Month: June 2024

Covering retail media entails a great deal of déjà vu. For instance, The Trade Desk announced today an integration with the CVS ad tech business, called the CVS Media Exchange (CMX). It will beta test a self-serve DSP for targeting and attributing programmatic campaigns using the pharmacy chain’s first-party data and loyalty program. In a […]

The post The Trade Desk Adds CVS Retail Data And Relishes The Small Wins In Retail Media appeared first on AdExchanger.

MAGNA raised its global ad spend forecast, predicting 10% growth this year to $927 billion. Plus: TikTok homes in on AI-generated creative.

The post The Ad Spend Tea Lives; Can AI Generate A Good Idea? appeared first on AdExchanger.

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CANNES, France — Throughout the Palais, the various beaches, cabanas and walking down the Croisette, it’s impossible to go anywhere in Cannes without overhearing someone talking about AI. Or joking about how AI is everywhere. You’ve probably also seen clear signifiers that a company is not only using AI but has been for some time; Meta’s Beach, for example, has a timeline of the company’s AI innovations dating its first use of an AI-enabled feed back to 2006. It’s almost as if the industry is playing defense, ready to say, “Hey, don’t worry! We’re on top of it!” to anyone worried that the ad world is somehow behind when it comes to AI. (Though the introduction of new technology and ad land embracing said new technology with arms wide open — even if it’s a dud — to let clients know they’ve got it covered is a regular occurance.) 

But for all the conversations, jokes and signs, much of that chatter is still surface level. On panels and in conversations there’s a common refrain that AI is simply a new tool in the latest line of tools for creatives to do more, do it better and do it faster. Comparisons to previous systems of working that have since evolved with the introduction of new technology, like say how illustrations were swapped for photography or noting that AI is akin to the introduction of Photoshop, happen with a startling frequency. Much of what’s said is focused on the need for humans as well as the new technology. There is a seemingly unshakable optimism about what AI can do for the ad world if the ad world learns to use AI as a tool — despite the many lingering questions about what AI will do to creatives or if there will be harm to the ad world. 

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On day one of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the Digiday Podcast is joined by Dow Jones CMO Sherry Weiss live from the Wall Street Journal’s new location — WSJ has relocated from on the pier to its new location next to the famous Carlton Hotel.

Thus far, it’s been the usual wheeling and dealing of Cannes Lions with dinner parties and happy hours. Much of the conversation at Cannes has been dominated by the topic of artificial intelligence, a focal point for Weiss. On the ground here at Cannes, Weiss said she’s looking to chat with partners about leveraging AI tools for the creative process, something that’s become mainstream amongst marketers at this point. But as the AI hype cycle continues, data privacy, safety, and return on investment become bigger talking points.

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LinkedIn isn’t just for B2B marketing anymore — it’s gaining popularity among B2C marketers too.

Currently B2C advertising drives about 20% of global revenue for the platform, according to LinkedIn’s own stats. Naturally, it wants to increase that share of ad dollars while maintaining its strong B2B focus.

In fact, the platform’s ad team is “already delivering a lot of healthy growth in that part of the business,” said Tom Pepper, senior director of EMEA and LATAM at LinkedIn — though he didn’t share specific figures.

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Cannes wouldn’t be Cannes without CMOs extolling the virtues of marketing to business — all while sprawled on yachts, swigging champagne and saturating social media with a tsunami of self-congratulatory hashtags. After all, it’s a Herculean task to prove your indispensability when your toughest decision is between rosé and chardonnay.

Jokes aside, now’s the ideal time for CMOs to drive this point home yet again.

First off, marketing’s stock is soaring; we’re at that familiar juncture where CEOs see it as a growth engine, not just a budget drain.

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Omnicom continued to roll out partnerships with several major platforms and players in the digital marketing ecosystem during Cannes Lions. Today it’s announcing what it calls a first-of-its-kind partnership with The Trade Desk to co-develop custom investment solutions for Omnicom clients on the major DSP platform.

The partners have developed a solution that melds The Trade Desk’s TV data (especially streaming) and Flywheel’s commerce data through Omni, Omnicom’s operating system supporting all Omnicom agencies, to optimize planning and reduce redundancies.

Digiday has learned that Omnicom Media Group already put the solution to use in planning this year’s expected upfront video expenditures for 40 clients, said Megan Pagliuca, Omnicom Media Group’s chief activation officer.  It’s all in an effort to break through the cluttered mess that a lot of CTV investment still remains — and connect investments to outcomes. The Trade Desk alone offers 3 trillion streaming impressions per month, according to Omnicom.

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Ad fraud often follows the flow of advertising dollars, but researchers now suggest scammers are also now following another industry trend: adoption of generative AI.

Generative AI is helping scale sophisticated ad fraud efforts across growing online ad platforms including connected TV and streaming audio, according to a report from DoubleVerify. The measurement giant reported that generative AI contributed to 23% growth in new fraud schemes in 2023, leading to a 58% increase in ad fraud on streaming platforms. The report, released Monday, analyzed 1 trillion impressions for 2,000 brands in 100 markets around the world and includes data about ads shown on desktop, mobile web, mobile app and connected TV platforms. Researchers also found evidence of a 269% increase in existing bot fraud schemes while incident types included bot fraud, site fraud, app fraud, hijacked devices, non-human data center traffic and injected ad events.

Generative AI has made it easier to falsify data patterns and make fraudulent traffic look more human. The proliferation of AI-generated content also helps fraudsters create new shell company websites, publish new apps and write fake reviews. That’s been especially key for cases in the mobile app space. Generative AI has also helped CTV ad scams evolve three times faster in 2023 than in 2022, according to Jack Smith, DoubleVerify’s chief innovation officer. The trend is expected to continue through 2024 as generative AI tools become more capable, more ubiquitous and easier to use.

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Amazon Ads is trumpeting the AI capabilities of its demand-side platform as part of a week-long charm offensive at the advertising industry’s marquee conference, the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity.

As the second day of proceedings takes place on the French Riveria, it has formally unveiled Ad Relevance after trialing the service in closed beta testing for two years, according to Brian Tomasette, director of Amazon DSP products. 

Amazon’s Ad Relevance is an offering that claims to help advertisers target online audiences without the need for the (soon-to-be-departed) third-party cookie or reliance on the host of ID solutions that have flooded the market in recent years within its DSP.   

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