In 2016, the San Francisco 49ers partnered with a biotech company to encourage fans to pick up free DNA tests at Levi’s Stadium and donate blood samples to a human genome research project in exchange for comparing their genes to those of pro football players.

That sparked an investigation from the California Department of Public Health, but the fact remains: Some sports fans were willing to literally hand over DNA samples to see how similar they were to their favorite players.

While the everyday marketer won’t (and probably shouldn’t) get their hands on that kind of fan data, there’s plenty of other types of data available on sports fans for marketers to use. Despite that, some leaders in the sports industry say sports marketers are still fumbling when it comes to using the data they have access to.

“Despite all the sex and the glitter and the speed and all the things that people think about sports, it’s kind of behind most other industries when it comes to data,” Josh Walker, CEO of Sports Innovation Lab, said on a panel at CES.

There are a number of reasons why that may be the case; there’s also evidence that some brands and teams are increasingly embracing data in order to better target and personalize their marketing campaigns, several execs said at CES.

Block and tackle: Stephanie Rogers, VP of marketing for the Vegas Golden Knights, said on a panel that part of sports marketing’s data problem is that teams largely use external platforms to sell tickets, meaning that purchase data doesn’t go straight to them. And, due in part to privacy restrictions, some of the information from ticket sales can’t be shared with the team at all, she said during a panel.

• Teams are able to gather first-party data from fans through surveys, and there’s census data to leverage, but that “seems way outdated to be using in 2024,” Rogers said, and can leave sports marketers feeling like “we’re trying to piece together a puzzle.”

There can also be a lack of interest for teams to share data with one another, Christine Wylie, senior director of sports sponsorships and partnerships at Verizon, said onstage.

• “The Vegas Knights don’t necessarily want to share their fan data with the San Jose Sharks because there’s a risk there that [Knights fans] could then become San Jose Sharks fans,” Wylie said. It’s “a backwards way of thinking, because let’s all grow the game, but that’s the way I think it’s been traditionally looked at.”

Keep reading here.—AM

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There were lots of houses built in the last few years—TikTok houses, we mean.

From Hype House and Sway House to Clubhouse, influencer mansions have served as content-filming playgrounds as well as the backdrops of plenty of drama. But a new place for influencers to work, called The Lighthouse, is aiming to stand out—for not being like those other houses.

“There were challenges in that model, as with anything, if you have a group of people living together,” Neil Waller, co-founder of creator company Whalar, which operates The Lighthouse, told Marketing Brew. “It’s not that we’ve created some brand-new thing…It’s more in response to the reality of where the creator economy is and what creators need.”

The Lighthouse, which is planning to open coworking “campuses” in creator-heavy cities including Brooklyn, London, and Venice, California, is a division of Whalar, which pitches The Lighthouse as being less like a house and more like a college campus, Waller said.

• The facilities, which are projected to open in Venice and Brooklyn in 2024 and London in 2025, are billed as a place where creators can come and create content while working—and networking—with others, seven days a week.

“In the professional environment of the gig economy, people are becoming freelancers and masters of their own domain. We really view creators as entrepreneurs and small-business owners,” Waller told us. “With that trend, where do [creators] go to meet their peers? Where do they go to get education and support?”

Continue reading here.—JS

NBCU last week rolled out One Platform Total Audience, an AI-supported ad tool that incorporates machine learning, predictive analytics, first-party data, and advertiser data to create a media plan designed to reach an advertiser’s target audience across both linear and streaming, according to a news release.

NBCU Global Ads and Partnerships Chairman Mark Marshall said at CES that the tool is a response to changing consumer attitudes. He said streaming “is bringing in a new audience. It’s not just cannibalizing linear.”

“The consumer mindset has changed,” he said. “As an industry, we haven’t changed as much as we need to. Measurement was still bifurcated.”

• NBCU claims the number of its advertisers who use audience-based buying has grown 25% in the last year, totaling almost 60% of its advertisers.
• In early tests, advertisers notched a 25% higher engagement rate over just age and gender demographics, according to an NBCU press release.

One Platform Total Audience follows other ad tools it has debuted in recent years, such as expanded One Platform offerings in partnership with Comcast’s ad platform FreeWheel, or Peacock Ad Manager, its programmatic ad portal. Earlier this month, NBCU teamed up with GroupM, Disney, and Roku, among others, to develop new ad formats for streamers.

Continue reading here.—JS

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

Not-so-boozy: How major alcohol brands are capitalizing on Dry January.

B2bad: Tips from marketers about how B2B brands can create content.

On the cal: A prefilled calendar for marketers with campaign ideas for various holidays.

Boss up: Looking to up your PR game? Katie Gatti Tassin and Tara Reed break down effective PR tactics and tools in this episode of BOSSY.