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In September, Hoka launched the "Run Your City" challenge, partnering with Strava to track mileage of runners across New York City's five boroughs and updating data in real time on digital screens such as Times Square. Centered on community motivation, the campaign also incorporates paid social, creator programs, and a partnership with Highsnobiety to reinforce the brand's image of supporting runners.

Men's care brand Dr. Squatch announced on Monday a multi-stage competition, 'Speedrun: Million Dollar Mission,' in collaboration with renowned streamer IShowSpeed, featuring a total prize pool of $1 million and spanning the US, Canada, UK, and Australia over nine weeks. The campaign eschews traditional advertising in favor of activating consumer communities through offline treasure hunts, retail interactions, and content challenges, reflecting the brand's new foray into experiential marketing.

Snapchat has officially expanded its Unified Attribution capability globally, collaborating with mobile measurement partners Adjust and AppsFlyer, with plans to add more MMPs in the future. Since the feature entered testing in May, it has helped brands like Mohegan Sun Online Casino and Muzz significantly improve ROAS and reduce installation costs. This move is part of Snapchat's efforts to strengthen performance advertising, aiming to simplify advertisers' decision-making processes through a unified data source.

YouTube has rolled out a series of updates to its TV app, targeting the growing Connected TV (CTV) audience. Key improvements include converting playlists into episodic shows, adding Show and Podcast tabs, enhancing navigation with larger buttons and a Shorts access point, and introducing account locking with a 4-digit code for privacy. These changes aim to streamline content discovery and viewing, as CTV daily watch time exceeds one billion hours.

Pinterest and Zillow announced a partnership on Wednesday that enables Zillow Elevate advertisers to reach Pinners based on Zillow's consumer segments, including buyers, renters, sellers, and homeowners. The integration uses Pinterest's Media Network Connect to securely share first-party audience data, expanding targeting options for brands.

Bazooka initiates a social-first, multi-brand marketing campaign featuring reality TV stars Jessi Draper and Mayci Neeley in a showdown to drive August sales and enhance brand cultural relevance.

Snapchat released a new report focusing on how young audiences connect through humor, and in partnership with Omnicom, surveyed over 6,000 users aged 13-28. The report attempts to deconstruct the mechanics of what makes something 'funny,' offering brands a basic structure for comedy creation, but experts note that true humor cannot be formulaic, and brands still need to rely on their own insight and creativity.

Fossil's Q4 2025 holiday marketing campaign leveraged AI-driven audience identification and a multi-channel strategy to reach travelers at airports, on in-flight Wi-Fi, and via mobile, ultimately generating 58.8 million impressions, nearly 400% above the initial target.

Heineken USA, in collaboration with OpenTable, is piloting at 10 restaurants in Houston, offering rewards to designated drivers, including ride vouchers and free Heineken 0.0, to promote safe driving and alcohol-free beer.

As the second half of 2026 approaches, marketers are beginning to plan holiday promotions. Industry expert Andrew Hutchinson, in the "Sociable" column on Social Media Today, points out that given Reddit's growing weight in AI search and brand discovery, brands should reassess traditional social strategies. This article proposes five recommendations: register for free Reddit Pro to access analytics tools, use Reddit Trends to track industry keywords, deeply understand the context of community discussions, develop organic and paid strategies accordingly, and continuously monitor performance through Reddit Pro.