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Welcome back to another edition of The Marketer’s Playbook! In today’s edition:

• TikTok Bets on Bite-Sized TV

• LinkedIn Gives Advertisers an AI Upgrade

• Pinterest Expands Shopping Beyond Borders

• OpenAI Is Building More Than One Kind of Ad

& More. But first, a word from today’s sponsor 👇

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THE ROUND UP

Rounding up the most important marketing news of the week

TikTok Bets on Bite-Sized TV

TikTok has launched Microdramas, a new format featuring serialized, short-form scripted shows designed for mobile viewing. The episodes are just a few minutes long, encouraging viewers to binge entire storylines while staying inside the app. Inspired by the booming popularity of microdramas in Asia, the format gives creators and studios a new way to produce episodic content tailored to short attention spans. The launch signals TikTok’s continued expansion beyond user-generated videos, blurring the line between social media and streaming entertainment.

LinkedIn Gives Advertisers an AI Upgrade

LinkedIn has introduced a suite of AI-powered creative tools to help marketers build campaigns faster. The updates include Draft with AI for generating ad copy, Brand Kit for keeping creative assets consistent, and Ad Variants for automatically producing multiple versions of an ad to test performance. Together, the tools reduce the manual work involved in creating and optimizing campaigns while making it easier for brands to scale content. The launch reflects a broader shift in digital advertising, where AI is becoming an integrated creative partner rather than just a tool for targeting and analytics.

Pinterest Expands Shopping Beyond Borders

Pinterest is rolling out international shopping features that make it easier for users to discover and buy products from merchants around the world. The update improves localized product recommendations, pricing, and availability, helping brands reach shoppers across multiple markets while creating a smoother cross-border shopping experience. For merchants, it opens the door to global audiences without requiring separate storefronts for each region. The expansion reinforces Pinterest’s push to evolve from an inspiration platform into a global commerce destination, where discovering ideas and buying products happen in the same experience.

OpenAI Is Building More Than One Kind of Ad

OpenAI is reportedly developing multiple advertising formats for ChatGPT, including image, video, and conversational ads, rather than relying on a single approach. The move suggests the company is exploring ways to integrate advertising into AI interactions without simply replicating traditional search or social media models. While no final format has been announced, the broader strategy points toward ads that are more interactive, context-aware, and tied to user intent. The bigger picture: AI assistants are emerging as a new advertising channel, and platforms are racing to define what marketing looks like in a conversational interface.

NEWS BITES

Everything else you need to know

• YouTube Photo Posts: YouTube is adding licensed music to Shorts photo posts, making image-based content more engaging for creators.

• AI Click Quality: A new study found Google AI Overviews reduce clicks, but the traffic lost isn’t lower quality than the visitors who still click through.

• Reddit Brand Campaign: Reddit launched its first U.S. brand campaign, celebrating authentic human conversations as its key differentiator.

• WhatsApp Usernames: WhatsApp is letting users reserve usernames, making it easier to connect without sharing phone numbers.

• AI Catfish Risks: An AI-generated impersonator got a creator’s Instagram account suspended, exposing growing risks from AI-powered identity fraud.

CAMPAIGN MONITOR

Review recent and note-worthy marketing campaigns

KFC — “Finger Lickin’ Fourth”

Johnny Knoxville stars in KFC’s Fourth of July campaign, bringing his signature over-the-top humor to promote the brand’s holiday offerings. The campaign leans into Knoxville’s unpredictable personality, using comedy and nostalgia to cut through the crowded summer advertising season. Rather than focusing solely on food, KFC is using entertainment and celebrity appeal to create a memorable campaign around one of its biggest sales periods. The broader trend is clear: brands are increasingly relying on recognizable personalities and humor to turn seasonal promotions into cultural moments.

Ohama Steaks — “America’s Table”

Omaha Steaks has partnered with Kevin Costner for its America’s Table campaign, celebrating the lead-up to America’s 250th anniversary. The campaign blends patriotic storytelling with family traditions, positioning shared meals as a symbol of connection and national heritage. Featuring Costner’s unmistakable voice and Americana persona, the ads focus less on products and more on the moments that bring people together. The campaign reflects a broader marketing trend of using cultural milestones and emotional storytelling to build deeper brand affinity.

THANK YOU FOR READING

We will see you again next week!