Retail Dive · Latest
Why J.C. Penney is taking on deal fatigue for its holiday campaign
Publisher's summary: Marisa Thalberg, chief customer and marketing officer at parent Catalyst Brands, explains the retailer’s latest push with agency Mischief.
Wednesday, 4 November 2026Made in Tāmaki Makaurau · 241 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.
Read the newsLive from the trade press
Latest headlines
All 246 stories →Search Engine Journal·
Google Favors High Ad Strength RSAs, But Lower-Rated Ads Convert Better via @sejournal, @gregjarboe
Search & GEO
AdExchanger·
Chord Buys Its Rival Zenlytic To Build An Agentic Version Of A CDP
AI & tech
Muse by Clio·
Alan Cumming Narrates e.l.f.’s Animated Holiday Spot
Campaigns
Muse by Clio·
Nature’s Bounty Spotlights Women’s Health Issues to Close the Knowledge Gap
Muse by Clio·
A Claymation Yeti Stomps Through Levi’s Holiday Campaign
Campaigns
Muse by Clio·
Can Lego Make Diwali More Playful This Year?
Muse by Clio·
Columbia Sportswear’s Bunker Helps You Survive the Apocalypse in Rugged Style
Search Engine Journal·
Building A Global Content Factory With AI (Without Losing The Human Touch) via @sejournal, @motokohunt
AI & tech · Search & GEO
This week by topic
- Campaigns35
- Social & creators33
- AI & tech50
- Activations5
- Brand & design6
- Media & ad tech22
- Search & GEO24
- Awards5
- People & agencies33
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.
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 →
Also new this week · straight from the trade press, not yet checked by us
Retail Dive·
Why J.C. Penney is taking on deal fatigue for its holiday campaign
Campaigns
Muse by Clio·
Alan Cumming Narrates e.l.f.’s Animated Holiday Spot
Campaigns
Muse by Clio·
A Claymation Yeti Stomps Through Levi’s Holiday Campaign
Campaigns
Marketing Dive·
How the sausage is made: Inside Johnsonville’s political parody campaign
Campaigns
Marketing Week·
The Marketing Week Podcast: Implementing AI effectively with Rightmove CMO Matt Bushby
CMO: chief marketing officer
AI & tech · Activations · People & agencies
Adweek·
Kristin Scott Thomas Is No Ordinary Grandma in John Lewis’ Holiday Campaign
Campaigns
Campaign Brief·
Sydney agency Chello takes to the UK streets with London Youth campaign fronted by ‘Bridgerton’ star Martins Imhangbe
Campaigns
Campaign Brief·
Sunshine Plaza takes on the beach in first tourism push via Rumble Strategic Creative
Campaigns
Patterns across the week's reporting
Trends to know
All 9 trends →- 1Brands are becoming entertainment studiosAttention is earned with formats people choose to watch or stream, not interruptions. Budgets are moving from spots to series.
- 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.
- 3The entry-level talent squeezeJunior tasks (resizing, first drafts, reporting) are being automated, so the pipeline that trains future leaders is at risk.
- 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.
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.
Latest AI stories
AdExchanger·
Chord Buys Its Rival Zenlytic To Build An Agentic Version Of A CDP
AI & tech
Search Engine Journal·
Building A Global Content Factory With AI (Without Losing The Human Touch) via @sejournal, @motokohunt
AI & tech · Search & GEO
Retail Dive·
Holiday shoppers only want a dash of AI for the gift hunt
AI & tech
Marketing Week·
The Marketing Week Podcast: Implementing AI effectively with Rightmove CMO Matt Bushby
CMO: chief marketing officer
AI & tech · Activations · People & agencies
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 ↗ |
| Find Your Wonderful | New World | McCann New Zealand | Effie Gold: Retail/Etail | Campaign Brief · 23 Oct 2026 ↗ |
| Fantasy Herd (with Together) | Goodman Fielder | McCann New Zealand | Effie Gold: Most Original Thinking; Effie Gold: Clever Use of Research/Data | Campaign Brief · 23 Oct 2026 ↗ |
| Making the world fall in love with 100% Pure New Zealand again | Tourism New Zealand | TBWA New Zealand | Effie Gold: International Marketing | Campaign Brief · 23 Oct 2026 ↗ |
| Booze Maths | NZTA Waka Kotahi | McCann New Zealand | Effie Gold: Insights & Strategic Thinking | Campaign 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 →