The Second Screen Takeover
Doritos hijacks Super Bowl attention on TikTok, OpenAI kills its most-loved model, and Apple's orange strategy pays off big
I watched the Super Bowl this weekend like most people — with one eye on the TV and the other on my phone. And honestly? The most interesting brand moments didn’t happen during the commercial breaks. They happened on TikTok, in group chats, and inside the apps we were already scrolling through.
That tension — between where brands broadcast and where audiences actually live — is the thread running through everything this week. From Doritos building a real-time second-screen experience to OpenAI retiring the AI model people got too attached to, the story is the same: attention has moved, and the smartest players are following it.
🎪 Experiential Marketing & Brand Activations
How Doritos and Ulta Turned TikTok Clubhouse Into a Super Bowl Power Play
This is the story of the week for anyone in experiential. Doritos and Ulta didn’t just run Super Bowl ads — they used TikTok Clubhouse to create a real-time, creator-led second-screen experience that met Gen Z where attention already lives. The results speak for themselves: Doritos’ prior activations drove 35% year-over-year growth in brand mentions and added over 200,000 TikTok followers.
TV ads still anchor mass reach, but the real brand perception work is happening off-broadcast now. TikTok Clubhouse is the clearest signal yet that second-screen isn’t an afterthought — it’s becoming the main event.
The Growth Meta: Events as a Growth Channel
If you’re a founder or marketer sleeping on live events, this piece is a wake-up call. Events are wildly underutilized as a growth lever, especially by early-stage companies. The argument is simple: in-person is a different kind of magic. You can’t automate a handshake. Events should be central to a launch strategy, not an afterthought.
Events are one of the highest-leverage go-to-market activities available right now. In an era of AI-generated everything, showing up in person is becoming a competitive advantage.
Apple Is Planning Something Big for Its 50th Birthday
Apple turns 50 on April 1, and Tim Cook has promised “some celebration” during an internal meeting. Details are sparse — it’s unclear whether this stays employee-only or goes public — but the brand activation possibilities are massive. Special anniversary accessories? A product launch? Knowing Apple, whatever they do will be studied by marketers for years.
When the world’s most valuable brand celebrates a milestone like this, pay attention to how they do it. The execution will be a masterclass in brand storytelling regardless of format.
🤖 AI Moves That Matter
Inside OpenAI’s Decision to Kill the AI Model That People Loved Too Much
OpenAI is retiring GPT-4o on February 13, and the user response has been intense. The model drove massive consumer growth and proved incredibly sticky — but it also got criticized for being overly sycophantic, and has been linked to cases of users developing psychotic delusions. Here’s the thing: the model’s popularity and its potential for harm both stem from the same trait — its ability to build emotional connections.
This is a defining moment for AI product design. OpenAI is essentially saying: engagement isn’t enough if it comes at the cost of user wellbeing. Every company building with AI should be watching how this plays out.
Chrome 146 Includes an Early Preview of WebMCP
This one flew under the radar but it’s huge. Chrome 146 introduces WebMCP — a web standard that lets AI agents query and interact with websites using structured tools instead of screen-scraping. Instead of agents clumsily browsing like humans, WebMCP gives them a clean, robust interface for interacting with page features. This is infrastructure that changes how AI meets the web.
WebMCP could be the bridge between AI agents and the rest of the internet. If you build anything for the web — marketing sites, e-commerce, tools — this standard will matter to you within the year.
OpenAI’s Jony Ive-Designed Device Delayed to 2027
The much-anticipated OpenAI hardware device designed by Jony Ive won’t ship before late February 2027. No packaging, no marketing materials created yet, and they can’t even use the name “io” they’d planned. What we do know: it won’t be a wearable or an in-ear device. The delay signals just how hard it is to create a new hardware category, even with the world’s most famous product designer at the helm.
Hardware is hard. AI hardware is harder. The fact that OpenAI and Jony Ive need another year-plus tells you everything about the gap between AI software capability and the physical products that deliver it.
🎨 Design & Brand Culture
How Generative AI Is Redefining Brand Identity Systems
This might be the most important design trend piece I’ve read this month. Generative AI is transforming brand identity from rigid, fixed assets into flexible systems that adapt across contexts. Designers are shifting from crafting individual assets to becoming system architects — defining constraints, behaviors, and brand logic rather than pixel-perfect deliverables. The piece makes a compelling case for establishing core brand DNA, defining what stays fixed vs. flexible, and building governance early.
The designer’s role is evolving from “make the logo” to “architect the system that generates the brand.” If you work in branding or creative direction, this shift is already happening around you.
How a Color Drove Record iPhone Sales
Apple reported record iPhone sales last quarter, and the biggest driver was... a color. The new Cosmic Orange on iPhone 17 Pro — resembling Hermès orange and signaling status and luxury — fueled a surge in demand, particularly in China. It’s a reminder that sometimes the most powerful product decisions aren’t technical at all. They’re cultural and emotional.
The best product marketing isn’t about specs — it’s about desire. Apple didn’t sell a faster chip. They sold a feeling. And that feeling was apparently orange.
Why Digital Twins Are More Than Just a Pretty Model
Digital twins — high-fidelity 3D assets that go beyond visuals — are becoming essential infrastructure for marketing teams. They can be reused across campaigns, support AR experiences, and eliminate the need for repeated photography or 3D builds. For marketers, they’re a long-term investment that enables interactive content, scalable campaigns, and consistent branding across every platform.
Think of digital twins as your brand’s “single source of truth” in 3D. One asset, infinite applications — from e-commerce product pages to immersive AR activations.
🛠️ Creative Tools & The New Build
What Folks Are Really Vibe Coding Today
Vibe coding has officially gone mainstream, and the use cases are more practical than you’d think. The top applications right now: rapid prototyping without waiting on engineering, building internal tools that match specific workflows, turning slide decks into interactive presentations, and replacing simple SaaS with custom-built solutions. The gap between having an idea and seeing it work is effectively gone.
The people who need tools are now the ones building them. That’s not a developer trend — it’s a fundamental shift in how organizations create and iterate.
Designing for the AI Inbox: Why HTML Emails Will Win the Next Era of E-Commerce
Here’s a practical one: AI is now summarizing emails before recipients even open them. If your e-commerce emails are image-only, your offers risk being misrepresented or ignored entirely. HTML emails with live text and dynamic content perform significantly better — they load faster, provide data for optimization, and ensure both humans and AI can accurately interpret your messages.
If you’re still sending image-heavy emails, AI inbox summaries are about to punish you for it. Front-load your key offers in live text and structure your HTML like it’s being read by two audiences — your customer and their AI assistant.
⚡ Quick Hits
🎬 Runway Hits $5.3B Valuation — The AI video pioneer raised $315M in Series E with backing from Nvidia and Adobe. “World models” are the next frontier for creative AI.
🔒 AI Is Personalizing Your Internet — Without an Off Switch — Tailored ads, bespoke advice, unique pricing. The “off” switch for AI personalization is either buried or doesn’t exist. Worth reading if you care about where consumer trust is headed.
✨ Fimo: Build Motion-First Websites — A new tool for teams building motion-first multi-page websites with AI-powered workflows, collaborative editing, and automated publishing. Worth a look if you’re tired of static site builders.
⚖️ EU Says TikTok’s “Addictive Design” Likely Violates the Law — Infinite scroll, autoplay, and personalized algorithms may need to change under EU Digital Services Act. Fines could hit 6% of global revenue. Big implications for platform design everywhere.
📱 Meta Adds AI Profile Picture Animations — Facebook now lets you animate profile pictures and story backgrounds with Meta AI. Small feature, big signal about where social platforms are headed with generative tools.
The thread I keep pulling this week: the best brand work is happening where people already are, not where brands wish they were. Doritos didn’t try to make people watch a TV ad harder — they built something worth engaging with on the platform people were already scrolling. Apple didn’t sell a spec sheet — they sold a color that resonated culturally. OpenAI didn’t keep a popular product alive — they made a values call about what popularity should look like.
I’d love to hear what you’re seeing. Are brands in your world starting to think more about meeting audiences in context, or still defaulting to “broadcast and hope”?
See you tomorrow 👋
— Macklin
P.S. If you’re headed to any events this spring, I’m keeping a running list of the most interesting brand activations. Reply and tell me what’s on your radar — I’ll include the best ones in a future issue.