8th December 2025
Signal 1: TikTok Shop turns Black Friday into QVC on steroids
TikTok Shop did more than $500 million in sales over its Black Friday and Cyber Monday period. Around 50% more U.S. shoppers bought on TikTok Shop than last year, and live shopping streams drove 84% more sales growth than in 2024.
My take: TikTok is now a storefront, not a just an awareness channel.
Signal 2: American Eagle proves anti-AI plus celebrity still prints money
American Eagle posted a 6% revenue lift and 11% comparable sales growth at Aerie. Their anti-AI ad pledge and viral campaigns with Sydney Sweeney, Travis Kelce and now Martha Stewart generated 44 billion impressions and record new customer acquisition.
My take: Being loudly human is now a positioning. Brands that overuse AI content will end up looking cheap next to “we do not use AI in our ads” banners.
Signal 3: YouTube openly comes for TV budgets
YouTube hosted its first “Creator Premieres” event in New York, pitching creators and long-form shows directly to TV ad buyers from brands like Verizon and LVMH. YouTube already leads TV watch time in many markets, but wants the traditional TV money to follow.
My take: TV media plans are now creator plans. If your brand still splits “TV” and “YouTube” as separate worlds, your budget structure is soon going to be stuck in the past.
Signal 4: Platforms shower creators with new tools for December
Every major platform is throwing features at creators. Threads adds new ad formats and reply approvals, Reddit launches interactive ads and holiday shopping tools, Pinterest curates gift guides and adds an AI assistant, Instagram Edits gets big upgrades, YouTube tests AI assisted editing and product timestamps, Meta bakes AI ad recommendations into all campaigns and TikTok leans into wellbeing and holiday shopping hubs.
My take: Feature churn is permanent. Pick one or two features to own per platform instead of chasing every new toy.
Signal 5: Creator brand deals hit a transparency wall
Creators, brands and agencies are stuck in slow, messy deal processes. Everyone now spends more time chasing replies and clarifying terms than making content. There’s a need for clearer, standardised deal structures and expectations.
My take: “Vibe” deals have expired. Transparent terms and standard processes become the differentiator over gifting and guesswork.
Signal 6: Fandom leans into AI, whether celebrities like it or not
AI-generated fan edits and deepfakes, especially of women, rack up huge engagement across platforms, even while celebrities publicly push back. Verified accounts still post AI fan content because it drives clout and revenue.
My take: The fandom economy doesn’t care about think-pieces. If there is engagement, there is AI. Brands need a real stance on how close they want to sit to that.
Signal 7: Discord quietly upgrades the infrastructure for niche communities
Discord has new Social SDK updates, more granular permissions and buildathon events that encourage devs to build more social experiences on top of Discord.
My take: Community is becoming a product layer. Brands who only exist in “social feeds” miss the real work happening inside servers.
Signal 8: Holiday shoppers use Reddit as a research engine
Shoppers are researching and buying earlier than ever and are using Reddit for gift ideas, deals and “unusual” suggestions. Reddit is a key holiday research stop.
My take: Reddit is now a front door for consideration. If you have no presence, no threads and no honest comparisons there, you lose to brands that do.
Signal 9: Creator marketing is now framed as core infrastructure
The creator economy is a core part of marketing infrastructure, no longer a side hustle. Data-driven relationships and long-term partnerships are becoming the only sustainable way to use creators at scale.
My take: “We’ll find some influencers later” is dead. Creators sit inside your channel mix and data stack.
Signal 10: TikTok Shop proves discovery to purchase in one screen
Back to TikTok. Live streams during Black Friday season delivered 1.6 billion views and sellers who streamed saw 84% more sales growth year on year. TikTok itself calls this proof that discovery and purchase now sit in the same moment.
My take: Funnel charts are lying to you. For younger shoppers, TikTok is awareness, consideration and checkout in one scroll.