The new "Series" feature lets you group up to 25 related Reels into a bingeable, auto-playing playlist directly on your profile. As unassuming as this update seems, it actually marks a fundamental shift in what a social media page can be. Instead of posting disconnected content into the void and hoping the algorithm picks a winner, you can now build something with an actual narrative arc - a beginning, a middle, and an end. So let's look at what it means to run your Instagram account like a showrunner - and why Reels with greater depth are the hot new growth strategy.

- Devin Pike, Copywriter

Marketing Dive reports that Domino's new "Pizza Can't. The Domino Can" campaign positions its new rectangular Detroit-style personal pizza as fast food's next great icon, alongside the Big Mac, the Whopper, the Crunchwrap Supreme, the Chick-fil-A sandwich and the Chipotle burrito. To prove its worth, the brand is giving away up to US$1 million worth of free Domino's to customers who buy one of those rival items and upload their receipt to IsTheDominoWorthy.com.

The pizza chain's hero spot will debut during the NFL international season opener on Netflix on September 10 and the Emmys on September 14. CMO Kate Trumbull says she believes great advertising is polarising, and "if you're doing advertising that is safe and expected, it certainly won't break through today". Whether it's bold confidence or bleak desperation, actively directing consumers to your competitors' products to promote your own is a move that's hard to forget - your body certainly won't.

Meanwhile, the Apple vs OpenAI trade secrets saga has opened up a new can of worms, with The Verge reporting that Apple filed a new court brief alleging OpenAI is actively destroying evidence. Forensic analysis of a MacBook used by former Apple engineer Chang Liu revealed he not only downloaded a confidential Apple circuit schematic, but used it in his work at OpenAI. Apple also alleges that after Liu learned he was under investigation, he instructed an OpenAI colleague to destroy evidence.

OpenAI handed over the MacBook only after weeks of delay and called the lawsuit "a mess of Apple's own making". A hearing is scheduled for October 1, right as new Apple CEO John Ternus wraps up his first month. Not the most ideal start to a shiny new gig, is it?

And finally, MrBeast has written a novel and - because of course he did - buried a million dollars inside it. Dexerto reports that The Most Dangerous Games, co-written with James Patterson and published by HarperCollins, was released September 1 alongside a real-life US$1 million skill-based competition. Every copy of the book doubles as an entry ticket, with clues and easter eggs hidden throughout the pages feeding into a series of weekly online challenges, narrowing down to 10 finalists before a final "face the Beast" round.

The actual story follows 1,000 strangers invited to a global competition through Antarctica, shark-filled waters, deserts and pitch-black caves for a $1 billion prize. MrBeast was clear the novel is completely different from his YouTube format - though there is a host character very much inspired by his likeness. The quality of the book is apparently secondary to the competition itself, so while MrBeast's next big chapter (pun intended) is happening right now, time will tell how memorable his story actually is.

-Devin Pike, Copywriter

The digital landscape has shifted to rewarding depth over distraction. And with Instagram’s new Series feature allowing profiles to group up to twenty-five related Reels into sequential, bingeable playlists complete with an automated playback flow, the grid has entered its prestige television era.

And it’s a huge growth opportunity for brand builders and content creators.

It means you no longer have to show up socials like some kind of attention lottery machine, posting a bunch of disconnected shots in the dark and hoping for the best.

Instead, you can look at your account as an independent streaming network, constructing a cohesive narrative world that respects the intelligence and the time of your audience. When a user can arrive on your page and seamlessly watch a multi-part how-to or a multi-episode brand story unfold in sequence, you move away from standard content generation and enter the realm of true creative show running.

So, if you’re a creator or a modern business looking to deploy the Series feature effectively, your first step is to ditch the habit of recycling old, unrelated clips into a lazy playlist.

Instead, we’re going to look at each series as a self-contained educational or visual product. Sit down before you touch a camera and storyboard a defined narrative arc that spans across five to ten short episodes. Every instalment should deliver either a high-utility truth or visual victory. But, it must end on a natural cliffhanger or a conceptual bridge that makes clicking that "Watch Next" prompt feel both effortless and intuitive to the viewer.

The second step is using this sequential structure to build an ecosystem of trust.

In a landscape increasingly flooded with automated slop bs, deep-dive utility is the highest-value currency you own. Use your series playlist to deliver a step-by-step blueprint of your expertise. That could look like breaking down a complex case study over a five-part sequence, hosting a high-end mini-documentary series on your product’s craftsmanship, or a practical guide to solving a specific user problem.

In organising your thoughts so cleanly, you eliminate the mental fatigue of the scroll hole, and transform your profile from a noisy social media page into an essential, highly organised library of knowledge.

Finally, ensure that your final episode contains a clear and natural gateway to your broader freelance ecosystem.

Once a user has spent twenty minutes absorbing your episodic world, they shouldn't be left hanging in a creative vacuum. Use the momentum of that focused attention to guide them toward your newsletter subscription, an intervention call, or your some kind of service.

This is how you build sustainable equity that stands on its own two feet outside the screen.

Good luck soldier x

-Sophie Randell, Writer

The sound is from Jordan (@jleezyyyy), pulled from a college graduation speech gone slightly wrong. He fumbles his line, meaning to say "in the blink of an eye" and instead saying "in the blink of a snap," catching himself with "wait, sorry, sorry."

People are using that exact fumble-and-recover moment for any situation where your brain just stops working mid-sentence.

My fav examples include:

How you can jump on it
Use the sound, film yourself talking or about to explain something, then put up on-screen text naming the person or situation that turns your brain to static.

A few ideas to get you started

-abdel khalil, brand & marketing exec

We get it. Creating content that does numbers is harder than it looks. But doing those big numbers is the fastest way to grow your brand. So if you’re tired of throwing sh*t at the wall and seeing what sticks, you’re in luck. Because making our clients go viral is kinda what we do every single day.