It’s been more than two years since the first NIL deals went live, but some marketers still see the space as the “wild West,” as a few sports attorneys and marketers put it.

Maybe that’s because the legal framework for NIL is still evolving: “The landscape was shifting as we learned it,” as Ibotta CMO Richard Donahue put it. NIL rules also differ state to state, and brands can’t work directly with schools to facilitate deals with athletes (although that could change).

“It’s a space that a lot of people are interested in, but at the same time, traditional marketers may still be a little bit cautious, unsure of what the rules are, how to navigate [them]...once they hear ‘state-by-state rules,’ a lot of national advertisers kind of turn off,” Jim Johnston, sports and entertainment attorney at Davis+Gilbert, told Marketing Brew.

Still, many brands have taken advantage of NIL—an NCAA rule that lets student athletes profit off of their name, image, and likeness—over the past few years. Companies ranging from American Eagle to Shake Shack have crafted campaigns centered on college athletes. As Johnston said, “the hurdles are not as significant” as some marketers might expect.

For those who might just be getting acquainted with student athletes, NIL experts advise keeping a few best practices in mind to avoid a false start.

Keep reading here.—AM

Or gardening, or walking the dog. Some of the best marketing comes when you don’t expect it, like when you’re listening to your favorite daily podcast. Audio advertising is an incredibly powerful marketing channel, and marketers who seize its potential with high-quality campaigns can see big returns.

Get tuned in to everything you need to know about bringing audio into your marketing mix with Audacy’s State of Audio.

This report is chock-full of data and case studies to help you level up your audio strategy. You’ll learn about:

• practical budget-planning tips
• creative cheat codes from the best in the biz
• the future of audio, from AI to Gen Z

Get the full report.

Much like choosing a costume, Halloween campaigns can be masterfully executed or miss the mark. So which ones were delightfully frightful, and which ones were boo-ring?

Here are some of the ways brands celebrated spooky season this year:

• M&Ms created a “Halloween Rescue Squad” with instant-delivery company GoPuff to replenish low candy stocks within an hour for free on Halloween. The brand also worked with influencers like @jjniemann to promote its Ghoul Mix starting last month.
• Twix created an ad to promote its “Ghoulish Green” candy variation that’s running on TV and online.
• Uber Eats partnered with Hollywood studios to create promo codes based on horror movie taglines. Those who guess correctly get a discount on Halloween candy, costumes, and more.
• Angel Soft is running a costume contest based on the concept of toilet-paper mummies.
• Streamers like Paramount+ worked with influencers to promote their Halloween show and movie offerings.
• Hulu, on the other hand, did an IRL activation in LA—a haunted house based on some of the horror programming it’s streaming, like American Horror Story and Goosebumps.
• Disney+ partnered with Fresh Sends to create a “HallowSend” gift box that includes flowers and a Disney+ gift card.
• Pop-Tarts worked with Adult Swim’s Robot Chicken to make a Halloween ad that’s running on TV and online.
• Jack in the Box made a short horror film, Feeding Time, to promote its Angry Monster Tacos.
• Burger King also made a horror short, The Call, to promote its Ghost Pepper Whopper.
• Airheads asked people to create “spooky but fun” films using AI as part of its “Scarefest” filmmaking contest.
• Rimmel London ran an influencer campaign on Halloween makeup tutorials.
• The Inkey List did the opposite: showing influencers taking off their Halloween makeup to promote its skin-care products.

Back again: Spirit Halloween partnered with brands like Shake Shack, Barbie, and Butterfinger throughout the month. Much like the brand’s physical locations, these promotions will soon be but a memory…until next year.

+1: Maybe this isn’t exactly Halloween related, but it has witchy vibes: Jaffa Cakes recruited Bonnie Tyler, singer of “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” for a video on eclipses…and cookies. The brand is also promoting its Jaffaween cakes on TikTok.—KH

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

Lauren Sallata is CMO at Ricoh, an information management and digital services company. Earlier in her career, Sallata held senior marketing roles at companies including Panasonic and Xerox.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in marketing? I am a builder. I have spent my career building teams, building bridges between functional areas within an organization, building technology stacks, and, of course, building stories that change the company narrative and build customer loyalty.

What’s your favorite ad campaign? How can you go wrong if you pair Cookie Monster with Apple? And it is brilliant that the outtakes took on a life of their own—talk about extending your media buy. It goes back to the iPhone 6s with Siri, but the creativity and optimism are ageless. Watch it and see if you don’t say “Siri, you know me!” or “Me ok. Me trooper.” Still shareable today.

One thing we can’t guess from your LinkedIn profile? Well, I am guessing you can’t gather from LinkedIn that I am a band promoter! I flex my marketing skills to run social media and a website for my son and his band, Sunrise Cries.

What marketing trend are you most optimistic about? Least? The marketing trend that I am most optimistic about is account-based marketing. While not technically a trend because it has been kicking around for quite a while, the adoption of it in certain segments of B2B has been slower than others. It is a true game-changer because it requires deep collaboration between sales and marketing. At Ricoh, it is the necessary next step after forming the first vertical industry marketing teams. Now each team can work closely with their corresponding sales team on developing relationships, improving reputation, and driving revenue within key accounts.

Least optimistic? I can’t say that there is anything I would call out. Marketing is all about testing and learning, so while there are some strategies and tactics that don’t work for us, they may be home runs for others. We have to keep an open mind to it all.

Continue reading here.

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

Look over there: This how-to walks through how to optimize a brand’s digital assets to maximize visibility through AI-powered visual search tools.

Bah humbug: This guide from TikTok has tips on how to make the most of the post-Christmas sales period.

Perfect timing: Here are the best times and days to send marketing emails, according to research.

Customer care: Generative AI can help you up your customer service game by taking advantage of large language models and deep learning techniques. And that’s just the beginning. Learn more about IBM Consulting.*

Festive fix: The trick to coming out on top of the holiday rush as a marketer? You’ve got to use data to create personalized experiences. We teamed up with Intuit Mailchimp to give you the scoop. Learn more.*

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Mergers and acquisitions, company partnerships, and more.

• Omnicom acquired the digital commerce company Flywheel Digital in what the agency holding company said was its largest acquisition ever.
• Shein acquired the British fast-fashion brand Missguided as it continues to diversify its business.
• Buzzfeed is in talks to sell Complex Networks to e-commerce company Ntwrk for less than $140 million.
• General Motors reached a tentative agreement with the United Auto Workers union after a six-week strike.