Retail foot traffic on Black Friday slipped slightly this year, but the broader story is far more upbeat. Sensormatic Solutions, the retail analytics arm of Johnson Controls, released its first look at 2025 U.S. in-store activity, and the numbers confirm a pattern retailers have hoped to see: steady recovery heading into the peak holiday stretch.

According to ShopperTrak Analytics—which measures more than 40 billion global store visits annually—U.S. Black Friday traffic fell 2.1% compared to 2024. Yet the dip matches 2025’s year-to-date trend of -2.2%, suggesting the industry remains stable rather than slipping further. And when compared to the previous Friday, Nov. 21, traffic surged an impressive 248.9%, proving Black Friday still has gravity.

Grant Gustafson, head of retail consulting and analytics at Sensormatic Solutions, noted that the second half of 2025 has shown consistent improvement. Back-to-school season kicked off the momentum, and the strong Black Friday lift signals that consumers are still willing to shop in person—especially when high-impact discounts hit.

Afternoon Rush Still Reigns

Some shopping behaviors don’t change. Once again, early afternoon remained the prime browsing window. Traffic peaked between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m., with 3 p.m. standing as the single busiest hour for retailers nationwide. Even as online shopping expands, Black Friday continues to drive reliable in-store surges during predictable time blocks.

A Longer, Stronger Holiday Season Ahead

While Black Friday is expected to retain its title as the busiest shopping day of 2025, the real volume may arrive later. Sensormatic predicts that the final days before Christmas will generate the highest cumulative traffic, especially with the holiday landing on a Thursday for the first time in more than a decade. That timing could stretch the shopping rush across the entire preceding week rather than concentrating it into a long weekend.

Gustafson emphasized the long-term benefits retailers can gain from strong holiday engagement. In 2024, 77% of retailers who outperformed in traffic during the season continued to outperform through mid-2025. The implication is clear: successful holiday experiences build loyalty and carry measurable impact far beyond December.

Why It Matters

The mild year-over-year decline doesn’t indicate weakening consumer demand. Instead, it reflects a stabilizing retail environment shaped by hybrid shopping habits, smarter discounting strategies, and more targeted in-store visits. With major chains leaning heavily on analytics to fine-tune staffing, inventory, and store layouts, the slightest traffic shift can inform months of planning.

Sensormatic's early read positions the 2025 season as both steady and potentially extended—good news for retailers chasing conversion, loyalty, and momentum heading into 2026.

Rubrik has decided that if companies need help rewinding the questionable decisions of their AI agents, they might as well hear it from the man who made “rewind it back” a cultural staple. In a new, high-energy campaign, the Security and AI Operations company partnered with rapper and actor Ludacris to introduce Rubrik Agent Rewind, a hardware-free capability designed to monitor, control, and reverse unwanted AI behavior before it can cause damage.

The result is equal parts B2B marketing, office satire, and early-2000s nostalgia—and surprisingly effective.

Developed by Thinkmojo and directed by Ron Small, the ad lands in a fictional office where newly deployed AI agents go off the rails. One obsessively orders paperclips, another hands out massive refunds. Instead of sending a technician, Rubrik sends Ludacris himself. Moving through the office to the unmistakable beat of “Yeah,” he delivers the product promise with comedic precision: “Take that and rewind it back.”

The bit works because it makes a deeply technical concept instantly clear. Companies can now roll back AI agent actions with the ease—and confidence—of undoing a mistake.

Making AI Safety Relatable

Samar Basravi, Rubrik’s Chief of Staff, Strategic Marketing, said the team needed a campaign large enough to match the significance of the product and the pace of the AI era. Choosing Ludacris wasn’t a gimmick; it was a strategic shortcut to universal comprehension. His signature line conveys the essence of Rubrik Agent Rewind in seconds.

The tool arrives as AI agents move from experimental to operational roles inside enterprises. As adoption accelerates, so does risk—from runaway automation to unexpected chain-of-thought logic that can trigger high-impact errors. Companies need guardrails that feel as modern as the tech they’re managing.

The Stakes for AI-Driven Businesses

John Koo, Rubrik’s CMO, said the capability gives customers a way to innovate without losing sleep. “AI agents create tremendous opportunity,” he noted, “but they’re also introducing real operational risk.” Agent Rewind offers a safety mechanism that lets companies roll back mistakes before they become irreversible—an insurance policy for autonomous decision-making.

By framing the feature as something simple and even fun, Rubrik is positioning itself as the AI ops platform that not only protects data but also protects workflows in real time.

Turning Complexity Into Culture

For Thinkmojo, the campaign is a continuation of its work translating complex technologies into punchy, consumer-grade storytelling. CEO Yann Lhomme said the team needed a concept that was bold, fast, and unmistakably clear. Tying the feature to an iconic lyric made the technology accessible and instantly memorable—rare achievements in B2B software marketing.

It’s also a sign of the direction enterprise tech advertising is heading. As AI becomes mainstream and capabilities become harder to differentiate, storytelling—not specs—will decide who stands out. Rubrik’s campaign proves that even dense AI safety features can break into pop culture when packaged with the right hook.

And if the message wasn’t clear enough, Ludacris makes sure you won’t forget it: when your AI goes rogue, “rewind it back.”

The fresh produce aisle is no longer just a stop for staples. Increasingly, it’s a stage for brands that treat fruit like lifestyle products, not commodities. Pinnacle Fresh Pty Ltd—best known for its Dracula Citrus line—will spotlight this shift in a new 2026 segment on “All Access with Andy Garcia,” giving Public Television audiences a close-up look at how creative branding, packaging innovation, and a global supply chain can turn simple fruit into a culturally relevant experience.

The upcoming feature, produced in collaboration with Pinnacle Fresh, explores how storytelling and strategic brand development are transforming consumer expectations. Instead of relying on traditional wholesale models, the company is building emotional relevance through design, narrative, and seasonality. It’s a move that mirrors broader trends in consumer packaged goods, where experience increasingly drives value.

Turning Fruit Into a Cultural Moment

The segment will detail Pinnacle Fresh’s approach to modern produce marketing, which includes themed campaigns, character-driven branding, and distinctive packaging. One standout example is Dracula Citrus, a Halloween-season blood orange brand powered by a mischievous vampire mascot and vivid, theatrical visuals. The combination of narrative and timing helps position blood oranges as a fun, family-friendly purchase rather than just another citrus item.

Alf Fabris of Pinnacle Fresh says that transformation is intentional. “Fruit should be more than a commodity. It should be an experience. By weaving cultural storytelling into our brands, we connect growers’ hard work with consumer excitement,” he explains. For the company, the Garcia-led program offers an ideal stage to demonstrate how engaging creative work shines a spotlight on growers and elevates their products.

How Produce Companies Are Rethinking Marketing

Consumers increasingly seek foods that carry meaning—whether nutritional, cultural, or seasonal. Pinnacle Fresh is responding by turning routine purchases into moments anchored in identity and mood. The upcoming episode highlights how the company aligns packaging, mascots, and retail partnerships to generate excitement at key times of the year.

The Dracula Citrus campaign provides the clearest example. By focusing on Halloween—a playground for playful branding—the company reframed blood oranges as a timely, family-oriented treat. The result: stronger shelf presence, elevated demand, and new opportunities for retailers looking to differentiate produce categories during a critical shopping period.

This strategy also speaks to a rising trend in the market: parents want healthier snacks, and children want experiences. Dracula Citrus bridges that gap with narrative-forward branding that invites discovery and builds loyalty.

Scaling Seasonal Success Into Year-Round Growth

“All Access with Andy Garcia” will also explore the business strategy behind Pinnacle Fresh’s expansion. What began as a seasonal novelty has evolved into a broader product ecosystem. Dracula Citrus now spans multiple SKUs, including mandarins, Navel oranges, and the growing Dracula Blood Orange Juice line. This expansion pushes the brand’s market presence from a brief three-month window to a more substantial seven-month run, strengthening its value to retailers and consumers alike.

The segment underscores that smart branding is only part of the equation. Pinnacle Fresh also invests heavily in global distribution, resilient logistics, and diversifying supply to navigate climate pressures, shifting tariffs, and unpredictable harvest cycles. These are challenges every agricultural supplier faces, but few manage with the same marketing-forward strategy.

Meeting Modern Consumer Priorities

The program will highlight how Pinnacle Fresh integrates health benefits—such as high Vitamin C and antioxidant content—into its messaging. With immunity and wellness still top of mind for many households, this emphasis strengthens the narrative around nutritious, story-driven produce. The approach aligns with a wider consumer shift toward functional foods and better-for-you snacks.

Sustainability also features in the conversation. As packaging regulations tighten globally, Pinnacle Fresh is investing in next-generation materials and designs that reduce environmental impact while maintaining shelf appeal. This combination of aesthetics and responsibility is becoming a competitive requirement, not an optional add-on.

A Broader Look at Innovation in Agriculture

For Andy Garcia’s program, the Pinnacle Fresh partnership offers a window into how companies are modernizing a historically traditional industry. By treating fruit like a branded product—complete with personalities, packaging systems, and cultural tie-ins—Pinnacle Fresh illustrates how agricultural businesses can adapt without losing sight of growers’ expertise.

“All Access with Andy Garcia” aims to break down these dynamics for general viewers, illustrating how supply chains, creative marketing, and retail partnerships converge to shape what ends up in consumers’ hands. It’s a rare, accessible look at an industry that rarely gets the spotlight, even though it feeds millions.

As agriculture evolves, so does the storytelling around it. Pinnacle Fresh is betting that consumers will reward brands that blend authenticity with excitement. If the Dracula Citrus phenomenon is any indicator, they may be right.

Ukraine has officially taken its biggest leap yet toward AI sovereignty. Kyivstar, working with the WINWIN AI Center of Excellence under the Ministry of Digital Transformation, has tapped Google’s Gemma as the base model for Ukraine’s first national large language model—a homegrown LLM built to understand the language, culture, and context of the country it serves.

It’s a significant alignment with U.S. tech, and a strategic follow-up to Kyivstar’s Nasdaq debut earlier this year. But more importantly, it’s a signal: Ukraine wants AI that speaks Ukrainian—not just literally, but contextually, securely, and on its own infrastructure.

Building a Model That Actually Understands Ukraine

The national LLLM will be trained on extensive Ukrainian-language datasets covering dialects, domain-specific terminology, and historical context. The goal is simple but ambitious: an AI model that can behave more like a Ukrainian expert than a global generalist.

By keeping all sensitive data within national borders, the system aims to meet the security thresholds of government agencies, health institutions, and financial organizations—requirements most off-the-shelf global models struggle to satisfy.

As Danylo Tsvok, Chief AI Officer at the Ministry of Digital Transformation, put it, the team prioritized two things during model selection:

1. Gemma’s multilingual strength, including strong baseline performance in Ukrainian.

2. Model controllability, ensuring the nation can mitigate linguistic and ethical risks during fine-tuning.

In other words, Gemma didn’t just win on tech—it won on trust.

Kyivstar Takes the Lead—and the Responsibility

Kyivstar, one of Ukraine’s most influential digital service providers, will operationally lead development. VEON Group CEO Kaan Terzioglu framed the initiative as both strategic and ethical, arguing that countries deserve AI models trained on more than just datasets—they should reflect local context, culture, and priorities.

That philosophy already fueled VEON’s earlier projects: KazLLM in Kazakhstan and a national Urdu LLM in Pakistan. Ukraine is the next key node in VEON’s push to close the “AI language gap,” where smaller or non-English-speaking nations rely heavily on foreign-built AI systems.

Why Google Gemma?

Google says Gemma offers an efficient balance of performance and resource usage—ideal for a country building sovereign AI under both technical and economic constraints.

Krzysztof Kaziów of Google Cloud noted the model’s strong multilingual support and track record with Ukrainian LLM deployments, emphasizing that Gemma wasn’t chosen as a gamble but as a proven foundation.

Next steps include:

• Optimizing Gemma specifically for Ukrainian

• Improving the tokenizer to better capture local linguistic nuances

• Training on carefully curated datasets

• Establishing Ukrainian benchmarks for future fine-tuning

This isn’t a quick tune-up; it’s a nation-scale AI engineering project.

What It Means for Ukraine’s Digital Future

Once completed, Ukraine’s LLM will serve as the backbone for AI-powered services across multiple sectors. Think:

• Government automation and regulatory tools

• Legal and compliance analysis

• Education platforms and tutoring systems

• Banking and fintech innovations

• Healthcare triage, documentation, and diagnostics

• Enterprise automation and customer support

The real advantage is local relevance. Global LLMs may understand Ukrainian—but they don’t deeply understand Ukraine. This national model aims to flip that script.

If successful, Ukraine could become a blueprint for how emerging markets can build secure, culturally aligned AI without reinventing the foundational technology.

And in the broader geopolitical landscape, selecting Gemma strengthens Ukraine’s fast-evolving digital ties with the United States—another data point in a year where AI and geopolitics are increasingly inseparable.

Customer engagement is about to enter its most disruptive era yet. Global cloud communications provider Infobip has released its 2026 outlook, and the message is clear: AI-driven automation, super apps, and privacy-first models will overhaul how businesses interact with customers across every major sector.

The forecast points to a year where AI agents take center stage, messaging platforms behave like full-service ecosystems, and data strategy becomes the deciding factor in whether enterprises sink or scale. While many players talk about customer experience transformation, Infobip’s predictions outline how those shifts will manifest across industries already racing toward AI maturity.

AI Agents Take Over Customer Interactions

Infobip expects AI agents to handle up to 95% of customer engagements by 2026. These won’t be the clunky chatbots users love to hate. Instead, they will operate as advanced, agentic models capable of understanding context, navigating complex queries, and delivering real-time, personalized support.

Sectors like banking and eCommerce already lean heavily on AI chatbots for simple tasks. Voice bots are gaining ground too, automating conversations once thought too nuanced for machines. Yet Infobip stresses the importance of the “human-in-the-loop” model. While AI handles volume and routine interactions, trained experts step in when empathy, judgment, or strategic thinking is required. The result is faster resolution without sacrificing humanity.

Super Apps Push Customer Journeys Into a Single Channel

Messaging platforms are evolving into powerful end-to-end ecosystems. WhatsApp, for example, is no longer just a communication app. It now supports payments, appointment scheduling, product discovery, and customer service—often in one seamless thread.

RCS is gaining similar traction. Retailers use interactive carousels to let users browse and buy inside the chat window. Healthcare providers enable appointment booking and invoice payments without forcing patients to navigate external portals. This movement toward all-in-one messaging experiences reflects a broader trend: customers want fewer steps, fewer apps, and faster interactions.

Businesses adopting these rich messaging features are already seeing higher conversion rates, fewer drop-offs, and more cohesive customer journeys.

Data Strategy Becomes the Battlefield for AI Innovation

Despite AI’s acceleration, one fundamental issue remains: data. Infobip highlights that fragmented systems and isolated databases are crippling companies trying to scale AI-driven experiences.

While many organizations rely on large, generic models, interest is rising in smaller, domain-specific LLMs that can run securely on local or on-premises hardware. These models offer better data privacy, tighter control, and more accurate industry-specific responses.

Yet even the smartest model is ineffective without the right data. Businesses face challenges in collecting, unifying, cleansing, and activating their internal datasets. Infobip’s stance is pragmatic—focus on compliance, security, and trust before chasing flashy AI deployments. Leaders across sectors now prioritize regulation and customer protection over speed, especially in finance and healthcare.

A Digital Future That Requires Collaboration

Looking toward 2026, Infobip’s message is both ambitious and grounded. AI will stretch far beyond automation. Messaging will evolve into commerce and service hubs. Data frameworks will define competitive advantage. But the company insists that true transformation will require shared effort among vendors, developers, partners, and enterprises.

The digital landscape is shifting fast, and Infobip positions itself as a co-creator rather than a mere platform provider. That collaborative approach may be essential as businesses work to balance innovation, compliance, and customer trust.

Multiply Media Group (MMG), part of the newly rebranded 2PointZero Group PJSC, has completed its full acquisition of London Lites—one of the UK’s most recognisable premium DOOH operators. The deal gives MMG immediate scale in one of the world’s most valuable outdoor advertising markets and formalizes the launch of Backlite UK as the company’s new brand presence across the region.

The acquisition marks a major step forward in MMG’s international strategy as the DOOH landscape evolves through premium inventory, automation, and data-driven buying. With advertisers demanding more measurable, high-impact formats, this move positions MMG to compete more aggressively with established UK players.

A Powerful DOOH Portfolio From Day One

London Lites brings more than 65 digital screens to the table, including flagship sites like The Cube @ Flannels on Oxford Street—a highly sought-after location for global brands. These assets immediately strengthen MMG’s existing network of 11 ultra-premium UK sites.

The combined portfolio delivers instant synergies: deeper market coverage, shared infrastructure, operational efficiency, and access to London Lites’ established sales expertise. It also positions MMG to accelerate programmatic DOOH initiatives, an area gaining traction as brands shift budgets into automated outdoor buying.

Jawad Hassan, who leads the Media and Communications Vertical at 2PointZero Group, called the acquisition a foundation for rapid expansion in a market undergoing “high-impact digital evolution.” He noted that integrating London Lites creates a scalable platform with strong long-term potential.

Backlite UK Enters the Market

Following the completion of the acquisition, MMG has formally introduced Backlite UK—a brand that aims to bring increased value, scale, and service to advertisers. The move consolidates London Lites’ reputation for high-quality assets under a unified commercial strategy.

James Bicknell, Group CEO at MMG, emphasized that London Lites’ legacy and premium inventory gave the company a compelling launchpad. Operating as Backlite UK, MMG plans to elevate the brand experience for advertisers seeking maximum visibility in a fast-moving market.

A Legacy Continued Under a Larger Vision

London Lites Founder Sam Dayeh highlighted the significance of the transition, noting that the company’s success was shaped by the talent and dedication of its team. Joining MMG ensures wider opportunities and sustained investment in growth.

With DOOH demand rising, London Lites’ integration gives MMG strategic momentum. The DOOH sector continues to be driven by richer creative formats, evolving measurement standards, and increased programmatic adoption. MMG’s move underscores the competitive importance of scale and premium placement as global brands seek out high-impact environments.

Strengthening MMG’s Global DOOH Strategy

By expanding into the UK with a substantial portfolio, MMG deepens its position in a high-growth category that blends creativity with advanced technology. The acquisition strengthens its global footprint and aligns with its broader goal of building a diversified premium OOH network powered by innovation.

As advertisers push for smarter, data-enhanced outdoor capabilities, MMG’s move puts it in a strong position to meet rising expectations and shape the next phase of DOOH evolution.

Vaudit, the ad billing audit and recovery platform known for uncovering wasted spend, has officially earned Google Certified Click Tracker status—placing it among a select group of vendors trusted to measure clicks with full transparency and integrity. The certification arrives as Google tightens enforcement across its ad ecosystem, making approved tracking partners more critical than ever.

With advertisers demanding stronger verification and platforms facing intense scrutiny over opaque redirects and fraud, Vaudit’s certification signals a major step forward for performance accountability.

Google Validation Brings Hard Proof, Not Promises

Google’s certification process is far from routine. Providers must meet strict criteria on data accuracy, security, redirect transparency, and attribution consistency. Vaudit’s approval confirms that its click tracking operates cleanly within Google’s policies, without hidden manipulation or risk of campaign disruption.

In practical terms, advertisers using Vaudit now gain fully compliant, real-time, click-level insights directly aligned with Google’s standards—not reconstructed estimates or after-the-fact filtering. This upgrade lets brands rely on data that is both platform-approved and audit-ready.

A Safeguard Against Increasing Policy Enforcement

Google’s updated rules penalize non-certified trackers with rejected ads, lost tracking capabilities, and in some cases, account-level risk. As a certified partner, Vaudit shields advertisers from this tightening compliance landscape.

This is especially important as click fraud, shadow redirects, and unverifiable measurement continue to plague the industry. Certification ensures advertisers can track without worrying about invalidation, disapprovals, or missing attribution signals.

More Defensible Refund and Recovery Claims

Vaudit is known for helping brands recover roughly 10% of wasted ad spend through detailed audit logs. With Google certification, those claims gain more weight.

Because the data aligns with Google’s own transparency requirements, refund and credit requests become far harder for platforms to dispute. Every logged click, conversion, and redirect is backed by a certified audit trail, improving financial outcomes for advertisers seeking compensation for invalid traffic or billing discrepancies.

A Competitive Edge in an Industry Demanding Proof

As marketers push for measurable truth in advertising, Vaudit’s certified status becomes a strategic differentiator. Few audit platforms have earned the credential, and even fewer pair it with a model designed to expose waste and recover spend.

Michael Hahn, Founder and CEO of Vaudit, says the certification is more than an industry milestone: “Becoming a Google Certified Click Tracker is more than a badge. It’s a commitment to delivering audit-grade, transparently verifiable ad performance. Our clients now not only recover around 10% of wasted spend, they can prove it in a way that meets Google’s own standards.”

Certification That Raises the Bar for the Audit Category

Vaudit’s approval highlights a larger shift in ad measurement—one where independent verification is no longer optional. Advertisers want transparent billing, platforms favor certified partners, and regulators continue pushing for clearer attribution frameworks.

In that environment, Vaudit now sits in a stronger position. Its certification brings peace of mind for compliance teams, more reliable logs for finance teams, and cleaner performance visibility for growth teams. It also sets a new benchmark for the billing audit category, where trust is becoming a competitive currency.

TelevisaUnivision is back on YouTube TV. The Spanish-language media giant has signed a new multi-year agreement that restores its flagship U.S. networks—Univision, UNIMÁS, TUDN, and Galavisión—to YouTube TV’s Base Plan and Spanish Plan. The renewed partnership expands access to some of the most-watched Hispanic news, sports, and entertainment programming in the U.S., closing a gap that had frustrated millions of viewers.

But the deal goes further than a simple return. ViX, TelevisaUnivision’s global streaming platform, will now be available through YouTube’s Primetime Channels. Even more notably, YouTube is extending its Primetime Channels product into Mexico for the first time, using ViX as its launch partner—a move that signals deeper competition in Spanish-language streaming.

A Win for Viewers Who Lost Access

Univision’s absence from YouTube TV in recent months left a sizable hole in Hispanic households, many of which rely on the network for nightly news, Liga MX matches, novelas, and award shows. Restoring access was a priority for TelevisaUnivision.

“We are pleased to have reached an agreement that restores Univision to YouTube TV, ensuring millions of Hispanics can access the news, sports, and entertainment they care about,” said Daniel Alegre, CEO of TelevisaUnivision. He emphasized the company’s long-standing mission to reflect the voice of Hispanic audiences—something the renewed distribution will help reinforce.

YouTube Expands Its Spanish-Language Bet

The broader collaboration reflects YouTube’s more aggressive push into curated streaming bundles and multilingual offerings. Primetime Channels, originally a U.S.-only product, extending into Mexico shows a strategic effort to meet demand in one of the world’s most active digital video markets.

ViX—now the largest Spanish-language streaming service—becomes a cornerstone of that expansion. By placing its vast library of novelas, live sports, originals, and news programming inside YouTube’s ecosystem, TelevisaUnivision opens a fresh funnel for reach. YouTube, meanwhile, gets a premium anchor partner with deep cultural resonance.

Strengthening a Growing Content Alliance

Beyond carriage rights, the two companies say the agreement sets the stage for new joint initiatives. While details remain under wraps, expect experiments around cross-platform promotion, live-event amplification, and deeper integration of Spanish-language content into YouTube’s recommendation and discovery layers.

The deal comes as Spanish-language media continues to surge across streaming and digital platforms. With competition mounting from Peacock’s Telemundo, Netflix’s Latin content expansion, and regional players like Claro Video, distribution breadth is becoming a defining advantage. TelevisaUnivision’s renewed pact with YouTube strengthens its footprint at a pivotal moment.

A Media Powerhouse With Global Reach

The partnership taps into TelevisaUnivision’s massive production engine. The company operates top-tier broadcast networks across the U.S. and Mexico, 38 cable channels, one of the region’s most prolific film studios, and a dominant Spanish-language radio footprint. ViX alone delivers thousands of hours of live sports and originals, giving YouTube a valuable catalog as it expands deeper into premium streaming.

For viewers—and especially Hispanic households in the U.S.—the return of Univision and its sister networks to YouTube TV marks a meaningful restoration. For YouTube, it’s a strategic upgrade. And for TelevisaUnivision, the pact ensures its content reaches audiences who increasingly prefer streaming-first experiences.