KIMP’s Picks February 27th: Weekly Highlights In Design, Marketing, AI, & More

Feeling that FOMO as Friday arrives? Let’s change that! We’ve put together a list of shareworthy posts that summarize the week’s biggest updates and discussions on social media. AI updates, social media algorithm shifts, marketing news, we’ve got them all.

Welcome to the KIMP’s Picks, February 27 Edition. Let’s catch up on this week’s highlights. 

In the Marketing Realm 

The state of AI in marketing 

A recent post from Think With Google explores some valuable insights shared by Professor Jim Lecinski, author of “The AI Marketing Canvas”. It discusses how marketers are still just scratching the surface when it comes to using AI in marketing by only using it for cost-saving. 

Lecinski suggests marketers rethink their AI strategies by 

• Understanding whether they are aiming for efficiency or growth 
• Knowing who benefits the most – internal teams or customers 

This leads to the development of four main AI use cases that help brands go beyond the common benefits associated with AI and ensure that the tech supports growth and strengthens customer relationships. 

The Google Search rival isn’t TikTok

With more and more people using TikTok to search for ideas and answers, there were speculations that TikTok is emerging as a major Google rival. However, the growth of AI tools and the explosion of AI search has shaken things up. The post here from Search Engine Journal discusses this shift. 

A new Adobe Express survey shows more U.S. consumers are using TikTok for search, with 49% saying they’ve searched on the platform, up from 41% in 2024. However, the data suggests TikTok may not be replacing Google as quickly as headlines often claim.

While 65% of Gen Z users have tried TikTok for search, fewer now prefer it over Google. Only 4% of Gen Z respondents said they rely on TikTok more than Google, down from 8% two years ago. Google still remains the primary starting point for most searches. The bigger shift appears to be toward AI tools. About 14% of consumers said they are more likely to use ChatGPT instead of Google, double the share choosing TikTok. For brands, this means future search strategies must extend beyond social platforms and increasingly strategize for AI-driven discovery.

Dove turns negative feedback into a bold beauty marketing campaign 

Dove is challenging traditional beauty advertising by spotlighting brutally honest customer discussions on Reddit instead of polished endorsements. For its Intensive Repair 10-in-1 Serum Mask, the brand invited anonymous Reddit users to share completely unfiltered reviews, including negative comments many brands would normally avoid. 

The campaign, titled r/eal reviews, features real Reddit posts displayed across out-of-home ads in New York, digital billboards, and video content where Redditors read their reviews word for word while appearing as animated avatars. Influencers were also encouraged to share unscripted experiences with the product.

Rather than controlling the narrative, Dove leaned into transparency, positioning authenticity as the core message. The campaign has created a buzz, demonstrating how honesty and reactive marketing done with a clear strategy can actually get people to notice a brand. 

In the Content Marketing Realm 

Leveraging the benefits of LLM referrals 

A post from Search Engine Land explores the current state of LLM referrals and what it means for brands. New analysis of website data from January 2025 to February 2026 shows that traffic coming from large language models like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Claude remains relatively small but is growing quickly and performing strongly. 

The post discusses how, on average, LLM referrals account for less than 2% of total website traffic. Despite the low volume, growth is accelerating, and brands are seeing an average increase of around 80% in LLM-driven visits within a year. Reportedly, some businesses recorded growth as high as 300%, signaling rising adoption as AI tools become part of everyday search behavior.

LLMs are behaving differently when it comes to choosing sources and citations are changing. While the traffic itself might be low, the conversion rates are high, demonstrating that investing in optimizing content for LLM referrals is a great decision for brands. 

In the Design Realm 

Canva expands AI tools and workflows 

Canva has introduced a new set of AI features and workflow updates aimed at helping users move faster from idea to finished content. The latest rollout focuses on automation, brand consistency, and easier publishing across platforms. 

One of the biggest updates allows users to turn static images into short videos by adding natural motion. This makes it easier for businesses and creators to repurpose existing visuals into engaging content. 

Additionally, Canva also launched Style Match, which automatically generates graphics that align with a design’s colors and layout, helping maintain visual consistency.

Beyond AI, Canva introduced smoother workflows, including automatic page formatting, improved presentation controls, editable grouped elements, video timeline editing, and direct publishing to platforms like LinkedIn and Hootsuite.

Canva acquires Cavalry and MangoAI to expand design tools and marketing capabilities 

Canva has announced the acquisitions of Cavalry and MangoAI as part of its push to evolve into a full-scale visual communication platform for creators, teams, and professional designers.

Cavalry, a UK-based motion design and 2D animation tool, adds advanced animation capabilities to Canva’s growing professional ecosystem. At the same time, MangoAI strengthens Canva’s AI and marketing intelligence capabilities. 

The expansion reflects Canva’s shift from a design tool to a comprehensive Creative OS powered by AI, automation, and professional-grade capabilities.

In the AI Realm 

Gemini will soon handle multi-step tasks on Android devices

Google is introducing a new Gemini capability designed to handle everyday multi-step tasks directly on Android devices. Launching soon in beta for Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro, and Samsung Galaxy S26 series, the feature allows users to delegate actions like booking rides or reordering food through a simple voice command. 

By long-pressing the power button, users can ask Gemini to complete tasks across supported apps while they continue using their phone. The assistant operates in the background, managing steps automatically instead of requiring manual navigation between apps.

Google says the feature is built with safety controls in mind. Tasks only begin after user approval. Also, users can track progress through live notifications. Gemini performs actions inside a secure virtual window that limits access to other parts of the device.

Google upgrades Circle-to-Search with new Gemini capabilities 

Google is expanding Circle to Search with new capabilities that allow users to explore multiple objects on their phone screen at once instead of searching for a single item. The update, rolling out on Pixel 10 and Samsung Galaxy S26 devices, makes visual search more contextual and discovery-driven.

Users can now circle or highlight several elements within an image, such as furniture in a room, pieces of an outfit, or different animals in a photo. Circle to Search identifies each object simultaneously, explains what users are seeing, and surfaces related results and links across the web.

Google redesigns Flow, bringing image, video and AI editing into a unified creative workspace 

Google has introduced major updates in Flow aimed at turning the platform into a complete environment for creating and managing AI-generated visual content. According to Google, since Flow’s launch, users have created more than 1.5 billion images and videos, and the latest redesign focuses on simplifying the entire creative workflow.

The recent update brings image generation tools from Whisk and ImageFX directly into Flow, allowing creators to generate, edit, and animate visuals without switching platforms. High-quality images can now be instantly turned into video scenes using integrated video generation capabilities, helping teams move faster from concept to production.

Flow also introduces improved asset management with a new grid system that makes it easier to organize, search, and group images and videos into collections.

Google Labs welcomes ProducerAI to expand AI-powered music creation

Google Labs has announced the addition of ProducerAI, a generative AI music platform designed to help artists create, refine, and experiment with music using advanced AI tools. The move strengthens Google’s growing focus on AI-assisted creativity across audio, video, and visual content.

To sum it up, ProducerAI acts as a creative collaborator, allowing users to generate songs from simple prompts. They can also fine-tune elements like melody, rhythm, tempo, and sound design. 

Notably, the platform runs on Google DeepMind models, including Gemini, Lyria 3, Veo, and Nano Banana, enabling high-fidelity music generation while embedding SynthID watermarking to identify AI-created content.

Perplexity Computer turns AI into a digital worker 

Perplexity is moving beyond simple chat interfaces with the launch of Perplexity Computer, a general-purpose digital worker designed to execute complex, long-term workflows. 

Unlike standard AI agents that handle single tasks, “Perplexity Computer” acts as an autonomous agent that breaks down massive goals into sub-tasks. It achieves this by hiring specialized AI “sub-agents” to do the heavy lifting. It operates within a real software stack, using browsers, filesystems, and APIs, to perform research, coding, and data processing autonomously for hours or even months.

A key feature is multi-model orchestration. The platform combines leading AI models for different strengths, using separate systems for reasoning, research, image creation, video generation, and long-context analysis rather than relying on a single model. 

Google launches the Photoshoot feature in Pomelli

Google Labs has introduced Photoshoot, a new feature within its Pomelli platform designed to help small and medium-sized businesses create professional marketing visuals without the cost of a studio or design team.

The tool uses a business’s stored brand context, called Business DNA, along with Nano Banana image generation to transform basic product photos into polished, on-brand images. Businesses can upload any product image, select a studio or lifestyle template, and generate high-quality visuals tailored to their brand aesthetic in just a few steps.

Anthropic introduces ‘remote control’ option to run Claude Code across devices 

Claude has launched Remote Control, a feature that lets users connect the Claude app or claude.ai/code to a Claude Code session running on their own machine. This allows you to start work at your desk and continue seamlessly on a phone, browser, or another device, without sending any code or data to the cloud.

Remote Control keeps your full local environment available, including filesystems, project configurations, and servers. Additionally, conversations stay in sync across all connected devices, and sessions automatically reconnect if your laptop sleeps or the network drops. 

Unlike web-based Claude Code, everything runs locally, giving users full control and security over their code.

Notion introduces “Custom Agents” 

Notion has rolled out Custom Agents. These are AI-powered assistants designed to handle entire workflows autonomously. These agents go beyond reactive help, managing tasks, routing requests, compiling reports, and answering questions across your team.

Custom Agents can function in multiple ways. For instance, Q&A agents provide consistent answers using existing knowledge, reducing repetitive queries in Slack or Notion. On the other hand, task routing agents track requests, add essential information, and keep work flowing to the right people. Status update agents compile daily, weekly, or monthly reports by gathering data from Notion, connected tools, and the web.

Amazon adds custom personalities to Alexa+ 

Alexa is getting more personal with the new Alexa+ personality styles. With this update users can choose how their assistant responds, from concise and efficient to warm and encouraging. The three current options, Brief, Chill, and Sweet, let you tailor Alexa’s tone without changing her abilities.

Brief delivers short, direct answers with no extra conversation. Chill adds a relaxed, friendly vibe, making interactions feel easygoing. Sweet brings warmth and enthusiasm, turning everyday responses into moments of positivity.

According to Amazon, each style is crafted using five dimensions (expressiveness, emotional openness, formality, directness, and humor) so the same response can feel completely different depending on your choice.

Google announces Nano Banana 2

Nano Banana has been a major milestone in Google’s image generation models and now it’s getting an upgrade. Google has rolled out Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image) – a faster and smarter image model.

With sophisticated world knowledge and drastic improvement in text rendering and translation, the model also gives users better creative control over the generated designs.

It is now easier than ever to maintain subject consistency for up to five characters and 14 objects in any workflow. Additionally, the model is built to better adhere to prompts to empower users to generate production-ready assets effortlessly.

Social Media Feature Updates and Algorithm Changes 

Instagram brings its TV app to Google TV 

Instagram is expanding its Instagram for TV app to Google TV devices in the U.S., two months after launching on Amazon Fire TV. The app, designed to bring Reels and feed posts to the big screen, aims to make Instagram a couch-friendly viewing option, competing with YouTube and TikTok’s TV apps.

Users can like, comment, and reshare content directly from their TVs. Moreover, the app supports linking up to five Instagram accounts or creating a dedicated TV account, letting users enjoy a tailored viewing experience without constant scrolling.

WhatsApp adds group message history 

WhatsApp is introducing Group Message History, a way to bring new members up to speed in group chats without disrupting ongoing conversations. Admins and members can choose to send recent messages, between 25 and 100, to anyone added to a group. This makes it easier to give newcomers the context they need.

The feature stays fully end-to-end encrypted, keeping conversations private. Everyone in the group is notified when message history is shared, with timestamps and sender info, and the messages are visually marked as history. Admins can disable the option for their groups if preferred, though they can always share history themselves.

Let’s Wrap Up…

That’s a wrap for KIMP’s Picks, February 27th. Hopefully, this helps you stay in the loop on the latest moves in tech, AI, and social media. Keep an eye out for the next edition soon. We’ll have more updates, insights, and stories to keep you informed. Until then, stay curious and keep exploring!