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Here are the recommended reads for this week and why they matter:
This week’s stories highlight how AI and gamification are redefining brand-consumer interaction. OpenAI’s expansion of ChatGPT into an app platform signals a new era of conversational marketing, where brands can meet users directly at the moment of intent within an AI-driven interface. Meanwhile, Jack in the Box’s Halloween campaign shows how creativity and play can deepen loyalty through immersive, reward-based experiences. Together, they illustrate how technology is blurring the lines between interaction, entertainment, and conversion, and why marketers should be paying attention.
1. OpenAI expands ChatGPT into an app platform — and a new channel for marketers
Constantine von Hoffman, MarTech, October 7, 2025
OpenAI is turning ChatGPT into a full-fledged app platform and potentially a powerful new marketing channel. The latest update integrates third-party apps like Spotify, Canva, and Zillow directly into ChatGPT’s interface, allowing users to invoke them naturally in conversation or discover them contextually as they chat. This update moves ChatGPT beyond a simple chatbot toward what OpenAI calls a “conversational operating system,” where users can perform tasks, shop, learn, and create without ever leaving the app.
For marketers, this could represent the birth of a new, high-intent engagement channel reaching ChatGPT’s 800 million users. Instead of relying on traditional ads or app stores, brands can now meet consumers in the moment of need, when they’re planning a trip, designing a flyer, or exploring a purchase. With in-chat shopping already piloted and monetization tools on the way, ChatGPT’s new ecosystem could reshape how brands drive discovery, interaction, and even conversion, all within a single AI-driven interface.
2. Jack in the Box promotes app usage with gamified Halloween promotion
Dan Berthiaume, Chain Store Age, October 3, 2025
Jack in the Box is taking gamified loyalty to the next level with its Halloween campaign, DealQuest: Revenge of the Munchies. Available in the brand’s mobile app through October 31, the interactive choose-your-own-adventure game lets users team up with mascot Jack Box to battle “AI Munchie Meals” in a spooky, apocalyptic storyline. Each choice shapes a unique journey, while progress unlocks real-world rewards like free menu items, discounts, and entries for prizes such as gaming consoles and a custom Jack in the Box PC.
By blending storytelling, AI, and incentives, the campaign turns engagement into entertainment and loyalty into a game. The deeper users go, the more value they unlock, creating a sense of progression that keeps them coming back. For brands, this shows how gamification can transform a standard app experience into an immersive loyalty engine, where interaction itself becomes the reward.
In Summary
The future of engagement is interactive, contextual, and intelligent. Whether it’s meeting customers inside an AI chat or turning loyalty into a game, brands that merge utility with experience will be the ones that win attention and retention.
Check back next week for another roundup of Media That Matters.
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Published on
updated
October 9th, 2025
