As if streaming wasn’t fragmented enough, audiences now have plenty of social media series to tune into, too.

Short-form, original series like Brooklyn Coffee Shop, which satirizes café customers, and Bistro Huddy, which portrays a fictional restaurant with all characters played by creator Drew Talbert, are growing in popularity online, and brands seem eager to get in on the action.

This year, Bratz wrapped Season 2 of its weekly TikTok series Alwayz Bratz, and jewelry brand Alexis Bittar released Season 4 of its social soap opera The Bittarverse. Meanwhile, beauty brand Tower 28 hired a writer’s PA from the HBO series The Sex Lives of College Girls to make a sketch comedy series about blush called The Blush Lives of Sensitive Girls.

Brands have tried to re-create TV magic before. More than a decade ago, Chipotle released a four-part, 30-minute satirical web series called Farmed and Dangerous, and more recently, brands like L’Oréal and Pepsi have attempted to produce their own TV shows (while Zillow is getting front-row treatment in HGTV’s social media-to-TV show Zillow Gone Wild.) But with minutes-long shows geared toward today’s quick scrollers and vertical screens, this seems to be a new era for organic content, where the lines of advertising and entertainment continue to blur.

Bilt, Pretzelized, and Oatly are among the brands experimenting with the format, and we spoke to marketing execs from each one about what they’ve learned from investing in highly produced, sometimes unbranded social content.

Continue reading here.—KH

Theaters aren’t just places to see movies—they can serve as a place for fans to gather, hang out, and build community.

That’s part of the reason why BoxLunch partnered up with theaters ahead of the release of The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

Ahead of the release of the film, the merchandise brand, which sells movie-themed merchandise collections in stores and online, partnered with Fandango to offer free movie tickets to BoxLunch customers who spent $100 or more in-store, as well as free exclusive collectors’ pins during opening night at Regal Cinemas nationwide.

BoxLunch also showed up on the ground at San Diego Comic-Con in July to connect with fans and local residents while handing out free tickets to a screening at Regal.

Rick Vargas, SVP of merchandise and marketing, told us the activations were designed to showcase BoxLunch as a brand and create excitement around a major movie launch, but it didn’t end there. The brand has a longstanding partnership with the nonprofit Feeding America, where every $10 spent with BoxLunch helps donate a meal to food banks in the Feeding America network, and the goal, Vargas said, was also to emphasize the importance of building relationships with consumers in local communities.

“At the end of the day, we’re about giving back to the community, and specifically, giving back to your community, wherever you are,” Vargas said.

Read more here.—JN

MSNBC is rebranding to MS NOW, which stands for My Source News Opinion World, as the cable news channel prepares for a corporate split from NBCUniversal.

According to an internal memo sent to company employees on Monday obtained by Marketing Brew, the rebrand is designed to “accelerate the distinction between the MSNBC and NBC News organizations” as part of NBCUniversal’s move to spin off its cable brands, including the channel soon to be formerly known as MSNBC, CNBC, E!, and USA, into a new company called Versant. As part of the shift, MS NOW’s logo will not incorporate a peacock, a symbol that has long been associated with NBC properties (and has been the centerpiece of the MSNBC logo for years) and is a prominent part of Peacock’s branding.

“The peacock is synonymous with NBCUniversal, and it is a symbol they have decided to keep within the NBCU family,” Versant CEO Mark Lazarus wrote in the memo. “This gives us the opportunity to chart our own path forward, create distinct brand identities, and establish an independent news organization following the spin.”

In a separate memo, Rebecca Kutler, president of MSNBC, noted that the rebrand “now allows us to set our own course and assert our independence as we continue to build our own modern newsgathering operation.” To support the new branding, Kutler said there would be a “broad-based marketing campaign unlike anything we have done in recent memory.”

Continue reading here.—JS

Duolingo didn’t just enter the market—it broke the mold. In this can’t-miss conversation, CMO Manu Orssaud reveals how the brand spotted opportunities others ignored, scaled at lightning speed, and built a fiercely loyal global following. Get ready for bold insights, big wins, and a masterclass in standing out. Grab your ticket now to the Marketing Brew Summit.

From TV screens to bite-size videos, YouTube is reshaping how creators reach audiences—but not without challenges. As it dominates both long-form and Shorts, what does this mean for the future of content, costs, and creator survival? Dive into the platform’s evolving playbook and its impact on the creator economy.