Marketing news, week of November 2, 2026

Machine summary Svedka is inviting consumers to create its 2027 Super Bowl commercial, with a $500,000 prize for the winning 15-second ad for Svedka Vodka Water. The Sazerac-owned brand announced the contest on Nov. 2, 2026 with Bravo host Andy Cohen as a judge and a Dec. 1 submission deadline on a microsite. The campaign follows criticism of its AI-produced 2026 Big Game debut, which Adweek reports still coincided with sales up 22.9% in the first half of the year.

1. Svedka's 2026 Super Bowl spot was, per Adweek, the first Super Bowl commercial built primarily with AI, the first vodka-only national game spot in over three decades, and Sazerac's first Super Bowl ad (Adweek; Marketing Dive)
2. The 30-second 2026 spot was run by Svedka's in-house team with production by AI innovation lab Silverside and featured the Fembot mascot, back after a 12-year hiatus (Marketing Dive)
3. Nielsen data cited in the reports shows Svedka sales up 22.9% in the first half of 2026 and up 22.2% since March; the company claims it is the fastest-growing spirits brand in the U.S.
4. The new contest offers a $500,000 prize for one winning 15-second ad for Svedka Vodka Water, with submissions to a microsite until Dec. 1 (Adweek; Marketing Dive)
5. Svedka will run a national 15-second spot at Super Bowl 61 on Feb. 14, 2027, and Sazerac says a second Sazerac brand will also advertise during the game, to be named later this year (Adweek)

Reported by Adweek and Marketing Dive.

• Nielsen
• Bravo
• Fembot
• Svedka
• Silverside
• Sazerac

Machine summary Search revenue growth slowed to 12% year over year, from 19% in Q1 and 17% in Q2, while total revenue rose 25% to nearly $127.6 billion and cloud revenue more than doubled.

1. Alphabet shares fell roughly 12.3% on Oct. 29, 2026, which the Motley Fool report describes as the stock's worst single-day decline on record
2. Alphabet reported Q3 adjusted EPS of $2.67 against $3.02 expected and revenue of nearly $127.6 billion against $128.2 billion consensus, still up 25% year over year
3. Google services revenue was $96.3 billion, more than $2 billion below analyst forecasts, with Search revenue growth of 12% versus 19% in Q1 and 17% in Q2
4. Alphabet's free cash flow was negative at more than $9 billion against a negative $2.7 billion analysts had modeled, while cloud revenue more than doubled
5. Alphabet accounts for 8.2% of Berkshire Hathaway's roughly $364 billion portfolio as a top five holding, with Abel buying tens of billions of dollars of the stock in 2026 after Buffett initiated the position in 2025

Reported by The Motley Fool and fool.com.

• Amazon
• Alphabet
• Berkshire Hathaway
• Google Search
• Bending Spoons

Machine summary Reddit said on November 3, 2026 that it is testing ad placements in its search results pages with a select group of eligible advertisers, using contextual relevance to the query alongside its existing targeting. The test follows a Q3 update in which CEO Steve Huffman said search referrals fell by more than 1 million per week on average in October, and Q4 revenue guidance of $1 billion to $1.03 billion versus analyst expectations of $1.05 billion, TechCrunch reported.

1. Reddit announced on November 3, 2026 that it is testing ad placements in its search results pages with a select group of eligible advertisers (Reddit announcement, via TechCrunch and Social Media Today).
2. During the Q3 performance update, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman stated that search traffic declined by more than 1 million weekly referrals on average across October (Social Media Today).
3. Reddit's fourth-quarter revenue guidance of $1 billion to $1.03 billion came in below analyst expectations of $1.05 billion, and the stock dropped after the Q3 report despite beats on revenue and earnings per share (TechCrunch).
4. TechCrunch attributes the referral decline to Google's move to an AI-powered search experience, which sends less traffic to sites including Reddit.
5. In July, Reddit released research showing that 72% of its users visit the site looking for information, while 64% arrive with a particular objective (Social Media Today).

Reported by Social Media Today, techcrunch.com, Marketing-Interactive and Search Engine Journal.

• Google
• TechCrunch
• Reddit
• Social Media Today

Machine summary Levi's launched "Let's Get Fuzzy," a holiday campaign built on a 60-second stop-motion claymation film that the brand says used no AI in filming. Press details reported by Marketing Dive state each second of animation took four hours of filming, with sets and characters hand-built.

1. The "Let's Get Fuzzy" campaign centers on a 60-second spot made with stop-motion claymation; the brand says no AI was used in the filming process, per press details reported by Marketing Dive.
2. Press details say each second of animation required four hours of filming, with the set and characters made by hand.
3. The brand describes the work as a call back to "Clayman," a 1995 ad it calls its first global commercial and first full-length spot shot entirely in claymation.
4. The film follows a yeti named Gus who breaks into a holiday cabin, is thrown a red sweater that fits him, and joins the gathering; Marketing Dive describes the tone as mixing holiday and spooky-season styles, akin to "Dead Snow."
5. The tied collection is available through the Levi's website and app and at select retail locations, per the report.

Reported by Marketing Dive and Creative Bloq.

• Marketing Dive
• Levi's (Levi Strauss & Co.)
• Gus
• "Let's Get Fuzzy"
• stop-motion claymation

Reports ran between 06:00 and 12:48 UTC on Nov 4.

The outlets that reported this event are listed with links to their reports; no summary of ours passed our automated checks for it, which says nothing about the event (how they work).

Reported by Adweek and WeRSM.

• TikTok
• TikTok Shop

Machine summary According to TechCrunch, a separate TikTok Shop application from TikTok has been made downloadable in the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand, for both iOS and Android. The app centers on product listings and buying, with personalized recommendations, livestream and short-video shopping, app-exclusive deals and in-app checkout, and TikTok did not respond to TechCrunch's request for comment on the rollout.

1. According to TechCrunch, TikTok has launched a separate TikTok Shop application for iOS and Android in the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand; Matt Navarra, a social media consultant, spotted it first.
2. The app description lists personalized product recommendations, shopping via livestreams and short videos, app-exclusive deals, in-app checkout, order tracking, customer support, free shipping offers and first-order benefits, according to TechCrunch.
3. TikTok did not respond to TechCrunch's request for comment, and it is not known whether the app will be released more widely or in the United States.
4. Social Media Today, drawing on KrAsia, says Douyin, the version of TikTok used in China, recorded gross merchandise volume nearing $500 billion during 2025, with livestream shopping responsible for a substantial portion.
5. TikTok globally generated $26.2 billion in GMV in the first half of 2025, according to Marketing Maze, as cited by Social Media Today.

Reported by Social Media Today and techcrunch.com.

• TikTok
• TikTok Shop
• Douyin
• Marketing Maze
• KrAsia

Machine summary An Amazon spokesperson told Adweek the placements are marked as sponsored, advertisers are not being charged initially, and Amazon will notify advertisers before any payment model is implemented.

1. CEO Andy Jassy told investors on Amazon's third-quarter earnings call that customers who use Alexa for Shopping spend 50% more than those who do not.
2. The texting experience includes sponsored product ads marked as sponsored; an Amazon spokesperson told Adweek advertisers are not being charged for the placement initially and will be informed before a payment model is implemented.
3. The texting channel builds on Alexa for Shopping, which launched in May 2026, and supports text or photo requests, order placement, shopping carts, delivery updates, price and deal alerts, and remembered preferences (The Verge, Adweek).
4. Rajiv Mehta, vice president of Conversational Shopping at Amazon, said in a statement that the assistant searches, compares and buys on the customer's behalf once messaged.

Reported by Adweek and The Verge.

• Amazon
• Andy Jassy
• The Verge
• Alexa for Shopping
• Adweek