Campaign Brief·
Vodka Cruiser X crashes one Aussie’s pre’s with a DJ via Supermassive and 1House
Campaigns
The Weekly Pitch: what's happening in marketing, right now.
What's happening in marketing, right now.
read the newsLive from the trade press
Latest headlines
All 244 stories →Muse by Clio·
Why Agencies Must Take the Brief ‘a Step Beyond’ to Help Brands Anticipate What’s Next
People & agencies
Muse by Clio·
Ezra Hurwitz and Gap’s Zac Posen Stage Jerome Robbins’ Landmark ‘Opus Jazz’ for Promo
People & agencies
AdExchanger·
Who Is Teaching AI Who Your Customers Are? Why Identity is Your Most Critical Asset
AI: artificial intelligence
AI & techBrand & design
B&T·
The Skills Marketers Need Most Are Hiding In Plain Sight
AI & tech
Mumbrella·
Coronavirus disease 2019
People & agencies
Mumbrella·
Coronavirus disease 2019
People & agencies
Mumbrella·
Coronavirus disease 2019
People & agencies
Mumbrella·
Coronavirus disease 2019
People & agencies
Mumbrella·
Coronavirus disease 2019
People & agencies
This week by topic
- Campaigns70
- Social & creators21
- AI & tech38
- Activations12
- Brand & design7
- Media & ad tech20
- Search & GEO23
- Awards11
- People & agencies97
GEO: generative engine optimisation · AI: artificial intelligence
Topics are tagged automatically from headline keywords, so counts are approximate.
Checked against sources
Campaign watch
Full campaign library →We only call a campaign successful when a source publishes evidence: results, awards or sales. Attention alone doesn't count. Where no figures exist, we say so.
Recently launched
Health & care
Medibank · Australia
Untangle
Agency: Colenso BBDO
Medibank launched 'Untangle', a national brand platform via Colenso BBDO that reframes mental fitness as small, everyday actions rather than a crisis response, building on the 'Family Roast' conversation card game it launched the previous year. The work runs across TV, out-of-home and social, with content partnerships alongside news.com.au and Mamamia.
No performance data published yet
- Medibank says the platform sits inside a wider commitment to invest $100 million in mental health over the next five years (brand-reported figure: a planned spend, not a measured result) [Campaign Brief]
TVOut-of-homeSocialContent partnerships (news.com.au, Mamamia)
✦ Our analysis: what to learn
Backing a campaign idea with a five-year, nine-figure spending commitment signals this is meant to be a long-running platform rather than a one-off ad burst, which fits a slow-building category like mental health where trust takes time. There's no measure yet of whether 'Untangle' changes how people act, only how much the brand plans to spend trying.
Read the breakdown + mini task →
Recently launchedCurrently running
Food & restaurants
Pringles · US
Once You Drop
Agency: BBDO New York and Weber Shandwick
For Halloween, Pringles extended its 'Once You Pop, the Pop Don't Stop' platform with 'Once You Drop': fans sign an online 'Last Will and Taste-Ament' for the chance to be buried in a branded, can-shaped Pringles urn when they die, fronted by TikTok creator Dan the Funeral Man, a real funeral director. The winner, announced around Halloween, also receives what the brand calls a lifetime supply of Pringles. Entries run via onceyoudrop.com from 13 to 22 October.
No performance data published yet
No performance figures have been published by the sources we checked.
SocialOnline videoTikTok (creator partnership)Website (onceyoudrop.com)
✦ Our analysis: what to learn
Turning a mock 'last wish' into a sign-up mechanic gives people something more specific to do than just watch an ad, and fronting it with a real funeral director lends the joke a straight-faced credibility a scripted actor couldn't. It's a limited-entry giveaway rather than mass media, so its reach depends entirely on how far the joke travels online; nothing has been reported yet.
Read the breakdown + mini task →
Sources · first reported 13 Oct 2026
Pringles Offers One Die-Hard Fan a Final Resting Place in a Branded UrnAdweek · 13 Oct 2026 ↗
Recently launched
Sport & fitness
Powerade · US (New York)
Never Just Sports
Agency: Ogilvy
Powerade responded to backlash against Novig, a US sports trading platform whose early-September campaign used provocative imagery of actor Sydney Sweeney, with 'Never Just Sports' via Ogilvy: footage of real women athletes completing genuine sporting feats, screened on a Times Square billboard over a weekend.
No performance data published yet
No performance figures have been published by the sources we checked.
OOH (out-of-home advertising) (Times Square, New York)
✦ Our analysis: what to learn
Answering a rival's controversial ad with real athletes doing real sport, rather than a statement, is a cheap, fast way to claim the opposite position in the same conversation, borrowing the attention Novig's campaign had already generated. It ran for one weekend in one location, so there's nothing yet on whether it reached anyone beyond the trade press already covering the Novig backlash.
Read the breakdown + mini task →
Sources · first reported 13 Oct 2026
Powerade Hits Back At Novig’s Sydney Sweeney AdB&T · 13 Oct 2026 ↗
Recently launched
Alcohol & drinks
Mountain Culture Beer Co · Australia
Cockatoo cease & desist
Blue Mountains craft brewer Mountain Culture posted a mock cease-and-desist letter to the Brisbane 2032 Olympics on Instagram, arguing the Games' new flaming emblem (five pointed, right-leaning feathers) looks 'an awful lot like' the cockatoo it has used on its cans since 2019, delivered by a toy 'carrier cockatoo'. The letter suggests Brisbane use an ibis instead and says the brand 'would also accept tickets'.
No performance data published yet
No performance figures have been published by the sources we checked.
InstagramPR (public relations)
✦ Our analysis: what to learn
Piggybacking on a story everyone in adland was already discussing (the new Games emblem) costs nothing but a good line, and 'we'd also accept tickets' is written to be quoted straight into coverage like this one. The joke only works because the cockatoo is already a recognised asset; there's no sign yet of how far it travelled past trade press.
Read the breakdown + mini task →
Sources · first reported 9 Oct 2026
Mountain Culture Slaps Brissie Olympics With Cockatoo Cease & Desist Notice (Maybe)B&T · 9 Oct 2026 ↗
Recently launchedCurrently running
Food & restaurants · Charity & cause
Doritos · Australia
Fiery Purple Blaze × ReachOut
For Mental Health Month, Doritos launched 'Fiery Purple Blaze', a flavour sold exclusively in 7-Eleven stores nationwide, continuing its partnership with Australian youth mental health charity ReachOut. Every bag, and the rest of the Doritos core range, carries a QR code linking to ReachOut's online resources, with in-store activity and co-branded touchpoints running throughout October.
No performance data published yet
- Doritos and ReachOut say their partnership, running since 2022, has reached more than 750,000 young people toward a shared goal of helping one million people take action for their mental health (brand- and charity-reported figure) [B&T]
In-store (7-Eleven)Packaging / QR codesPR (public relations)
✦ Our analysis: what to learn
Putting a working QR code on packaging, not just a charity logo, turns the product itself into a distribution channel for support resources rather than a one-off ad. The '750,000 people' figure covers the whole partnership since 2022, so it says little about whether this specific launch moves the number further.
Read the breakdown + mini task →
Sources · first reported 9 Oct 2026
Doritos Reminds Aussies ‘They Don’t Have To Go Through Tough Times Alone’ With New Purple ChipB&T · 9 Oct 2026 ↗
Recently launchedCurrently running
Alcohol & drinks
Espolòn Tequila (Campari Group) · US
Espolòn Fare Share
Timed to Halloween, when ride-hailing surge pricing spikes, Espolòn's Fare Share program lets people who use a service like Uber or Lyft during qualifying hours submit their receipt for a 50% refund of the fare, up to $25, through 1 November. The brand is amplifying it through creator partnerships, bar and restaurant signage, and Halloween and Día de los Muertos activations in five US cities.
No performance data published yet
- Espolòn cites data showing major cities' ride-sharing costs rose eight to nine times the normal fare on Halloween last year (brand-cited figure) [Marketing Dive]
Earned mediaCreator partnershipsBar and restaurant signageIn-person activations (Los Angeles, New York City, Dallas, Houston, Austin)Landing page
✦ Our analysis: what to learn
Refunding part of a real, widely felt cost (surge-priced rides) is a sharper hook than a generic 'drink responsibly' message, and backing it with signage and events at the point people decide whether to go out puts the offer where it can actually change behaviour. The program only just launched, so there's nothing yet on how many people claimed a refund.
Read the breakdown + mini task →
Sources · first reported 8 Oct 2026
Espolòn Tequila combats surge pricing with ride-hailing refund programMarketing Dive · 8 Oct 2026 ↗On the wire this week · automatically collected, not yet reviewed
Campaign Brief·
Vodka Cruiser X crashes one Aussie’s pre’s with a DJ via Supermassive and 1House
Campaigns
Search Engine Journal·
Google Launches A Video Series For Odd Technical SEO Questions via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern
SEO: search engine optimisation
CampaignsSearch & GEO
AdExchanger·
Has The Ad Industry Lost The Pulse Of American Consumers?
CampaignsAI & tech
Marketing Week·
‘Win customers, not awards’: CEOs on what they want from marketers
ActivationsAwards
Marketing Week·
‘The finance team is not your enemy’: Three CMOs on building internal partnerships
CMOs: chief marketing officers
Activations
Marketing Week·
Coca-Cola launches new loyalty scheme
Campaigns
Marketing Week·
‘Spell it out clearly’: B2B marketers on how to gain credibility with the board
B2B: business-to-business
Activations
Search Engine Journal·
Google Ads Introduces Channel Prioritization And Budget Allocation via @sejournal, @brookeosmundson
CampaignsSearch & GEO
Patterns across the week's reporting
Trends to know
All 9 trends →
01
Brands are becoming entertainment studios
The signals (reporting)
- KFC launches a 30-minute game show starring superfansAdweek ↗
- e.l.f. releases a second album via its e.l.f. Made armMarketing Dive ↗
- Cakes turns TikTok virality into an owned media companyDigiday ↗
✦ Our analysis: so what?
Attention is earned with formats people choose to watch or stream, not interruptions. Budgets are moving from spots to series.
Read the breakdown + mini task →
✦ Our suggestion: try this
Take your most-engaged social content and ask: what would the 20-minute version be? Pilot one episode before committing to a series.
Read the breakdown + mini task →
02
AI (artificial intelligence) agents move from making assets to running the plan
The signals (reporting)
- Amazon Ads merges formats into AI-optimised full-funnel campaignsMarketing Dive ↗
- Runway's agent creates, publishes and measures ads across platformsAdweek ↗
- Meta launches agentic Muse for small businessesSocial Media Today ↗
- 96% of surveyed marketers now use gen or agentic AIMarketing Week ↗
✦ Our analysis: so what?
Platforms 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.
Read the breakdown + mini task →
✦ Our suggestion: try this
Run a controlled test: one campaign on the platform's AI-automated option, one on your manual setup, same budget. Compare cost per outcome, not clicks.
Read the breakdown + mini task →
03
The entry-level talent squeeze
The signals (reporting)
- Gartner: CMOs (chief marketing officers) must rethink entry-level talent as AI (artificial intelligence) alters needsMarketing Dive ↗
- AI could wipe out ‘traditional’ entry-level marketing jobs by 2030Marketing Week ↗
- Digiday: industry acknowledges a ‘runaway crisis’ in entry-level hiringDigiday ↗
✦ Our analysis: so what?
Junior tasks (resizing, first drafts, reporting) are being automated, so the pipeline that trains future leaders is at risk.
Read the breakdown + mini task →
✦ Our suggestion: try this
For students and juniors: build a portfolio that shows judgement (briefs, strategy, critique of AI outputs), not just production.
Read the breakdown + mini task →
Amazon Ads
Ads Agent, Full-Funnel Campaigns, DVA+
Announced at unBoxed: one AI (artificial intelligence) 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.
Runway
Runway Ads
An AI (artificial intelligence) 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.
Latest AI stories · live
AdExchanger·
Who Is Teaching AI Who Your Customers Are? Why Identity is Your Most Critical Asset
AI: artificial intelligence
AI & techBrand & design
B&T·
The Skills Marketers Need Most Are Hiding In Plain Sight
AI & tech
AdExchanger·
Has The Ad Industry Lost The Pulse Of American Consumers?
CampaignsAI & tech
Retail Dive·
Target wants more efficient stores. An upgraded employee app could help.
AI & tech
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.
| Work | Brand | Agency | Award | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Your Way Out | Coinbase | Isle of Any | D&AD (Design and Art Direction) Black Pencil ×2 (Visual Effects; Production Design) | Creative Review · 25 Sept 2026 ↗ |
| The Periodic Fable | The Ordinary | Uncommon Creative Studio | D&AD Black Pencil (Art Direction) | Creative Review · 25 Sept 2026 ↗ |
| Three Words | AXA | Publicis Conseil | D&AD Black Pencil (Impact) | Creative Review · 25 Sept 2026 ↗ |
| Unsponsored | Levi Strauss & Co. | BETC Paris, AKQA | Grand LIA (London International Awards): Ambient & Activation | Campaign Brief · 29 Sept 2026 ↗ |
| The Pub That Refused To Die | Heineken | LePub Milan | Grand LIA: Creative Strategy | Campaign Brief · 29 Sept 2026 ↗ |
| Heinz Ketchup billboards (“Look Familiar?”) | Heinz | Rethink Toronto | Grand LIA: Billboard | Campaign Brief · 29 Sept 2026 ↗ |
| Sosegá | Cervezas Alhambra | LLYC Madrid | Grand LIA: Music & Sound | Campaign Brief · 29 Sept 2026 ↗ |
| Expensive Sh*t | Huggies | McCann New Zealand | LIA Gold: Ambient & Activation | Campaign Brief · 29 Sept 2026 ↗ |
| Lump Lottery | Testicular Cancer NZ | Colenso BBDO | LIA Gold + Silver: Creative Strategy | Campaign Brief · 29 Sept 2026 ↗ |
| No Place to Grow | We Are Mobilise | Droga5 ANZ | LIA Silver: Ambient & Activation | Campaign Brief · 29 Sept 2026 ↗ |
Our own thinking · hypothetical
Ideas lab
Open the Ideas lab →These are not real campaigns. They are our own ideas, showing how this week's mechanics could be used by well-known brands. The brands named have no involvement.
Idea for Spotify · hypothetical
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.
Inspired by: KFC's superfan game show (Adweek)
Idea for Red Bull · hypothetical
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.
Inspired by: Hoka's Strava-to-DOOH marathon build-up (Digiday)
Idea for IKEA · hypothetical
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.
Inspired by: Kirkens Korshær's Secondhand Skins (Creative Review)
✦ Try it yourself
Build an idea for any brand
Open the idea builder →