It’s always been hard to break the ice with a stranger. It’s a little easier when there’s common ground—like a shared hobby, interest, or cultural taste.

That’s the thinking powering The Clinker, a smart band that wraps around Heineken beer cans and bottles and alerts drinkers to shared interests when they tap their cans together. The beer brand debuted the technology last month at Coachella, where attendees who signed up and synced their music streaming data could, if they toasted other festivalgoers, find attendees with similar music tastes. The company plans to use it at other festivals and experiential activations around the globe this year.

The initiative marks the latest effort in Heineken’s push for in-person connection in marketing communications; the beer brand’s recently debuted platform, “Fans Have More Friends,” is a nod to the common ground that fosters friendship, after all.

Heineken has a history of pushing back against antisocial technical developments in marketing. Late last year, it responded to divisive billboards from the AI company Friend with its own out-of-home installation featuring ad copy that read, “The best way to make a friend is over a beer.” Heineken also created a bar (and an ad to go with it) based on New York Knicks guard Josh Hart’s friend group chat.

Ali Payne, CMO of Heineken USA, told Marketing Brew that the aim is not to push back against technology for the sake of it, but rather to find ways to encourage connection among its consumer set—even if that means designing some tech to do it.

“It’s not about being like, ‘All technology is bad,’ but what we want to do is use technology in a way that actually does bring people together,” Payne told us. “It’s really important to get together in real life, share a beer, [and] clink a can.”

Keep reading here.—KM

Meta is officially no longer part of IAB Sweden. After the organization expelled the company as a member due to concerns about the company’s handling of fraudulent advertisements, Meta did not appeal the decision at an April 15 meeting.

The decision to boot Meta from the group was more than a year in the making, and the action comes after a report from Reuters late last year found that Meta was “earning a fortune on a deluge of fraudulent ads”; a consumer watchdog group is now suing Meta over the findings. But it remains to be seen how much effect the move will have on Meta’s credibility with other IAB chapters and within adland as a whole.

Don’t expect other IAB chapters to kick Meta to the curb anytime soon, one expert told Marketing Brew.

“The leadership move by IAB Sweden puts a lot of pressure on not just other IAB chapters locally, [but also] the IAB global parent,” Arielle Garcia, COO of the industry watchdog Check My Ads Institute, said. “I’m honestly not optimistic that we will see other IAB chapters or other trade associations taking a stand.”

How we got here: The lead-up to the IAB Sweden–Meta breakup began over a year ago and stemmed from frustration on the part of Swedish publishers around what they said were scam ads on the tech giant’s platforms, Thomas Mattsson, senior advisor of IAB Sweden member Bonnier News, told Marketing Brew. Some of the ads, he said, sought to impersonate prominent news brands; others falsely depicted journalists or celebrities advocating for crypto for consumers to invest in.

Keep reading here.—JS

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

Charlie Tetrick is president and CEO of WTA, a Kansas City-based advertising agency.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in marketing? I’ve run a 140-person advertising agency for the past 30+ years. Lately, our role has gone beyond crafting ad campaigns to finding business solutions for brands that create measurable change and even operational transformation. My role also involves building the agency’s image, ensuring that our reputation remains strong through our client work, community involvement, and development of our employees. The culture that we build at WTA shapes how the market sees us.

Favorite project you’ve worked on? I am excited about the FIFA World Cup coming to Kansas City, for which WTA created a podcast called Heart & Goal, along with dozens of videos that have been used to promote the event. The Heart & Goal podcast team includes players with MLS and National Team experience to fuel engagement, expand reach, and give audiences greater insights into the World Cup games. Produced entirely in-house, we feature guests such as Pam Kramer, CEO of KC2026, to highlight the city’s efforts to make us the best World Cup host city ever. We bring a deep background in sports to this moment, including projects with teams like the Kansas City Royals and in NIL, helping brands forge winning partnerships with the right athletic talent, most recently between rising star college athletes at KU and Adidas.

I am also involved with a larger community effort to engage the World Cup platform to elevate Kansas City globally. We don’t want it to just come and go. We want people to really see what’s here.

Keep reading here.

Mergers and acquisitions, company partnerships, and more.

• Publicis is acquiring data platform LiveRamp in a deal valued at $2.2 billion.
• McDonald’s claimed the naming rights for MLS club Chicago Fire FC’s new stadium, which is set to open in 2028.
• Paula’s Choice, which is part of the Unilever portfolio, was named the official skin care sponsor of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
• Deel, a payroll and HR software company, is replacing Visit Rwanda as Arsenal’s jersey sleeve sponsor.
• Airbnb inked a sponsorship deal with the Bristol Motor Speedway for next year’s Nascar season.

Real jobs, shared through real communities. CollabWORK brings opportunities directly to Marketing Brew readers—no mass postings, no clutter, just roles worth seeing. Click here to view the full job board.