Fiction reveals the truth, as the saying goes, and though the Netflix sports comedy series Running Point is only partially based on a true story, its first season depicting Sephora’s all-in push into the basketball world is very real.

The series, which stars Kate Hudson as the president of her family’s pro basketball team, features the makeup retailer in an elaborate plotline involving an initially contentious jersey-patch sponsorship for the men’s team, complete with scenes in a Sephora store and a character meant to be one of the brand’s top marketers.

Sephora’s real-life CMO, Zena Arnold, doesn’t appear in the series, but she said it’s true that the company’s marketing efforts have increasingly focused on sports this year, starting with the brand’s partnership with women’s 3-on-3 basketball league Unrivaled that was announced in January.

“We just saw incredible engagement and commentary from our community, and the broader sports community, for us being there,” Arnold told Marketing Brew. “So we said, ‘Okay, this is something that’s working well. How can we expand upon this?’”

Continue reading here about why Sephora is embracing basketball.—AM

To kick off NewFronts week, Google’s VP of agency, platforms, and client solutions, Kristen O’Hara, started off with a question that she was first to admit was a softball. “In one sentence, could you each tell me your favorite use of AI?” she asked a panel featuring an agency exec, consultant, and creator during a breakfast panel Monday morning.

The answers varied from weekly meal prep to interior design—but a more ideal answer might have also mentioned any of Google’s own AI tools, which the tech giant would just an hour later heavily emphasize during its official pitch to advertisers.

Google’s Display & Video 360 platform, which features inventory across TV, sports, gaming, audio, and digital display ads, will get an injection of generative AI capabilities, the company announced Monday, with new updates that will incorporate generative AI into various steps including curating deal packages and providing reporting in response to text prompts. “It’s the DV360 you know, just supercharged with Google AI,” Bill Reardon, GM of enterprise platforms, Google Ads, said ahead of an onstage demo of how the tools work.

It’s unlikely that Google will be alone in its emphasis on AI during the 17th year of NewFronts presentations that precede the traditional TV upfronts. Major advertising platforms like Meta and TikTok have forged ahead with AI-powered tools, while streamers like Tubi have looked to incorporate AI-powered content recommendation into their platforms. Spotify, which last month announced a push into generative AI ads and has partnered with Google to expand its programmatic capabilities, made an appearance Monday in the form of Xavier, “your friendly neighborhood Spotify AI DJ,” who introduced the show.

During a keynote ahead of Google’s presentation, David Cohen, CEO of the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the organization behind the NewFronts, emphasized the changing technologies and the opportunities they could present to the industry.

“Converging trends of AI, of commerce media, of streaming, and of social media are like the new Big Bang,” he said. “All of that change means there’s a lot of money up for grabs—and ’tis the season when brands and agencies make decisions on where to place their bets.”

Continue reading here.—KS

You don’t have to be a die-hard boxing fan to recognize a face-off: Two fighters standing very close, often holding up their fists, sometimes talking trash, refusing to look away for several minutes, or even slapping their opponent in the face.

There might be others on the stage, too, like the people meant to keep athletes from fighting too soon or camera crews aiming to capture the action up close. In the case of fights put on by promoter Matchroom Boxing, there’s also Eddie Hearn, the chairman of UK-based Matchroom Sport.

Hearn has promoted some of the biggest stars in boxing, including Anthony Joshua, Canelo Álvarez, and Katie Taylor, for fights around the world, and he recently found himself stateside promoting the April 12 title fight for both the IBF and WBA welterweight belts between Jaron “Boots” Ennis and Eimantas Stanionis at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The venue used to host iconic boxers like Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson, Hearn said, and while Ennis vs. Stanionis was a significant match-up, Hearn and other boxing promoters are facing a fight of their own: Boxing isn’t quite as popular in the US now as it was back in Ali’s day.

Ahead of a big bout between Ryan Garcia and Rolly Romero coming up in Times Square on May 2, Hearn spoke with Marketing Brew about why he thinks boxing needs to punch above its weight—and how he’s working to attract audiences beyond the superfans to the sport.

Read Hearn’s thoughts on the state of boxing and how he is looking to promote the sport.—AM

Find out this Friday at EMARKETER’s Commerce Media Trends Summit. Top EMARKETER analysts and leading marketers at Google, PepsiCo, Maev, and Kettle & Fire will share the latest on what’s driving commerce media forward. From new ways to measure performance to smarter media network strategies, this free virtual event covers what matters most. Register now for exclusive insights.

Mergers and acquisitions, company partnerships, and more.

• Publicis acquired sports agency Adopt.
• Liberty Mutual Insurance is the new sponsor on the abdomen of the New York Liberty’s jerseys in a multiyear deal that also includes in-arena branding and social media collabs.
• PwC became the official consulting partner of Formula 1, which began with last weekend’s Miami Grand Prix.
• 818 Tequila, Kendall Jenner’s liquor brand, tapped Nascar driver Toni Breidinger for its first national sports sponsorship.