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Wednesday, 4 November 2026Made in Tāmaki Makaurau · 240 stories this week

The Weekly Pitch: what's happening in marketing, right now.

What's happening in marketing, right now.

Marketing news from the trade press, campaigns checked against their sources, and short lessons. For marketing students and anyone who wants to stay in the loop.

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Live from the trade press

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This week by topic

GEO: generative engine optimisation

Tagged automatically from headlines, so counts are a guide.

Checked against sources

Campaign watch

Full campaign library →

We only call a campaign a success when a source publishes results, awards or sales. Most new work hasn't got there yet, and we say so.

Image: Adweek

Beauty & personal care

Ulta Beauty · United States

The Magic Starts with You

Agency: Tamara Group

Ulta Beauty launched its holiday campaign 'The Magic Starts with You', bringing back Mrs Claus (played by Sandra Gray) for a second season after last year's ad, this time alongside pop stars Selena Gomez and Tate McRae, both of whom have founded beauty brands sold at Ulta. Created by Tamara Group and directed by Nema Vand, one spot features Gomez with her Rare Beauty brand, which Ulta began carrying in February 2026 in Rare Beauty's first retail expansion beyond Sephora; another features McRae's new fragrance Tate 01, which launched in October during Paris Fashion Week and is exclusive to Ulta in the US. The campaign started rolling out on 31 October across TV, streaming, digital, social media and in-store experiences, ties into Ulta's 'Pink Bag Energy' presence on Instagram, and coincides with Ulta's first 25 Days of Beauty advent calendar.

No performance data published yet.

Our take

Casting Gomez and McRae isn't a standard celebrity endorsement, since both already sell their own beauty brands through Ulta, so the campaign doubles as merchandising for products already on Ulta's shelves rather than a purely borrowed-fame play. The campaign has only just begun rolling out, so there's no data yet on reach, sales or how it compares with last year's version.

Read the breakdown →

Adweek · 31 Oct 2026 ↗

  1. Pepperstone Crypto · Australia (Sydney)

    Porsche giveaway flyover

    Finance & banking

  2. Prada · Global

    Drawing Prada: Animated By Hand

    Retail & fashion

  3. GPT Group · Australia

    For the Love of Christmas

    Property & construction

  4. Pandora · Australia and New Zealand

    Talisman collection

    Retail & fashion

Also new this week · straight from the trade press, not yet checked by us

  1. 1Brands are becoming entertainment studiosAttention is earned with formats people choose to watch or stream, not interruptions. Budgets are moving from spots to series.
  2. 2AI agents move from making assets to running the planPlatforms increasingly ask for a goal, a budget and creative, then decide the rest. The competitive edge moves to the inputs: strategy, creative quality and clean data.
  3. 3The entry-level talent squeezeJunior tasks (resizing, first drafts, reporting) are being automated, so the pipeline that trains future leaders is at risk.
  4. 4Getting found inside AI answersSearch is splitting into classic results and AI-generated answers. Third-party proof (reviews, data, citations) appears to matter more than volume of content.

New technology in marketing

AI radar

Open the AI radar →

Amazon Ads

Ads Agent, Full-Funnel Campaigns, DVA+

Announced at unBoxed: one AI interface for planning through measurement, and campaigns that combine sponsored, display, video and streaming TV while Amazon's AI decides execution.

Why it matters

Buying silos are collapsing into goal-and-budget inputs. Planners' value shifts to strategy, creative and testing.
Digiday · 29 Sept 2026 ↗

Runway

Runway Ads

An AI agent that makes ad variations, localises them, publishes human-approved versions to Meta, Google and TikTok, and feeds performance back into the next round.

Why it matters

Creative production and optimisation in one loop. The generative-video players are moving into performance marketing.
Adweek · 30 Sept 2026 ↗

Latest AI stories

All AI & tech stories →

Success with evidence

Award-winning work

Recently announced winners from D&AD and the London International Awards (LIA). An award is public recognition by an industry jury. It isn't the same as commercial results.

WorkBrandAgencyAwardSource
Your Way OutCoinbaseIsle of AnyD&AD (Design and Art Direction) Black Pencil ×2 (Visual Effects; Production Design)Creative Review · 25 Sept 2026 ↗
The Periodic FableThe OrdinaryUncommon Creative StudioD&AD Black Pencil (Art Direction)Creative Review · 25 Sept 2026 ↗
Three WordsAXAPublicis ConseilD&AD Black Pencil (Impact)Creative Review · 25 Sept 2026 ↗
UnsponsoredLevi Strauss & Co.BETC Paris, AKQAGrand LIA (London International Awards): Ambient & ActivationCampaign Brief · 29 Sept 2026 ↗
The Pub That Refused To DieHeinekenLePub MilanGrand LIA: Creative StrategyCampaign Brief · 29 Sept 2026 ↗
Heinz Ketchup billboards (“Look Familiar?”)HeinzRethink TorontoGrand LIA: BillboardCampaign Brief · 29 Sept 2026 ↗
SosegáCervezas AlhambraLLYC MadridGrand LIA: Music & SoundCampaign Brief · 29 Sept 2026 ↗
Expensive Sh*tHuggiesMcCann New ZealandLIA Gold: Ambient & ActivationCampaign Brief · 29 Sept 2026 ↗
Lump LotteryTesticular Cancer NZColenso BBDOLIA Gold + Silver: Creative StrategyCampaign Brief · 29 Sept 2026 ↗
No Place to GrowWe Are MobiliseDroga5 ANZLIA Silver: Ambient & ActivationCampaign Brief · 29 Sept 2026 ↗
Find Your WonderfulNew WorldMcCann New ZealandEffie Gold: Retail/EtailCampaign Brief · 23 Oct 2026 ↗
Fantasy Herd (with Together)Goodman FielderMcCann New ZealandEffie Gold: Most Original Thinking; Effie Gold: Clever Use of Research/DataCampaign Brief · 23 Oct 2026 ↗
Making the world fall in love with 100% Pure New Zealand againTourism New ZealandTBWA New ZealandEffie Gold: International MarketingCampaign Brief · 23 Oct 2026 ↗
Booze MathsNZTA Waka KotahiMcCann New ZealandEffie Gold: Insights & Strategic ThinkingCampaign Brief · 23 Oct 2026 ↗

Our own thinking · hypothetical

Ideas lab

Open the Ideas lab →

These are not real campaigns. They're our own ideas for how this week's mechanics could work for well-known brands, and the brands named aren't involved.

Idea for Spotify

Wrapped: The Final

A live-streamed, long-form game show where the most obsessive fans of one artist compete using their listening data.

Mechanic: Fans opt in with their stats; top listeners qualify; the artist hosts the final.

See the full plan →

Inspired by: KFC's superfan game show (Adweek)

Idea for Red Bull

City vs City Session Board

A month-long skate/run/ride challenge where each suburb's tracked activity lights up live DOOH (digital out-of-home) boards, ending in a street event in the winning suburb.

Mechanic: App or Strava tracking → live DOOH leaderboard → finale event.

See the full plan →

Inspired by: Hoka's Strava-to-DOOH marathon build-up (Digiday)

Idea for IKEA

Secondhand Rooms

Players donate unused in-game furniture from home-building games; each donation unlocks a real-world contribution to a housing charity.

Mechanic: In-game donation → public tally → matched real donation.

See the full plan →

Inspired by: Kirkens Korshær's Secondhand Skins (Creative Review)

Got a brand in mind? Build an idea for it →