It started out with a post, how did it end up like…this.

In the weeks since Bud Light first received backlash from conservatives over trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney’s Instagram post featuring a custom Bud Light can, the brand’s parent company, Anheuser-Busch, has:

• Put out a statement from CEO Brendan Whitworth where he said the brand “never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people.”
• Placed VP of Marketing for Bud Light Alissa Heinerscheid and Group VP Daniel Blake, who oversaw marketing for Anheuser-Busch’s mainstream brands, on leaves of absence, according to Ad Age and the Wall Street Journal.
• Released a Budweiser ad featuring a Clydesdale galloping past landmarks like the Lincoln Memorial.
• Experienced a 21% drop in sales across US retail stores, per an analysis of Nielsen figures by Bump Williams Consulting cited in the Wall Street Journal, during a week in mid-April.
• Offered distributors free beer in response to a drop in sales and said it would spend three times as much on Bud Light’s marketing this summer than previously planned.

With the company seemingly backpedaling (or at least not doubling down on) its partnership with Mulvaney, experts told us that the company has put its values in question, causing a largely preventable brand identity crisis. Read the story here.—KH

Despite what the internet may tell you, building a successful DTC empire doesn’t happen overnight. Once you’ve established a customer base, success can often boil down to two things: customer engagement and loyalty, two of the hardest things to earn as a new brand.

Retail Brew connected with top retailers—Mejuri, Casper, and Peloton—to talk about the marketing strategies they use to keep customers coming back and spreading the word. If you work in retail, this guide is for you. Download it now.

NewFronts are behind us. Upfronts season looms. But before the TV networks make their annual pitches to advertisers, podcast companies will do the same Thursday at the IAB’s Podcast Upfront.

This year’s agenda includes big names like Emily Ratajkowski, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Conan O’Brien. Still, even the glitzy, star-studded TV and streaming upfronts presentations don’t always make an impact on advertisers and media buyers.

Some podcast network execs told us they’re not expecting a big boost in deals stemming from the event. Nevertheless, they acknowledged it can have value.

While advertising revenue within the sector has grown in recent years, the podcast industry as a whole has been in a state of flux as of late. As YouTube tries to court podcasts, Spotify is in the midst of changing its podcasting strategy, all while some wonder if the sector’s rapid growth has come to an end.

With all that in mind, we talked to several execs ahead of this year’s podcast presentations. Here's what to expect.—AM

This year’s Super Bowl was a big one for Fox Sports—but the game’s ad revenue wins were overshadowed big-time by Fox News Media’s legal woes.

In its quarterly earnings today, Fox Corp. reported a $50 million revenue loss in the quarter, which it attributed primarily to the $787 million settlement it reached with Dominion Voting Systems, one of the largest defamation settlements ever in the US.

• The lawsuit alleged that Fox had knowingly aired false claims about the company’s voting machines during the 2020 election, and the discovery process ahead of the last-minute settlement unearthed private messages from Fox News talent.
• As part of the Dominion settlement, Fox did not admit wrongdoing.
• In a prepared statement Tuesday, Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch characterized the settlement as a “business decision to resolve this dispute and avoid the acrimony of a divisive trial and a multi-year appeal process.”

Superb bowl: On a call with investors Tuesday morning, Murdoch said February’s Super Bowl brought in “approximately $650 million in gross advertising revenue.” Overall, ad revenue increased 43% year over year last quarter to nearly $1.9 billion, CFO Steve Tomsic said. Murdoch said growth in auto, restaurants, and entertainment helped buoy ad revenue, particularly in local TV markets.

Unbothered: Murdoch said the pricey Dominion settlement “in no way alters Fox’s commitment to the highest journalistic standards across our company or our passion for unabashedly reporting the news of the day.” The surprise departure of primetime host Tucker Carlson (who yesterday said he’s taking his show to Twitter) represents “no change” to Fox News’s programming strategy, Murdoch added. “It’s obviously a successful strategy,” he said.

Read the full story here.—KS

There are a lot of bad marketing tips out there. These aren’t those.

SEO: If you’re using (or considering) TikTok search ads, refine your strategy with these tips.

Speaking of TikTok: It’s introducing a hub to help marketers connect with the audiences they’re trying to reach.

Far and wide: The basics for putting together a content distribution strategy.

Plant-based potential: An effective marketing strategy is a significant piece of any small business’s growth puzzle. See how plant-based milk brand Willa is revving up their potential with theirs. Sponsored by Hulu Ad Manager.*

^{*This is sponsored advertising content.}

Stat: 2,100. That’s how many jobs were added to PR, advertising, and related sectors in the US last month, according to Bureau of Labor figures cited in Ad Age, “a surprising rebound that marked the biggest monthly gain since last summer.”

Quote: “No one is refusing to enter a Costco because they didn’t like the logo.”—James I. Bowie, a sociologist at Northern Arizona University, unpacks the pros and cons of “playing it safe” with logos in Fast Company

Read: “RIP metaverse” (Insider)

Parody: Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s upfronts ballad.

Catch up on a few Marketing Brew stories you might have missed.

• Caden, the app that pays users money to share their data, recently soft-launched
• Court dismisses FTC’s suit against Kochava…for now
• Americans want to see their favorite brands in movies, research finds