McDonald's is ending its FIFA World Cup sponsorship after 32 years amid an overhaul of its marketing model. The split follows its biggest-ever World Cup campaign this summer, created by Wieden+Kennedy New York and run in over 110 countries.
Read more at Adweek →Global CMO Manolo Arroyo told Marketing Dive that when he started in 2020, Coca-Cola was not recruiting new consumers, was late to digital and ran around 2,000 marketing programmes. He describes the overhaul alongside its agency roster shake-up.
Read more at Marketing Dive →
When Rakul Preet Singh spoke about avoiding heels after a spine injury and choosing flats, Bata India's marketing team saw an insight matching its positioning, said head of marketing Jasleen Kaur, explaining its approach to celebrity partnerships.
Read more at Storyboard18 →
Imperial Blue Packaged Drinking Water has brought back its long-running campaign built on the humour of awkward, absurd male behaviour. Storyboard18 looks at the challenge of refreshing a familiar idea for a new generation.
Read more at Storyboard18 →
Supertails launched No Bang Diwali on Instagram, a film using humour to show the impact of fireworks on pets. It flips the usual scene, putting a whole family under a table while they eat mithai and play games.
Read more at afaqs! →KISNA Diamond and Gold Jewellery's festive campaign features Shahid Kapoor and Mira Rajput Kapoor with a new version of the song from the 2005 film Kisna, centred on jewellery gifting in the festive and wedding season.
Read more at afaqs! →Campus Activewear's integrated campaign with Vicky Kaushal uses humour to address changing workplace expectations and how young professionals balance careers with personal interests, built on the line One bold move can move the world your way.
Read more at Indian Retailer →E.l.f. Cosmetics' new campaign, The e.l.f.ing Magical Sisters, draws on the sister witches of a popular TV show to serve Y2K nostalgia to Gen Z, Marketing Dive's Campaign Trail column reports.
Read more at Marketing Dive →Godrej Enterprises Group launched its first micro-drama, 2nd Gen Kumars, an eight-episode Instagram series about a family reunion at a new home in Mumbai that weaves in products from the group's consumer businesses.
Read more at afaqs! →ShareChat and Moj, owned by Mohalla Tech, launched Saas, Bahu aur Magic with Glow and Lovely. The comedy follows a pickle maker and her content creator daughter-in-law in a small town who swap bodies on a stormy night.
Read more at afaqs! →TAM AdEx data shows celebrity-endorsed TV ad volumes fell 17% in January to September 2026. Celebrities still featured in 25% of all TV commercials, and film stars made up 65% of celebrity-led advertising.
Read more at afaqs! →MediaNews4U rounds up how brands are using Diwali 2026, a time of traditions, family gatherings and gifting, with campaigns exploring themes from preparing homes and family bonds to meaningful gifting, cultural celebration, individuality and social responsibility.
Read more at MediaNews4U →Beauty and wellness brand DrVeda signed actors Sonakshi Sinha and Zaheer Iqbal as campaign faces for its skincare and haircare portfolio, aiming to expand awareness and strengthen its presence in India's beauty market.
Read more at ABP Live →Lotte India's We Are All PEPEROs campaign celebrates friend groups whose members differ in habits and personalities yet fit together, turning everyday snacking quirks into a playful expression of individuality and togetherness.
Read more at Adgully →
Coca-Cola handed its North American media business to Omnicom, weeks after PepsiCo ended a relationship with the holding company that lasted almost 30 years. WPP keeps Coca-Cola's global remit, Digiday reports.
Read more at Digiday →
After a global review, Coca-Cola kept WPP Open X as media partner across India and most markets except North America, Japan and South Korea. Omnicom won North America and Dentsu retains its markets, the company said on 22 October.
Read more at Best Media Info →
Digiday's Future of Marketing Briefing says there is no longer one way to pitch for a big account, as advertisers gain new ways to pick agency holding companies and more holdcos to choose from.
Read more at Digiday →
Omnicom reported Q3 revenue of $6.4 billion, with core operations up 7.2% organically, and adjusted EBITDA of $1.1 billion, an 18.2% margin, as its $900 million cost-cutting drive continued, Adweek reports.
Read more at Adweek →
Mindshare ended Wavemaker's three-year streak as Best Media Agency at the EMVIES Awards 2026. HUL won Best Media Client, ending Mondelez's run, and WPP Media was named Best Media Agency Network, at a ceremony at the Jio World Convention Centre on 23 October.
Read more at afaqs! →A year after Piyush Pandey died on 23 October 2025, Storyboard18 reflects that Indian advertising is still learning from the way he saw the world, as new technologies promise to change everything in the industry.
Read more at Storyboard18 →The Advertising Agencies Association of India appointed Kunal Lalani, managing director of The Crayons Network, as chairman of its new North India chapter. Santosh Kumar, COO of Innocean Worldwide Communications, has been named co-chair.
Read more at afaqs! →Ben Tollett is leaving Adam and Eve TBWA after 18 years at the agency. He co-created the much-awarded John Lewis Christmas campaign, one of the most lauded in British advertising, Campaign UK reports.
Read more at Campaign UK →At the 12th afaqs Foxglove Awards in New Delhi, The Unicorn Films was named Foxglove Star of the Year and Walk The Talk Communications Rising Star of the Year, with wins across 86 subcategories.
Read more at afaqs! →Malaysia Airlines, THE SHOUT GROUP and Adzymic took the Grand Prix for Brand, Agency and MarTech of the Year at the second NEXT Awards Malaysia 2026, MARKETECH APAC reports on the winners.
Read more at Marketech APAC →Speaking at Brandweek 2026 in Atlanta, Dentsu X North America CEO Bruce Williams said tearing down silos in media buying and delivering connected brand experiences should lead to better interactions between consumers and brands.
Read more at Adweek →
A New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion after a jury found it guilty of privacy breaches and knowingly exposing users to harmful content, Reuters reports. The case stems from the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal.
Read more at Social Media Today →
Meta pushed the start of its revised Commercial and Self-Serve Ad Terms from 30 October to 20 November after publishers and advertisers complained to EU and UK antitrust authorities that the terms allowed unlimited use of their content for AI.
Read more at PPC Land →
A Rhode Island lawsuit alleges Meta knows scam ads cause financial harm, allows them because they generate substantial revenue, and helps create and target them, including at senior citizens using accountholder data, PYMNTS reports.
Read more at PYMNTS →
Bookshop.org and Exverus say Meta's automated tools changed their ads without approval, and some advertisers are pulling campaigns, as new Meta terms shift responsibility for AI-generated output onto advertisers, ContentGrip reports.
Read more at ContentGrip →
Meta confirmed it can comply with Thailand's new e-KYC rules for paid social media ads from 1 November, the Digital Economy and Society Ministry said. The rules aim to stop scammers from using ads.
Read more at The Nation Thailand →In its Q3 earnings, Meta shared data on its Muse AI agents and said shopping is their primary use. Muse is central to its hopes of earning revenue from heavy AI infrastructure spending, Social Media Today reports.
Read more at Social Media Today →Meta began its international push for Muse with a Japanese rollout and says the personal AI agent will stay ad-free. Nikkei reports Meta has turned its focus back to AI development since Alexandr Wang joined last year.
Read more at Nikkei Asia →Google added business tools to Gemini to help users create brand assets and manage reporting, along with a new Gemini business landing page with quick links to brand content creation and other functions.
Read more at Social Media Today →LinkedIn released an 18-page B2B ads attribution guide on connecting early buyer engagement signals to ad strategy, with tips on tracking what drives buying decisions and improving performance reporting, to help marketers invest smarter.
Read more at Social Media Today →A Snapchat report based on an Ipsos and WPP survey of more than 4,200 AI users finds AI is becoming a more accepted, trusted partner, with some users willing to trade privacy for usefulness.
Read more at Social Media Today →After Meta blocked TikTok from advertising on some of its apps, TikTok began moving budget to YouTube, Pinterest and mobile ad networks. Sensor Tower estimates its YouTube ad share rose to 17% from 9%.
Read more at Brand Communicator →
A Feedvisor survey finds 16% of shoppers start product searches on ChatGPT this holiday season, but they are not blindly trusting AI assistants to shop for them and still rely on reviews to decide, Modern Retail reports.
Read more at Digiday →BrightLocal's survey finds 84% of US small business owners think customers can find them online. But 71% of consumers use Google for local search while only 22% of small businesses rank it among their top two channels.
Read more at MarTech Cube →
ContentGrip warns that a martech feature announcement is not proof it works for a team. It sets out how to check regional availability, integrations and buying conditions before committing budget.
Read more at ContentGrip →A Gladly survey of 1,022 US online shoppers found 46% left a site ready to buy because a question went unanswered, and 53% decided not to buy while waiting for a response.
Read more at MarTech Cube →Bloomreach said brands, technology partners and agencies have built more than 200 agents on Loomi Connect, the integration foundation for its Loomi intelligence layer, which orchestrates several adaptive models for personalised customer engagement.
Read more at MarTech Cube →Iconier Digital Marketing Agency, which helps small and midsize businesses attract customers online, won the $10,000 grand prize at the 2026 Fort Worth Business Plan Competition. Founder Rishabh Sharma took the top award.
Read more at Fort Worth Inc. →A growing set of free GitHub skills lets Claude handle repetitive Instagram and YouTube work, from captions and carousels to Reels scripts and clipping. Most help draft and plan rather than post, and none guarantees growth.
Read more at Ascendants →Digital marketing agency Logical Position is shortening its name to LP. It began in Beaverton, Oregon with three people and has grown into a nationwide agency with hundreds of employees and services beyond paid search.
Read more at MarTech Cube →Phyron added Google Vehicle Ads to its Inventory Ads service, letting car dealers use one stock feed to produce still images for Google and video for Meta and TikTok. Dealers or agencies still run the campaigns.
Read more at AM Online →In a Chicago-datelined announcement, Inspired Thinking Group appointed Juliette Aiken, who joins from Dotdigital, as chief marketing officer of its Storyteq marketing technology platform. She will lead global marketing strategy and brand growth.
Read more at ReadITQuik →Marketing and brand roles checked today. Every listing links to the original posting. Nobody is checking your engagement rate.
Marketing festivals and meetups coming up, each checked against its own page this morning. Business cards are optional. Opinions seem to be required.
It sits on your phone like an app and has never once asked for an update.
iPhone
Social Media and Creators
75% of Amazon India's creators now come from beyond metros
Storyboard18
Amazon India says 28 million shoppers bought through creator recommendation links from January to September 2026, up 92%, and creators influenced purchases of 133 million products, up 145%. About 75% of its influencer base now comes from beyond the metros.
Read more at Storyboard18 →YouTube Shorts bonus rewards regular uploads
Tubefilter
YouTube is testing a Shorts Bonus Program that pays extra to select Partner Program members who consistently upload short-form videos, even as it prepares to raise the entry threshold for the Partner Program, Tubefilter reports.
Read more at Tubefilter →YouTube's Neal Mohan on taming AI content
Forbes India
YouTube CEO Neal Mohan spoke to Forbes India about backing human creators while managing AI-generated content, a week after OpenAI shut down its Sora video app, which had drawn a $1 billion investment from Disney.
Read more at Forbes India →Creators say it's hard to make money from news
Digiday
Nearly 60% of Americans regularly get news from social media, a Syracuse University study found. But news creators tell Digiday platform rules and brand guidelines make it difficult to earn from news content.
Read more at Digiday →Influencer fatigue sets in for the TikTok generation
Business Plus
After years of near-guaranteed success, influencer fatigue has set in, Business Plus reports. Industry experts say the shift creates a new set of opportunities for brands and creators who handle it right.
Read more at Business Plus →YouTube expands AI-powered search and creators fear lost views
Vietnam.vn
YouTube is widening its Ask YouTube trial, an AI search tool that turns video content into direct answers, to more US users on desktop, mobile and TV from mid-October. Creators worry it could reduce views.
Read more at Vietnam.vn →Influencer Diya Krishna faces possible legal notice
The Hindu
Kerala influencer and entrepreneur Diya Krishna faces potential legal action after criticism for allegedly endorsing a divisive Instagram video by vlogger Amrit Singh Darren, police sources told The Hindu on Sunday.
Read more at The Hindu →Airtel offers YouTube Premium to prepaid users
afaqs!
Airtel partnered with YouTube to offer YouTube Premium through its Rs 200 OTT top-up, including ad-free viewing and Shorts, background play, offline downloads and YouTube Music Premium, alongside Prime Video, JioHotstar and ZEE5.
Read more at afaqs! →Brands and creators meet at YouTube PluggedIN in Lagos
THISDAY
YouTube PluggedIN held its second edition at the Landmark Event Centre in Lagos, giving brands a venue to connect with creators pitching projects. The event was created by Adetutu Laditan, founder of Woof Studios Africa.
Read more at THISDAY →