Destreza

Destreza / Thinking

The Weekly Cut.

The week in marketing, AI and technology, cut to the stories that change a decision. Twenty editions, from May to September.

Newest first.

20 pieces

Two people and a dog sit on a sofa in a room with a Sonos soundbar and rear speakers; one listener wears headphones.
Inside The Weekly Cut 018: Sonos’s September 1 launch photography shows Beam Ultra, headphones and rear speakers in one home system. The products were announced alongside Sonos 27, the software update discussed inside this edition. Source: Sonos.

The Weekly Cut 018

ChatGPT ads expand. New models raise the bar.

The Weekly Cut 01810 min read

A wider advertising channel, more capable models and a staged rollout of image creation inside Google Workspace change the next marketing brief.

Read edition
A smiling Goldfish snack wearing sunglasses poses before a camera against a backdrop made to look like a slice of cheese.
Inside The Weekly Cut 017: Goldfish’s “Photoshoot”, from the campaign discussed in System1’s 27 August review. This is campaign context; the review’s 5.1-Star score relates to the execution it tests, rather than proof about this particular frame. Source: Goldfish / Mischief / Blinkink; still supplied by Marcus Lim SO.

The Weekly Cut 017

Campaign agents, holiday shoppers and creative control

The Weekly Cut 0178 min read

Media-buying assistance, preparation for returns and a customer-search experiment make AI’s commercial use more concrete.

Read edition
Two people at a pub bar in a scene from This is our BBC.
Inside The Weekly Cut 016: A scene from the BBC’s July campaign “This Is Our BBC”, the subject of System1’s 20 August review. The image belongs to that campaign, rather than a new August launch. Source: BBC / Blink.

The Weekly Cut 016

AI advertising, synthetic people and creative trust

The Weekly Cut 0168 min read

Consumer comfort and new creative tools meet a concrete example of where released marketing capacity can go.

Read edition
A server holding an orange drink approaches two people in a beach chair outside a seaside kiosk, with the FLENS mark above.
Inside The Weekly Cut 015: FLENS’s “Neulich mit Spritz”, one of the films launched with its 1 May brand refresh. System1 revisits this execution in its 13 August review; it is not a new August launch. Source: Flensburger Brauerei.

The Weekly Cut 015

AI referrals and the product page’s new job

The Weekly Cut 0159 min read

Referral data, a customer-journey case and UK attitudes put the consequences for the customer ahead of the latest vendor launch.

Read edition
A can of Madrí Limón beside a glass of beer and cut lemons.
Inside The Weekly Cut 014: Madrí Limón, pictured in System1’s 6 August fruit-beer research. The study tests the appeal of product concepts; its 4.4-Star result for Madrí describes predicted potential, rather than observed sales. Source: System1 / Madrí Excepcional.

The Weekly Cut 014

AI moves closer to buying and making

The Weekly Cut 0148 min read

Snap opens its advertising data, ChatGPT adds product carousels and Adobe brings creative tools into the conversation.

Read edition
The GEICO Gecko in a sink wearing a snorkel, with the original Drain title and GEICO mark.
Inside The Weekly Cut 013: GEICO’s “Drain” campaign, released in April, is the subject of System1’s 30 July review. The official thumbnail shows the Gecko adapting a familiar character to another insurance message. Source: GEICO.

The Weekly Cut 013

Growing ad spend. A changing route to purchase.

The Weekly Cut 0138 min read

Platform earnings and channel investment put commercial context around a customer-facing AI shopping case.

Read edition
Mohamed Salah and Vini Jr. sit on BMX bicycles beneath a concrete flyover in Pepsi’s Football Nation campaign.
Inside The Weekly Cut 012: Mohamed Salah and Vini Jr. in Pepsi’s April 2026 Football Nation campaign. Pepsi features in this week’s YouGov brand study; the research does not establish that this campaign caused the movement. Source: Pepsi.

The Weekly Cut 012

AI adoption is widespread. Business impact is uneven.

The Weekly Cut 0128 min read

UK advertisers report near-universal AI engagement, Google improves its working models, and Semrush tests who owns a topic inside ChatGPT.

Read edition
A complete desktop Chrome window displays a Jet2holidays hotel page beside Gemini’s comparison of three open tabs and a map.
Inside The Weekly Cut 011: Google’s July 14 UK demonstration shows Gemini comparing holiday options across Chrome tabs, alongside the retailer’s desktop website. The assistant moves closer to the buying task. Source: Google / Jet2holidays.

The Weekly Cut 011

Search starts doing the work

The Weekly Cut 0119 min read

Search moves closer to the task, AI discovery meets the sales conversation and the money available to marketers comes with a harder commercial brief.

Read edition
Anthropic’s OSWorld-Verified chart plots computer-use accuracy against average cost per task for Sonnet 5, Sonnet 4.6 and Opus 4.8.
Anthropic’s Sonnet 5 launch chart compares computer-use benchmark performance and cost across effort levels. Its cost axis uses the scheduled standard token rates, rather than the introductory rates available through 31 August; it is a vendor benchmark, not a marketing-workflow result. Source: Anthropic.

The Weekly Cut 009

AI attribution meets the brand-search question

The Weekly Cut 0098 min read

Two measurement developments ask what follows attention, while a model update promises better follow-through on work.

Read edition
Cameron Adams and Bob Safian seated on a brightly lit Canva stage at Cannes 2026.
Canva co-founder Cameron Adams talks with Bob Safian at the Canva Cabana on 24 June 2026, during the Cannes week in which Canva announced Grow 2.0. Source: Canva.

The Weekly Cut 008

Canva connects creation to performance

The Weekly Cut 0088 min read

Creative tools move closer to the media buy, while new retail and conversational formats offer places to test the work.

Read edition
Emma Harman, Ndidi Oteh and Jo Cronk sit together on blue and orange chairs in the Whalar acquisition announcement photograph.
Inside The Weekly Cut 006: Also in this edition: Whalar’s Emma Harman, Accenture Song’s Ndidi Oteh and Whalar’s Jo Cronk, left to right, in the photograph supplied with the 8 June acquisition announcement. Source: Accenture.

The Weekly Cut 006

Search loses clicks. Retail media gains context.

The Weekly Cut 0069 min read

A new buying channel, a changing search journey and a retail-data connection sharpen the questions behind the media plan.

Read edition
Canva’s official Perplexity Computer example shows an attached launch brief and a prompt asking for a presentation to share with a leadership team.
Inside The Weekly Cut 005: Also in this edition: Canva’s new Perplexity Computer connector turns a working brief into an editable design. The announcement’s demonstration starts with a request to make a presentation from a launch brief. Source: Canva.

The Weekly Cut 005

AI answers: visibility, control and payment

The Weekly Cut 00510 min read

One week, three moves over who appears inside an AI answer and who is paid for the material it is built from.

Read edition
Two YouTube mobile upload screens show the controls for identifying realistic AI-generated or altered video.
YouTube’s 27 May announcement shows the creator’s AI-use controls during upload. The same update changes the labels viewers see and begins a phased rollout of automatic detection. Source: YouTube / Google.

The Weekly Cut 004

AI shopping, consumer control and clearer labels

The Weekly Cut 0049 min read

Consumer research challenges autonomous shopping while YouTube and Google change how generated work and trusted sources appear.

Read edition
Arba Kokalari speaks at a microphone, with Michael McNamara beside her, at the 7 May AI Omnibus press conference.
Inside The Weekly Cut 001: Arba Kokalari and Michael McNamara brief journalists in Brussels on 7 May after the AI Omnibus negotiations. Their provisional agreement would change the high-risk timetable while leaving deepfake disclosure on its August date. Source: Alexis Haulot / © European Union 2026 – European Parliament.

The Weekly Cut 001

ChatGPT ads, AI labels and Apple’s proposed Siri settlement

The Weekly Cut 0019 min read

ChatGPT Ads goes self-serve and names five new markets. Also this week, which AI Act deadlines moved and which did not, and Apple's proposed $250m Siri settlement.

Read edition