Case Studied Brief
Creator collabs, courtroom drama, and a $1.4B ad-tech buyout

This week in marketing has a viral flavor mashup, some AI infrastructure moves, and a look at the person behind your favorite brand names.

In today's edition:

• Liquid Death and MrBeast joined forces 🥤

• Google's UK ad case clears a big hurdle 🔍

• Walmart adds another TV ad company to its cart 📺

Campaigns of the week 📺

Liquid Death and Feastables cook up a peanut butter cup surprise.

Liquid Death partnered with MrBeast's Feastables to launch a peanut butter cup-flavored sparkling water. The partnership is backed by a chaotic 60-second spot styled after a typical MrBeast video. The ad rolls out across both brands' social channels, MrBeast's YouTube, and paid social and retail media. The limited-edition drink will be sold on Amazon and in stores at 7-Eleven and Five Below. Source: Ad Age

Why it stood out: The partnership reads less like a standard brand-creator sponsorship and more like a joint venture between two entertainment brands, from the product concept through the content itself.

Spider-Man swings into McDonald's with new collectibles.

McDonald's and agency tms launched the "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" meal, a limited-time promotion tied to the film's release. The toys show Spider-Man "clocking off" and relaxing, alongside a separate kids' Happy Meal version. Source: LBBOnline

Why it stood out: This collaboration follows a familiar fast-food playbook of pairing limited-time menu items and collectible toys with franchise releases. McDonald's also made sure to add a thin layer of Gen Z-targeted messaging by playing into the film's "adulthood" theme.

Minus 196 builds an ice-cold refuge from London heat

The vodka seltzer brand built a physical cold-relief structure in London to offer relief from the summer heat wave while reinforcing its "ice-cold" branding. In direct response to the heat wave facing the UK, it was experiential activation that let passersby step inside to cool down. Source: Famous Campaigns

Why it stood out: Tying an activation directly to a live heat wave gave people a real-world reason to engage with Minus 196. It's a straightforward example of a brand building physical proof of its core promise.

Domino's pays customers to do its quality testing.

Domino's is offering a $5 discount to customers who test its revamped website and app, framing early users as "beta testers." The discount applies to a purchase made the following week after testing, and the effort is part of a broader push to drive adoption of the updated site and app. Source: Domino's IR

Why it stood out: Rather than announcing the redesign and waiting for customers to notice, Domino’s turned adoption into an incentive structure. The discount acts as a functional testing tool to catch bugs and encourage usage before a full rollout. 

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Industry news 🤝

MarTech moves 🤖

Editors Choice 👀

🤖 A side-by-side look at how Meta and Anthropic market their AI products. Source: Business Insider

🏷️ Meet the naming wizard behind BlackBerry, Swiffer, and Azure. Source: The Hustle

🔎 IAB's new guide to measuring brand visibility in AI-powered search. Source: PR Newswire

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