Give Grogu a meat jerky snack, and you get a meat-cute for the ages.

In a recent 30-second spot for Archer Jerky and The Mandalorian and Grogu, Disney’s latest feature film installment in the Star Wars franchise, Baby Yoda’s penchant for snacking powers the marketing message for the individually packaged jerky. It’s part of a larger campaign from the meat-stick brand that also includes special packaging, Fandango rewards to help pay for a ticket, and sweepstakes that offer participants a chance to win a trip to the film’s LA premiere.

For Archer, it’s the biggest partnership the brand has secured to date, and for meatheads everywhere, it’s part of a larger meat-stick growth spurt. The “meat snacks” category saw 6.6% growth in 2025, according to Bank of America Global Research data cited by Fortune, and is forecast to reach more than $22 billion in market size in 2026, according to data from Mordor Intelligence.

“As we’ve started to bring grass-fed beef [and] really premium products…it really has created a sea change within the category where a lot of these consumers have rediscovered meat snacks and said, ‘Wait a minute, this isn’t my father’s meat-snacks category,’” Andrew Thomas, SVP of marketing at Archer, told Marketing Brew. “That’s what’s been a big driver for the dynamic category of growth that you’ve seen now, which has resulted in, of course, a million brands trying to get into the space.”

From newer players like Archer to legacy brands like Slim Jim and Jack Link’s Protein Snacks, meat is having a moment—online, in stores, and in culture. So how do marketers, well, meet it?

Continue reading here.—JN

Google’s annual product event, Google Marketing Live, is less than a month away, and ahead of the event, it’s debuting several new capabilities within AI Max, its creative and targeting tool suite that first debuted about a year ago.

AI Max is Google’s “fastest-growing AI search product,” Brendon Kraham, VP of search and commerce global ads solutions, told reporters during a press briefing, and the new tools that will soon roll out are aimed at helping advertisers run ad campaigns in a search landscape that is becoming “more conversational, visual, and personal” amid the rise of AI agents and other tools.

“The future is definitely more automated,” Kraham said. “AI is not only changing the consumer experience, but it can be a tool for a marketer to be agile.”

AI Brief, a new tool within AI Max, will allow marketers to write a brief detailing creative visions and campaign-targeting guardrails, Kraham said. The feature marks a departure from the manual settings and keyword lists marketers have traditionally relied on, he noted. The tool gives advertisers the ability to detail messaging guidelines and other parameters, and they can use the Audience Guidelines feature to help the AI identify audiences for campaigns and serve them customized ads.

Read more here.—JS

As more higher-income shoppers flock to Walmart, the retail giant is giving its flagship private label brand, Great Value, a “comprehensive redesign” with the goal of enhancing visibility and encouraging exploration.

The packaging redesign will change the look and feel of 10,000 food and consumable products, making it the company’s most extensive private brand update ever, and one that will have some impact on a significant number of US consumers. According to the company, Great Value products can be found in 9 out of 10 US households.

David Hartman, VP of creative at Walmart, said in a statement that the aim is to create “something that works clearly and intuitively across thousands of individual items, so customers can find what matters, faster.”

The new design features more consistent placement of nutritional information, “clearer visual cues” to help customers find products, and a “cohesive, modern look.”

Continue reading on Retail Brew.—AV

It was no easy feat for brands making their way into the most fashion-forward film of the year—which was not the case for the first iteration of The Devil Wears Prada. This week, we’re discussing the film’s relationship to (and portrayal of) media and advertising, the partnerships with luxury and affordable fashion brands, and maybe sneaking in a few of our Met Gala thoughts while we’re at it.

Kelsey Sutton writes about Marketing Brew Weekly’s recent Webby Award
achievement. Read into the team behind the podcast that’s been running for only seven months.