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☆ E-commerce analytics firm MikMak is removing a competitor by acquiring assets from rival ChannelAdvisor
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Adtech firms are racing to grab more of the retail media business, expected to be worth $130B. E-commerce startup MikMak has acquired the shoppable media and brand analytics arm of rival ChannelAdvisor for an undisclosed amount. With the new employees from ChannelAdvisor, MikMak will have 175 staffers. In buying part of ChannelAdvisor, MikMak inherits analytics that advertisers want to justify increasing ad spend with retailers. As part of the deal, MikMak and ChannelAdvisor will cross-sell their products.

Persons: ChannelAdvisor, Rachel Tipograph, Tipograph, MikMak, Morgan Stanley Organizations: Walmart, MikMak, Diageo, Hershey's, Tech, ChannelAdvisor Locations: ChannelAdvisor

☆ Meet 6 companies helping advertisers like Pepsi and Microsoft clean up their carbon footprint
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

New sustainability-minded startups are calculating the carbon footprint of data-driven advertising. While digital advertising isn't nearly as big a polluter as other industries like manufacturing, big brands are looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprint anywhere they can. These firms are taking on challenges like reducing the carbon footprint of production shoots or replacing decades of adtech infrastructure that powers billions of spend across the open web. They promise not only to help marketers produce less greenhouse gases, they also claim to help digital ads load faster, cut down on ad fraud, and help premium publishers increase ad prices. Insider identified six firms driving the push into sustainability for advertisers, using our own reporting and recommendations from experts in the industry.

Persons: Ben Riley Organizations: Sustainability, Adobe . Companies

☆ Amazon is quietly building a publisher-focused ad product team to grow its $37 billion ad business
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The tech will help publishers sell ads on and off Amazon, according to job postings. The retail giant has 11 job postings for a new team called "PubTech" that will be part of Amazon Ads. The Amazon Ads' team is building products for first-party publishers that have channels on Amazon — like Twitch, FireTV, and Freevee — as well as third-party web publishers, according to the job listings. While Amazon does help publishers sell ads through a unit called Amazon Publisher Services, that unit is not part of Amazon Ads, and those services require publishers work with third-party SSPs. The core of Amazon's $37 billion ad business are search ads, and its ad division has mostly focused on building tools for advertisers.

Persons: Twitch, Freevee —, Ameet Shah, Magnite Organizations: Amazon, Google, PubTech, Ads, Amazon Publisher Services, Prohaska Consulting, Exchange, Microsoft, Trade Locations: what's

Insider identified the chief marketing officers to watch in 2023. Our list recognizes the newest marketing chiefs rethinking the status quo and reshaping marketing. While the chief marketer's tenure has always been among the shortest in the C-suite, it can be a path to the very top of the corporate ladder. For instance, Taco Bell's global chief brand officer, Sean Tresvant, is set to become the company's CEO next year. Though turnover remains high, there will always be a crop of newly minted chief marketers poised to bring their companies to new heights.

Persons: They're, inclusivity, Sean Tresvant, Kraft, Diana Frost, Jenny Lewis, Glossier's Kleona Mack, who's Organizations: Motors, AB InBev, Taco, Mercedes, Benz

☆ Google and Meta are creating so much new ad inventory, it's causing big price drops. Here's how much ads cost across the Big Tech giants.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Ad prices declined in the second quarter as new formats like Reels and Shorts rolled out. After some rough quarters, Google's and Meta's ad businesses are on the rebound , and they're creating so much short-form video ad inventory that the surge in supply is driving ad prices down. "Anytime you've got an influx of newer ad inventory, typically that inventory does come with lower ad pricing," he said. And Instagram Reels ad inventory is both plentiful and 39% cheaper than Instagram Feed ads, according to Tinuiti. Meta also added more ads to its Marketplace on Facebook, which dropped Facebook ad prices by 25%, Taylor said.

Persons: Shawndu Stackhouse, Tom Williams, Andy Taylor, Pacvue, Taylor, Tinuiti's Taylor, Mike Ryan, Meta, TikTok TikTok Organizations: Inc, Getty, Tinuiti, Brands, Google, Anadolu Agency, Meta, Facebook, CPM Locations: Google's, Northeast Washington, lockstep

☆ TikTok is building a data-sharing solution called 'PrivacyGo' as it looks to grab ad dollars
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Dan Whateley | Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

TikTok is building a solution that works like a data clean room called PrivacyGo. PrivacyGo may boost TikTok's pitch to brands as regulations and privacy rules weaken ad targeting. TikTok is developing a new privacy-tech solution for advertisers called PrivacyGo, a company spokesperson confirmed to Insider. Though TikTok is a much smaller ad seller compared to Google, Meta, and Amazon, it has been building solutions to entice advertiser budgets. In February, it rolled out new ad tools for small businesses — the types of companies that account for the most ad revenue on Meta and Google.

Persons: TikTok, PrivacyGo, Myles Younger Organizations: Apple, Tech, Google, Meta, United, Government, National Intelligence Law Locations: United States, Beijing

☆ Inside TikTok's pitch to get marketers selling on Shops, and why the biggest brands are wary of investing
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

US brands are testing TikTok's shopping feature that competes with Amazon. TikTok Shops charges lower fees than Amazon, but it requires too many resources from brands. Many big brands are also investing in loyalty programs that don't connect well with social commerce features, she said. He said that his agency has 25 clients that plan to use TikTok Shop, and half of those brands are already live. WPromote's early results show that running TikTok Shop ads are driving sales, Dweck said, though he did not provide specifics.

Persons: TikTok, it's, Rachel Tipograph, they've, Vic Drabicky, Drabicky, Tipograph, Carly Carlson, PMG, Digital's Drabicky, David Dweck, Dweck Organizations: Amazon

☆ Ad giant IPG's data arm Kinesso has gone through an executive exodus, and the unit faces an uncertain future
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ad giant IPG is shaking up its data and tech arm Kinesso, and many of the unit's top execs have left. The move comes as IPG looks to cut costs from specialty services like data, a source said. Several top executives at ad agency holding group Interpublic Group's data and technology arm Kinesso have left, and now the unit faces an uncertain future, Insider has learned. IPG launched Kinesso in 2019 as a big bet on pitching marketers additional services that go beyond making and buying ads. Acxiom will remain a standalone unit that will provide data products and services to all of IPG's agencies, the source added.

Persons: IPG, Kinesso, Acxiom, Arun Kumar, Ian Johnson, Kimber Robbins, Nancy Hall, Hall, Philippe Krakowsky, Krakowsky, IPG's, they've, Dentsu, Merkle Organizations: Global, WPP, Mindshare, Reprise, UM, Agency, Epsilon Locations: Mediabrands

☆ Some Amazon advertisers are building customized tools to prevent Prime Day glitches from draining their ad spend
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Advertisers are buying ads to promote their products during Amazon's two-day Prime Day sales event. Amazon's two-day Prime Day sales event is in full swing, and many marketers are buying ads to promote their discounted products. Three Amazon-focused ad agencies told Insider that they're planning for possible contingencies in case the ecommerce giant misreports metrics about the performance of their critical Prime Day ad campaigns. She said she helped clients calculate how much to spend ahead of Prime Day based on how much they spent last year. Wishon said that she's also advising brands to ramp up ad spend after Prime Day when people are still looking for deals and Amazon's ad prices decrease.

Persons: Todd Bowman, Laura Meyer, Meyer, Wishon, BetterAMS, she's Organizations: Momentum Commerce, Amazon, Commerce, Amazon Web Services

☆ Amazon's new pitch to advertisers is aimed at stealing dollars from Google and The Trade Desk
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Ad buyers said Amazon's demand-side platform is going head-to-head with Google and The Trade Desk. Amazon is making a new pitch to cut into the ad dollars that marketers spend with rivals like Google and The Trade Desk, multiple ad industry sources said. The advertising consultancy Jounce Media predicts that Google, The Trade Desk, and Amazon will collectively control about 63% of the DSP market share this year, with Google owning 41%, The Trade Desk capturing 12%, and Amazon getting 11%. Amazon's DSP has historically not been as strong in performance as Google and The Trade Desk, said Travis Johnson, global CEO of Amazon agency Podean. Google and The Trade Desk declined to comment for this story.

Persons: Hannah Grobmyer, Travis Johnson, Podean's Johnson, Pete Stein, Merkle, Stein Organizations: Google, Amazon, Jounce Media, Kepler Group . Finance, Kepler Group, CNN

Dara Treseder, chief marketing officer, AutodeskDara Treseder, the chief marketing officer at Autodesk. Autodesk is a software company that makes products architects and engineers often use, but its name isn't well-known beyond the professionals that rely on its tools. Within 30 days of joining the company, Treseder worked with Ryan Reynolds' agency, Maximum Effort, to launch the company's first TV ad in over ten years. The company's next TV-related success was the "Otto Desć" campaign during the 2023 Oscars, which got over 25 million views. Treseder worked with the French government to launch a campaign on the Autodesk website to make sure consumers knew of Autodesk's contribution.

Persons: Dara Treseder, Autodesk Dara Treseder, —, Treseder, she's, Ryan Reynolds, Otto Desć, influencers Organizations: Autodesk, Autodesk —, Notre Dame Cathedral

☆ Perspectives, ideas, community
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

The role of chief marketing officer has never been more complex than it is today. Digital transformation, economic upheaval, societal change, and a fragmented media landscape are just some of the intricacies marketing leaders are confronting. CMO Insider convenes case studies, research, and personal perspectives, to inspire and inform CMOs and their teams as they build and grow their brands. Most Innovative CMOs 2023Our annual list of "Most Innovative CMOs" presents 25 top marketers who are confronting the industry's most complex challenges. Credits:Series Editors : Julia Hood, Ryan JoeReporters : Lauren Johnson, Lara O'Reilly, Michael KaminerDesign and Development : Alyssa Powell, Chay Thawaranont, Kazi Awal, Will Varner

Persons: Julia Hood, Ryan Joe Reporters, Lauren Johnson, Lara O'Reilly, Michael Kaminer, Alyssa Powell, Chay Thawaranont, Kazi Awal, Will Varner

☆ From right-wing backlash to Apple's TV play — these 3 big questions will dominate conversations at the Cannes Lions.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Lauren Johnson | Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

This year's Cannes Lions ad festival is taking place as advertisers are reeling from major shifts. The Cannes Lions organizers said that none of the three execs have been confirmed as speakers. Generative AI must boost creativity without stealing jobsThe rapid rise of generative AI took the advertising and media worlds by storm. Attendees will also have the opportunity to hobnob with the company that kicked off the generative AI storm last November. Simon Cook, Cannes Lions CEO, told Insider that top executives from ChatGPT developer OpenAI like chief operating officer Brad Lightcap will attend the festival.

Persons: Twitter's Elon Musk, Linda Yaccarino, Oliver Schusser, Michael Kassan, he's, execs, Bud Light, influencer Dylan Mulvaney, Bud, Busch, Fura, Leslie Klein, Sir Martin Sorrell, David Droga, Nick Law, Simon Cook, Brad Lightcap, Huge's, Elon Musk, Ben Hovaness, They've, Jon Williams, Akram Chetibi, Craig Atkinson Organizations: Cannes Lions, Apple, Twitter, Netflix, Hollywood, UTA, Target, Bud Light, Anheuser, Busch, Accenture, Cannes, Apple News, Carlton Hotel, Omnicom Media, Amazon Web Locations: Cannes

Brands fearful of right-wing backlash are discussing scaling back their Pride Month activities. Right-wing media personalities have declared a "war on woke," with The Daily Wire's Matt Walsh recently rallying his Twitter followers to "make 'pride' toxic for brands." This month, the LGBTQ+ dating app Taimi initiated an ad campaign that included billboards in states including Florida, Oklahoma, Texas, and others. Those billboards were largely on privately-owned farmland and most of the landowners rejected Taimi's ad campaign, many requesting "no nudity" in the images. The North Face, which debuted its "Summer of Pride" ad campaign starring drag queen Pattie Gonia late last month, is holding firm.

Persons: Bud Light, Matt Walsh, Ross Martin, Martin, Bud Light's, influencer Dylan Mulvaney, Hannah Lewman, Pattie Gonia, rightwing firebrands, Amy Luca, Media.Monks, Brian Stout, It's, We've, Dean Crutchfield, Crutchfield, Mark Borkowski, I've, Mekanism's, There's, Benjamin Cohen Organizations: Target, Daily, Brands, Partners, Gay and Lesbian Alliance, Defamation, Pink Locations: Florida , Oklahoma , Texas, Taimi's

☆ Generative AI has a Digital Blackface problem
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Ryan Joe | Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Advertisers using generative AI to depict BIPOC human models are raising alarm bells among critics who say this use case is Digital Blackface. There are cost-savings from using generative AI, not just for not hiring models but also to replace sets and backgrounds. "It's not like AI models are only created by white folks who then are using this digital blackface, digital yellowface, et cetera. There are people of color who have created generative AI models." Despite the need for caution, some advertisers want to train generative AI engines to be more representative of diverse experiences.

Persons: Levi's, Renee Miller, It's, Michael Mente, Revolve's, Theory's Miller, Miller, Gram, Slack, Brian Yamada, Yamada, Alex Coles, Coles, Megan Thee, Cheyanne Moore Organizations: Apparel Locations: Instagram

☆ Cash App founder Bob Lee's accused killer Nima Momeni just pleaded not guilty
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Nima Momeni pleaded not guilty to charges that he murdered Cash App founder Bob Lee, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. San Francisco prosecutors had charged Momeni after his arrest last month in Emeryville, California. Tech consultant Nima Momeni pleaded not guilty on Thursday to San Francisco prosecutors' charge of murder in the killing of Cash App founder Bob Lee last month in downtown San Francisco. Momeni entered the plea at an arraignment in San Francisco state court, according to a report by the San Francisco Chronicle. They alleged at the time that Momeni grilled Lee about Momeni's sister socializing with Lee.

Meta's ad business has been rebuilt since Apple's ATT update threatened its ability to make money. Many of Meta's top execs left and are now building ad platforms for companies like Reddit and Snap. Below are some prominent former Meta ad execs who recently left, and where they've ended up. This time last year, Meta's ad business was on the brink. But today, Meta's ad business is back on the upswing, as the company has delved into AI to replace the consumer data that powered its lucrative ad targeting and measurement capabilities.

☆ The latest sign Linda Yaccarino could be Elon Musk's choice for Twitter CEO? She just resigned from NBCUniversal.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Yaccarino is reportedly Elon Musk's likely candidate to replace him as Twitter's CEO. Linda Yaccarino is leaving NBCUniversal on the heels of reports that she's the likely contender to replace Elon Musk as Twitter's CEO. She was a key contributor to NBCU's push into streaming TV, with the rollout of the ad-supported version of streaming service Peacock in 2020. Under Yaccarino, NBCUniversal has offered to let advertisers buy ads using non-Nielsen ratings from competitors like VideoAmp and iSpot.tv. Mark Marshall, another longtime NBCUniversal ad exec and formally president of ad sales and client partnerships, will take over Yaccarino's role on an interim basis, NBCUniversal said.

The departure of ads chief Linda Yaccarino to Twitter has thrown NBCU into chaos. The exit comes on the heels of the departure of NBCU CEO Jeff Shell after sexual harassment allegations. One advertising executive who works closely with NBCUniversal described the situation inside the company as a "Cuban missile crisis." NBCU does have a deep bench of ad executive talent that's highly regarded in the ad industry. Although Yaccarino's departure from NBCUniversal to Twitter was a surprise, she had been close with the company and its billionaire owner.

☆ How Meta is fighting off Apple's best shot and saving its ad business
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Lauren Johnson | Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Meta's AI tools has helped save its ad business, after Apple rolled out its ATT privacy feature. These AI tools have helped Meta regain the trust of some advertisers after ad performance declined. Knowing it would lose the user signals that made its ads business so lucrative, Meta heavily invested in artificial intelligence. "Meta's advantage in AI is its advantage in training data," said Adam Heimlich, CEO of Chalice Custom Algorithms. "Every advertiser who places a Meta tag on their site or app is contributing to Meta's advantage by contributing data.

☆ Walmart's top ad sales exec tells Insider his plan to grab TV and social media budgets
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Walmart has big ambitions to grow its digital ad sales while still focusing on its huge in-store reach. Walmart is hoping to use its footprint of 4,700 physical stores to give it a leg up in retail media. Last year, Walmart brought on the seasoned retail media exec Ryan Mayward to steer ad sales to give its advertising arm Walmart Connect a big boost. Mayward previously led ad sales for Instacart and he helped Amazon grow its relationships with ad agencies. Similar to other marketplaces like Amazon and Instacart, search advertising on Walmart.com is a basic part of every brand's advertising plan, he said.

☆ Macy's top retail media exec reveals the company's plan to use The Trade Desk to propel its surging $144 million ad business
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Macy's has signed a deal with adtech firm The Trade Desk to sell targeted programmatic ads. Macy's data can also find people who are likely to be luxury shoppers and buy big-ticket products. Advertisers pay for those ads using their trade marketing budgets that brands spend in exchange for selling products at Macy's. That spend is typically handled by ad agencies that purchase ads using digital ad buying platforms like The Trade Desk. The Macy's deal is significant for The Trade Desk as well and shows how the adtech company is expanding its influence within retail media.

☆ Check out the pitch deck that brand safety startup Barometer used to raise its $2.25 million in seed funding
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Startup Barometer wants to help advertisers identify brand-safety issues in podcast shows. Barometer is looking to potentially also launch brand safety tools for user-generated video and Substack. But if advertisers are to invest, they'll need tools that show their ads appeared next to brand-safe content. The company plans to raise another round of funding, which it will use to expand internationally and review non-English languages. Here are select slides that helped Barometer raise its seed round.

☆ Meet 12 Walmart execs steering its $2.7 billion ad business as it races to catch up to Amazon
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Walmart is the second-largest retail advertising player, behind Amazon. The retailer is investing in talent, tech, and partnerships to grow its $2.7 billion ad business. Insider identified 12 execs in charge of growing Walmart's ad business. In 2022, Walmart's ad business, Walmart Connect, was $2.7 billion — up 30% year-over-year — making it the second-biggest e-commerce ad seller. Most of that market is currently owned by Amazon's $37.7 billion ad business.

☆ Amazon Advertising talent is being poached for C-suite roles at other firms. Meet 10 former execs who jumped to companies like TripleLift and LoopMe
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A number of Amazon ad execs have taken top tier jobs at giants like Walmart and hot startups like LoopMe and TripleLift. They're bringing deep experience at Amazon Advertising building businesses from scratch to their new roles. In recent years, Samba TV, Cooler Screens, Walmart, and Netflix have all hired former Amazon Advertising staffers to crucial, revenue-driving roles centered around advertising. He said Amazon's ad execs have both relationships with advertisers, retail expertise, and operational experience in standing up an ad business from scratch. Insider identified ten former Amazon ad execs who have moved into C-suite roles.

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