How do brands sponsor a league that has no local teams, stadiums, or a robust US linear broadcast schedule? If you ask the World Surf League (WSL), it’s easier than it might sound.

“We are small, so we can be really innovative,” WSL CMO Sarah Swanson told Marketing Brew. “We are our own league, and we do control every aspect of it, so we can be really flexible, we can be really nimble, we can be really creative in a way that one of the largest sports definitely can’t.”

Surfing hasn’t quite broken into the mainstream in the US the way it has in countries like Brazil and Australia, Swanson said, but the WSL has nonetheless landed some major brand partners like Apple, Yeti, Billabong, Rip Curl, and Red Bull. In the coming years, the sport could stand to find further popularity as a result of its recent inclusion in the Olympics.

Marketing with the WSL is in some ways like marketing with other sports leagues, with options that include different tiers of sponsorships, athlete partnerships, and various forms of ad inventory. But there are some peculiarities, like the sport’s lack of stadium real estate and somewhat unpredictable schedules, which could mean rougher waters for some brands.

Read more about the world of the WSL here.—AM

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Video games and esports found some new audiences in the early days of the pandemic, and the industry has ads to thank for its continued growth in the US, according to a report from PwC.

Revenue in the sector was up 2.4% year over year to about $54 billion in 2022, and is on track to increase at about a 6% compound annual growth rate to $72 billion by 2027, per the report. The industry’s advertising revenue is projected to nearly double between 2022 and 2027, ​​CJ Bangah, a principal in PwC’s customer transformation practice and author of the report, told Marketing Brew.

App ads: The biggest chunk of revenue in the US video game market came from “social and casual gaming,” per PwC. This includes gaming apps on smartphones, tablets, and browsers. While those games sometimes generate revenue from in-app purchases and subscription fees, the largest source of revenue came from in-app ads, the report said.

• In-app games ad revenue accounted for more than half (52%) of social and casual gaming revenue last year, or $19.3 billion.
• Some of those ads can be of the “lead-gen” variety, Bangah said, like banners or popups that prompt players to enter information in exchange for in-game rewards.
• Last summer, Marketing Brew reported that several major publishers were buying ads like these in an apparent effort to boost traffic.

OG gamers: There’s also traditional gaming, which PwC defines as play that happens on PCs and games consoles like PlayStation and Xbox. This segment accounted for just over a quarter of total video games and esports revenue in the US last year. While that type of gaming has traditionally not been as friendly to advertising, “even those types of games are starting to embrace advertising,” Bangah said.—AM

Expensive Bottega bags, glamorous holidays on a Caribbean island, private jet trips: Gen Z seems to have it all—well, at least on TikTok, which is filled with young users showing off enviable lifestyles.

But how do they afford it? Well, we don’t know about the jets and the luxury holidays, but we might have a clue as to where a lot of Gen Zers are acquiring their luxurious-looking handbags and accessories: Amazon, or probably a fast fashion brand. Some items favored by Gen Z influencers are very convincing dupes—products that appear to mimic the make and style of coveted luxury items.

• On TikTok the hashtag #dupe boasts almost 4.5 billion views. There are also independent hashtags for specific brands, like #PradaDupe which has ~17.4 million views.

“TikTok users tend to be really heavy Amazon and Walmart shoppers, and they are much more likely to make purchases through social media,” Claire Tassin, retail and ecommerce analyst at Morning Consult, told Retail Brew, adding that Gen Z on average were “high volume” shoppers. She said 60% of daily TikTok users are likely to make purchases through social media, compared to 36% of the general population.

• And per research from Morning Consult Brand Intelligence, Gen Z spent an average of $104.50 per month on apparel, higher than any other generation.

So what may be the environmental impact of these shopping habits, and what’s a luxury retailer to do? Read more here.—JS

Young’uns: A guide to understanding the newest consumer: Gen Alpha.

Cannes I get a round of applause: A look at the most-awarded creative ad campaigns from Cannes.

Crystal ball: Forecasting the future of advertising in 2023.

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Executive moves across the industry.

• The Berry, a London-based video production company, hired Chris Galvin as a producer and Alex Burnham as a project manager.
• MSNBC is bringing social media personality Brian Tyler Cohen on as a contributor.
• Attachment, a London-based entertainment marketing agency, named Ana Thorsdottir as innovation director, social and creators.