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Help me, AlliedGPT

• Reviewing creative assets? Drop in a concept or tagline and ask AGPT to suggest punchier language or alternate versions.

• Save time writing important emails by sharing your bullet points with AGPT and asking it to write a clear, professional message.

• Manage multiple campaigns more efficiently by asking AGPT to help you build a tracker or summary doc outlining key dates, goals, and deliverables.

TL;DR

• Airbnb introduced a new "reserve now, pay later" option that lets users in the US book a reservation without paying right away. (The Verge)

• Paramount announced a new seven-year, $7.7B deal with UFC and WWE parent TKO, making Paramount+ the new streaming home to UFC events in the US. (THR)

• YouTube launched its AI age-verification program in the US, which automatically restricts users estimated to be under 18. (Variety)

• Sling TV debuted low-cost access passes that let viewers stream live TV for a day, a weekend, or a week at a fraction of the cost of a monthly subscription. (Variety)

Agency updates

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  A New Era for Experiential at AGM - We’re excited to welcome Reina Basu as our new VP of Business Development, supporting the continued global expansion of our Brand Experience division. Reina brings extensive expertise in culturally driven, innovation-forward marketing, and she’ll play a key role in driving global growth across our experiential offerings. Her perspective—that experience is the connective tissue that unites paid, earned, owned, and AI-powered marketing—is already inspiring fresh thinking across the team. Welcome, Reina! Read the full announcement here.

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  Our Partnerships team launched a cross-category campaign for Prime Video in support of the final season of "The Summer I Turned Pretty," featuring collaborations with Sour Patch Kids & Swedish Fish, Paul Mitchell, Catbird, Steve Madden, and Pinterest. Highlights included nationwide endcap displays at 8.8K grocery stores and 1.1K ULTA Beauty locations, talent integrations with Rain Spencer and Lola Tung generating 3.5M+ views, and earned PR hits in WWD, People, and Elle, with extensions in Canada and the UK.

Interesting campaigns / creative

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  Razor brand Billie tapped into ’90s nostalgia with a limited-edition Chia Pet sprouting armpit hair, turning a playful nod to body hair into a bold campaign that challenges outdated beauty norms while driving engagement and joy. (Adweek)

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  E.l.f. Cosmetics launched a satirical campaign starring Heidi N Closet and Matt Rife as a comedic legal duo fighting overpriced beauty, championing affordable makeup while building on the brand’s playful, advocacy-driven marketing streak. (Marketing Dive)

Audiences

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  The average US streaming service user spends $83 per month on TV services, and says they are only willing to spend a few dollars more ($86). (Media Play News)

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  Global Gen X consumers are set to spend $15.2T worldwide this year, the highest of any generation. (Emarketer)

• 42% of US streaming service users say they are much more likely to keep bundled services compared to services they subscribe to individually. (Media Play News)

Platforms

• Instagram chief Adam Mosseri revealed that videos created in Meta’s new "Edits" app get a reach boost when shared to Instagram. (Social Media Today)

• Threads recently reached 400M monthly active users, inching closer to X’s 600M users. (Social Media Today)

• New data from Buffer suggests that posting on Instagram between 3 and 5 times per week can more than double a user's follower growth rate. (Buffer)

Content

• HBO Max and Viu are set to launch a joint streaming bundle across Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. (THR)

• S2 of Netflix's "Wednesday" generated 50M views this week, becoming the English TV title ranked No. 1 in the most countries (91 total) during its first week. (Media Play News)

• China’s Hisense announced the launch of Hisense Channels, a new free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) service featuring more than 200 premium channels for Hisense Smart TVs. (Media Play News)

• New Line Cinema’s "Weapons" looks to remain No. 1 at the North American box office with $27.5M in projected second-weekend ticket sales, pushing the film’s tally past $90M after just 10 days. (Media Play News)

Tech & AI

• Google and Perplexity are offering free access to their AI-powered search tools in India to capture a share of its vast, fast-growing AI market. (Rest of World)

• Google is rolling out an update for Gemini that will allow the AI chatbot to remember your past conversations without prompting. (The Verge)

• X announced that Grok 4, the latest version of xAI’s model, is now free to access for all users worldwide. (Social Media Today)

• Anthropic increased the amount of information users can send to Claude in a single prompt to 1M tokens, meaning the AI can handle requests as long as 750K words. (Tech Crunch)

Location-based entertainment

• "Mamma Mia!" brought in $1.6M in its first week on Broadway, making it the fourth-highest grossing show last week behind "Wicked," "The Lion King," and "Hamilton". (THR)

• Hersheypark is debuting a new candy-inspired Shaquille O’Neal roller coaster overlay for its Hersheypark Halloween and Dark Nights events. (Attractions Magazine)

• Merlin Entertainments shelved plans to sell six of its UK Sea Life aquariums after prospective buyers failed to submit sufficiently attractive bids. (Blooloop)

Travel & hospitality

• Google announced plans to start rolling out an AI-powered search tool called "Flight Deals," meant for flexible travelers looking for the best deals. (The Verge)

• Airbnb is getting more aggressive in a new strategy to add hotels in markets where most of the short-term rentals are already booked. (Skift)

• Overseas visits to the US dropped 3.1% in July, extending a slide that began earlier this year. (Skift)

• Disney Cruise Line has started building its next cruise ship, the fourth in its Wish class and due to start sailing 2027. (Blooloop)

Gaming

• Hidden Door, a new AI-driven role-playing platform, launched this week with plans to gamify fan fiction across books, movies, and TV IP. (Variety)

• A new report claims that 80% of players across both the UK and the US have experienced cheating in online games. (gamesindustry.biz)

• Gamescom 2025 is set to break records with more than 1.5K exhibitors from 72 countries, making it the largest event in its history. (Game Developer)

Mental health

• If you find yourself putting off something you don’t want to do, this dopamine hack could be the key to unlocking your motivation.

• The protein craze isn’t going away anytime soon, but did you know that eating more protein can boost your mental health?