On today’s podcast episode, we discuss our “very specific but highly unlikely” predictions for 2026: what Amazon will do with the price of Prime; between OpenAI and Apple, who’s most likely to buy whom; and why a potential WBD acquisition by Netflix might not go through in 2026—if at all. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Principal Analyst Nate Elliott, and Vice Presidents of Content Suzy Davidkhanian and Paul Verna. Listen everywhere, and watch on YouTube and Spotify.
In today’s attention economy, many companies find their rebrands becoming the story—drowning out the products or services they’re meant to elevate. From HBO Max’s naming whiplash to Apple TV’s identity blur, the narrative often shifts from innovation to confusion. Marketers should treat rebrands as thoughtful acts of storytelling, not stunts. Build rollout campaigns that quickly return attention to your core experience. When rebranding becomes the headline, your product risks becoming the footnote.
YouTube users streamed over 700 million hours of video podcasts on their TVs in October. That’s nearly double the 400 million hours in October 2024, per Bloomberg. Video podcasts are an increasingly popular medium that streamers like Spotify, and even Netflix, are racing to support. Marketers should capitalize on the flexibility of YouTube’s cross-format reach to test creative placements in video podcast content, repurpose social video assets for CTV consumption, and gain greater insights into conversion and visibility than can be offered by linear TV.
OpenAI opened up its app store in ChatGPT to all developers, inviting them to create apps that operate directly inside ChatGPT’s user interface, per Engadget. Rather than downloading separate programs from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store, users can run mini apps directly inside the chat window. ChatGPT is growing as a content marketplace and shopping platform, offering a fresh surface for brand engagement. Start testing interactive brand utilities, see where conversational AI fits into user acquisition strategies, and identify branded content or tools that could eventually be packaged as digital goods.
Omnichannel strategies are crucial to capture multigenerational shoppers in their product discovery and research journeys. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of US Gen Zers say social media is their main source for learning about new products, per Salsify, and about two-thirds (61%) of Gen Xers discover products while browsing in physical retail stores. To earn the attention and trust of multigenerational shoppers, build channel-specific messaging and invest in measurement tools that track cross-channel behavior to see how different audiences are finding, researching, and buying products across platforms.
Coursera’s $950 million all-stock acquisition of Udemy is a consolidation play rooted in survival, not expansion. The deal brings together two of the largest US-based online learning platforms as demand for online education cools amid cheaper AI-driven learning tools and employers pulling training in-house, per The Information. Online learning is becoming a gated, premium environment shaped by AI and consolidation. As Coursera and Udemy merge, brands should expect fewer sponsorship slots, tighter rules, and higher prices.
DoorDash is testing an AI-powered app that helps consumers find new restaurants to explore, expanding its business model beyond food delivery. Zesty pulls in signals from across the web and provides citations like Yelp reviews, Google Maps ratings, and mentions on Reddit threads, per Bloomberg. Brands should focus on both generative engine optimization and earned, shared, and owned (ESO) media placements to maximize the chances of showing up in AI responses. Monitor brand mentions and reviews on ESO channels to address any negative responses from customers and ensure accuracy of business details.
Excitement about AI and its enterprise possibilities aren’t translating into meaningful adoption as corporate strategies lag. More than one-third (38%) of tech leaders say their organizations are piloting agentic AI projects, but only 11% have agents in production, per Deloitte’s Tech Trends 2026 report. Foundational challenges—such as data quality and security governance—are blocking the path to clear ROI. CMOs should balance excitement about agentic AI’s potential by first applying the technology to larger pain points. Establish clear KPIs before deployment, and monitor the quality of initiatives to ensure that initial goals are met.
Amazon is in early talks to invest up to $10 billion in OpenAI, three sources told The Information. If finalized, the deal would value OpenAI at more than $500 billion and intensify Amazon’s competition with Microsoft in AI cloud services. The investment, which follows November’s $38 billion deal between the companies, would bring OpenAI deeper into Amazon’s ecosystem to use Amazon’s Trainium chips to develop future AI products. Consolidation means faster model updates, tighter cloud integrations, and more reliable access to genAI tools. Choosing the right AI tools and cloud providers now becomes a turnkey solution.
Social media is a crucial retail channel for brands, but gaining trust—and attention—may depend on clear product data and crafting a mix of both user-generated content (UGC) and brand-created content. UGC is the most trusted type of social media content for 31% of US adults, per Signs.com’s The Social Media Sweet Spot report. Among Gen Zers, brand-created photos and content are the most trusted. As marketers optimize for user attention and trust, efforts can converge with generative engine optimization (GEO) strategies: UGC provides authenticity and specificity, while structured product data adds discoverability in AI-driven environments.
Instagram is making a connected TV (CTV) play with IG for TV, which lets users watch Reels content on a big screen. It’s testing the app on Amazon Fire TV devices in the US and will expand to more devices and countries soon, per a blog post. Users can watch full portrait videos and view captions, likes, and share stats. Marketers should diversify short-form content for the big screen by crafting videos with clearer framing, readable text, and storytelling that can translate to TV viewing. Track how short-form assets drive awareness and conversion with Meta’s Ad Manager assets.
Looma raised $10 million in Series B funding and a $3 million credit facility to expand its network of 7,000 in-store screens, which now reaches 27 million shoppers monthly across major grocers such as Kroger and H-E-B. Its recent rollout to 600 Kroger wine and spirits departments followed a multiyear test that boosted category sales and delivered strong returns for featured brands. Although in-store retail media is scaling more slowly than expected, grocery remains a key proving ground, with most retailers planning activations. Success will hinge on solutions that pair broad reach with measurable sales lift—an area where Looma’s early results stand out.
OpenAI’s GPT-5.2 is its answer to advancing models from Gemini and what the company calls its best model yet for professional use. The latest model improves spreadsheet creation, presentation building, code generation, understanding of images and long contexts, tool use, and handling of complex projects, per an OpenAI blog post. As brands expand past using AI for image generation and into higher-level tasks, experiment with GPT-5.2 by testing each mode to see which offers the most dependable outputs for analytics, planning, and creative development.
AI is permeating retail and playing a substantial role in the purchase journey for many holiday shoppers this year, though many didn’t notice its presence. More than three-quarters (78%) of US adults said AI touched their holiday shopping experiences—including via “delivery notifications, return systems, or virtual assistants”—per Liveops’ Holiday AI and Customer Service report. Gen Zers led the charge with 89% using AI in some way during holiday shopping. Gen Z’s comfort with automation makes them a great testing group for AI copilots, and retailers should experiment with genAI-driven personalization, on-site product suggestions, and conversational assistance.
Meta is shifting strategy from mining its online social networks to tapping more real-world conversations as original posts on Facebook and Instagram fade, per Social Media Today. Its acquisition of Limitless and partnership with ElevenLabs open up new data channels for its AI models. Meta’s alternative AI training sources could deepen personalization and predictive insights if these conversation flows feed next-gen recommendation engines. Advertisers might gain richer behavior signals and context that go beyond scroll patterns and likes.
AI chatbot use has crossed from novelty to habit for US teenagers. Nearly half (46%) of teens ages 13 to 17 use chatbots at least once a week, per Pew Research, including 16% who access AI several times a day or almost constantly. A new generation of AI-native users is emerging and could soon define which chatbots and AI services become the industry standard. Marketers should pressure-test AI integrations for age-appropriate use cases. As teen AI use grows, safety-first design can earn trust and long-term loyalty.
Marketing leaders are reallocating spending toward social, prioritizing user engagement, and reducing focus on traditional SEO tactics. The shift reflects marketers’ desire for speed, flexibility, and clear ROI signals. But it also shows the growing need to balance long-term brand building with short-term, engagement-driven wins. Brands should rebalance—not replace—channel mix by defining engagement benchmarks and KPIs that tie directly to brand lift, evaluating influencer impact beyond vanity metrics, and protecting core SEO efforts that support long-term discoverability.
Shopify has introduced 150 updates, headlined by two major tools aimed at expanding reach and boosting conversions: an “agentic storefront” that lets consumers buy products directly through AI platforms like ChatGPT and a new Shopify Product Network that helps merchants fill product gaps via cross-store recommendations. The agentic storefront should give merchants an early advantage in AI-powered commerce, while the Product Network should boost conversions, and create new revenue streams without adding inventory or operational burdens.
Podcast advertisers are relying on contextual targeting tactics but leaving demographic tactics—and reach improvements—off the table. Contextual targeting accounted for 95.5% of podcast ad campaigns with declared targeting parameters in Q2, per NumberEight’s Global Podcast Advertising Compass report. This imbalance suggests podcast ad buyers are prioritizing simplicity—at a cost. Marketers should focus on building campaigns with depth, not just category alignment, to increase incremental reach, reduce resource waste, and better match ads with listener intent.
Instagram is offering users increased control over the inputs that shape their Reels feed by adding algorithm control options. Reels users can see a summary of what content Instagram thinks they like and directly choose which topics they want to see more or less of. Brands should lean into Instagram’s growing focus on interest-signaling by aligning creative with the topics users care about most. Focus on making every ad placement fit within curated feed experiences to reduce ad clutter and boost relevance.