McDonald's quits the World Cup

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Big brands rethink sports sponsorships as McDonald's exits LINK

• McDonald's is ending its FIFA World Cup sponsorship after more than three decades, a shift that could shake up how big fast-food brands approach sports deals.
• The chain committed nearly $80 million toward its 2026 World Cup partnership and ran its largest-ever effort across more than 100 markets, yet it blamed the campaign for one-third of a traffic loss and said the work underperformed expectations.
• Freed from FIFA, McDonald's plans to steer money toward smaller deals like its Chicago Fire FC stadium naming rights and Ligue 1, which analysts say could let the chain test programs at scale while spilling marketing dollars into spaces rival QSR brands occupy.

TikTok's new 'Must Eat' guide is a fresh channel for restaurants LINK

• TikTok has launched "Must Eat," a community-driven guide that gathers restaurant recommendations from across the U.S. into one place, putting the platform in more direct competition with Yelp and Google Maps.
• The guide pulls from more than 40 million posts and comments, letting users browse restaurants by city and filter by cuisine, price, rating, and location, with picks split into "Everyday Eats" and "Elevated Dining."
• Rolling out first in New York City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, the feature lets people book select restaurants directly through OpenTable and reach it via search, the Local feed, restaurant pages, and video location links.

MLB is turning influencers into a new ad channel LINK

• Major League Baseball is treating content creators as a new advertising channel, bringing more than 200 influencers to this year's postseason games, where the league expects their content to generate over 100 million views.
• The hands-off strategy lets creators control their own posts after a vetting process that checks for an authentic connection to baseball; last postseason, 130 influencers posted unpaid content that drew more than 86 million views.
• During the 2026 regular season, MLB worked with 250 influencers on 3,000 pieces of content, and it added offline watch parties in New York and Los Angeles for fans who could not attend games in person.

The SBA just moved to count creators as small businesses LINK

• On Oct. 15, the Small Business Administration issued the first guidance classifying content creators as small businesses, placing creator-led businesses under the Motion Picture and Video Industries category after proposing changes earlier this year to bring in millions of creators.
• The classification gives creators a clear NAICS code when applying for programs and opens easier access to SBA loans, including micro loans of $50,000 or less and the 7(a) program for much larger amounts.
• The SBA is proposing an exception to the size standards rule because creator businesses tend to be very small, with a ruling expected after the public comment period closes on Nov. 20; without it, fewer creators would qualify.

LinkedIn Pulse hands you real-time labor-market data LINK

• LinkedIn has relaunched its Economic Graph insights hub under the name LinkedIn Pulse, offering real-time data on how the global labor market is shifting and where job opportunity is emerging.
• The hub pulls together data from across LinkedIn's 1.4 billion members and 71 million companies, with the platform's economists providing a live view of where work is headed.
• LinkedIn is adding content from partner journalists, including Scalable founder Kaya Yurieff, to break down topics like AI's effect on the workforce, though the Pulse name previously belonged to its creator publishing platform launched in 2015.

Strategies & Tactics

> How To Turn Webinars Into Pipeline (Before You Ever Go Live): Replace the webinar thank-you page with a short survey that qualifies registrants and offers a demo, capturing high-intent leads before the event happens.

> Lead Enrichment: What It Is and How to Use It in B2B Outreach: Add contact and company data to existing leads only when it changes a decision, then validate it separately, since filled fields can still be wrong or stale.

> How Enterprise Brands Should Structure AEO Teams in 2027: Appoint one in-house lead with budget authority across all channels where AI answers cite sources, since only about 10% of citations point to brands' own sites.

> Meta Ads vs. TikTok Ads 2026: Where Should You Put Your Budget?: TikTok wins cheaper reach, clicks, and leads while Meta wins engagement and sales benchmarks, so match each platform to the campaign goal that matters this quarter.

> Clorox uses AI to keep campaigns improving after launch: Clorox uses AI to read live audience signals and revise ads mid-campaign, treating each launch as the start of ongoing testing rather than a finished product.

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