Pink goes good with green, according to Glinda the Good herself, and the at least 64 and counting brand deals that saturated the consumer products market ahead of the release of Wicked.

After Barbie brand collaborations took the blockbuster movie-brand partnership playbook to another level, this year’s Wicked release has delivered a similarly supersized campaign as part of a marketing effort that Universal Pictures CMO Michael Moses promised would be “just short of obnoxious.” Some of the collabs so far include Galindifed shoes from Aldo, Ozmopolitan luggage from Beís, and scandalacious cocktail kits from Pernod Ricard.

While pink-hued films can attract brand and customer attention, leaning into a blockbuster movie moment creates a mutually beneficial relationship for both studios and brands, according to several marketers and experts who spoke to Marketing Brew.

“This, for us, is really a way to increase our brand demand, increase our share of voice, increase buzz, and offer our existing consumers something really surprising,” said Amanda Amar, VP of global brand strategy, PR, and social media at Aldo, which partnered with Wicked on a collection of styles.

Continue reading here.—JN

From Little Fires Everywhere to The Handmaid’s Tale, Hulu has plenty of experience adapting hit novels into original series after their publication. But the streamer was already working on Interior Chinatown, which follows an Asian American actor who witnesses a crime that leads him to Chinatown’s underworld, before the novel arrived in bookstores.

Jordan Helman, EVP, drama programming, ABC Entertainment and Hulu Originals, told Marketing Brew that when the manuscript came across his desk prior to publication, “it just felt so wildly distinctive and unlike anything else we had ever read or seen before in any medium.”

As an added bonus, author Charles Yu, who has also worked as a screenwriter, “was someone who was already on our radar and someone that we desperately wanted to work with,” he said.

Interior Chinatown, which won the 2020 National Book Award for Fiction, arrived on Hulu as an original earlier last week, and the adaptation and the way it’s being marketed highlight how Hulu’s originals strategy has evolved over the years, sourcing IP from different genres and employing tailored marketing campaigns for each original while getting a Disney bump.

“There’s no one-size-fits-all mentality for the marketing team…it’s really on a title-by-title basis,” Helman said.

Watch party: For Interior Chinatown, Hulu has run ads across OOH, digital, and social, according to the company, and Hulu’s digital efforts have included creating custom Snapchat and TikTok lenses for the show.

• Hulu also targeted outreach to AAPI audiences, which included a collaboration with Eater focused on Chinese restaurants and partnerships with AAPI-focused groups like Gold House.

In a move that is increasingly commonplace between publishers and the streamers who adapt their books, Hulu partnered with the book’s publisher, Pantheon Books, to run advertising on the literary website LitHub, roll out promotions across Amazon Kindle, and send out influencer mailers.

Read more here.—JS

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

Joe Perello is CEO of Props, a performance-driven creator content platform. He previously served as New York City’s first-ever chief marketing officer, and he served as VP of business development for the New York Yankees. He also co-founded the agency Catch New York.

Favorite project you’ve worked on? One of the most fulfilling projects of my career was serving as the first chief marketing officer for the City of New York. In the aftermath of 9/11, like many fellow New Yorkers, I felt an overwhelming desire to help the city recover, but I wasn’t sure how a marketing professional could make a truly meaningful impact.

When I received a call from Mayor Bloomberg’s office about a newly created position aimed at centralizing the city’s marketing efforts to generate revenue and reinvest those funds to attract 50 million visitors, I realized this was my opportunity to make a difference. I established the city’s first central marketing office, generating approximately $100 million. We funneled that money into tourism initiatives, and in the years that followed, we broke tourism records and ultimately achieved the goal of 50 million visitors.

While nothing compares to the thrill, excitement, and rewards of starting and running my own company, working for Mayor Mike Bloomberg, Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff, and the City of New York remains among the most fulfilling experiences of my career.

One thing we can’t guess from your LinkedIn profile: I had the unforgettable experience of watching Derek Jeter pour champagne over George Steinbrenner’s head in the Yankees clubhouse after the team won the 1998 World Series. Later, I shared a scotch and soda with the boss himself. And because I’m not Derek Jeter, I chose to drink it with him instead of pouring it over his head.

Continue reading here.

Mergers and acquisitions, company partnerships, and more.

• Vizio’s Inscape data platform and TV measurement company EDO extended their data partnership with a new multiyear deal.
• Disney Advertising and the ad-tech company Viant expanded their partnership focused on addressable and biddable CTV, video, and display ads.
• Coors Banquet rolled out new packaging and bottle caps tied to the new season of Yellowstone.