BRAND STRATEGY

Polaroid

It’s becoming increasingly common to see anti-data center sentiments on protest signs—and even legislation—but not so much on brand billboards.

Polaroid is changing that.

Last year, the consumer electronics brand made headlines for its “Camera for an Analog Life” campaign, which encouraged people to opt for real-life experiences with ads touting lines like, “Real stories. Not Stories & Reels.” In June, Polaroid unveiled its newest campaign that builds on the same idea, led by a billboard planted in the sands of Coney Island Beach with the caption, “Go jump in some water before the data centers drink it all up.”

Patricia Varella, creative director at Polaroid, told us that the results of last year’s campaign inspired the decision to continue beating the same drum.

“The concept was already there, so it was kind of like, how could we keep writing lines that reflect that tension between our over-digitized lives and the value of escaping from it?” Varella said.

At a time when many marketers are eager to embrace new technologies, including generative AI, Polaroid’s team is taking the opposite approach. With a limited marketing budget but a strong tone of voice, Varella and her team are making the case against increasing digitization, arguing that analog technology does, in fact, have a place in today’s society.

“The simple act of existing nowadays for Polaroid,” she said, “is already an act of resilience.”

Continue reading here.—KH

      

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DATA & TECH

Getty Images

Unanimity has never been a strength of the retail media industry, but one body is trying to bring the people who actually build and run retail media networks together.

In July, RETHINK Retail launched Media in Retail (MiR), a network that aims to develop the next generation of retail media talent and bring structure to an industry that has grown faster than anyone anticipated. Emarketer projects that US advertisers will spend $71.09 billion in 2026 on retail media, according to a December 2025 forecast.

The founding cohort includes top executives from Costco, Ulta, The Home Depot, Dollar General, Sainsbury’s, and Tesco. The MiR network is chaired by Drew Cashmore, chief strategy officer at Vantage, the operating system for commerce and retail media.

“Retail media has grown faster than the structures around it,” Marie Chevrier Schwartz, CEO of Rethink Retail, wrote in a statement. “MiR is focused on providing a platform to help mature its foundational business discipline.”

The new group includes Mark Williamson, AVP retail media at Costco; Alyson Soderberg, senior director of UB Media at Ulta; Stephenie Cattonar, senior director of strategy at The Home Depot’s retail media arm Orange Apron Media; and Lauren Bolles, COO of Tesco Media.

Cashmore said in a statement that retail media “needs a place to develop the next generation of talent and steady the conversation during a moment of rapid change.”

“MiR is being built by the leaders driving that change for the purpose of elevating an entire industry,” he said.

Read more on Retail Brew.—VC

      

SOCIAL & INFLUENCERS

Christina Kavalauskas

Christina Kavalauskas, global head of creative strategy at Reddit, is set to speak at the upcoming Marketing Brew Summit on September 30. Ahead of the event, we caught up with her to hear why she thinks marketers often get audience intelligence wrong, and the importance of ignoring marketing best practices that don’t serve a brand.

What do you think most marketers get wrong in their creative strategy today?

I think too many marketers let the immediate executional needs of a brand drive the creative strategy, rather than the other way around. It’s easy to get caught up on what’s trending, what needs to ship next week, or what might deliver a quick win. But when every decision is optimized for the short term, brands can lose sight of the bigger opportunity it is trying to unlock.

The strongest creative strategies do both: They respond to the moment while building toward something meaningful over time. A trend can create relevance, but it isn’t a substitute for strategic direction. The ultimate goal is to know which short-term opportunities reinforce the path you’re on—and which distract from it.

Read more here.—EB

      

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Morning Brew

There are a lot of bad marketing tips out there. These aren’t those.

Check your work: This tool from Incremental Media can help A/B test ads.

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Biz dev: Tips for landing an agency business development job—and what to expect.

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PODCAST

In this episode, we explore the latest trend of creators snagging C-Suite titles—but which ones are legit and which ones are for show? From Jake Shane touting a German candy brand to Vivian Tu’s actual financial advice, we look at the titles and the work behind them. Plus, when is perceived authenticity the least of your risks when it comes to naming a creator to your executive team?

JOINING FORCES

Francis Scialabba

Mergers and acquisitions, company partnerships, and more.

• Nielsen is set to acquire DoubleVerify in a deal worth about $2.15 billion.
• Allstate became a founding partner of the LA28 Olympics and Paralympics, as well as the official home and auto insurance partner of Team USA.
• Outfront Media inked a five-year deal making it the exclusive OOH partner of the New York Jets.
• Gerber is the newest sponsor of the NWSL.
• Lilly and Amazon Ads teamed up on a WNBA campaign starring Candace Parker.