After three days in Washington, DC, Marketing Brew’s got sore feet and a head full of privacy jargon.

We’ve just returned from covering the IAB’s Public Policy & Legal Summit and the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) Global Privacy Summit, where both event organizers and their attendees acknowledged the flurry of privacy legislation, at the local, state, and federal levels. While the latter wasn’t explicitly a digital advertising conference, consumer data was at the heart of nearly every discussion, the currency for the digital ecosystem.

“There’s more advertising people here than ever before, people who are not privacy lawyers but are advertising lawyers,” Dona J. Fraser, SVP of privacy initiatives at BBB National Programs, told Marketing Brew.

While we already covered the IAB’s summit, here’s everything we saw at the IAPP’s summit.

HIPAA time? Perhaps the biggest news to come from the conference? A representative from the Department of Health and Human Services said that the agency is investigating data allegedly shared between healthcare providers and third parties via digital trackers.

• “We’re seeing people go in and type symptoms, put in information, and that information is being disclosed in a way that’s inconsistent with HIPAA and being used to potentially track people, and that is a problem,” Melanie Fontes Rainer, HHS’s director of the Office for Civil Rights, said.
• In December, the agency issued guidance on the subject, reminding companies subject to HIPAA rules that the use of trackers like pixels or cookies is not allowed “in a manner that would result in impermissible disclosures” of personal health information, including to third parties.

Continue reading here.—RB

Netflix, but make it fashion.

Lacoste and the streaming service have partnered on an apparel collection that will bring characters, creatures, and other imagery from eight Netflix series to polos, sweatshirts, tracksuits, and hats.

Iconography from eight shows including Bridgerton, Elite, Lupin, Money Heist, Sex Education, Shadow & Bone, Stranger Things, and The Witcher will be reimagined on Lacoste apparel as part of the collection, the companies announced today. On some of the designs, Lacoste’s iconic crocodile logo has adopted some of the features from creatures and characters from the Netflix series, whether that’s the gaping tooth-lined jaws of the Demogorgon monster from Stranger Things or one of Queen Charlotte’s towering wigs from Bridgerton.

The Lacoste collection, which will be promoted on Netflix and Lacoste’s social media channels via a series of co-branded videos, will be available for sale beginning April 12 in some Lactose retail locations, on Lacoste.com, and on Netflix.shop, the companies said. Prices for the items will range from $30 to $210.

Tag team: Netflix’s partnership with Lacoste marks the streamer’s most recent partnership with a retailer as it continues to push into branded merchandise and build out its e-commerce site, which it started in 2021. Executives at the streamer, which last counted more than 230 million global subscribers, have said consumer products help them engage with fans while reinforcing the popularity of Netflix programming.

“Whether that’s online or in stores, we want to make it easier for [consumers] to engage with the films and series that they love,” Josh Simon, Netflix’s VP of consumer products, previously told Marketing Brew.

Better together: Netflix has pushed into consumer products through mass merchandise sold through retailers like Walmart, pop-ups at retailers like Bloomingdale’s, and limited edition collaborations with makeup retailers like Sephora and brands like Pat McGrath.—KS

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

Britt Fero is founder and CEO of PB&, an agency based in Seattle.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in marketing? I figure out the best way to sell people things they don’t need and have them feel good about it.

Favorite project you’ve worked on? I had the opportunity to brand a country. Working at Fallon, I steered the course for the rebranding of the Islands of the Bahamas. This meant literally developing a mark and identity that represented a country. It was a huge responsibility, and I consider it an honor. It’s one of the things in my life I have found most rewarding.

What’s your favorite ad campaign? This is a ridiculously hard question. There’s a lot I love for different reasons. I have been a big fan of what Coors Light has done around March Madness. From the free pints every time Bud Light went after them to the Chill Pops, these are insightful and meaningful ways to connect with fans. Beer ads can tend to be formulaic or just broad humor, and I appreciate the brand actions Coors Light has taken to stand apart. If I have to pick true ads—I have always been a fan of the simplicity of Got Milk. Super-true human insight, brilliantly celebrated. And the Liquid Death Super Bowl spot last year was hugely disruptive and just fun. It made everyone think twice.

One thing we can’t guess from your LinkedIn profile? I am an avid sports fan. I love March Madness a lot. When I founded PB&, I declared an annual company holiday on the first day of the tournament. I’m also a Big Ten gal and grew up a Hawkeye fan. I’m proud to be a 12. And the list goes on.

What marketing trend are you most optimistic about? Least? A return to brand marketing. People need stories. Stories are what connect us to each other and to brands. Over the past few years, many brands have seemed to shift from story to sell and now we’re seeing the pendulum swing back and celebrate the stories brands can be part of.

I’m least excited about TikTok. I completely understand it and its role, but having been sucked into the endless scroll myself, I don’t love contributing to the fixation.

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

Ch-ch-changes: Get up to speed on Google’s plans to remove four attribution models from Google Ads and Google Analytics.

Clock it: Read up on these case studies from TikTok on ways to reach niche communities on the app.

TTFN[FT]: Pour one out for Instagram NFTs, which will no longer be available on the platform beginning today.

Listen, learn, win: Iterable’s Activate Summit is a meeting of marketing masterminds. Hear from the CMOs of Strava, Gitlab, Iterable, and Vimeo, plus TikTok star Corporate Natalie. Register in the next 5 days to win a $1k Airbnb gift card.*

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Get in a room with marketing experts from almost every industry for a day of nonstop networking at The Brief: A Marketing Brew Summit.

We’re beyond excited to sit down with Angela Vargo, VP of Marketing, Communications, and Product Experience at Breeze Airways, for her session on “Turning Major Setbacks into Mega Marketing Opportunities.”

Don’t let any major setbacks stop you from grabbing a ticket today!

Ahead of Easter, candy company Cadbury holds “Bunny Tryouts,” where rescue animals “compete” for a chance to star in the company’s annual Clucking Bunny commercial campaign. This year, Crash, a one-eyed rescue cat, became the first feline to win the award. How many years has Cadbury held the tryouts?

1. 20 years
2. 15 years
3. 10 years
4. 5 years

Keep scrolling for the answer.

Catch up on a few Marketing Brew stories you might have missed.

• Ad spend in the US will grow more than initially expected this year, per S&P
• A conversation with the CMO of the North Face
• Healthcare systems are leaning into search and SEO—but it’s easier said than done