Amid competition for sponsors, top sports clubs are investing in social media operations

March 24, 2026 Presented by Air purifier brand BlueAir and the New York Knicks make an odd couple. The Unilever-owned Swedish manufacturer recently signed up to become the NBA franchise’s first "air care" partner, part of a broader effort to reposition its range of purifiers, dehumidifiers and household fragrances as a personal wellness solution rather than a mere white goods label. Advertisement TOP STORY Brands in Culture Amid competition for sponsors, top sports clubs are investing in social media operations Sponsors used to want hospitality access and pitch-side banners. Now they want access to a club’s social following. OTHER THINGS TO KNOW In the reality of today’s media environment, scale is fragile. Traffic is rented. Content alone is no longer defensible. But participation turns audiences from passive consumers into active participants. Partner insights from Viafoura. An effective cross-platform measurement strategy helps marketers improve performance in real time — optimizing creative, frequency or even publishers during a campaign. Partner insights from Cint. Audience strategy has historically focused on reaching predefined consumer segments based on assumed traits. Neuro-contextual intelligence helps media planners identify high-intent moments in real time — distinguishing between passive browsing and active consideration. Partner insights from Seedtag. MEDIA & PLATFORMS Marketing on Platforms TikTok courts CMOs with first-ever Collective, as it targets bigger budgets In its first CMO-focused event in the U.K. TikTok showcased how easy it is for brands to create content. The event is only part of the platform’s sharper 2026 commercial strategy: targeting larger, long-term ad budgets, courting independent agencies, and positioning itself as a serious competitor to Meta in 2026. The Creator Economy YouTube is building infrastructure for the full creator-brand partnership life cycle YouTube’s Gemini-powered Creator Partnerships promises to alleviate pain points in the influencer marketing pipeline. A MESSAGE FROM DISNEY CAMPAIGN MANAGER Solve your ad buy You shouldn't have to piece together clues to understand campaign performance. Disney Campaign Manager puts you in the driver's seat with one simple ad solution across Disney+, Hulu and ESPN streaming platforms. Take control with live dashboards that show exactly what's happening, as it happens. See what ran. See what worked. See where performance actually came from. No mystery math. No detective work. Just clear answers to take into your next client meeting. Case closed. Get Started Today PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM HELIUM 10 Virtual event: Expanding on TikTok Shop and Walmart without breaking operations Retailers have to build intentional channel architectures where Amazon, TikTok Shop, Walmart and DTC each play a defined role in driving profitable growth. Learn how in a virtual event on April 14. MARKETING The Creator Economy How to sell an influencer agency: Lessons from Digital Voices founderJennifer Quigley-Jones Digital Voices founder and CEO Jennifer Quigley-Jones explains how to prepare and sell an influencer agency in today's creator economy. PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM THE WEATHER COMPANY Video: WTF is weather targeting? As variations of contextual targeting signals emerge — offering teams impactful, privacy-forward methods to win consumer attention — weather has emerged as a signal that universally drives behavior. Learn more in this video. Member exclusive Ad Tech Briefing: IAB Tech Lab accelerates push to make agentic AI more practical An integration with Kochava’s StationOne signals shift from AI hype to standardized, executable ad workflows Advertisement PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM AMAZON ADS How one company layered its own intelligence on top of Amazon Ads MCP Server Rather than add another interface for sellers and agencies to work with, Hector Ai brought Amazon advertising intelligence to where customers were already working for a more natural agent-driven workflow. ICYMI Generative AI Butler/Till's first agentic media buying tests cut media and supply chain costs Initial campaign tests by the indie agency and Pubmatic show cost reductions and time saved. Success, inevitably, brings more questions. Written by Jim Cooper and Sara Jerde Were you forwarded this email? Sign up to get it daily. Advertise | Digiday+ | Events | Awards Update your email | Unsubscribe | Privacy policy