability.

Man(ing) of the year: Football fans have no doubt heard the name Arch Manning, quarterback for the Texas Longhorns and nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning. The heir to the Manning dynasty landed in Out2Win’s top three most marketable college football athletes, with a score of 95 out of 100.

No. 1 on the college football list was Jeremiah Smith, a wide receiver for the Ohio State Buckeyes who was the top recruit of the 2024 class.

Continue reading here.—AM

On Marketing Brew Weekly, our newsletter writers break down some of the industry’s biggest trends and headlines, giving you even more insight to stay ahead of the curve. Tune in wherever you get your podcasts.