🏈 Shifting the Sidelines: Women Are Quietly Redefining NFL Ownership

The NFL has long projected an image rooted in tradition, masculinity, and legacy. But behind the gridiron spectacle, a quieter transformation is unfolding in the boardrooms: women are becoming a growing force in team ownership.

With the Indianapolis Colts now officially led by the three daughters of the late Jim Irsay, 12 of the league’s 32 teams currently count women as either controlling owners or significantly active stakeholders. This includes high-profile figures like Kim Pegula (Buffalo Bills), Dee Haslam (Cleveland Browns), and Denise DeBartolo York (San Francisco 49ers). Women now represent over 37% of top-tier ownership structures in the league - a substantial shift for a sport often perceived as slow to diversify.

This trend reflects a broader evolution. According to Forbes, the number of female sports team owners across all US leagues has increased by 30% since 2015. And it's not just in ownership - ESPN reports that 38% of NFL league office roles are now held by women, with over 50% of entry-level hires also female. These shifts suggest a growing pipeline of female leadership shaping the sport from multiple angles.

It’s a notable change in a league that didn’t see its first female owner until 1947, when Violet Bidwill inherited the then-Chicago Cardinals and became the first woman to win an NFL championship. Nearly eight decades later, the landscape remains uneven - but the influence of women in ownership is no longer an anomaly.

🏟️ NFL Teams with Female Ownership or Leadership (2025)

A record 12 of the 32 NFL franchises now include women as controlling owners or with major leadership roles. These include:

• Indianapolis Colts - Carlie Irsay-Gordon (CEO), Casey Foyt (Executive Vice President), and Kalen Jackson (Chief Brand Officer) lead the team after their father’s passing.

• San Francisco 49ers - Denise DeBartolo York has served as Co-Chair since 2001, continuing the DeBartolo family legacy.

• Kansas City Chiefs - Sharron Hunt, daughter of founder Lamar Hunt, is an influential part-owner.

• Cleveland Browns - Dee Haslam co-owns the team and plays a visible leadership role in operations and strategy.

• Buffalo Bills - Kim Pegula is team President and CEO (currently on medical leave), a central figure in the team’s resurgence.

• New Orleans Saints - Gayle Benson is the principal owner and also owns the NBA’s Pelicans.

• Detroit Lions - Sheila Ford Hamp has been principal owner since 2020 and is part of the Ford family legacy.

• Las Vegas Raiders - Carol Davis, widow of Al Davis, maintains control alongside her son Mark Davis.

• Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Glazer family co-ownership includes daughters with active roles in franchise oversight.

• Tennessee Titans - Amy Adams Strunk has served as controlling owner since 2015 and has prioritised operational consistency.

• Seattle Seahawks - Jody Allen became team owner after her brother Paul Allen’s death and manages multiple team assets.

• Denver Broncos - Carrie Walton Penner and Mellody Hobson are key members of the Walton-Penner ownership group.

🔍 Is Women’s Leadership Driving Revenue?

• NFL as a whole generated over $23 billion in revenue in the 2024 fiscal year, with nearly 9% growth year-over-year .

• Some franchises with female leadership are among the highest-valued teams:

  • The 49ers were valued at around $8.5 billion during their latest deal

  • The Chiefs hold a valuation of $4.85 billion

  • The Raiders stand at $6.7 billion

• Balance-sheet impact: Under NFL rules, teams receive shared media revenue (~$400M+ per team annually), and this distributed revenue accounts for the majority of franchise income. Having women in ownership ensures they benefit directly from this steady revenue stream.

• Brand and fan alignment: Women make up 46% of NFL fans; visible female leadership can strengthen fan engagement, reaffirms brand trust, and support merchandising growth.

🧠 Key Takeouts

• 12 of 32 NFL franchises now have women in major ownership roles - a historic milestone

• These teams include several of the league’s most valuable franchises - e.g. 49ers, Chiefs, Raiders.

• While individual impact data is limited, shared revenue models ensure all owners, including women, benefit from NFL commercial success.

• Female leadership aligns with a fanbase that's nearly half women - enhancing potential brand equity and loyalty.

🔎 Next Steps for Brand Marketers

• Partner with teams led by women, tapping into their brand credibility and fan resonance.

• Activate storytelling around diverse ownership in campaigns, particularly when targeting female fans.

• Review sponsorship strategies, recognising that leadership diversity can be a differentiator in the market.

• Track future data releases: aim to benchmark commercial impact on women-led teams compared to league averages.

🕶️ Meta’s Smart Bet: Why Its €3B Stake in EssilorLuxottica Matters for Brand Marketers

Meta has reportedly acquired a 3% stake in EssilorLuxottica, the eyewear giant behind Ray-Ban and Oakley. The €3 billion ($3.5 billion) investment signals more than a financial move - it’s a strategic deepening of Meta’s long-term push into AI-powered hardware, particularly smart glasses. For brand marketers, this signals a growing convergence of fashion, tech, and augmented experiences - and a new frontier for branded interaction.

Smart Glasses Are Becoming Mainstream

Smart glasses are no longer novelty gadgets. Ray-Ban Meta glasses, launched in 2021, have seen stronger-than-expected uptake, prompting deeper collaboration between the two companies. The addition of Oakley-branded glasses in 2025 further expands Meta’s footprint.

According to Counterpoint Research, smart wearable shipments are expected to reach 600 million units globally by 2027, with smart glasses making up an increasing share thanks to their blend of function and style.

What’s Working: Pros

• Blending Style and Tech: Unlike bulky headsets, smart glasses from Meta x EssilorLuxottica integrate cameras, AI assistants, and voice commands into traditional eyewear styles.

• Brand Equity Built-In: Ray-Ban and Oakley bring decades of cultural cachet, helping smart glasses sidestep the “gadget” stigma that plagued earlier wearables.

• Direct-to-Consumer Ecosystem: Meta’s ownership of the hardware enables control over user data, interface, and services - bypassing gatekeepers like Apple or Samsung.

Limitations and Risks: Cons

• Privacy Backlash: Always-on cameras and voice assistants raise surveillance concerns, especially in public spaces.

• Fragmented Market: Many players - from Amazon to Snap - are competing, with no clear standard or dominant form factor yet.

• Battery and Tech Constraints: Miniaturisation of sensors and batteries remains a technical challenge, limiting extended use.

Opportunities for Brands

• Immersive Advertising: Smart glasses open the door for context-aware branded overlays - from virtual product try-ons to real-world-triggered content.

• Hands-Free Search and Commerce: AI-powered voice interfaces can enable seamless product discovery and voice shopping.

• Location-Based Activations: Brands could build activations where digital layers appear in physical spaces - offering exclusive content, offers, or narratives.

Challenges Ahead

• Platform Dependency: Early brand integration may hinge on Meta’s ecosystem, creating reliance on its APIs and data policies.

• User Adoption Curve: While growing, smart glasses adoption is still niche relative to smartphones or smartwatches.

• Creative Format Limitations: The screenless nature of some models means brands need to rethink UX beyond visuals.

Key Takeouts

• Meta’s €3B stake cements smart glasses as a core hardware pillar, not an experimental side project.

• The fusion of fashion and function (Ray-Ban, Oakley) gives smart glasses cultural traction.

• Brand experiences must evolve to fit AI-driven, screenless, voice-first interfaces.

• Smart glasses offer a glimpse into the future of ambient, always-available branded interaction.

Next Steps for Brand Marketers

• Start Prototyping: Develop voice-first or audio-based branded content for wearable interfaces.

• Monitor Smart Wearables: Track consumer sentiment and behaviour around emerging smart glasses platforms.

• Engage Early: Partner with Meta or other platforms for early branded beta activations - to learn, iterate, and lead.

• Think Beyond the Screen: Rethink your brand’s identity in an ambient, visual-light, context-heavy future.

Meta’s investment in EssilorLuxottica is not just a bet on smart glasses - it’s a signpost toward the next major shift in how people experience digital content in the real world. For marketers, the time to explore is now.

📱 TikTok's US Reinvention: What It Means for Brands, Creators and Culture Marketers

TikTok is preparing to split. According to The Information (July 7, 2025), the platform is developing a U.S.-specific version of its app ahead of a possible sale to American investors. The redesigned app could hit U.S. app stores by 5 September, with users expected to migrate fully by March 2026.

This development is driven by U.S. political pressure: former President Donald Trump confirmed discussions with China are set to resume, stating a deal is “pretty much” in place. But Beijing’s stance on ByteDance divestment remains unclear, especially following tariff escalations earlier this year.

For brand and creator marketers, this is more than a policy story. It’s a shift in the infrastructure behind the most culturally potent social platform in the U.S., home to over 135 million monthly active users, and a key engine for youth trends, creator commerce, and real-time content discovery.

✅ Pros: What Could Work in Marketers’ Favour

Platform continuity, with political cover
If a U.S. version helps TikTok avoid a ban, the platform gets a new lease on life with less regulatory uncertainty. That brings much-needed stability to brands and creators who’ve held back due to legal ambiguity.

Opportunity for region-specific innovation
A U.S.-operated version could develop custom tools, formats and features tailored to domestic user behaviour and commercial needs. Think: better brand safety controls, integrated commerce, or enhanced first-party data access.

Potential return of cautious advertisers
TikTok’s U.S. ad revenue is expected to grow from around $10 billion in 2024 to over $14 billion in 2025. A U.S.-sanctioned version could trigger budget reallocation in Q4 and beyond, especially among marketers seeking a stable, scalable alternative to Meta or YouTube.

First-mover advantage during relaunch
If TikTok reframes itself publicly around the U.S. launch, early brand partners could benefit from increased visibility, promotional support, and platform favouritism.

❌ Cons: Risks and Limitations to Monitor

Fragmentation across markets
Two versions of TikTok could mean diverging algorithms, user interfaces, or product roadmaps. Global campaigns may require localisation not just in message, but in platform mechanics.

Friction in user migration
Users will need to download a new app by March 2026. That opens up a window of churn, confusion, and content drop-off - especially among less tech-savvy or casually engaged users.

Creator monetisation could stall
If monetisation tools (Creator Fund, gifts, brand collabs) lag during the transition, top creators may diversify to other platforms. That threatens TikTok’s cultural edge and brand reach.

Continued political exposure
Even if the app relaunches under U.S. ownership, regulatory scrutiny won’t vanish. Data practices, content moderation, and youth safety remain open targets for legislation.

⚠️ Watchouts for Brand, Creator and Influencer Marketers

• API and data access may change. Campaign measurement tools and analytics platforms could experience lags or require re-integration with the new U.S. app.

• Influencer performance benchmarks may reset. If engagement metrics shift due to user drop-off or algorithm tweaks, influencer rates and ROI models may need recalibration.

• Paid media planning needs agility. Paid placements might face a brief pause or changes in approval processes. Flexibility in budget allocation will be key.

• Creator contracts may need updating. Usage rights, timelines, and KPIs tied to TikTok activations should account for app migration scenarios and audience volatility.

📌 Key Takeouts

• TikTok is developing a new U.S.-specific app, reportedly launching 5 September 2025, with full user migration expected by March 2026.

• 135M+ U.S. monthly users and 1.6B+ globally are affected—core audiences for creator-led campaigns.

• Global ad revenue exceeded $23B in 2024, with U.S. revenue expected to hit $14B+ by end of 2025.

• If TikTok is pulled from the U.S., up to $8.6B in ad spend could migrate to competitors like Instagram and YouTube.

• This shift is both a risk and an opportunity for brands ready to move quickly and creatively.

🎯 Next Steps for Brand Marketers

1. Map exposure to TikTok U.S.
   Audit current spend, creator partnerships, and campaign dependencies. Identify key risks and backup plans.

2. Scenario-plan for split platforms.
   Develop strategies for U.S.-only TikTok operations, especially if global features diverge or if content must be localised for performance.

3. Engage creators early.
   Proactively brief creator partners on what’s known, plan long-term relationships, and be ready to support their transition between versions.

4. Monitor platform announcements closely.
   Watch for updates to commercial policies, new ad tools, and the timeline of deprecation for the old app.

5. Stay agile across your short-form mix.
   Invest in creative flexibility that can move between TikTok, Reels, Shorts, and emerging formats as needed.

TikTok’s U.S. reboot marks a new phase in the platform’s evolution - from global disruptor to regional battleground. For marketers, it’s not just about brand presence. It’s about preparedness, speed of response, and having the right creators in your corner as the next version of TikTok takes shape.

How TikTok's ‘Add To Music’ App Is Reshaping Streaming: What Marketers Need To Know

As music marketers, we’ve long known that TikTok is a top-of-funnel cultural engine for hits. But now, with its ‘Add To Music’ app integration, the platform is closing the loop between discovery and streaming in a way that’s both frictionless and powerful - with major implications for campaigns, fan strategy, and ROI.

After a full global rollout in 2024, TikTok’s Add To Music App feature is officially making waves. It’s earned the Music Consumer Innovation Award at the 2025 Music Week Awards and is already responsible for over one billion track saves to streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, and - most recently - SoundCloud.

This is a behavioural shift.

📊 High-Impact Stats Marketers Shouldn’t Ignore

• 1+ billion tracks saved via Add To Music – TikTok

• SoundOn-released Show Me Love by WizTheMC hit No.3 in the UK and has clocked 446,009 units in consumption (Official Charts Company)

• TikTok has driven "many billions" of off-platform streams via the feature (TikTok internal data)

• Spotify’s Viral 50 Global charts are increasingly filled with tracks going viral on TikTok first

💡 Key Takeouts

• Discovery is now directly measurable: TikTok has gone from being a vibes-based virality machine to a performance marketing tool for music.

• Frictionless conversion: Fans can now move from swipe to stream with one tap, turning hype into habit.

• Full-funnel strategy is essential: From creation on TikTok to streaming platform performance, marketers now need to map and optimise the entire user journey.

• Platform loyalty is changing: SoundCloud’s integration signals TikTok’s ambition to stay platform-agnostic and support all music ecosystems - not just the majors.

✅ Pros for Music Marketers

• Direct attribution: For the first time, you can more confidently track TikTok virality to streaming spikes.

• Increased artist independence: With SoundOn and integrated streaming, TikTok offers a start-to-scale solution for unsigned acts.

• Cross-platform amplification: TikTok becomes a launchpad, not a silo. This creates a more sustainable post-viral trajectory.

⚠️ Considerations and Watchouts

• Short attention spans still rule: Saving a track doesn’t guarantee full streams or long-term fandom. Retention strategies are critical.

• Data visibility may be limited: Brands and marketers might not always have access to platform-level data unless integrated with label or platform partners.

• Over-reliance risk: Building campaigns too TikTok-heavy could limit audience diversity across age and genre lines.

⏭️ Next Steps for Music Marketers

1. Integrate Add To Music prompts into campaign storytelling. Highlight where fans can save or stream.

2. Build artist funnel strategies that account for TikTok virality and how to retain fans beyond the platform.

3. Use SoundOn smartly: Independent artists should explore how to tap TikTok’s in-house label services to maximise early traction.

4. Collaborate across DSPs: Use TikTok as the ignition point, but build out broader playlist and editorial support with platforms like Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube Music.

🎯 What This Means for Brand Marketers

TikTok’s Add To Music feature isn’t just a win for artists - it’s a cultural leverage point for brands that want to tap into music-driven moments with sharper conversion and cultural impact.

Music has always been a brand’s shortcut to emotion. Now, it’s also a shortcut to action.

Whether you're launching a campaign, activating talent, or building a branded content series, TikTok’s integration with DSPs creates a new bridge between brand affinity and measurable behaviour.

💡 Key Opportunities for Brands:

• Drive deeper storytelling through sound: Branded content that uses emerging tracks can now help push them onto streaming platforms, giving your brand a role in music’s success story.

• Tap into music discovery culture: Partner with artists who are rising via TikTok and use the Add To Music feature to create a trackable journey from content to conversion.

• Use music as a campaign trigger: Think beyond sync - the right track placement in a brand moment can now translate directly into saves, shares, and streams.

• Enhance creator partnerships: Collaborate with creators who can integrate music authentically into their content and encourage followers to save tracks, linking fandom with action.

🚀 Bottom Line

TikTok’s Add To Music feature is more than a button: it’s a strategic shift in how music is marketed, discovered, and consumed. For artists and marketers alike, it’s time to rethink release strategies through the lens of TikTok-enabled streaming pathways.

This is music marketing in motion – and we’re just getting started.

Dior x UNESCO: Why Brand Purpose Can’t Be a Side Project Anymore

In a moment where authenticity is under a microscope, Dior is showing the industry how purpose scales.

This week, the French fashion house announced the extension of its partnership with UNESCO during the fifth annual Women@Dior & UNESCO Global Conference in Paris. The programme, which provides mentorship, leadership training, and education to young women from underrepresented backgrounds, is more than a philanthropic initiative: it's a statement of brand intent.

Since launching the Women@Dior programme in 2017, over 5,000 young women from 147 countries have benefited. The latest phase of the partnership will scale its impact further, reaching more than 1,000 mentees annually, according to Dior’s announcement. These women receive access to global mentors, free e-learning through the “Dream for Change” programme, and the opportunity to design social impact projects in their communities.

Why it Matters for the Future of Fashion Marketing

Luxury marketing has long hinged on heritage and aspiration. But in 2025, aspiration is being redefined. It’s not just about the product - it’s about the values a brand embodies and enables. Dior’s long-term investment in women’s leadership development makes its values tangible, not just tonal.

In fact, 73% of Gen Z consumers expect brands to act on social and environmental issues, and 62% prefer to buy from companies that stand for something (source: Edelman Trust Barometer, 2024). For a generation with growing spending power, performative gestures won’t cut it. Brands like Dior are leaning into substantive, structural change - creating not just image campaigns, but infrastructure.

What’s also significant is how Dior is positioning this initiative: not on the sidelines of the brand, but as a pillar. It’s front and centre at a global conference, embedded into brand architecture, and backed with scale. As many fashion houses scramble to retrofit purpose into campaigns, Dior’s move shows what it looks like when purpose is embedded by design.

From Runway to Real-World Impact

This isn’t about optics. It’s about outcomes. The programme’s alumni include social entrepreneurs, engineers, and creatives who are now mentoring the next wave. It's a living ecosystem of empowerment, with Dior at the centre - not as saviour, but as facilitator.

And it’s working. In UNESCO’s words, “investing in women’s leadership is one of the most powerful accelerators for sustainable development.” Fashion may not have all the answers, but it has the platforms, the capital, and the reach. Dior is using all three.

In a luxury landscape where every brand wants to claim “impact,” Dior is delivering it - with consistency, credibility, and compounding returns. For brand marketers, it’s a powerful case study: if you want to be relevant tomorrow, you need to build purpose into your core today.

The New Creative Frontier: Apple Music’s LA Studio

Opening this summer, Apple’s new three-storey, 15,000-square-foot studio in Culver City is designed to be more than just a recording space. It’s a physical manifestation of Apple Music’s artist-first strategy - combining Spatial Audio tech, a 4,000-square-foot live performance stage, and an integrated social content lab.

Rachel Newman, co-head of Apple Music, describes the space as “a place for artists to create, connect, and share their vision”. It reflects a broader industry trend: moving beyond passive streaming to become an engine for live experience, audience engagement, and original storytelling.

Pros - What’s Working?

An Artist-First Environment
Apple Music’s physical and digital platforms are built with artist experience at the core. From private booths for songwriting to high-end Spatial Audio production rooms, the infrastructure enables more direct artist expression and control.

Live, Immersive Content
With multicam shoots, live fan events, and real-time editing facilities, the studio supports high-value, multi-format content creation that can feed Apple Music, social platforms, and beyond.

Global Network, Local Roots
The LA space adds to Apple’s network of creative hubs in cities like Berlin, Paris, and Tokyo, showing a scalable model for culturally grounded innovation.

Cons - What Are the Limitations?

Exclusive by Design
Despite its ambition, the LA studio model is inherently selective. Access will likely be limited to top-tier or Apple-partnered artists, leaving emerging acts outside this elite circle.

Geographic Centralisation
Though described as global, the flagship hub is based in Los Angeles - reinforcing the dominance of the US music industry and potentially overlooking regional scenes and underground cultures elsewhere.

Limited Public-Facing Value
While immersive for artists, the behind-the-scenes nature of the space may offer less immediate value to casual listeners unless content is cleverly distributed across channels.

Opportunities - What Should Brands Watch?

Partnership Potential
The new studio offers fertile ground for brand partnerships - from live events and artist collaborations to integrated content that aligns with Apple’s values of creativity, quality, and innovation.

High-Fidelity Storytelling
The rise of Spatial Audio and multicam formats opens the door for brand narratives that go beyond conventional audio ads. There’s a chance to co-create immersive, artist-led content that resonates culturally.

Fan Experience Design
As platforms build richer ecosystems, brand marketers can learn from Apple’s seamless integration of tech, space, and narrative. How might physical and digital experiences converge in your own campaigns?

Challenges - What Could Undermine Success?

Streaming Saturation
With Spotify, Amazon, and TikTok also building out audio strategies, Apple’s success depends on maintaining its reputation for curation, exclusivity, and technical quality - not just catalogue size.

Monetisation Pressure
For brands, the question remains: how measurable is the ROI of audio storytelling and live music partnerships? Without clear pathways to attribution, it can be hard to justify spend.

Cultural Relevance
Apple must stay attuned to the shifting sounds of Gen Z and emerging subcultures. Without fresh, diverse representation, its artist-first vision risks becoming mainstream-first instead.

Key Takeouts

• Apple’s new LA studio exemplifies a decade-long shift toward artist-led content ecosystems.

• Spatial Audio and immersive production are shaping the future of music experience and storytelling.

• There’s growing space for brands to collaborate in culturally credible, high-quality ways.

• Access and diversity remain key tensions as elite platforms scale.

• Streaming services are evolving into full creative platforms - not just distributors.

Next Steps for Brand Marketers

• Explore Spatial Audio: Invest in understanding how immersive formats can elevate your brand’s sonic identity.

• Build Artist Partnerships: Look beyond endorsements to co-create meaningful, narrative-led experiences.

• Activate Global Hubs: Identify opportunities in other Apple Music markets where brand–music collaboration can localise global strategies.

• Design for Cross-Channel: Ensure content created in premium environments like Apple’s studio is amplified across social, retail, and experiential touchpoints.

• Benchmark Against Apple’s Model: Use Apple’s approach as a blueprint for how to integrate creativity, culture, and technology with credibility.

If the past decade was about access, the next will be about intimacy, immersion, and identity - and Apple is already soundtracking that future.

MAD//Fest 2025: The Gritty, Culture-First Cousin to Cannes Lions

What happens when you remix the spirit of Cannes Lions with Shoreditch energy and fewer yachts? You get MAD//Fest 2025 - a bold, creative-first, and unapologetically fast-paced three days of brand, culture, and marketing collision in East London.

And here’s the thing: the key takeaways mirrored Cannes, almost note for note. But the delivery? I’m told pure MAD.

MAD//Fest and Cannes: Singing from the Same Strategy Sheet

Both events spotlighted the same seismic shifts shaking up marketing today. If Cannes Lions was the global boardroom, MAD//Fest was the underground club. But in both spaces, the big ideas aligned:

1. AI Is Not Just a Tool. It’s the New Operating System.

• AI was front and centre in both festivals.

• MAD//Fest broke it down into five strategic shifts: from machine-led media buying to live experience design, with creative workflows increasingly powered by GenAI.

• The message: marketers who aren’t integrating AI into their strategy today are already behind.

2. First-Party Data Is the New Creative Currency

• With third-party cookies collapsing, brands are recalibrating their foundations.

• MAD//Fest highlighted six trends shaping the first-party data landscape, including retail media expansion, ML-powered data refinement, and closed-loop measurement.

• This echoed Cannes’ obsession with ownership, access, and responsible activation.

3. Purpose Needs Proof

• Both events agreed: it’s no longer enough to talk about brand purpose.

• MAD//Fest went further - brands like Tony’s Chocolonely, Heineken and Haribo shared how they’re operationalising sustainability and social equity, not just marketing them.

• Think carbon labelling, ESG performance incentives, and community-informed product design.

4. Creative Effectiveness Starts with People

• While Cannes focused on award-winning work, MAD//Fest zoomed in on the conditions that fuel creativity.

• A headline keynote linked marketing team wellbeing to campaign success - with happier teams producing +27% more effective work and 40% lower attrition.

• It was a call to treat creative health like business health.

5. Start-Ups Aren’t the Sideshow. They’re the Signal.

• From AR-powered retail to Web3 loyalty apps, the MAD//Fest start-up arena was a launchpad for cultural innovation.

• While Cannes showcased innovation from the biggest players, MAD//Fest championed early-stage disruption with real-world edge.

💡 Stats from the Stage: What Stuck

• 72% of marketers are already using AI in creative workflows - from ideation to scripting to optimisation.

• Campaigns created by teams with high wellbeing scores were 27% more effective and saw 40% lower attrition.

• Investment in first-party data rose by 34% year on year, with brands reallocating spend from media buying to data ownership.

• 61% of FMCG brands now use retail media as a core channel - not just for performance, but for brand building too.

• AI-led media planning is cutting media waste by up to 40%, outperforming traditional rules-based methods.

• Brands using generative AI for creative development saved 2 to 3 weeks per campaign on average, particularly in early concepting and production planning.

🎤 The Verdict

MAD//Fest didn’t just talk about the future of marketing—it made it feel urgent, cultural, and within reach. While Cannes Lions remains the global benchmark for brand creativity, MAD//Fest proved that the UK has a scrappier, more accessible festival model that delivers just as much insight - without the gatekeeping.

Where Cannes brought polish, MAD//Fest brought momentum.

⚡Final Word

For brand strategists, marketers and creatives watching where culture and commerce collide, MAD//Fest 2025 was a clear signal:

We’re entering a new era of marketing. One powered by machines, shaped by values, and built by healthy, creative humans.

Next year, expect more noise, sharper takes - and even bigger conversations.

From Grassroots to Global: How the Lionesses Engineered the Biggest Growth Story in Modern Sport

In sports marketing, growth doesn’t just mean revenue. It means cultural relevance, emotional connection, and long-term brand equity. Few teams in the world - men’s or women’s - have embodied that better than the England Lionesses.

Over the past five years, they’ve gone from underexposed to unstoppable. From fringe fixtures to primetime. From potential to proof.

This is more than a success story. It’s a case study in how performance, leadership, visibility, and commercial alignment create explosive, sustainable growth.

⚽ Performance: From Sporadic Fixtures to Silverware

In 2020, England’s women’s national team played just three matches.

Fast forward to 2025:

• Over 60 games under Sarina Wiegman

• ~75% win rate

• UEFA Euro 2022 champions

• FIFA Women’s World Cup runners-up (2023)

• Winners of the Women’s Finalissima and Arnold Clark Cups

And crucially - they didn’t just win. They did so with a playing style, team spirit, and tactical confidence that invited belief from fans and brands alike.

🧠 Sarina Wiegman: Leadership That Drives Everything

Appointed in 2021, Sarina Wiegman transformed England into one of the most feared and admired teams in global football.

She brought elite standards, psychological resilience, and media maturity. Her calm authority has become a marketer’s dream - trustworthy, consistent, and compelling.

She:

• Went unbeaten in her first calendar year

• Delivered England’s first major tournament trophy

• Maintained a near-75% win rate

• Stabilised a team into a platform for long-term investment

📈 The Commercial Boom: Proof That Performance Converts

📺 Broadcast

• WSL rights grew from £8M/year (2020) to £13M/year (2024–2029)

• A £65M five-year deal with Sky and the BBC - the largest in women's club football history

• England’s Euro 2022 final drew 17.4M UK viewers - the most-watched women’s match ever in the country

💵 Revenue Growth

• WSL revenues grew 34% YoY to £65M in 2023–24

• Matchday revenue rose 73%

• Forecast: £100M+ by 2026

👕 Merchandise & Licensing

• England’s 2022 Euros win triggered a 120% spike in women’s merchandise

• Mary Earps' Nike goalkeeper kit sold out globally - after Nike was forced to reverse its original decision not to sell it

📲 Players as Platforms: Social Power and Brand Value

These athletes aren’t just performers - they’re highly engaged, culturally relevant media properties.

Most Followed Lionesses on Instagram (July 2025):

• Leah Williamson - 1.13M | Gucci, Pepsi, Nike

• Chloe Kelly - 956K | Calvin Klein, Nike

• Alessia Russo - ~850K | Adidas, Gucci, Beats, PlayStation

• Lauren James - ~640K | Google, Barclays, Nike

• Ella Toone - ~600K | Skincare, BBC Sounds, ET7

🚀 Lauren James gained 122K followers in just 30 days during the 2023 World Cup
📈 Alessia Russo’s branded content delivers elite engagement and media value

This is the new model: athletes as ecosystems - driving ROI through visibility, influence, and relatability.

🧤 Mary Earps: From Keeper to Icon

Few players have shifted the conversation like Mary Earps.

• Named FIFA’s Best Goalkeeper

• Drove a global outcry when Nike refused to sell her shirt

• Forced a U-turn - her kit went on to sell out worldwide

• Became a symbol of performance and principle

As she retires from international football, her legacy is commercial impact meets cultural power.

🛤️ Let’s Not Forget Who Paved the Way

This growth was built on the shoulders of legends. The Lionesses didn’t just appear — they were made possible by decades of persistence, talent, and quiet revolution. Here's who helped shape the stage they now own:

🧭 Fara Williams

England’s most capped player (172). She rose from homelessness to the heart of the national team, proving resilience builds legacy. Now a strong voice for inclusion and access in football.

🎤 Alex Scott

140+ caps and a Champions League winner, she became one of the most recognised sports broadcasters in the UK - smashing representation barriers on the BBC and Sky. A brand in her own right.

🎓 Casey Stoney

Captain, Olympian, and now a respected coach in the NWSL. She was one of the first openly gay players to speak out, shaping a more inclusive game.

💬 Eni Aluko

The first Black woman to reach 100 England caps. A trailblazer on and off the pitch, now a thought leader and former sporting director. Vocal on racism, equality, and structural reform.

🏛️ Karen Carney

A four-time World Cup player who led the UK government’s review of women’s football. Now helping write the sport’s next chapter from inside the system.

👑 Rachel Yankey

England’s first professional female footballer. A quiet pioneer who helped prove that women could - and should - play professionally in England.

🌟 Kelly Smith

Arguably England’s most gifted player. Her technique and flair inspired a generation before the world was really watching.

🛡️ Steph Houghton

Captain through key transitional years, leading England with steadiness and humility as the sport scaled from niche to national.

These are the women who shifted perceptions, broke ceilings, and carried the weight long before the spotlight showed up.

🏁 What It All Means for Sports Marketers

This is the biggest growth story in British sport in the past decade. Why?

Because the Lionesses offer:

• Consistent, elite-level performance

• Storytelling rooted in purpose and empowerment

• Influencers with integrity and reach

• Broadcast metrics and stadium audiences that rival men’s sport

• A brand that fans genuinely care about

It’s not hype - it’s measured momentum.

If you're a sponsor, rights holder, broadcaster, or brand strategist and you’re not building with the Lionesses in mind, you're behind. The blueprint is right here.

🎯 Final Word

Women’s football isn’t emerging - it’s expanding. The Lionesses are proving what’s possible when performance, purpose, and platform come together.

They’re not just making history.
They’re changing the business of sport.

What Caitlin Clark’s Nike Kobe 5 Protro PE Tells Us About the Future of Women’s Sports Marketing

The launch of Caitlin Clark’s Nike Kobe 5 Protro PE sneaker might not be a full signature shoe, but don’t let that fool you: this release is a landmark moment in the evolution of athlete branding and women’s sports marketing.

For months, sneakerheads, hoop fans and women’s basketball advocates were tracking every sideline glimpse and grainy locker room pic, trying to decode whether Clark was quietly working on her own Nike silhouette. That speculation reached fever pitch on June 29th when Nike officially dropped the Kobe 5 Protro PE, Clark’s first-ever Player Edition.

And just like that, the game changed.

👟 Sneaker experts now predict Caitlin Clark’s eventual Nike signature shoe could become a $100 million business - and that forecast comes on the heels of this PE selling out within minutes on SNKRS. What started as a limited edition has turned into a powerful signal of what’s next: the commercial ceiling for women athletes just got higher.

The Sneaker Itself: A Strategic Play, Not Just a Colourway

The shoe doesn’t reinvent the Kobe 5 - instead, it finesses it. Designed in collaboration with Clark and dressed in Indiana Fever’s navy, orange and electric gold, it’s a clean alignment of performance, heritage and team identity. The nod to the Mamba legacy is symbolic and smart: it places Clark not just as a rising star, but as a spiritual successor to Kobe’s drive and mentality.

From a brand marketing lens, this isn’t just about selling sneakers. It’s about positioning Clark as more than a rookie - she’s a narrative asset with generational potential. Giving her a PE before a full signature model mirrors how Nike built the pathway for other elite athletes: test the market, stoke the hype, and keep the story unfolding.

Scarcity + Hype = Cultural Currency

Reports that only 13,000 pairs were released via the SNKRS app in the US (with limited additional stock from select retailers) turned the drop into a high-stakes cultural moment. Whether or not those numbers hold true, it doesn’t matter - scarcity builds heat. And that scarcity signals something else: Clark’s commercial weight as a women’s sports figure with enough pull to drive a limited drop frenzy.

In a post-NIL landscape where college stars enter the league with built-in fanbases and marketing machines, Clark is a masterclass in how to harness that energy for long-term brand equity.

From the Court to Culture: Women’s Hoops is Having a Marketing Moment

Clark isn’t the only W player making brand moves, but she is the most visible. Her debut PE has been compared to the early LeBron and KD years: not just because of gameplay, but because of how brands are choosing to bet on her.

If Nike’s playbook holds, a full Caitlin Clark signature line is inevitable. What we’re seeing now is an intentional, slow burn - building desire, seeding product, and letting the culture demand what comes next.

What It Means for Brands Watching the Space

For marketers, this moment offers a sharp insight: the women’s sports consumer isn’t niche, she’s mainstream - and ready to spend. Limited runs, collab storytelling, crossover appeal with streetwear and sneaker culture: these aren’t just tactics, they’re necessities.

The Caitlin Clark PE proves that when brands treat women athletes like the stars they are - with story-driven drops, elite product, and credible cultural positioning - the market responds.

And this is only the beginning.

Legal Whiplash: Why UK Ticketing Faces a Seismic Reset in 2025

A major shake-up is coming to the UK ticketing space and no one in the live events ecosystem should be under any illusions about what it means.

From September 2025, companies could face criminal prosecution for failing to prevent fraud in their business, even if they didn’t know it was happening. This new offence, part of the government’s broader crackdown on corporate misconduct, makes it clear: compliance is no longer a tick-box exercise. It is a frontline defence.

Thanks to Martin Haigh for highlighting this in a recent post. It deserves the industry’s full attention.

What’s Changing?

Under the new “Failure to Prevent Fraud” offence, if someone inside your organisation commits fraud and your company didn’t have reasonable checks and systems in place to stop it, you could be criminally liable. That includes senior leadership.

Intent no longer matters. Ignorance is not a defence. Whether you’re a ticketing platform, a promoter, a sponsor, or a hospitality buyer, you are now part of the risk chain.

This Isn’t Just Theoretical

Let’s be real. Certain behaviours have long been tolerated, even normalised.

• Primary sellers quietly routing tickets straight to resale

• Secondary marketplaces allowing bulk tout listings without checks

• Promoters holding back blocks to generate sellout optics and artificial FOMO

• Sponsors topping up guest allocations from unofficial sources

• Hospitality providers mixing in grey-market tickets as “exclusive access”

These practices have eroded fan trust and undermined access. Come autumn, they won’t just be questionable. They could be criminal.

Who’s Most Exposed?

• Primary and resale platforms that haven’t put proper limits and checks in place

• Promoters dealing under the radar to boost hype

• Sponsors and hospitality agencies sourcing from third parties without doing due diligence

• Executives who rely on wilful ignorance or assume someone else is responsible

The Competition and Markets Authority can now issue direct fines of up to 10 percent of global turnover, with no court process required. If criminal fraud is suspected, the bar for prosecution is lower than ever.

The Knock-On Effect for Live Events

This will fundamentally impact how talent tours, how sponsors activate, and how fans access tickets.

• Expect increased pressure on platforms to show their workings

• Brands will need to rethink how hospitality packages are sourced

• Promoters may need to overhaul allocation practices to ensure fairness and transparency

• New players with compliant, transparent models will have a genuine competitive edge

The audience is no longer tolerating murky dealings, and now the law won’t either.

What Should Happen Next?

• Review your house now. Platforms, promoters, sponsors and hospitality providers all need a full audit of their processes

• Get documentation in order. It’s not enough to say you care about integrity. You need proof

• Train your teams. Make sure commercial, legal, partnerships and ops understand the exposure

• Use this as a reset. Clean systems, clear communication and fair access build long-term trust

This is a pivotal moment. Not just for ticketing compliance, but for cultural credibility.

The live space thrives when fans believe in the process. The minute they don’t, you lose more than just sales. You lose connection.

This is a chance to rebuild that trust, remove the opacity and raise the bar.

Can This New Survey Save UK Live Music?

The UK’s live music culture is on the brink.

Between 2020 and 2023, nearly a third of grassroots music venues - 31% - shut their doors. In 2023 alone, 125 venues closed, a record-breaking blow. The situation is especially dire in London, where 35% of grassroots spaces have vanished since 2007. Festivals aren’t faring any better: 36 disappeared in 2023, followed by a staggering 78 more in 2024.

This is more than a cultural loss - it’s an economic one.

Live music contributes £5.2 billion to the UK economy and supports over 200,000 jobs. Yet the very venues that incubate new talent and power this ecosystem are being squeezed to the edge of extinction.

🔺 Security costs have surged 300% since 2019.
🔺 Nearly half of all venues now operate at a loss.
🔺 Collectively, they’re subsidising live music to the tune of £115 million.

All while navigating hostile planning laws, extreme licensing conditions, and an unsupportive policy environment.

This is a cultural emergency - and an economic one.

But amid the wreckage, there’s a flicker of hope. In a rare move, the UK Government has launched a full review of the grassroots sector, alongside a fan-led survey aimed at understanding the challenges faced by venues, artists, and fans alike.

It’s a welcome step. But let’s be clear: a review is only meaningful if it leads to urgent, tangible action.

What the UK’s music sector needs - now:

✅ Stronger legal protections for venues against noise complaints and third-party liability
✅ Planning reform to keep cultural spaces from being priced out or shuttered
✅ Targeted funding that reflects the vital role of live music in our creative economy

We’re not talking about handouts. We’re talking about investment in a national asset—one that fosters innovation, supports communities, and fuels global influence.

As Lord Kevin Brennan said in Parliament:

“Glastonbury is simply the apex of the great pyramid of the UK’s live and electronic music sector... The base of that pyramid is in danger of crumbling without due care and attention.”

He’s right. And if we want that pyramid to stand, we all need to act.

🎧 Take part in the UK Government’s survey (open until autumn):
https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/378/culture-media-and-sport-committee/news/208026/new-survey-invites-fans-to-help-shape-future-of-live-and-electronic-music/

🎤 Support the frontline with Music Venue Trust:
👉 musicvenuetrust.com

📣 Share this post. Talk to your MP. Stand with the people fighting to keep UK music alive.

This is about more than saving venues. It’s about saving culture.

The future of live music starts now - let’s not lose it.

F1, Fiction and $40 Million: Why Branded Entertainment Just Took the Lead

Credit where it’s due: I first clocked this via a brilliant post from Marcos Angelides, brought to my attention by the always insightful Will Page. It’s one of those case studies that instantly grabs your attention - and keeps unfolding the more you look at it.

The upcoming F1 film, starring Brad Pitt and Damson Idris, isn’t just a blockbuster in the making. It’s a masterclass in brand integration. In what might be the smartest marketing move of the year, the filmmakers partnered with Mercedes to create a fictional but fully functioning F1 team. Not just for screen-time flash - but for serious commercial play.

The result? Brands like Geico, SharkNinja, IWC, and Sony came onboard as sponsors of the fictional team. And they paid to be there. Over $40 million was generated in brand partnerships alone - offsetting a sizeable chunk of the reported $200 million production budget.

Let’s pause on that. This isn’t product placement as a bolt-on afterthought. This is sponsorship strategy baked into the creative from day one. A race car engineered for ROI.

We’re witnessing the next evolution of branded entertainment: where the film itself becomes a vehicle for brand storytelling, media spend, and fan engagement. And in this case, quite literally. The fictional team wasn’t just slapped together in post - it was integrated into the real F1 paddock during race weekends. Audiences aren’t just watching sponsorship; they’re immersed in it.

With reports of a $144 million opening weekend, this project isn’t just winning on screen, it’s proving commercial viability off it too. And that’s the green flag more brands have been waiting for.

Because here’s the bigger play: advertising is increasingly skippable, but entertainment is sought out. Smart brands know this. The ones leaning into narrative, spectacle and fan-first formats will be the ones who future-proof their marketing.

The F1 movie didn’t just blur the lines between sport and cinema. It redrew the map.

Now, imagine what happens when music, fashion and gaming take the same approach at scale. The race is on - and the brands that think like producers will be the ones standing on the podium.

✅ What Worked

Sponsorship Built Into the Narrative
The fictional team wasn’t an afterthought - it was central to the plot, making the brand involvement feel integral, not intrusive.

Real Brands in a Fictional Context
Geico, SharkNinja and IWC sat alongside Mercedes in a way that felt authentic, thanks to real F1-world styling and placement.

Leveraging the F1 Ecosystem
Filming at actual races lent the film credibility and generated additional fan and media buzz - a sponsorship win without traditional ad spend.

Commercial ROI Built In
$40m in sponsorship revenue before box office release is a solid model. Brands became investors and characters in the story.

Cultural Relevance
F1 has cracked Gen Z and mainstream pop culture. This film tapped into the zeitgeist, giving brands a culturally rich platform.

❌ What Didn’t Work (or Could Have Been Riskier)

Surface-Level Brand Moments
Some brand appearances felt fleeting - raising questions about long-term value unless reinforced by broader activations.

Blurring Fiction and Fact
Fans unfamiliar with the setup could be confused by seeing a ‘new’ team. The line between story and sport needs careful framing.

Creative Control Limits
When brands enter entertainment, they trade off control. Unlike ads, they can’t dictate screen time or narrative outcomes.

Short-Term vs Long-Term Gains
Without extending the partnership beyond the film’s release window, some brands risk being forgotten once the credits roll.

🎯 Key Takeouts for Marketers & Brand Partnership Professionals

1. Think Like a Producer, Not Just a Sponsor
Brands that co-create, not just co-fund, will own a more meaningful slice of culture.

2. Entertainment is the New Ad Space
Consumers opt in to good stories. Interruptive advertising is out. Story-driven brand partnerships are in.

3. Choose Culture-Native Partners
Mercedes brought F1 credibility. Do the same in music, fashion or gaming by partnering with insiders - not outsiders.

4. ROI is More Than Media Value
Think: brand sentiment, cultural cachet, and fan-first relevance. Eyeballs alone aren’t enough.

5. Build Beyond the Moment
Use the movie as a launchpad. Plan digital content, merch collabs, social strategy and fan engagement around the entertainment moment.

Home Never Tasted So Good: Bold Bean Co's Budget-Genius Post-Glasto Brand Play

Picture this: It’s 8:30am at Paddington and Victoria Station. The scent of festival fatigue is in the air. And right there, among the commuters and crusty wellies, stands the Bold Bean Co team - B Corp certified and armed with usherette trays packed with 10,000 jars of Smoky Chilli Baked Beans.

Not your average Monday morning.

Their mission? Pure brand alchemy: intercepting the Glastonbury exodus with the promise of real food, real fast. No gimmicks. Just damn good beans.

This was less about scale and more about smarts. No flashy trucks or six-figure production. Just strategic timing, cultural intuition, and confidence in a product that speaks for itself. Because when your consumer has survived five days of pot noodles and 2am “mystery meat,” a jar of premium beans becomes emotional. One man even asked for a spoon to eat them cold on his second train. We respect the hustle.

This activation nailed the golden formula:

Right moment. Right message. Right medium.

Beans in usherette trays. Nostalgic, ridiculous, brilliant.

It also tapped the social tension beautifully: Glasto-goers were grateful. Regular commuters were suspicious. “Baked beans… in a jar?”, “I didn’t go to Glasto - can I still have one?” That pause? That curiosity? That’s where a challenger brand lives and thrives.

In a world of paid media saturation, this moment was human, low-fi and high-impact. It created stories, selfies, word-of-mouth and conversions. From confused commuters to hungover festival heads - Bold Bean met them where they were, and reminded them what real food tastes like.

And that tagline?
Home never tasted so good.
Chef’s kiss.

Takeaways for brands:

• You don’t need a mega-budget to create emotional resonance

• Knowing your audience’s emotional state is half the strategy

• Disruption can be delightful when it’s done with heart and timing

• People crave real - not just in food, but in brand experiences

And finally: a big shout out to Amelia Christie-Miller, Founder of Bold Bean Co - building a brand with soul (and serious hustle). 🫘 This is what clever, culture-savvy founder-led marketing looks like. Vision, timing, and a product that does the talking. Bravo.

Mission accomplished, Bold Bean. You made baked beans feel like a hug from home.

📱 Creator Ad Revenue Tops Traditional Media in 2025 - A Turning Point for Marketers

In a landmark shift that rewrites the advertising playbook, 2025 marks the first year that ad revenue from creator-led content will eclipse traditional media. According to WPP’s newly released This Year Next Year mid-year forecast, creator-driven platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram are projected to pull in $235 billion in ad revenue - more than TV, print, and radio combined. It’s a cultural inflection point that signals not just a shift in spend, but a complete redefinition of influence.

👀 Creator Content Tops Traditional Channels

For years, creators have been building community, reach, and relatability in a way most media couldn’t touch. Now, that loyalty is translating into real economic power. Of the $235 billion going into creator content this year, creators themselves are expected to pocket a staggering $185 billion. That’s not just a win for the ecosystem - it’s a wake-up call for brands still overly reliant on legacy media.

🧠 A New Lens on Media Investment

WPP has introduced a new framework to make sense of this fast-moving terrain, breaking down media investment into four categories: Content, Commerce, Intelligence, and Location. The standout? Content. And more specifically, content made by humans with audiences - not just production teams with studio access.

Creator-generated ad revenue is up 20% from 2024 and is projected to more than double by 2030, reaching $376.6 billion.

💸 Why It Matters for Brands

For advertisers, especially those looking to capitalise on fast-growing segments like women’s sport or Gen Z lifestyle, creator content offers unmatched agility and authenticity. This shift also lowers the barrier to entry for brands without multi-million-pound production budgets. When the right creator meets the right brief, culture moves - and now, so does capital.

🌍 Global, Yet Personal

Markets like Brazil (11.9% growth) and India (8.4%) are powering ahead, while the US and UK remain dominant spenders. But the big story isn’t just geographic - it’s behavioural. Users now spend more time watching real people talk to them on a phone screen than anything broadcast at them on a larger one. And brands are finally reallocating spend accordingly.

🤖 AI & Autonomy: Accelerators of Change

The creator boom is also being fuelled by better tech. Generative AI, performance-optimised targeting, and agentic assistants are helping creators produce and monetise faster. It’s lowering friction and raising expectations. In this ecosystem, success depends on relevance, speed, and human resonance – not just reach.

🔑 Key Takeouts for Marketers:

1. Creator Content Is the New Mass Media: $235B in ad revenue in 2025 - creators are now bigger than TV.

2. Digital Dominance: Digital makes up 81.6% of total global ad spend.

3. Retail Media Is Surging: On track to hit $252B by 2030.

4. TV Isn’t Dead – But It’s Plateauing: Traditional channels offer diminishing returns.

5. Emerging Markets Matter: Growth in Brazil and India is outpacing the global average.

6. AI Is Reshaping the Industry: From content production to personalisation, automation is raising the bar.

✅ Actionable Steps for Marketers:

• Reallocate Budget Towards Creator-Led Content: Make creators central to your strategy - not a bolt-on.

• Design Social-First, Vertical Formats: Build natively for Reels, Shorts, and TikTok.

• Pilot Retail Media Campaigns: Test placements on Amazon, Walmart Connect, and Carrefour Links.

• Adopt AI Tools Across Creative Pipelines: For ideation, asset generation, and versioning.

• Shift from Demographic to Content-Based Targeting: Relevance is algorithmically rewarded.

• Localise for Growth Markets: Tailor creator partnerships and content for Brazil, India, and beyond.

• Use WPP’s New Classifications: Reframe your spend across Content, Commerce, Intelligence, and Location for clearer ROI storytelling.

📈 The Takeaway

Creator culture is no longer a trend. It is the new media economy. If your brand wants to stay relevant, it’s time to build like one - agile, audience-first, and socially native.

🔗 Read the full WPP TYNY 2025 report

The Rise of the Sober Rave: Why Festivals Are Embracing Moderation

Festival culture is sobering up - literally.

In 2025, a new kind of headliner is taking the stage: moderation.

Long tied to indulgence and excess, festivals have traditionally been synonymous with alcohol. But for a growing number of Gen Z and Millennial audiences, that link is starting to fray. Instead, a cultural shift is gaining ground - one that prioritises presence, connection, and personal autonomy over default behaviours.

Whether driven by mental wellness, a desire to stay sharp, or simply shifting social norms, today’s festivalgoers are showing up differently. For many, the decision to go alcohol-free isn’t about missing out - it’s about showing up fully.

📉 The Stats Tell the Story

• In the US, alcohol consumption among 18–34s has fallen from 72% to 62% over the last two decades (Gallup).

• Gen Z drinks 20% less than Millennials at the same life stage (Berenberg/WSJ).

• 58% of Gen Z plan to drink even less in 2025, citing mental health and productivity (NCSolutions).

• The no/low alcohol market is growing at +10% CAGR globally (IWSR).

This shift isn’t hypothetical - it’s playing out across real spaces and live events. At Coachella 2025, Heineken® 0.0 reported a 125.5% increase in sales compared to the previous year. In the Netherlands, consumption of 0.0 beers at festivals rose by 35%. Globally, Heineken 0.0 is now available in over 120 markets.

But this is bigger than a single brand. It’s a cultural reset.

🍺 The Brands Moving With the Beat

Lucky Saint, the UK-based alcohol-free beer brand, has become a fixture at mass-participation events like the Hackney Half and the AJ Bell Great Manchester Run, serving on-tap 0.5% beer to thousands of runners. These aren’t sober-only spaces - these are mainstream, high-energy cultural moments where moderation isn’t marginal. With its new Lemon Lager and branded experiences, Lucky Saint is proving that 0.0 doesn’t mean compromise - it means choice.

Meanwhile, CleanCo, co-founded by Spencer Matthews, is expanding the no-alcohol spirits category with a growing portfolio of gin, rum, tequila and whiskey alternatives. Positioned as “beyond mocktails,” the brand sold 8.8 million drinks in 2024 and is backed by figures like England cricket captain Ben Stokes. It’s not just sober - it's serious. And it’s fast becoming a staple in both wellness spaces and premium nightlife.

Together, these brands reflect a growing truth: non-alcoholic isn’t niche anymore - it’s a domain with its own credibility, creativity and commercial weight.

🎯 What This Means for Festivals, Brands and Marketers

For Festival Organisers
Moderation isn’t the opposite of partying - it’s a new way to engage. Forward-thinking festivals are no longer hiding 0.0 options behind a side bar. Instead, they’re investing in premium non-alc experiences: curated menus, dedicated spaces, and credible partners that reflect the values of their audience. These additions aren’t just inclusive - they're commercial, experiential, and increasingly expected.

For Alcohol Brands
Zero-alc is no longer a side hustle. It’s a central pillar of future-facing portfolios. Brands need to move beyond “offering an option” and start positioning 0.0 products as relevant lifestyle choices with taste, branding, and storytelling to match. This is about expanding the category - not shrinking expectations.

For Brand Marketers
The shift towards moderation is an opportunity to rethink how joy, identity and connection are expressed. Campaigns that centre presence, confidence and clarity are landing harder than those tied to consumption. This generation doesn’t need alcohol to participate - they need to feel seen.

🎵 The New Festival Beat

The result? A cultural remix of the live experience. Less about numbing out, more about tuning in. As the sober-curious movement continues to grow, festivals are becoming more intentional spaces - where people can celebrate on their own terms.

Moderation is no longer a side note. It’s a headliner in its own right.

You Don’t “Have” Fans. You Earn the Relationship.

Fandom is having a moment. Again.

There are endless headlines about the rise of the “new” fan - hyper-engaged, platform-native, born into meme culture and fluent in niche. Reports churn out taxonomies and traits: the Gen Z sports obsessive, the K-pop stan, the streaming superfan. The message is clear: fans are a powerful cohort, and brands need to figure them out.

But here's the problem: most of the conversation still treats fandom like a fixed attribute - a type of person to be targeted, instead of a context-dependent behaviour to be earned.

Let’s be clear: fandom is not a personality type. It’s a response.
It emerges when the right conditions exist - when people find cultural meaning, community, emotional return or creative agency in the worlds they connect with.

Some of those conditions are designed. Others are accidental. But none of them are guaranteed.

Fandom is a system, not a segment

Brands love segmentation: who are these fans, where do they live, what’s their disposable income? Useful in some ways. But it misses the deeper point.

Two people with the same music taste or media habits might engage in wildly different ways depending on what the cultural system around them offers:

• One fan watches passively. Another edits tour footage into narrative arcs with fan theories, inside jokes and timeline canon.

• One buys a jersey. Another crowdfunds a documentary to preserve the club’s grassroots story.

• One streams the album. Another builds a Discord server that outlives the release cycle.

Same interest. Different conditions. Different behaviour.

Fandom is shaped by access, expectation, community design, and the level of creative or emotional input the world around it allows. It’s not a thing people bring. It’s a thing they build - often in response to how a brand, artist or platform sets the tone.

Behaviour > Belonging

Want to understand the future of fandom? Don’t ask “Who are these people?” Ask “What are they able (or invited) to do?”

• Are they given tools to remix and reframe stories?

• Is there frictionless access to the source or mystique to unravel?

• Is it reciprocal, performative, devotional, communal?

• Does the platform enable connection or gatekeep it?

Some of the most successful fandoms didn’t scale because of who the fans were, but because of what the ecosystem allowed:

• The NBA’s growth among Gen Z isn’t about youth appeal alone. It’s about its embrace of player-as-creator culture - from TikTok to League Fits to podcasting.

• Coachella’s branded relevance isn’t rooted in legacy. It’s powered by the annual ritual of fashion, identity play, livestream hype, and digital presence far beyond the desert.

• Dungeons & Dragons’ renaissance didn’t come from rebranding the game. It came from opening the gates, letting players become performers, creators and communities.

Numbers to know

• 63% of Gen Z say they connect more deeply with brands that help them express or create, not just consume (GWI, 2024).

• The top 10% of artist superfans drive over 40% of digital music revenue - not just through streaming, but through ticketing, merch, and premium content (MIDiA Research).

• Fandom-first platforms like Discord, AO3 and Letterboxd are growing faster than social platforms in active engagement metrics year-on-year (WARC, 2024).

So what does this mean for brands?

If you want to build real fandom, stop treating it like a demographic to court.

Instead:

• Design for behaviour. Enable rituals, remixing, self-expression. Create the tools and signals that allow fans to act.

• Respect the tempo. Not all engagement is always-on. Some fandoms thrive on drops, delays, suspense.

• Map the inputs. Fandom isn’t output. It’s what happens when the cultural inputs - intimacy, relevance, recognition - align.

Because you don’t own fandom. You don’t get to define it.
You only get to design the conditions where it can emerge - or not.

Sources:

• GWI “Future of the Creator Economy” Report, 2024

• MIDiA Research: “Superfans & Monetisation” 2023

• WARC: “Fandom Platforms 2024 Benchmark”

AI Hitmakers and Algorithmic Hype: How Tech Took the Wheel in Culture

Meet The Velvet Sundown - a psychedelic rock “band” with over 400,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, two albums released in June, and zero confirmed human members. Their Spotify profile is verified, their bios are gibberish, and their band photos look like they were dreamt up by a machine. That’s because they probably were.

No one asked for an AI psych-rock band. But platforms made space for one. That’s the story.

Streaming services like Deezer report that nearly 20 percent of daily uploads are now fully AI-generated. No disclosure required. Spotify’s algorithms surface tracks based on predictive engagement patterns, not provenance or intent. For most users, that’s invisible. For brands, artists and culture strategists - it’s existential.

What we’re witnessing isn’t just the rise of AI in music. It’s the wider transformation of cultural influence from a human-led ecosystem to a machine-optimised economy. Tech isn’t just the stage anymore. It’s the writer, the producer and - most powerfully - the recommender.

This shift matters. Because for decades, cultural influence came from the margins. It started with subcultures, underground movements, niche tastemakers. But today, cultural moments increasingly start with algorithmic visibility: TikTok virality, FYP formatting, playlist placement.

Generative tools like AI image-makers or text-to-music models might still feel novel - but they’re scaling fast, and so are the incentives to use them. For platforms, synthetic content is cheap, controllable, and doesn’t argue about royalties. For brands chasing ‘always-on’ presence, it's tempting too.

But there’s a cost. When cultural relevance is reduced to performance metrics and recommendation logic, we risk losing the depth, risk-taking and community-first thinking that actually makes culture stick.

For brands and creators that care about legacy, not just visibility, this is the moment to double down on intent. The best strategy now isn’t to ignore tech - it’s to use it critically. To understand how it’s shaping taste and attention, yes - but to invest even harder in human insight, creative bravery and cultural point of view.

Because in this new era, the question isn’t can you scale content with AI. It’s: should you?

And if your brand wants to lead culture - not just fill the feed - you’ll need more than tools. You’ll need taste.

More Than a Game: How Football Foundations Are Rebuilding Community Bonds

Football is often described as a religion, a theatre, a war without weapons. But perhaps most powerfully, it's also a mirror to community. From their inception in shipyards and churches to the sprawling foundations of today, football clubs have always reflected the needs, values, and spirit of the people around them.

Across the UK, every professional club now runs a dedicated foundation - an often-overlooked extension of the club that operates not on matchdays, but every other day that matters. These organisations are not PR vehicles. They’re purpose-built, professional outfits delivering long-term, local impact: from health programmes for over-60s to pathways into employment for young people.

And while the foundations may be relatively new (most were established in the last 30 years), the ethos they embody is anything but. Many of the earliest clubs, including Manchester United and West Ham, were founded as workplace teams promoting physical and mental wellbeing. Others, such as Everton and Southampton, were formed by churches as moral and social outlets, guided by the values of muscular Christianity - a Victorian movement that saw sport as a tool for discipline, inclusion, and upliftment.

That lineage lives on. Celtic and Hibernian were established to serve the Irish working-class diaspora in Glasgow and Edinburgh, respectively. Today, their foundations still carry the baton - funding educational initiatives, delivering anti-racism workshops, and providing free meals in low-income neighbourhoods.

What does this look like in practice?

• Aston Villa Foundation’s ‘Villa Vision’: In partnership with Specsavers, they deliver free eye tests and prescription glasses to pupils in areas with high deprivation, improving classroom confidence and academic performance through better vision.

• Brentford FC Community Sports Trust’s refugee programme: Through football sessions and English classes, the club has created a powerful inclusion initiative for newly arrived refugees, helping them integrate through both play and language.

• Everton in the Community’s ‘Blue Family’: Originally launched during COVID-19, this initiative delivers food parcels, mental health support, and welfare checks to vulnerable fans and families. It's evolved into a permanent community safety net.

• Leeds United Foundation’s ‘Youth Hub’: Working with the Department for Work and Pensions, this hub supports 16 to 24-year-olds on Universal Credit with employability training, CV workshops, and direct access to jobs and apprenticeships.

• Liverpool FC Foundation’s ‘Open Goals’: Free outdoor physical activity sessions across Merseyside parks, aimed at getting families and young people moving, while also subtly embedding mental health check-ins and nutritional advice.

At their best, football foundations are not just reactive, but proactive. They take a holistic approach to wellbeing, recognising that physical health, mental resilience, economic opportunity and social inclusion are all interconnected. And while they may operate independently of club ownership, their success proves that the strength of a football brand is still measured by its social footprint.

Of course, this sits in stark contrast to the realities of modern football economics. Rising ticket prices, billionaire owners, and commercialisation have increasingly alienated local fans. But foundations offer a way back - a reconnection to the game’s roots. They’re a reminder that football is not just a business asset or broadcast product. It’s a civic institution. A shared identity. A cultural glue.

So when we talk about the power of football, it’s not just about what happens in the 90 minutes. It’s about everything that happens beyond them - in classrooms, job centres, food banks and five-a-side pitches. The foundations are proof that while the business of football may have changed, its beating heart remains exactly where it started: with the people.

Protest, Platforms and the Politics of Performance: Who Decides What Belongs on Stage?

This year’s Glastonbury sparked a national conversation far beyond music, with performances by Bob Vylan and Kneecap now under police review and political scrutiny. Their sets included explicit political commentary, chants around the Israel-Palestine conflict, and criticism of political leaders - prompting questions about the role of artists, the responsibilities of broadcasters and festivals, and the place of government in shaping cultural spaces.

🔍 The Case for Responsibility and Oversight

Some argue that with freedom of expression comes responsibility - particularly when messages may be interpreted as inciting violence. When phrases like “Death to the IDF” or “start a riot” are broadcast to thousands, organisers and broadcasters face legitimate questions about where to draw the line. For critics, this isn't about silencing dissent, but about upholding public safety and ensuring platforms aren't used - intentionally or otherwise - to legitimise hate.

With events like Glastonbury carrying global reach, there’s pressure on institutions like the BBC to apply due diligence. Publicly funded organisations have accountability to a diverse audience, and it's argued that they must weigh the potential harm of broadcasting extreme or emotionally charged content without sufficient context.

🎙 The Case for Artistic Freedom and Cultural Space

On the other hand, protest has always had a place in art. Many see performances like these as part of a long tradition of artists using the stage to confront uncomfortable truths, provoke thought, and speak to lived experiences. To investigate or suppress those performances risks criminalising artistic expression and setting dangerous precedents for creative freedom.

Supporters of the artists argue that context matters: punk, satire, character performance and cultural commentary are often provocative by nature. Calls for censorship can flatten the complexity of these performances and disproportionately target marginalised or politically critical voices.

There is also concern around selective outrage - why are some forms of political speech tolerated while others face backlash? And at what point does state involvement in curating cultural content become interference?

🤝 A Shared Challenge

Ultimately, this is a complex issue with no easy answers. Festivals and broadcasters have a responsibility to ensure safe, inclusive spaces, but also to protect artistic expression. Governments, too, must tread carefully - upholding law and public order without encroaching on the creative freedoms that are vital to a healthy, democratic society.

These questions aren’t new, but they are urgent. As the lines between art, protest, and politics become increasingly blurred, institutions, audiences, and artists will need to navigate these tensions with nuance, empathy, and accountability.

🎗️ Amid all of this, it’s important to remember that the conversations sparked on stage reflect a backdrop of real human suffering. Whatever your views, humanitarian aid remains critical in Gaza and across conflict zones. If you’re able, consider donating to relief organisations delivering medical and essential support on the ground.

This is about more than what happens on stage - it’s about how we hold space for culture, conflict, and compassion at the same time.

In a Sea of Silence, Willy Spoke Loud: Fashion as Protest, Not Performance

At a moment when fashion’s biggest stages are filled with fantasy and distraction, Willy Chavarria brought hard reality to the runway. His SS26 show at Paris Fashion Week didn’t entertain. It intervened.

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As the lights came up, models slowly took formation: kneeling, heads shaved, hands behind their backs. Dressed in plain white tees and loose shorts, the cast - some long-time collaborators, some discovered via open call - recreated the pose of those detained by ICE and incarcerated across Latin America. A confronting and deliberate gesture that turned the runway into a space of resistance.

While the fashion industry largely avoided political confrontation this season, Chavarria made the consequences of silence impossible to ignore.

In an era where brands chase “relevance” through aesthetics, virality, and surface-level collaboration, Chavarria reminds us that true relevance is rooted in risk, responsibility, and resonance. You don’t earn cultural capital by riding trends - you earn it by standing for something.

Fashion, at its core, is a language. What we wear can speak volumes. But the industry too often chooses neutrality to protect its bottom line. Chavarria’s show was a powerful counterpoint: a designer using fashion not to escape from the world, but to confront it head-on.

The collection that followed kept the energy tight: boxy tailoring in highlighter pinks and punchy reds, sharp womenswear silhouettes, and American sportswear distorted to exaggerated proportions. A wink to Chavarria’s Ralph Lauren past, but with the volume turned all the way up - and the messaging layered deep.

This was America reimagined. This was fashion politicised. This was a designer at the top of his game, refusing to look away.

In cultural marketing, we talk a lot about belonging, storytelling, and emotional connection. Willy Chavarria lives it.
He doesn’t posture. He positions.
He doesn’t speak for the culture - he speaks from it.

As brands scramble to insert themselves into moments, here’s a masterclass in how to make one.

Because cultural relevance isn’t about proximity to cool.
It’s about proximity to truth.