Throughout the summer, fans convened over themed food and drink, elaborate decor, and shared giggles galore to watch new episodes of the teen drama The Summer I Turned Pretty as it was released weekly on Amazon Prime Video. Now, as the teenage love triangle drama has come to a close (for now), ABC’s long-running dance competition series Dancing With the Stars is inspiring similar get-togethers.

No matter the show, the girlies are gathering for watch parties, and the brands are taking note.

A watch party can technically be for any kind of viewing event, but they are typically tied to live broadcasts and are especially common among sports fans (case in point: the Super Bowl). Lately though, content outside of the sports realm and attracting primarily women viewers has inspired the same kind of social gatherings, creating a marketing opportunity that particularly appeals to brands with audience demographics similar to the viewers themselves. Beverage brand Swoon, skin-care brand Hume Supernatural, and fragrance brand Candier are just some of the brands that have been part of the excitement.

Whether the watch parties are big or small, the brand marketers that we spoke to said these events offer unique alignment and a sense of camaraderie and cultural relevance that they are eager to get in on.

“It’s really about supporting people in the things that they’re passionate about, because those really intimate environments is where so much of that passion shines through,” Liza Tagliati, VP of marketing at Hume Supernatural, told Marketing Brew.

Continue reading here.—JN

Sipping on Honey Deuces behind the players’ boxes at the US Open. Sitting courtside next to A-list celebrities at NBA games. Strolling the paddocks of Formula 1.

Some sports fans are willing to pay steep prices for experiences like these—provided sports orgs know how to speak their language, according to an August report from PwC.

The consultancy surveyed 1,000 sports fans from the US who earn more than $200,000 annually on their own or who have household incomes of more than $300,000 and found it takes more than good stadium food to please the high-earning crowd.

Outside the box: About one-third (34%) of high-income sports fans attend live sports events at least monthly, and they “demonstrate a strong willingness to invest in premium experiences,” PwC found.

• The majority (60%) of affluent fans said they’d be willing to spend more than $250 for a special event like a playoff game.
• 1 in 5 high-income fans, or 20%, said they’d spend more than $1,000.

For events that offer “premium hospitality” like player meet and greets, 42% of high-income fans said they’d spend more than $250 to gain access, per the report, while 1 in 4 said they’d spend more than $500.

Young, affluent fans are particularly drawn to exclusive experiences, said Mike Keenan, head of PwC’s sports practice, who previously worked for the Cleveland Browns and for the NFL at the league level.

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.

Brit Starr is CMO of the creator marketing platform CreatorIQ. She previously worked at the influencer marketing analytics platform Tribe Dynamics, which was acquired by CreatorIQ in 2021. She has also had stints as head of marketing at Verve Coffee Roasters and at the Austin-based creative shop McGarrah Jessee.

Favorite project you’ve worked on? In the early days at CreatorIQ, we ran scrappy, high-impact quarterly events in key markets, unveiling new research, creating a space for real connection, and capping it off with a happy hour. With a team of ~20 and a shoestring budget, we all pitched in: planning, executing, and engaging directly with customers for a valuable on-the-ground experience. The hands-on experiences gave us deep insight into our audience and laid the groundwork for our events strategy and overall marketing playbook. Today, we’re bigger and more polished—our LA tentpole event draws 1,500+ attendees—but the DNA is the same. Our team still shows up on the frontlines, owning every customer-facing moment.

What’s your favorite ad campaign? “Soooo Many Dicks” by e.l.f. Cosmetics is hands-down my favorite campaign. It was bold, disruptive, data-driven, and brutally honest. It called out that more men named “Dick” sit on US public company boards than entire underrepresented groups. It was the perfect collision of creativity and activism—it sparked conversation, challenged power structures, and proved that creativity can drive real cultural change.

Continue reading here.

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Mergers and acquisitions, company partnerships, and more.

• Paramount acquired The Free Press, a right-leaning digital news site, with founder Bari Weiss set to become editor-in-chief of CBS News.
• Xfinity inked a partnership with the 3-on-3 basketball league Unrivaled, marking the brand’s first women’s sports deal at the league level.
• Mozilla selected Index Exchange for its first programmatic advertising partnership.
• Converse partnered with Coca-Cola on a new capsule collection.