In recent years, many people have been asking, “Is it cake?” When it comes to billboards, there’s another age-old question: “Is it paint?”

For anyone who’s ever seen hand-painted ads in cities like Atlanta, Chicago, or Portland, Oregon, chances are high that they were done by Colossal Media. The company began in Brooklyn in 2004 with a goal to revive the once-dying art of sign painting, and has since expanded to 85 locations around the country, Jennifer Edelberg, VP at Colossal, told us. Clients over the years have included Coca-Cola, Delta Airlines, and Gucci, which has its own designated wall in Manhattan in partnership with Colossal.

“We singlehandedly resurrected this craft,” Edelberg said, calling other companies that now offer hand-painted ads “an honor and a testament to how powerful the format is.”

With Colossal’s 20-year anniversary approaching, Edelberg walked us through the craftsmanship that’s been driving the company and keeping advertisers hooked for nearly two decades.

Read the full story here.—KH

When it comes to crafting winning holiday marketing campaigns, don’t start decking the halls with every marketing idea you’ve got and risk team burnout and audience disengagement.

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Intuit Mailchimp’s Holiday Report breaks down the most effective ways to deliver personalized marketing at scale to maximize impact. If you’re already feeling the pressure, peek into the free guide for data-backed insights, expert advice, and real-world examples that can help bring the inspo and revenue.

Crushing holiday sales comes down to a tailored personalization strategy, not throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks. If you’re ready to boost your holiday potential, check out Intuit Mailchimp’s actionable advice.

Reddit will no longer let users opt out of ad personalization, the company’s head of privacy and assurance wrote in a post on the platform.

In the post, Jutta Williams said the “vast majority of redditors” won’t see any changes. According to Williams, advertisers use on-platform activity—such as which communities a user joins or which posts they upvote and downvote—to serve personalized ads.

“Reddit requires very little personal information, and we like it that way,” Williams wrote. When Marketing Brew reached out for more info, the company declined to comment.

However, Williams said users will soon be able to limit ads from categories like alcohol, dating, gambling, and parenting. The changes are expected to roll out in the coming weeks.

Williams noted that the ad personalization changes will only apply in certain countries, not specifying which ones would be affected. European countries could be exempt from the change due to the general data protection regulation (GDPR), the EU privacy law that requires companies to get consent from users before collecting their data.

Keep reading here.—JS

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

Dina Rosenbloom is CMO of Hairstory, a hair-care brand. Previously, she held marketing roles at companies including Unilever and Creed.

What’s your favorite ad campaign? Dove broke the mold in 2004 when they started to use real people for their “Real Beauty” campaign. It set a new standard in the beauty space, from mass to luxury. That was incredibly innovative at the time, and the standard that they created had staying power that altered the industry.

One thing we can’t guess from your LinkedIn profile? I love Burning Man and am a burner at heart. Luckily, I didn’t go this year, but I have been to Burning Man twice and attended several regional Burns over the years as well. I love the community and energy that can only be found there.

What’s one marketing-related podcast, social account, or series you’d recommend? I love Julia Louis Dreyfus’s Wiser Than Me podcast, and while it isn’t inherently a marketing podcast, I think that the interviews she conducts with female icons provide so many incredible insights that can be translated into the marketing space. I also enjoy The goop Podcast and love that it’s so varied. She interviews so many interesting experts across various specializations. I’ve learned so many incredible insights, observations, and cultural obscurities through The goop Podcast.

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

Help me out: TikTok has unveiled a “creative assistant” that can help marketers craft ads for the platform.

You’ve got mail: Some tips for sending more impactful emails.

Keep up: Read about the latest updates to Microsoft Advertising’s Audience Ads here.

Get personal: Intuit Mailchimp’s Holiday Report explores 6 data-backed insights into crushing holiday sales with a strategic, personalized approach. See what works and what doesn’t by reading it for free.*

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Mergers and acquisitions, company partnerships, and more.

• Former CNN head Jeff Zucker’s investment company acquired a minority stake in the sports business news site Front Office Sports.
• Fête, the marketing division of Issa Rae’s Hoorae Media, entered into a strategic partnership with the agency Team Epiphany.
• The Charlotte Hornets have a new jersey sponsor: Feastables, the snack brand owned by YouTuber MrBeast.