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KIMP’s Picks September 19th: Weekly Highlights In Design, Marketing, AI, & More

Week after week, the world of tech surprises us. New AI tools, more personalization and productivity enhancements to the existing ones, and social media algorithm updates, there’s always so much to catch up on. As the week flies by, it gets overwhelmingly difficult to keep up. But you cannot risk missing out on the updates and flying blind in the coming weeks. So, what can you do? Catch up on all the updates that matter the easy way, through KIMP’s Picks.

KIMP’s Picks is our weekly social media recap post where we hand-pick shareworthy posts that summarize the week for you. Ready for the KIMP’s Picks September 19th edition? Here you go.

In the Marketing Realm 

Google updates Discover with social content 

Google Discover is getting some major updates to help you find and follow the content you love. Previously, the feed was mostly articles. Now, it will start including posts from platforms like X and Instagram, as well as YouTube Shorts, bringing a wider variety of content to one place.

So, all that time spent on creating social media content will now pay off even better. It will help with brand discovery even via a search engine. 

Personalization is also getting an upgrade. You can now follow specific publishers or creators directly in Discover to see more content relevant to you. Each publisher or creator will have a dedicated page showing articles, videos, and social posts in one place. This makes Discover less of a random feed and more of a curated hub tailored to individual preferences.

Local SEO matters even more in the AI Search era 

Traditional SEO is no longer enough for brands to enhance their visibility through digital channels and boost organic traffic. It’s time to focus on appearing in AI search. But even amidst this, traditional SEO practices still hold value, in particular, local SEO. A recent post from Search Engine Land discusses the importance of local SEO to boost a brand’s AI search performance. 

One of the notable details highlighted in the post is that several AI chatbots like ChatGPT, as of now, struggle with local search queries like “restaurants near me” which works much better on Google Search and searches that happen on Google Maps. This means that now is a great time to invest in traditional local SEO. 

In short, the future of search may be fragmented across AI, maps, and directories, but local SEO fundamentals hold steady. For businesses, this means doubling down on listings, reviews, and complete profiles isn’t optional. It’s the key to staying visible wherever customers search. 

Pillsbury’s new interactive experiential campaign 

Every brand needs a big stunt, an out-of-the-box experiential campaign to grab attention. Or sometimes to bring people back, or create a buzz when venturing into new markets or making new product launches. One such campaign is Pillsbury’s NYC campaign to introduce their new range of sized-up crescent rolls, biscuits, and cinnamon rolls.

The campaign is built around the brand’s friendly mascot to make an instant connection with the audience. In addition to the video ads, a 25-foot-tall Pillsbury Doughboy will pop up at Brooklyn Bridge Park on Sunday, September 21, inviting families to poke his belly, share laughs, and enjoy fresh samples of the new products.

For those who can’t make it to New York, a virtual experience is available at PokeTheDoughboy.com, where you can still virtually poke his belly and get a digital coupon. 

The campaign highlights the power of mascots and the need for immersive experiential campaigns to create buzz. 

In the Content Marketing Realm 

Using AI to enhance the effectiveness of BOFU content 

BOFU or bottom-of-the-funnel, is the closing stage in marketing and one of the most crucial. Moz recently shared a post highlighting how to use AI to enhance a brand’s BOFU content strategy. 

The post highlights that generic AI content will not cut it. Instead, AI can be used to automate several parts of the content marketing workflow, particularly the BOFU stage, where timing and personalization are of utmost importance. 

The post highlights actionable tips and tools that come in handy to conduct product and customer research to identify BOFU opportunities, for keyword research, and more. 

Read more about the content marketing funnel in our blog post here. 

Monzo’s brilliant personalized campaign 

Personalization makes content marketing even more effective. The recent campaign from Monzo, a popular digital bank, proves this. Monzo has taken a fresh approach to financial education with “The Book of Money”, a jargon-free guide designed to make money feel less intimidating. Instead of a standard launch, the bank teamed up with Penguin Random House, BBH, and Freuds to create The Book Nook, a pop-up bookshop in Soho where visitors received a personalized book cover tied to their own financial goals.

The campaign extends beyond the book itself. It’s not just merely a book launch but rather a content marketing play that connects brand, product, and purpose in a way that resonates. 

In the Design Realm 

A unique packaging design project 

Packaging of the World shared a post exploring the unique packaging designed for ZŪCHA, an alcoholic kombucha brewed with organic fruit. 

The design is fresh and vibrant, crafted to stand out in a crowded craft drinks market. Targeting social, style-conscious drinkers, the design balances personality with clear product information and adaptability across English and Mandarin markets.

The packaging design features a mostly white can with a simple grid and lively illustrations. Each flavor is represented by a whimsical character with a fruit-shaped body, making the product instantly recognizable. A bright color palette is used for the illustrations, with a consistent charcoal color for the logo and text, ensuring it is easy to read.

This is a great example of smart design. The brand uses a minimalist approach to cut through the noise, while a consistent, fun illustration style gives it a unique and memorable personality.

Learning from the sleek brand identity of Bygones 

The Brand Identity shared a post dissecting the elegant brand identity crafted for Bygones, a new cocktail bar in Birmingham. The goal was to create a brand identity that honored its historic building without feeling outdated. The design team created a concept that perfectly balances classic style with a modern feel.

Accordingly, the central design element is a double-handled cocktail sword. This unique logo is a visual metaphor for the bar’s name, as in “let bygones be bygones”. The two handles also cleverly form the letter “B.” This simple yet meaningful icon is used everywhere, from the signature drink stirrers to the menu.

The brand’s success lies in its thoughtful and restrained design. It uses classic elements like a deep red color and a script font, but pairs them with modern, readable fonts and minimalist layouts. This approach allows the bar’s atmosphere and cocktails to be the main focus, proving that good design can enhance a brand’s story without overwhelming it.

In the AI Realm 

Meta’s Connect 2025 was all about AI Glasses 

At its Connect 2025 event, Meta announced a major expansion of its AI glasses lineup, introducing three new models. The new Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses are the most advanced, featuring a built-in screen in the lens and a wristband, the Meta Neural Band, that lets you control the glasses with subtle hand movements.

Secondly, for athletes, Meta is launching the Oakley Meta Vanguard, a pair of performance AI glasses with a focus on high-intensity sports. They can integrate with devices like Garmin to give you real-time feedback on your workouts.

Finally, the popular Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 2) is getting an update with double the battery life and an improved camera for better video capture. These new products show a strong push by Meta into the wearable tech space.

Google takes the next step in AI-driven transactions with Agent Payments Protocol 

Google has unveiled the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), a new open standard for secure agent-led payments across platforms. Designed in collaboration with over 60 companies, including PayPal, Mastercard, and Coinbase, AP2 ensures users, merchants, and payment providers can transact safely across cards, bank transfers, stablecoins, and more.

AP2 is valuable because gone are the times when it was mostly a human placing an order. Several agentic tools today can perform a variety of tasks autonomously, including placing orders and making payments. 

Therefore, AP2 introduces “Mandates”, which are secure, digital contracts that provide proof of a user’s instructions. This ensures every transaction has a verifiable trail, addressing key questions of authorization, authenticity, and accountability.

Additionally, the protocol even supports emerging payment systems, including crypto, via extensions developed with industry leaders like Coinbase and Ethereum Foundation.

OpenAI will now help you set the pace of GPT-5’s thinking 

The “Thinking” mode available in most AI chatbots today, including ChatGPT, ensures that the chatbot thinks a little longer to give a more accurate, well-researched answer. However, thinking takes a long time in most cases. So, what if you want your AI chatbot to think before answering, but also do it faster? OpenAI heard you. 

Plus and Business users on ChatGPT can choose between “Standard” (which is a new default for a balance of speed and intelligence) and “Extended”, the previous default. Moreover, Pro users get two additional options: “Light” for the fastest answers and “Heavy” for the most in-depth responses.

This new feature gives users more control over how ChatGPT operates, allowing them to match the AI’s speed to the task at hand. The selection will remain saved for future chats.

OpenAI boosts AI coding collaboration with GPT-5-Codex  

OpenAI has launched GPT-5-Codex, a specialized version of its GPT-5 model designed specifically for software development. This new tool is built to act as a partner for developers, handling complex, real-world tasks like debugging, code refactoring, and code review.

GPT-5-Codex is trained to be proficient in both quick, interactive coding sessions and long, independent tasks, reportedly working on complex projects for over seven hours at a time. It also excels at code review, identifying critical bugs with a higher success rate than its predecessors.

It’s available across Codex CLI, IDE extensions, GitHub, and the cloud, letting developers move seamlessly between local and cloud workflows.

Reve launches a revolutionary AI image editing platform 

Reve has launched a new platform that aims to completely change the way people edit images. The new “Reve Image” is a four-in-one product that combines an AI image creator, a drag-and-drop editor, a creative assistant, and an API for third-party use.

The platform’s core innovation is its “layout representation” which is a new internal language that breaks down images into a precise, code-like format. This allows for unprecedented control, letting users make pixel-level changes and edit with simple natural language. It also bridges the gap between text and visuals, ensuring that what you describe is exactly what you get.

This new tool is designed to be more accessible than traditional, complex photo-editing software, democratizing creativity by letting users focus on their ideas rather than technical skills.

Amazon upgrades Seller Assistant with Agentic AI capabilities 

Amazon has announced a big upgrade to its Seller Assistant tool, moving beyond simple generative AI to incorporate “agentic” capabilities. This means the AI can now reason, plan, and take action with a seller’s permission, acting as a proactive business partner.

Powered by models like Amazon Nova and Anthropic Claude, the new assistant can handle complex tasks such as optimizing inventory, monitoring a seller’s account health for potential issues, and navigating complex compliance rules. It can even help with advertising through a new “Creative Studio” feature.

In short, with these new updates, Seller Assistant can analyze sales patterns, suggest new product opportunities, and develop tailored growth strategies, all while keeping sellers in control. 

Google & PayPal’s partnership aims at revolutionizing commerce with AI 

Google and PayPal have announced a major, multi-year strategic partnership to advance digital commerce. The collaboration will combine Google’s powerful AI with PayPal’s extensive payment network to create new, secure online shopping experiences.

This builds on the announcement of AP2 by Google, to regulate and enhance the security of online payments, particularly those in which bots are involved – autonomous agents placing orders. 

Additionally, as part of the deal, PayPal’s solutions will be more deeply integrated into Google products. PayPal will also become a key payment processor for major Google platforms like Google Cloud and Google Ads, and will use Google Cloud to enhance its own technology.

Zoom introduces Companion 3.0

Zoom has announced AI Companion 3.0, the next generation of its AI assistant, which introduces agentic capabilities to its Zoom Workplace. This new version is designed to move beyond simple automation to proactively help users by reasoning, planning, and taking action.

The update includes new features that allow AI Companion to take notes in meetings across platforms like Microsoft Teams and Google Meet. It can also help users manage their schedules by suggesting meetings to skip and even proactively scheduling them for a group.

One of the core additions is the new “Custom AI Companion” add-on, which will let businesses create their own custom AI agents. Additionally, users will soon be able to use lifelike AI avatars and real-time voice translation in meetings.

ElevenLabs introduces advanced AI audio tools in Studio 3.0

ElevenLabs is making some big updates to its AI audio editor with the introduction of Studio 3.0. Notably, it now includes video support. This new version brings all of the company’s advanced audio models into a single timeline, allowing creators to edit voiceovers, music, and sound effects directly with video.

The platform offers new features like Automatic Captioning and Speech Correction, which let users fix mistakes in recordings just by editing the text. It also includes tools to remove background noise and change voices. A new multiplayer commenting feature allows teams to collaborate directly within the timeline.

Social Media Feature Updates and Algorithm Changes  

New YouTube Music features put fans front and center of the experience 

At the Made on YouTube event, YouTube announced a new suite of tools designed to bring music artists closer to their most dedicated fan bases. These updates focus on rewarding loyalty and creating more personal connections.

Coming later this year, new release countdowns and album pre-saves will build anticipation for new music. In early 2026, artists will be able to share exclusive videos, such as behind-the-scenes clips, directly with their most loyal fans. YouTube is also piloting a program in the US that gives top fans first access to exclusive merchandise drops.

YouTube Livestreaming gets some fresh updates 

Livestreaming on YouTube has evolved over the years and is known to be one of the most engaging formats for creators to connect with their audience. Recently, YouTube announced some of the biggest updates on livestreaming. 

YouTube is introducing a suite of new features to help creators get started, get discovered, and earn money. The update is a direct response to feedback from the creator community.

One of the key features is the ability to stream in both horizontal and vertical formats simultaneously with a single, unified chat. The platform is also adding an “AI-powered highlights” tool that automatically creates ready-to-share Shorts from live streams. New streamers can also use a practice mode to test their setup before going live.

In addition to all this, for monetization, YouTube is rolling out less intrusive “side-by-side ads” that appear next to the content instead of interrupting it. Creators with channel memberships can also now seamlessly switch a public stream to a members-only one without disruption.

YouTube announces several new updates coming to YouTube Studio 

YouTube has announced a major upgrade to YouTube Studio with a new suite of AI-powered tools designed to help creators at every stage of their journey. The central feature is Ask Studio, a conversational chat tool that provides personalized insights on a channel’s performance and audience. Creators can ask direct questions about their content or channel and get strategic, actionable advice.

In addition to this, the platform is making it easier for creators to generate new content ideas with a revamped Inspiration Tab. This feature suggests topics and explains why they might resonate with a creator’s audience. To help optimize content before it’s published, YouTube is expanding its A/B testing feature to include video titles, alongside the existing thumbnail testing.

Additionally, new features will streamline collaboration and global reach. Creators can now easily add up to five collaborators to a single video to cross-promote to new audiences. Finally, the auto-dubbing feature will also be enhanced with new lip-sync technology to make translated videos more realistic. 

YouTube is also expanding its likeness detection tool to help creators find and manage unauthorized videos that use their face.

Instagram announces updates on Edits 

Edits has grown to be a popular video editing tool, especially for creators tapping into the Metaverse. Responding to its popularity, Instagram has been adding several new useful features to the platform. 

The recent updates announced include “keyframes for opacity” to let creators fine-tune transitions. Additionally, users can also save sound effects and effortlessly convert video clips into overlays for an engaging format. 

Time to Wrap Up…

With that, we wrap up this week’s highlights. We hope that this roundup helped you stop and go back in time so that you are up to speed with all the social media buzz you missed. So, how would you like to receive such updates regularly so that you can be all caught up on the social media buzz without doomscrolling? Stay tuned for the next edition of KIMP’s Picks arriving soon. 

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Posted On

19 Sep, 2025

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