This story is the latest in our series on women leaders in sports and sports marketing. Read the rest of the profiles here.

In some ways, Lara Krug is the embodiment of many modern Kansas City Chiefs fans. She rides for the team, often hosting watch parties at her house, but she joined the fandom a bit later in life, and did so more for the community aspect than because of any deep-seeded love of the game.

In other ways, though, Krug is a lot closer to the Chiefs than the average fan. She is the team’s first chief marketing officer, after all.

At first glance, Krug’s résumé reads a bit like a shopping list before a night out; she worked in clothes, cosmetics, and beer before landing in the sports space a few years ago. But her appointment to the Chief’s top marketing role was hardly a stretch, with her experience at international companies like AB InBev and L’Oréal serving as a training ground for someone who’d go on to market a sports organization that Krug says is aiming to be known as “the world’s team.”

“Industry aside, what’s consistent is understanding who your end user is,” Krug told Marketing Brew. “Whether it’s a drinker, whether it’s a buyer, whether it’s a fan, whether it’s a consumer, whether it’s a shopper—we [have] all these different ways of talking about the people that we’re trying to market and sell to. At the end of the day, they’re all humans.”

Continue reading here.—AM

Thinking about just listening to a podcast? How passé.

Spotify introduced video podcast features back in 2020, and as demand for video content, particularly among Gen Z listeners, remains strong, the company is continuing to invest in a video podcast strategy with this year’s Radar class.

Radar is a global Spotify program focused on spotlighting rising artists, songwriters, creators, and podcasters to the world and providing them with access to tools to take their product “to the next level,” according to Spotify Head of Partnerships Jordan Newman.

This year’s podcast class of creators includes the people behind Joy of Missing Out, I’m Right You’re Wrong, Small Ball with Kenny Beecham, Black People Love Paramore, and PRETEND. Notably, four out of five podcasts feature a video component—a trend that Newman says is in response to an “enormous shift” in the podcasting industry.

Read more here.—JN

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

Franke Rodriguez is partner and CEO of the advertising agency Anomaly, where he leads teams across both New York and Toronto. He has also worked at FCB and Digitas.

What’s your favorite ad campaign?

The first that comes to mind for me is Wendy’s “Where’s the Beef” campaign. Growing up, I was the child of a McDonald’s franchisee, and we were all about the Golden Arches. At that time in the mid-’80s, most people would agree that Mickey D’s was far and away the best fast-food chain. So when this campaign came out, I remember being a young kid and watching that older woman comically deliver the iconic line “Where’s the beef?” over and over and thinking to myself, “Oh boy, this might change some things here. We might have a problem.”

Favorite project you’ve worked on?

In the early days, I was lucky enough to help launch an entirely new airline—Virgin America. We did everything from designing the flight attendant uniforms, brokering content partnerships to fill their in-flight entertainment system, securing the celebrity talent to promote their new routes, and producing the first-ever fully illustrated airline safety video. It was thrilling to touch so many different aspects of their ecosystem and was a project that yielded invaluable learnings, many of which I still apply today.

Most recently, one of my favorite projects has been an incredibly fresh, progressive global campaign for Don Julio called “Por Amor,” which we shot and produced across Mexico exclusively with Mexican and Mexican American talent, from the wardrobe to the styling to the directors, photographers, cast, bartenders, and production crew. They helped us bring that beautiful culture, a culture which obviously has given the world tequila, to the global stage in a way that feels authentic, distinctive, and fresh.

Read more here.

Mergers and acquisitions, company partnerships, and more.

• Nerds announced plans to run its second Super Bowl commercial in a row. The candy brand once again partnered with Digitas Chicago for the 30-second ad, while iProspect worked on the media buy.
• Old Navy teamed up with Jennifer Hudson for its holiday campaign.
• Netflix debuted a new brand campaign, “It’s So Good,” which features stars like Giancarlo Esposito, Simone Biles, and Cardi B watching scenes from Netflix shows and movies.