BRAND STRATEGY

Morning Brew Inc., Photo: McDonald’s

Whether fan editors are getting jobs as full-time movie marketers at HBO or Spotify superfans are snagging specially saved concert tickets, the power of fandom is shaping how businesses across the board operate. So how are marketers taking fandom into strategic account?

At its core, fandom—whether of a character or a brand—provides a wealth of information on how passionate audiences consume, behave, and engage. According to Deloitte Digital’s Social Media and Fandom Insights report in 2025, 75% of Americans 18 and over count themselves part of a fandom. With that in mind, top executives at companies like Netflix, Tubi, Adobe, and Reddit are considering how fandom can shape brands’ connections to their audience—and what the opportunities can extend to marketing partners.

“At Netflix, if you love a show or a film, you are obsessed,” CMO Marian Lee said onstage at Netflix’s Fan Club experience at Cannes Lions. “We really wanted to take that theme of obsession, not in a stalker negative way, but in a positive way.”

Continue reading here.—JN

      

Sponsored By PwC

That is the question for AI right now on film sets.

Early concerns about intellectual property theft and actors and crew being replaced have certainly been discussed aplenty. But a new picture is beginning to cue up, and The Intelligence Shift has entered the scene to discuss it in 3…2…1.

Action: This episode was filmed parallel to the 25th annual Tribeca Film Festival, which has admitted the first AI film, Dreams of Violets, just this year. (Yep, much to discuss.)

Host Dan Priest is joined by Bryn Mooser, cofounder and CEO of Asteria Film. As an Emmy- and Peabody-winning filmmaker, Bryn brings deep knowledge to developing new filmmaking tools powered by AI.

Tune in to hear their convo.

BRAND STRATEGY

Illustration: Morning Brew Inc, Photos: Pantone

Color can set a tone, reflect a mood, evoke a feeling.

In 2026, Pantone’s Color of the Year, Cloud Dancer, “a billowy white imbued with serenity,” was positioned as a hue that allows “the mind to wander and creativity to breathe.” While it may not have been entirely received as such—the color reminds us of a blank Google Doc yet to be filled with the necessary words for a story—it could be a good juxtaposition to what comes next.

Of late, culture seems to be eschewing the infinite scroll and boomeranging back to an appreciation for all things real and human. Even Big Tech brands like Anthropic and, more recently, Meta, are using marketing messages about the importance of people.

“The more technology becomes part of our lives, the more we revert back to the things that make us human, whether it’s nature, authenticity, things that are real, and things that you can physically touch,” Laurie Pressman, VP of the Pantone Color Institute, told Marketing Brew. That may be especially true “at a time when we don’t trust anything.”

When it comes to color choices, that might mean we see more “energizing colors,” Pressman said. “Because those are the colors that give us comfort, that give us warmth, that make us feel something. It’s not that you don’t feel when you see other colors, but I think you gravitate toward what you’re looking for and what you’re looking to engage with and what you need.”

Continue reading here.—KM

      

AD TECH & PROGRAMMATIC

Adobe Stock

OpenAI continues to build out its ads business: Last week, the company laid out its policies for ad credits in a post published on its site.

The terms disclose how credits can be used, among other topics. Credits are nonrefundable and nontransferable, and OpenAI will not replace unused ad credits. Credits expire 90 days after allocation and cannot be used alongside other “credits, coupons, discounts, rebates, incentives, or makegoods.” The company also reserves the right to automatically apply credits to “eligible fees.” The terms also describe how taxes impact credits and assert OpenAI’s ability to “suspend, revoke, or void” credits.

OpenAI did not provide comment by publication time.

In the blink of an eye: OpenAI has steadily laid the foundation of its ads business after rolling out ads in the US about six months ago. That includes releasing a self-serve ads manager for advertisers, measurement offerings, and partnerships with ad-tech outfits like Pacvue. It’s also been hiring international ad leaders and brought on a CMO for its business unit, Salesforce vet Colin Fleming, in June.

Continue reading here.—JS

      

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Morning Brew

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

Snap to attention: Tips and tricks on approaching marketing on Snapchat.

Foot the bill: The skinny on building a content budget.

Think outside the box: How one supplement company is leveraging mail-order samples for customer acquisition.

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IN AND OUT

Francis Scialabba

Executive moves across the industry.

• Amazon MGM Studios brought on board HBO Max alum Pia Barlow as head of original series marketing.
• Magic Spoon hired Kraft Heinz and Chosen Foods alum Sarah Barnes as CMO.
• Scale AI tapped Google Cloud vet Francis deSouza as CEO.
• Whataburger hired Ryan Moore, whose previous roles include VP of finance at Taco Bell, as CFO.