Hello, social butterflies! We’re in the last couple months of the year and many social platforms are launching more AI-powered tools to help you navigate the holiday season, or gain more leads. Let’s dive into this week’s updates and see where these new features can fit into your social media strategy.

The global retail media market is now worth almost $200 billion and retains significant momentum, with ad investment projected to surpass that amount by 2027, however, underlying this growth is an evolving industry.

Unilever’s soon-to-be independent ice-cream unit has appointed Publicis Groupe as its global media agency of record, covering planning, buying, and strategy across key Asian markets including China, India, and Indonesia. The account was previously held by WPP’s Mindshare.

The IAB is positioning connected TV (CTV) as a performance channel, releasing its first guidelines on using conversion APIs (CAPI) to achieve this. Marketers are increasingly viewing CTV like search — combining targeting, brand building, and measurable results. See infographic.

In 2026, according to the latest research from Gartner, disruption is accelerating, and AI is no longer optional. The technology is sprinkled throughout the list in various forms, from multi-agent systems to physical AI, driving Gartner's list of the most strategic technology trends for 2026.

Most social media marketers use AI tools, but fewer than half report major efficiency gains, according to Emplifi’s State of Social Media Marketing 2026 report, based on insights from over 500 marketers. Download the full report here, but in this post, we’ll take a look at some of the key notes.

As the social influence of creators, influencers and product fans continues to grow, marketers are using these players to boost campaign effectiveness and build brands on social networks, a topic explored in our new report. We examine three award-winning case studies from Kraft Heinz, KPN, and Apple to uncover how UGC is delivering for brands.

The lifespan of a multichannel campaign can be extended through careful media planning while ads are on air, new research has found. Thinkbox, the UK body for commercial television, partnered with Tapestry Research to explore decay in purchase intent after a campaign has concluded – and the role of channel selection in slowing that decay.

Brand loyalty is often less influenced by emotional connection than by pragmatic considerations like convenience and situational need, according to new GWI research conducted on behalf of Razorfish.

Podcasters succeed by building trust, according to Acast’s Podcast Pulse 2025. Journalists and podcasters are equally trusted by 33% of consumers, ahead of YouTubers (31%), influencers (28%), and celebrities (25%). While 75% don’t see podcasters as influencers, 84% say a podcaster has changed their mind, and 70% have considered a new brand based on a podcast recommendation.