Since starting swimsuit brand Summersalt, Reshma Chattaram Chamberlin, co-founder and chief brand and digital officer, told us that the goal has been to “be the swimwear of choice for literally every woman in America.”

Rather than rely on characteristics like what a consumer looks like, where they live, or what they do, Chattaram Chamberlin said Summersalt tries to connect with customers by relating to the universal and “usually not pleasant” experience of swimsuit shopping.

As more brands position themselves as body-positive and body-neutral (like Victoria’s Secret), Chattaram Chamberlin said Summersalt is “focused on making people know what we’re the most authentic” and that “it’s not performative,” emphasizing that the brand started out in 2017 by doing body scans of 10,000 women and taking 1.5 million measurements to inform its sizing and fits.

In addition to selling swimsuits up to size 24, Summersalt sells products specifically designed for bodies with long torsos and showcases models of different sizes on its website.

After years of focusing its summer marketing on how Summersalt works for different sizes and builds, the brand is now homing in on its best-selling product and looking to form long-lasting relationships with its customers.

Read more about Summersalt’s strategy here.—KH

It’s been a heck of a year for Connected TV. 88% of US households subscribe to streaming services, and ad spend grew 57% over the last year. That’s a lot of dollars and viewers. It’s also a lot of data, stats, and trends for a marketer to keep track of.

But with MNTN Research in your corner, the more data, the merrier. Between their vast collection of performance data and their constant eye on the latest stories shaping the industry, MNTN Research is the go-to source for all things CTV analysis.

Get the insights you need about one of the fastest-growing marketing channels in one place, including:

• the stats shaping the latest advertising trends
• viewership analysis
• breakdowns of emerging formats and ad creative

Meet your new marketing secret weapon.

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

Holland Martini is co-founder and chief insights officer at research firm GoodQues. Throughout her career, she’s worked at Grey Group and UM Worldwide.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in marketing? Have you ever played the classic game, The 36 Questions That Lead to Love?…Yes? Now imagine doing this every day, with someone new—from different states, countries, backgrounds, ages, interests. Why does this game work? Because it helps you understand who the person really is so that you can connect with them. Our jobs as researchers are to be liaisons between our clients and consumers—helping the clients truly learn who their consumers are as real people, so those people can fall in love with them for who they are.

What’s your favorite ad campaign? My passion was never for advertising or ad campaigns—it was sexy, but I never saw myself in these campaigns. My passion, which led me to the industry, was studying people—what we do, why we do it, what we think, etc. My favorite ads are those that aren’t memorable for bizarre characters or [being] bold and sexy but that can truly capture something we all can feel. One example is Progressive’s “Turning Into Your Parents” campaign, which does just that for me. It’s something we all feel sometimes—turning into your parents—and brings emotion to what can be such a mundane industry.

One thing we can’t guess from your LinkedIn profile? I’m from a family of fishermen! My family describes me as “the one that lives in the big city.” When I am not nerding out behind the computer, building GoodQues, or even running marathons, I am with my brother and dad, knee-deep in swamp water, or freezing on a lake. It’s so easy for us, especially in advertising, to assume the people we are serving live lives just like us. Having a background so different from the world I live in today reminds me of the importance of looking at trends and data from multiple perspectives.

What’s one marketing-related podcast, social account, or series you’d recommend? This may be a cliche, but How I Built This with Guy Raz always inspires me. While it may not feel directly marketing-related and more business-related, every entrepreneur speaks to how they had to market themselves, their ideas, and their brands to be the success they are today.

This week, we’re highlighting some of our favorite summer-themed stories that Marketing Brew has written in the past. First up: Our bird’s-eye view of aerial advertising.

Lounging on the beach this summer? Look up—so are advertisers.

At the Rockaways or Coney Island, you can spot ads for ABC’s The Bachelorette or for the beachwear brand Fair Harbor trailing behind planes. Dunkin’ and Wawa, meanwhile, make sure their ads hover over the Jersey Shore.

It’s no metaverse activation or TikTok trend, but plane-pulled ads, known in the industry as “aerial advertisements,” deliver something brands may find elusive in other formats. Ads in the air are unskippable, un-mutable, and almost impossible for beachgoers to ignore.

“I defy you to sit at a beach or be at a music festival or sit at a concert and have a plane fly overhead and not look up,” said Jeremy Levine, VP of sales for the aerial division of the out-of-home advertising company Van Wagner.

Van Wagner is one of the largest national aerial advertising networks in the US, with operations in New York, California, Florida, beaches up and down the East Coast, and other major markets.

Alcohol brands, streaming platforms, film studios, delivery apps, startups, sports teams, and local retailers all choose aerial advertising for various purposes, and Levine said advertisers are drawn to the fact that aerial ads have a wide range of applications. Among their selling points: they don’t have to fight for attention when backdropped against the sky.

“You’re not competing with a bunch of other things,” Levine said. “It’s a clutter-free environment.”

Read more here about the benefits and drawbacks of plane-pulled advertising.—KS

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

Stand out: This research on mascots, logos, and slogans includes tips on how marketers can make the most of them.

Fishing for compliments: How Gen Z and social media contributed to the rise of tinned-fish brands like Fishwife.

Soft spot: LinkedIn looked into why B2B marketers are increasingly prioritizing soft skills.

Your CTV BFF: With 88% of US households subscribing to streaming services, marketers need to hone their Connected TV strategies. Luckily, MNTN Research gathers all the latest stats and trends in one place. Check it out.*

^{*This is sponsored advertising content.}