There’s no product in higher demand than an ice-cold beverage at a World Cup stadium in the middle of the summer—expect, perhaps, a stick of deodorant.

Enter CPG giant Unilever, which owns brands including Axe, Dove, and Degree, and is activating its World Cup sponsorship in several host cities across North America. And while the 360-degree marketing effort includes pro athlete endorsements, influencer partnerships sit at the center.

“In a cynical world like today, the influencer, or the creator—people who people relate to and understand or appreciate from different walks of their life—they have much more power,” Ryu Yokoi, chief media and marketing capability officer for personal care and North America, told Marketing Brew at Unilever’s House of Fresh content hub and activation in Manhattan.

The space, which also has iterations in Mexico City and Miami, was designed as an invite-only experience for influencers that includes a small indoor soccer pitch, manicurists, and several stations to snag personalized merch like jerseys and deodorant sticks.

Though the World Cup is already the “biggest spectator event” in the world, creator hubs are meant to be “immediately shareable” and “immediately content-worthy” to extend the reach and impact of Unilever’s sponsorship as far as possible, Yokoi said, demonstrating the important role influencers are playing in the tournament.

Continue reading here.—AM

If you’re building a brand, it’s best not to break out the copy machine.

Don’t take our word for it—just ask Emily Heyward, the co-founder and CEO of the branding and marketing agency Red Antler, who has helped build the brand identities of iconic companies for decades.

“All of these aesthetic trends that we see, someone started them, and they come out with something that feels new and exciting and true to them,” Heyward said. “And then there’s all of these copycats, and each time it’s like a Xerox…it gets weaker and weaker.”

Heyward sat down with Marketing Brew at Cannes Lions to tell us more about the importance of finding a brand’s North Star and some of the branding that’s inspiring her today. Here are a few highlights.

See more from our conversation here.—KS

Natalie Marshall started creating social media content in 2020 just for fun.

Before long, she became known as “Corporate Natalie.” And what started as a hobby turned into a small business, Corporate Natalie LLC, inclusive of Marshall’s social media platforms, influencer marketing agency, and virtual assistant platform, that she runs as its CEO.

Marshall has picked up many titles along the way, including being boss. She has three full-time and about a half dozen part-time employees, with whom she said she’s collaborated with to create a company culture that values fulfillment.

“It’s important to us that we have a company culture that makes sense, that is beyond just my face on the channels,” Marshall said. “We’ve worked hard to establish what those company values are, and one of those are just that we try to find joy, and we try to find happiness, and we try to find fulfillment across both of our jobs.”

Read more on HR Brew.—MC

A 21-year-old college student who didn’t turn pro turned that into his superpower, and now with the World Cup, he’s seeing more growth than ever. Senior reporter Alyssa Meyers sat down with Kevin DeCristoforo to discuss the importance of transparent, authentic content, World Cup momentum, and his dream brand deal.