BRAND STRATEGY

Genesis Motors America

Maggie Gyllenhaal’s new short film, Flesh Impact, is set to premiere at the Venice Film Festival this September, and early headlines about the 17-minute project, which stars Dakota Johnson and Ellen Burstyn depicting Marilyn Monroe at different ages, make it seem like a buzzy look at the star the world can’t seem to get enough of.

It’s also something else: A brand film.

Genesis Motor America commissioned Gyllenhaal to create the short film about Monroe to coincide with the rollout of a new, yet-to-be revealed SUV, Amy Marentic, chief marketing officer for the company, told Marketing Brew. A key element of the new vehicle is the “unique” way passengers get in and out of it—something that spurred a brainstorm on how to market around iconic arrivals.

“You know the question… ‘If you could go to dinner with anybody, who would it be?’ That’s the conversation we were having,” Marentic said. “If anybody could get out of this vehicle, who would it be?”

AI also had a role in cementing the idea of the film, she said. “[Innocean] did an AI video of Marilyn Monroe stepping out of this vehicle, and it blew everybody’s mind,” she told us. “We all got goosebumps, and we started talking about it.”

Once the company landed on the idea of portraying Monroe, the team reached out to the owners of Monroe’s estate, Authentic Brands Group, to see if it was feasible, learning that whatever they made could coincide with celebrations around Monroe’s 100th birthday. After getting the approval of the estate, Genesis Motor America then worked on the right approach.

“I certainly didn’t want the world to think we were using Marilyn to sell a vehicle because it’s not our style,” Marentic said. “[It’s her] 100th birthday. So we said, ‘Is there something we could do to give her a gift?’”

Continue reading here.—KM

      

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SPORTS MARKETING

Athletic Brewing

Sunday, Monday, and Thursday night NFL games present a difficult choice for many football fans. On one hand, a good tailgate or game-day experience might feel incomplete without a beer or two. On the other hand, typical workdays loom following those nights, making the consequences of overindulgence all the more painful

There’s no shortage of other reasons why fans might prefer a zero-proof option on game days. With its new sponsorship deal with MetLife Stadium, the New York Giants, and the New York Jets, the non-alcoholic beer brand Athletic Brewing is hoping to become the go-to for football fans driving home, heading into a busy workday, or simply seeking an alternative to alcohol at a game.

The multi-year deal, which kicks off this football season, represents a significant expansion of Athletic Brewing’s sports partnership roster, as it is the brand’s first formal NFL team sponsorship with assets beyond supplying cans to stadiums.

Athletic Brewing execs are hoping the agreement is representative of something even bigger. Bill Shufelt, Athletic Brewing’s co-founder and CEO, told Marketing Brew the deal “marks that transition to non-alcoholic beer really becoming mainstream.”

Read more here.—AM

      

DATA & TECH

Heather Physioc

Heather Physioc, chief discoverability officer at VML, is set to speak at the upcoming Marketing Brew Summit on September 30. Ahead of the event, we caught up with her to understand what marketers are still missing when it comes to sophisticated targeting and the danger of the content velocity trap.

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

Marketers have never been better at finding the right people, yet we still too often put ourselves at the center instead of them. We invest enormous sophistication in targeting, placement, and optimization, then deliver advertising built around what the brand wants to say rather than what would be useful, interesting, or meaningful to the person encountering it. Reaching someone isn’t the same as serving them.

Where do you see the biggest gap between how marketers think audiences behave and how they actually behave?

Marketers still tend to organize advertising around channels and campaigns, while audiences organize their behavior around needs, questions, and curiosities. People don’t move neatly through a funnel or distinguish between organic, social, earned, and other channels. They move fluidly among search engines, AI assistants, social platforms, reviews, retailer sites, and online communities, often revisiting the same decision from several directions.

Many marketers think they’re designing a journey for audiences, but audiences are assembling their own journeys. It’s our job to help them accomplish what they’re trying to do, not just tell them what we’re trying to say.

Continue reading here.

      

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?

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Morning Brew

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

Plan ahead: LinkedIn’s playbook for building, running, and measuring campaigns on its platform.

Fight night: SponsorUnited’s report on UFC and WWE, which generated a combined estimated $474 million in sponsorship revenue last year.

Managerial: A content marketer and creator’s top recommendations for social media management tools.

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Jobs

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JOINING FORCES

Francis Scialabba

Mergers and acquisitions, company partnerships, and more.

• The 4As Foundation announced a partnership with FIT that aims to connect students and agencies, per Campaign.
• Gemini is the new consumer AI partner of Liverpool FC, adding to the team’s existing partnership with Google Pixel.
• Starburst, an AI company, signed F1 world champ Lando Norris as a brand ambassador.