🌀 chaotic check-in
welcome to the last month of 2025, where the internet refuses to take a breath.
Meta’s own court filings reveal their platforms can harm users, yet they just launched AI ad tools delivering 4× better results. TikTok’s U.S. sell-off deadline is looming again, keeping everyone on the edge of their feed.
and if you need proof that storytelling beats product drops every time: Kylie Cosmetics turned its 10-year anniversary into a full-blown cultural event, with nostalgia, creators, and founder energy driving the frenzy.
keep scrolling, this year isn’t done showing off yet!
today's menu
🫖 trending tea
Instagram Levels Up
Meta baked new AI tools directly into the ad setup flow, making “Advantage+” targeting the default. Early tests show 4× better results.
Top-tier subscribers now get 1:1 content strategy guidance from Meta’s own team. Pay-to-play is getting real.
IG now lets you record up to 20 minutes, plus new editing tools, undo button, and better green screen.
Creators are spotting a 3-hashtag limit on posts and Reels. Still a test… but a spicy one.
Court filings reveal Meta’s own researchers warned about platform-related risks… again.
New report shows brands treating Broadcast Channels as VIP communities for drops, BTS content, and early access.
TikTok Foundry Drops
TikTok now lets users reduce AI-generated content via a new slider in “Manage Topics.” Control your feed, but AI won’t disappear completely.
TikTok highlights that creator-led campaigns outperform standard ads in engagement and click-through rates. Brands, take note.
TikTok Foundry launches – a new program helping brands maximize ad performance on the platform, with insights and guidance for smarter campaigns.
U.S. sell-off deadline looms again – the deadline for TikTok’s required U.S. sale is approaching. If no deal happens, the app could face a ban… or another extension.
Introducing Bulletin Board, a new feature letting users organize content, save posts, and create collections for easy access.
New way to unwind on TikTok – TikTok introduces features to help users reset and recharge, encouraging mindful scrolling.
TikTok rolls out new ways to spot, shape, and understand AI-generated content, helping users verify what’s real.
Shopper-tainment Is the New Religion on YouTube
YouTube tests new feed controls – users can now hide topics, adjust recommendations, and fine-tune their feed for more relevant content.
YouTube Music drops 2025 AI-powered recap, an AI-generated year-in-review playlist highlights your top songs, genres, and artists.
Pre-publish checks now catch more violations. YouTube expands automated checks to flag spam, harmful content, and guideline breaches before a video goes live.
YouTube opens more Gen-AI and Communities features. Creators can access AI-assisted content creation tools and enhanced community engagement options.
Retail is exploding on YouTube. A new study shows the retail category hitting 688B+ views across fashion, beauty, home, and electronics. Growth from Q3 2024 to Q2 2025 is wild.
Brand takeaways:
Build long-term creator partnerships for maximum authenticity.
Use data-heavy targeting to hit high-intent audiences.
Go cross-category to scale faster.
Creator Economy News
The Death of Follower Count (Finally): A new report says follower count is officially the least useful metric in your toolbox. Brands are shifting to watch time, reach, saves, and intent-based engagement as the real KPIs.
Amazon Built the World’s Fastest Ad Network: Amazon quietly engineered the fastest global ad network by merging retail data, device data, and Prime Video signals into a predictive machine. Massive implications for brands as Amazon shifts into full-blown media dominance.
Piano Guy Proves Niche Creators Are Winning: Jake Schroeder, a piano-playing, low-key chaotic creator, now landing major brand partnerships. Proof that niche + consistency + personality beat polished “viral-chasing” content.
Nara Smith’s Tradwife Empire Goes Mainstream: The NYT dives into how Nara Smith turned tradwife-core into a viral aesthetic juggernaut – mixing vibes, homemaking, slow living, and perfectly staged everything. Her influence is shaping a whole new category of aspirational content.
Instagram Now Reaches HALF of U.S. Adults: New research shows Instagram has officially gone mainstream, reaching 50% of U.S. adults. This puts IG right behind YouTube and Facebook in national penetration and solidifies it as a primary discovery platform for creators and brands.
✨ main character moment
Kylie Cosmetics – Turning a 10-Year Milestone Into a Cultural Moment
Kylie Cosmetics proved that anniversaries aren’t just about dates, they’re about stories that stick. The brand surged to #4 in overall attention in the U.S., jumping 7 spots month-over-month, all fueled by a smart mix of founder-led content, creator partnerships, and nostalgia.
Ten years in, most brands are begging people to remember them.
Kylie Cosmetics did the opposite: it reminded the internet of a version of itself the internet had already tattooed on its soul.
And the numbers? Wild!
#4 in Overall Attention in the U.S.
+7 ranks MoM (in a category where moving even one rank is like crossing the desert barefoot)
Engagement, audience size, creator participation – all punching above benchmark
And most importantly: 1 founder, posting like she’s on a comeback tour.
Founder Energy Sets the Tone
Kylie herself drove the majority of audience engagement through high-frequency posts celebrating the 10-year anniversary. By sharing behind-the-scenes prep, throwback moments, and emotional “we’re back” messaging, she created an authentic and shareable narrative that gave creators a reason to participate organically.
Why Kylie Cosmetics Is Growing Like It’s 2016 Again
1. Nostalgia Reignited → Multi-Platform Lift
The “King Kylie” revival leveraged emotional memory. Fans and creators alike engaged with throwback looks, Halloween transformations, and recreations of iconic 2016-era products. Nostalgia created energy that spread naturally across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, minimizing the need for paid amplification.
2. Creator Energy → Organic Momentum
Creators, both mid-tier and acquired, amplified the anniversary story with thousands of posts. From pop-up experiences to collection drops, their content built on Kylie’s original storytelling, creating a community-driven wave of engagement.
3. Founder Firepower → Community Connection
Kylie’s personal voice made the milestone feel human and relatable. Her storytelling set the tone, while creator participation extended reach, ensuring the celebration felt like a shared cultural moment rather than just a marketing campaign.
The King Kylie Comeback: A Masterclass in Emotional Branding
Kylie didn’t drop a collection. She resurrected an era. She made the 10-year anniversary feel like an arc, a story with callbacks to old fandom lore.
The LA pop-up, the first in seven years, became the physical manifestation of that excitement. Creators flocked to it like it was the Met Gala of nostalgia-core.
The brand reawakened a collective memory.
Takeaways for Brands
Revive the era, not just the product: Tap into recognizable past chapters of your brand – visuals, slogans, hero looks – and invite creators to reinterpret them for today.
Make milestones personal: Spotlight founders or key faces telling the story in their own voice. Anniversaries and pop-ups can become moments of authentic connection.
Give creators clear hooks: Provide ideas like throwback looks, “then vs. now” routines, or nostalgic challenges to encourage participation and amplify engagement.
By focusing on founder-led storytelling, creator-driven amplification, and the emotional power of nostalgia, Kylie Cosmetics launched a new chapter in the brand’s cultural story.
P.S.
Steve Jobs once sent that Aristotle line to his employees. Not because it sounded poetic, but because it was true:
Excellence isn’t a moment. It’s repetition. It’s discipline. It’s doing the right thing over and over until the results become inevitable.
This is exactly how modern brands scale with creators.
You don’t get one perfect video.
You get dozens of good ones, consistently and the sum of those creates the brand people trust.
So if you’ve been thinking about running a campaign, this is your “repeated action” moment.
JoinBrands is dropping the last coupon of 2025:
30% off blast campaigns with YearEnd30.
This is the final time to get a discount before the calendar resets.
Your competitors will hit the ground running in January – your prep starts today.
This is where your excellence starts!