Editor’s note: AGMK will be on hiatus the weeks of December 25 and January 1, returning January 8. Wishing you a happy holiday season and New Year!

Check out the latest posts from AGM Leaders:

For One Night Only: Presenting the Allied Arms!

By Lucy Goddard, Senior Director, Client Solutions

The automation- and AI-powered marketing agency of the future is already here (on the Drum)

By Arlene Wszalek, Executive Vice President, Strategy & Innovation

_Help me,_ AlliedGPT

AlliedGPT is customized with AGM-specific prompts to maximize efficiency and relevance. Here are some prompts to try this week:

  • Need help to debug a code? Use this prompt.

  • Use this prompt to help with SEO keyword research.

  • This prompt can help you generate schema markup.

TL;DR

In a hurry? Here's our pick of the top news items of the week.

  • Amazon and other big tech companies are now negotiating how they will comply with the EU's Digital Markets Act, which will force extensive changes to how they operate. (The Information)

  • Korean streaming subscribers reach 19M while the market braces for Tving, Wavve Merger. (Deadline)

  • "Barbie" on Max will have a unique accessibility option. (Disability Scoop)

  • Reebok and Adidas both announced new projects for bringing goods into virtual spaces, expanding an already salient trend in the sports retail category around metaverse wearables. (Ad Age)

  • The E3 gaming show, once the biggest event in the gaming calendar, has been permanently cancelled. (BBC)

  • Last week the Las Vegas Strip’s newest resort, the Fontainebleau Las Vegas, opened its doors. The US $3.7B 3,644-room resort was 16 years in the making. (Skift)

_Interesting_ campaigns / creative

  • Outback Steakhouse came up with an Elf on the Shelf-like character who watches you like a hawk and rewards your good behavior with steak. (Ad Age)

  • Nacho cheese booze with Empirical demonstrates chip brand’s versatility as it seeks new audiences. (Ad Age)

  • A new campaign from Fanatics Collectibles takes fans into the “Bradyverse,” or an alternate universe in which Tom Brady pursued baseball instead of football. (Ad Age)

  • Telecom company Vodafone is celebrating Christmas with its “Elf and Seek” campaign that allows people across the U.K. to play an AR game for the chance to win a variety of prizes. (Ad Week)

  • To celebrate their recent 10-year extension, Carlsberg and Liverpool FC created something even more permanent—tattoos on Liverpool fans that, together, create a stop-motion animation of a goal being scored. (Ad Age)

Audiences

  • TikTok, which reached 1B monthly active users in 2021, has now become the first non-game mobile app to generate US $10B in consumer spending across the Apple App Store and Google Play combined. (Tech Crunch)

  • According to Netflix's viewing time data released as part of a new biannual report, the most watched titles in the first half of 2023 were "The Night Agent", "Ginny & Georgia", "The Glory", "Wednesday" and "Queen Charlotte". (Morning Brew)

  • Temu, the Chinese e-commerce company whose app is now attracting longer engagement times than Amazon, is Apple’s most downloaded free app in the U.S. for 2023. (Tech Crunch)

  • TikTok users are spending half of their time watching videos that are 1 minute in length or longer, according to The Information. (Insider Intelligence)

Platforms

  • Threads topic tags are now being rolled out to all users worldwide, providing more ways for users to find relevant discussions in the app. (Social Media Today)

  • Instagram tests a new "hype" option to encourage engagement with stories. (Social Media Today)

  • Netflix plans live tennis match between Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal in its continuing live sports expansion. (The Hollywood Reporter)

  • Three years after Fortnite-maker Epic Games sued Apple and Google for allegedly running illegal app store monopolies, Epic has a win. (The Verge)

  • Paramount announced that the Showtime linear channel will officially rebrand as Paramount+ with Showtime on Jan. 8. (Ad Week)

Content

  • Marvel’s upcoming Eyes of Wakanda series will follow the lives of multiple Wakandan warriors from different parts of the nation’s history. (The Verge)

  • The Day Before, an open-world zombie survival MMO, experienced a dramatic series of events resulting in its developer closing down four days after the game’s launch. (The Verge)

  • Microsoft may enter new markets with ad-supported game streaming. (Games Industry Biz)

  • Bite-sized vertical video storytelling is making a comeback via Chinese apps like ReelShort. (Rest of the World)

_Tech_ _&_ AI

  • The FTC cautioned that cleverly placed QR codes can set people up for a scam. (The Verge)

  • The FCC has made a final denial of Starlink’s application for US $885M in public funds to expand its orbital communications infrastructure to cover parts of rural America. (Tech Crunch)

  • Snapchat Plus subscribers can now also "extend" a photo by using AI to fill in the surrounding environment. (The Verge)

  • Meta announced that it’s going to start rolling out multimodal AI features that can tell you about things Meta’s AI assistant can see and hear through the camera and microphones of the glasses. (The Verge)

Location-based _entertainment_

  • The Hot Pod Summit is returning to Brooklyn on February 28th, as part of On Air Fest for a day of in-depth talks, intimate conversations, and industry networking. (The Verge)

  • Pokémon is opening a new theme park called PokéPark Kanto within the Yomiuriland amusement park in Tokyo. (Blooloop)

  • Drake invested US $100M into Luna Luna, an amusement park once located in Hamburg, Germany. (XXLMag)

  • An Abu Dhabi-backed group is reportedly close to a £1bn deal for the UK’s largest independent TV production group, All3Media. (The Guardian)

  • Churchill Downs partners with British Jockey Club, Ascot Racecourse for international race incentives. (Yogonet)

_Travel_ & hospitality

  • Choice Hotels goes hostile in US $8B takeover bid for Wyndham after being repeatedly rebuffed. (AP News)

  • The world’s biggest cruise ship is now in­­ the hands of its new owner, with Royal Caribbean accepting delivery of the 1,198-foot Icon of the Seas this week. (CNN)

  • Dave Chang says Las Vegas is the best eating city in America. (Instagram)

  • Several Travel & Hospitality brands are among those named the fastest growing brands in the US by Morning Consult, including AGM client Holland America Line; Southwest Airlines; Booking.com; and Hilton. (Morning Consult)

_Mental_ health

  • Need tools to help manage your mental health during the holidays? Here are some tips.

  • Here are the best brain tips for a healthier and happier New Year.

If your team has a significant accomplishment, campaign, or initiative to share in an upcoming AGM Knowledge issue: Click here and fill in the form to make that magic happen.

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