Digital advertising companies are pitching white-glove services in an effort to shed the perception that they place ads indiscriminately across the expanse of the internet.

Programmatic ad-tech companies including The Trade Desk, Xandr, Index Exchange, and OpenX are pitching advertisers on so-called curated services that include bespoke packages of web publishers, specialized software, and tailor-made algorithms.

The pitch of access to a smaller, more premium internet comes as the digital advertising industry faces increasing scrutiny from advertisers over reports that show billions in wasted ad dollars and ads that run alongside controversial, explicit content. And it’s a shift from these companies’ traditional businesses, which previously centered on selling advertisements across the open web to get the scale that advertisers often seek.

“The market is sort of reverting to curation, saying, ‘Oh, I’ll take these packages and I’ll give up some ability to drive outcomes,’” Adam Heimlich, CEO of ad-tech company Chalice AI, told Marketing Brew. “It’s because algorithms have so consistently driven people to bad content and privacy violations.”

Continue reading here.—RB

The sports sponsorship landscape has long been chock-full of spirits, snacks, and soda brands. Categories like beauty, shapewear, and feminine care, though, have tended to be less active in the space.

That’s starting to change. This year’s Super Bowl proved fruitful for beauty and skin-care advertisers like CeraVe, e.l.f. Cosmetics, and NYX Cosmetics, and this WNBA season features a group of sponsors like Bumble, Skims, Mielle, and Opill, many of which are newer to the sports world. Those partners have helped contribute to an all-time high in demand for league partnerships, according to Chief Growth Officer Colie Edison.

“A lot of the demand and the interest and the growth is coming from brands who are non-endemic,” Edison told Marketing Brew. “They really may have never had sports sponsorships before and are dipping their toes in the water with a partnership through the league.”

And after just a season or two with the W, some of them are doubling down on their investments.

“Perfect partnership”: Hair-care brand Mielle first got involved with the W last year, when President Omar Goff was looking for ways to show that its products can “withstand the toughest conditions”—like, for instance, games and training.

• “Everybody is showing traditional hair models and traditional standards of beauty, and that has historically excluded many groups,” Goff said. “I felt like the WNBA was the perfect partnership.”

Mielle has activated at the WNBA Draft and All-Star Weekend, this year increasing the size of its booth at All-Star and partnering with players like Chicago Sky rookie center Kamilla Cardoso and Las Vegas Aces center and three-time league MVP A’ja Wilson. Some fans waited in line for three hours to meet Wilson at Mielle’s All-Star booth, Goff said.

Read more here.—AM

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

Tanya Hersh is CMO of Birdy Grey, an apparel brand that specializes in affordable bridesmaid dresses. She’s also worked at brands including American Express, Mattel, and The Honest Company.

Favorite project you’ve worked on? A project that stands out is a Hot Wheels 2011 live activation that we pulled off when I was at Mattel. We brought imaginative play to life at the Indianapolis 500 with a life-sized Hot Wheels truck racing down this iconic orange track and landing a perfect stunt. It was amazing to be a part of the team that brought a crazy idea to fruition. It’s even more exciting in retrospect, because now I have my own little boy who is an avid fan of the brand.

What’s your favorite ad campaign? A favorite of mine is Apple’s iPod campaign from the early 2000s with the dancing silhouettes against a bright colored background. Oh, how I loved those ads. They were visually arresting and permeated the cultural noise at the time. I remember seeing walking personifications of those ads as Halloween costumes—talk about effective. I also really enjoyed HBO’s campaign to promote House of the Dragon Season 2. The green and black banners all over iconic NYC landmarks are amazing! Seeing the banners on social media made me wish I was in NYC to experience it in person.

One thing we can’t guess from your LinkedIn profile: I’ve been into making homemade, low-budget costumes over the past decade or so. It’s crazy, because I don’t consider myself particularly crafty or into Halloween. But I’ve gotten a good amount of gratification from crafting up costumes for my family—from food emoji to Barbie and peacock costumes, I’ve tried a range of them. I start with Pinterest for inspo, and then it’s just some household objects, cardboard, and spray paint. Then, voilà! It’s fun, and I get a kick out of transforming something out of essentially nothing.

Read more here.

Mergers and acquisitions, company partnerships, and more.

• Cash App inked a sponsorship deal with Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese.
• FC Barcelona will feature a “Coldplay logo inspired by their latest album” on their jerseys during two upcoming matches as part of Spotify’s Barça sponsorship.
• Nutella is partnering with Betches Media to promote its biscuits through book clubs.