In 2016, as people pored over references on Beyoncé’s Lemonade album, another mystery was at play: that of Lil Miquela.

After her debut on Instagram that year, she went viral. Fascinated by her human-like appearance, many wondered whether she was a marketing stunt, a real person, or something else entirely.

Finally, in 2018, the truth was revealed when her creators, Trevor McFedries and Sara DeCou of robotics and AI firm Brud, announced they were behind Lil Miquela. Since then, she has maintained her popularity as a virtual influencer, amassing over 2.5 million Instagram followers and collaborating with brands like Pacsun and Samsung.

“Miquela has millions of followers as part of her community, and her overall personality, where it fits with brands, can be really valuable in reaching others,” Ridhima Kahn, VP of partnerships at Dapper Labs, the blockchain company that acquired Brud in 2021, told us.

Lil Miquela was just the beginning of a trend that is gaining traction among marketers. Other virtual influencers have surfaced since her debut, like Noonoouri and Imma, who have approximately 400,000 Instagram followers each. Meanwhile, brands like Coinbase, fashion brand Maje, and Tiffany & Co. have partnered with virtual influencers over the past few years.

Brands are looking to partner with virtual influencers—or in some cases, create their own—but with the rapid development of technology that’s often involved in creating them, like AI, it’s a space that’s still being understood.

Still, according to Ansley Williams, Ogilvy’s head of influencer marketing for North America, the trend will only grow. “Virtual influencers are definitely becoming a bigger, wider space. As influencer marketers, we’re hearing a lot more about it,” she said. 

Read the full story here.—JS

Our digital world is prettyyy content-saturated. Look to your left or right and bam, you’re faced with content or content-adjacent material.

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Cresco Labs, one of the largest cannabis companies in the US, is running a campaign on Spotify, marking a first for the brand.

The ads promote its Sunnyside dispensaries and are running in Illinois, where marijuana is legal. The campaign encompasses 30-second audio ads, in-app digital banners, programmatic advertising, native ads, and connected TV.

For cannabis brands, advertising across tech platforms can be complicated. While X recently updated its ad policy to allow for cannabis advertising in states where it’s legal, it’s not permitted on platforms including Google and Meta, though the latter two allow certain CBD and hemp brands to advertise in some instances.

According to Spotify, Cresco Labs is not the first company that sells THC products to advertise on its platform, though cannabis-related advertising is restricted in some respects. Spotify spokesperson Erin Styles told us “certain cannabis-related products,” like CBD, can be advertised on the platform in a restricted capacity, while ads that “explicitly promote the sale of other cannabis-related products, including flowers, vapes, and associated products such as rolling papers,” are not permitted.

However, for cannabis companies, branding campaigns that don’t mention particular products are permitted on Spotify; Cresco Labs’s ads reference its “wellness products” without explicitly mentioning cannabis.

Continue reading here.—JS

Stranger Things fans wanting to experience the Starcourt Mall for themselves may not be able to visit it in real life, but they can now get a taste of it.

Starting today, Walmart stores in the US will start selling Stranger Things-themed ice cream under the brand name Scoops Ahoy, named after an ice cream parlor that featured prominently in the series’s third season. Flavors include four regular-sounding flavors like Cinnamon Bun Bytes, Triple Decker Extravaganza, Chocolate Pudding, and U.S.S. Butterscotch, as well as three “Upside Down” flavors like Mint Flare, The Void, and Pineapple Upside Down.

Scoops Ahoy ice cream, which is also available today in Australia, will eventually roll out in Brazil, Italy, Japan, Mexico, and the UK.

The move is the latest push from Netflix into consumer products as a way to engage with subscribers and build out additional revenue streams. It also marks a continuation of Netflix’s now-extensive partnership with Walmart, which has also included in-store hubs and a digital storefront on Walmart.com. Netflix has also explored pop-ups and limited-edition collaborations with retailers and brands.

Keep reading here.—KS

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

Tell me directly: DTC investor Nik Sharma talked to Retail Brew about how he determines whether to invest in a DTC company.

Crystal ball: Why the future of media involves “sequencing,” according to Brian Morrissey, who writes a media biz newsletter.

Have it your way: Get up to speed on custom algorithms via this explainer.

Big names, big gains: Wanna stay relevant in a digitally distracted world? Hear from Quinta Brunson, Spotify, and LinkedIn—to name just a few exciting speakers—at Vimeo’s online Outside the Frame event on Sept. 26. Register for free.*

AI am loving this product: Influencer marketing, meet AI technology. See how brands like Coinbase and Tiffany & Co. are partnering with virtual influencers—and getting real results—in our latest article, sponsored by Tagger.*

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Stat: We’re number three! We’re number three! North America is expected to fall behind Asia and Western Europe next year in terms of homes with at least one streaming subscription, according to the research firm Ampere Analysis.

Quote: “But we’re hearing through the course of this whole dialogue that there are some places where we can make things clearer, and that’s the type of thing we’re looking at.”—Dan Taylor, Google’s VP of global ads, to AdExchanger about feedback from advertisers in the wake of two recent reports from research firm Adalytics about the company’s advertising practices

Read: “How Barstool Built an Empire by Swiping Sports Highlights” (the Daily Beast)

Flavor drop: Coke released a limited-edition flavor called Y3000 that it said AI helped create. Hmmm. A Reddit user said it tastes like “What The Fanta 4.0 with Coke.”