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10.20.25 Weekly Insider

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 🛍️ Macy's to Pilot Amazon Retail Ad Service

Macy's is set to become the first major retailer to pilot the Amazon Retail Ad Service, extending Amazon.com's sponsored product ads to the Macy's Media Network. This collaboration allows Macy's to partner with brands that may not meet its ad investment thresholds, giving Amazon a percentage of sales while Macy's handles fulfillment. The move marks an evolution in retail media, merging two large commerce ecosystems.

🦹 Brand Mascots Make a Comeback: Pillsbury Doughboy Leads the Way

The Pillsbury Doughboy, the famously giggling baking mascot, was hailed as the "standout brand mascot of 2025" for reaching new heights in its advertising. This highlights a growing trend of brands revitalizing familiar mascots to connect with audiences through nostalgia and character-driven campaigns. The success of the campaign emphasizes the lasting power of memorable brand figures in a crowded media landscape.

🤖 TikTok Replaces Human Moderators with AI

TikTok began replacing its human moderators with AI-driven technology, a significant shift in its content moderation strategy. The move is aimed at increasing efficiency and scalability, but has raised questions about the platform's ability to handle complex or nuanced content violations. This decision underscores the accelerating trend of generative AI taking over traditional tasks in the social media and technology sectors.

🗂️ Fivetran and dbt Labs Merge to Offer Open Data Infrastructure

Mar-tech data infrastructure vendors Fivetran and dbt Labs signed an all-stock merger agreement to deliver an open data infrastructure. The new company will unify data movement, transformation, and activation, with the goal of simplifying data management for marketers and preserving choice for other tools. This merger signifies further consolidation in the marketing technology space as companies seek to offer comprehensive, integrated solutions.

🏈 American Eagle Partners with Travis Kelce

American Eagle announced a new capsule collection, "AE x Tru Kolors by Travis Kelce," in partnership with the star tight end and his lifestyle brand. The campaign includes a full-funnel media strategy across TV, social media, podcasts, and sports takeovers. This collaboration highlights the growing effectiveness of influencer marketing with high-profile celebrities to reach broad audiences.


🧑‍⚖️ SEC Indicts "Fake AI" Startups

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), along with prosecutors in New York, indicted executives from several startups for falsely claiming to have AI capabilities. The crackdown revealed that one supposed AI-driven shopping app was instead powered by outsourced human labor. The incident signals a growing regulatory focus on accountability and investor protection in the AI sector, as well as a debate around what constitutes "real AI".

⚖️ Google Prepares Ad Manager for Potential Antitrust Spinoff

With antitrust pressure mounting, Google is reportedly preparing its Ad Manager unit for a potential divestiture by courting ad agencies and exploring direct ad-buying tools. The shift in focus from its traditional publisher-centric model comes as Google tries to ensure the unit's viability outside of its main ad tech stack. The move is a direct response to legal challenges and reflects the uncertainty around the future structure of Google's advertising business.

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☕ Starbucks Rolls Out AI-Powered Inventory Counting

Starbucks announced the deployment of AI-powered inventory counting across its North American coffeehouses in early September. This technological implementation is part of a broader effort to use AI for operational efficiency and to streamline store management. The initiative demonstrates the expanding application of artificial intelligence from marketing to core business operations in the retail sector.

🚫 Google Ads Restricts Pill Press Advertisements

Starting September 1, Google Ads and Google Shopping updated their Dangerous products or services policies to restrict ads for pill presses, encapsulating machines, and related components. The stricter enforcement is part of a broader safety initiative to combat the illegal manufacturing of drugs. Google will issue warnings before account suspension, advising advertisers to remove any affected ads beforehand.

📝 Brand Marketing Trends of September 2025

An analysis of September 2025 marketing trends highlights a shift away from traditional digital brand-building toward community engagement and physical experiences. AI personalization is becoming a baseline expectation, moving beyond basic recommendation engines. Additionally, brands are embracing "millennial cringe" nostalgia and experimenting with niche content that feels authentic rather than uniformly consistent.

 
 
 

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