Some brands sponsor sporting events. The advertising arm of the dairy-milk industry is creating one of its own.

The milk industry has long tried to appeal to women and mothers, and the Milk Processor Education Program, aka MilkPEP, has embraced running as a way to reach them since 2022, when it set up a sponsorship program called Team Milk tied to the New York City Marathon before sponsoring several regional and national races last year.

The positive response to those efforts “created this opportunity in our minds, given there is no national-level marathon for just women at a full length,” MilkPEP CEO Yin Woon Rani told Marketing Brew. “When we did the research, what was interesting to discover was that a majority of women who run don’t find the races naturally designed for the female experience.”

So MilkPEP, along with its agency of record, Gale, decided to make one: The Every Woman’s Marathon, which aims to elevate women runners, raise money for charity, and “make milk matter more” again, as Rani put it, as the industry faces increasing competition from nondairy alternatives.

Continue reading here.—AM

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Milk’s favorite cookie is back for America’s favorite sport.

After an 11-year hiatus, Oreo will once again advertise in this year’s Super Bowl. The brand’s 30-second spot, which features Kardashian family matriarch Kris Jenner, aims to reinforce Oreo’s relevance, according to VP of Oreo US Michelle Deignan.

“Oreo has been around for 110 years, and part of the reason we’ve been around for so long is our consistent drive to be in culture,” Deignan told Marketing Brew. “When we look at the Super Bowl, there is no more culturally relevant moment for consumers and advertising.”

Twist of fate: Oreo’s ad, called “Twist on It,” is set to air during the second quarter of the game. It depicts a few different scenarios in which people make important decisions based on which side of an Oreo the cream sticks to when they twist it open, culminating with Jenner using the twist method to decide if she should agree to the making of Keeping Up With the Kardashians.

The concept of “Twist on It” is rooted in real consumer behavior, according to Deignan. While decision-makers might not put their fate in the hands of a snack, it is true that many people twist the cookies apart before eating them, she said. Since Oreo is “a really playful brand,” Deignan said, the team wanted the ad to play on the idea of making adulthood easier.

“We know the seriousness of adulthood is difficult,” she said. “We wanted to put a playful twist on that and think through ‘How we can make people’s lives easier?’ and it’s so innate—use the twist of an Oreo to decide.”

Continue reading here.—AM

In 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued the data broker Kochava, alleging the company sold data that could tie an individual to sensitive locations and potentially cause them harm.

It was a warning shot to the advertising industry. And in 2024, the commission is continuing to focus on data brokers and the sale of location data. Already this year, the FTC has announced settlements with two data brokers that will prohibit them from selling sensitive location data: Outlogic, formerly known as X-Mode, and InMarket, both of which the commission found to have violated the FTC Act, the agency recently alleged in separate complaints against the companies.

“All too often, Americans are tracked by serial data hoarders that endlessly vacuum up and use personal information,” FTC Chair Lina Khan said in a press release announcing a settlement with InMarket last week. “Today’s FTC action makes clear that firms do not have free license to monetize data tracking people’s precise location.”

The FTC’s interest in the data broker industry follows a 2022 executive order that President Joe Biden signed shortly after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade; the order was designed to protect the privacy of those seeking reproductive healthcare.

“We share the FTC’s commitment to advancing consumer privacy, and while we fundamentally disagree with the FTC’s allegations, we are happy to reaffirm the steps InMarket is taking to further our policies around data disclosure and use,” InMarket spokesperson Nicole Lorusso wrote in a statement to Marketing Brew.

X-Mode/Outlogic didn’t respond to Marketing Brew’s request for comment by publication time.

Continue reading here.—RB

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

Expert POV: LinkedIn’s global product marketing leader weighed in on the benefits of aligning marketing and sales.

Going horizontal: Landscape videos on TikTok? The app is encouraging some creators to try it, the latest in a series of adjustments to the app.

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