Everything is getting smaller—and no, we’re not just talking about shrinkflation.

Mini products are becoming ubiquitous across brand categories. Take the Trader Joe’s mini totes, which are set to come back this fall after repeatedly going viral over the last two years, or L.L.Bean’s mini Boat and Tote bags that it unveiled over the summer. Even Hermés and Fendi have gotten into the micro-handbag trend in recent years.

Beauty brands that perhaps weren’t already tapping into the travel-sized or stocking-stuffer market, like La Mer and Jones Road, have also dipped their toes in the pond in the last year as brands like Ulta and Target have partnered with toymakers like Mini Brands and MGA to create tiny toy replicas of their signature products. Even Frito-Lay has rolled out a line of mini Cheetos, Doritos, and Sun Chips.

Minis, brand marketers told us, allow brands to introduce themselves to new customers, particularly Gen Z and millennials, at a time when budgets are tight and economic concerns are high. Beyond that, minis are generating attention online for simply being adorable.

“There’s definitely more of an opportunity for virality when something is small and cute,” said Alex Kalatzis, director of marketing at beauty brand Tower 28, which sells miniature versions of many of its most popular products.

Try before you buy: Miniature products aren’t exactly new in marketing, as sample sizes have long existed to give customers a taste of a bite-sized snack or a quick spritz of perfume. The difference now is that at a time of price-consciousness, many consumers are interested in buying smaller, more affordable items before committing to more expensive, full-sized purchases.

Continue reading here.—KH

The remedy phase of United States v. Google LLC kicked off in a federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, on Monday. In its opening statement, the US Department of Justice’s team called Google’s proposed remedy a “Band-Aid on a seriously severed limb.”

Google and the DOJ are back in court to make their cases in front of US District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema, who sided with the DOJ in April. Lawyers from both sides gave opening statements today and questioned witnesses. Marketing Brew condensed several hours’ worth of ad-tech executives using obscure vocabulary into a digestible roundup, below.

Hit the ground running: Both the DOJ’s and Google’s opening statements focused on pushing back on the other side’s proposed remedies. The DOJ’s team argued that Google should divest its ad exchange AdX. Google’s team, on the other hand, argued against a divestiture, making the case for other, smaller remedies. Among the remedies Google’s team suggested were amending its contracts with publishers and increasing interoperability with other ad servers.

Witnesses who took the stand:

• Grant Whitmore, VP, ad tech and programmatic revenue at the publisher Advance Local: Whitmore took the stand to share his experience using Google’s ad products. He advocated for the divestiture of AdX to boost competition, saying that Google’s dominance is “unhealthy.” He also criticized the “opaque” nature of Google’s publisher ad server.
• Andrew Casale, president and CEO of Index Exchange, an SSP: Casale, who appeared in the first phase of the trial last fall (and whose company is an AdX competitor), claimed that Google’s ad products have stifled competition.

We’ll be back tomorrow with another recap of everything that happened in court.—JS

Each week, we spotlight Marketing Brew readers in our Coworking series. If you’d like to be featured, introduce yourself here.

Ashley Shaffer is CMO of Redscout, a Stagwell-owned brand strategy and design consultancy. She’s worked in strategy and leadership roles at brands like Netflix, Ideo, Preacher, and Outerknown.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in marketing? I finally finessed my answer to this when I went to work in-house in marketing at Netflix. My mom finally tapped into what I did because I worked for a brand she’d heard of! “You know how Netflix makes all these famous shows and movies, like Stranger Things, Orange is the New Black, and Squid Game? There are lots of smart people that make those shows and that market those shows so you’ll watch them. I work on making people want to subscribe to and fall in love with Netflix.” That super simple explanation of building brand love and resilience hasn’t failed me.

Favorite project you’ve worked on? Earlier this year we partnered on a really unique project with the Seattle Sounders and Seattle Reign FC ownership group. The brief was to act as the organization’s fractional CMO, help them find efficiencies, and set a marketing strategy that would help both teams “play offense.” For the Reign, that meant breathing fresh life into their visual brand and setting the strategy for this iconic club to take on the next decade of growth. As a lifelong soccer fan, I couldn’t have designed a dream project better myself.

What’s your favorite ad campaign? I love Ikea’s style—making the utility category fun and famous. If I have to pick one, it would be when they re-created the living room from The Simpsons. The first ad campaign I remember paying attention to was the Absolut print series from my childhood, during the 1980s–90s. I’m sure I wasn’t the intended audience, and I had never tasted vodka, but boy, did my Rolling Stone subscription teach me a thing or two about an advertising concept.

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Mergers and acquisitions, company partnerships, and more.

• AB InBev and Netflix struck up a “first-of-its-kind deal” that will make several of the beverage giant’s beer brands title sponsors of shows and live events on the streamer, per THR.
• Starbucks became one of the founding partners of the LA28 Olympics.
• The New York Rangers made sports and entertainment brand Game 7 its first-ever jersey-patch sponsor.
• Jim Beam was announced as the official spirits sponsor of the Cadillac F1 team, which will join the grid next season.
• Carvana is working with Shaquille O’Neal for a campaign that sees the used-car dealer rebranded as “Shaqvana.”
• SiriusXM inked a deal with Amazon that gives buyers access to its audio ads through Amazon’s DSP.