Robert Andrews

The booming retail media sector’s greatest strength lies not just in its expanding footprint but in its foundation of actual sales data. Unlike traditional programmatic channels where marketers append third-party data and push it downstream, in retail media networks, purchase insights flow upward through the system, enabling genuinely informed targeting decisions. “It is not guessed, […]

RANCHO PALOS VERDES, CA — In the television industry’s move toward new measurement standards, much of the focus has been on the proliferation of new currencies. But what if simply swapping out one ratings provider for several alternatives doesn’t address the foundational challenges? With viewers scattered across countless linear and streaming services, the accuracy of […]

RANCHO PALOS VERDES, CA — The advertising industry is rushing to embrace artificial intelligence. For Gillian MacPherson, VP, product and consumer insights at Epsilon, the key to unlocking AI’s potential is a robust data foundation built on a solid identity layer that can unify disparate information sources. “If you’re able to have a sound identity […]

The long-held ambition for connected television advertising is finally coming into focus: recreating the immense, immediate reach of traditional linear TV, but with a new layer of intelligence that its predecessor could never offer. As viewers increasingly self-select their content, ad spending is following them into the streaming world, with US CTV ad investment projected […]

The promise of retail data has long been to connect an advertising dollar to a customer’s purchase. But what happens when sales drop unexpectedly? The data can often show what happened and who was involved, but the crucial context of why it happened frequently remains a mystery. A richer understanding is emerging from the practice […]

RANCHO PALOS VERDES, CA – Purchase data is the ultimate in outcome, so Comcast Advertising this year partnered with Mastercard to combine viewer data with transaction records to analyze campaign effectiveness. For decades, television advertising has been understood as the quintessential top-of-funnel tool, a powerful engine for building brand awareness and broad-based reach. Now advertisers […]

How does one of the world’s largest brand groups approach marketing opportunities when all around is changing? Unilever finds itself at the apex of a changing media environment, a commerce media explosion and a fundamental shift in the shape of television as a medium – oh, and the world’s biggest sporting event. Aaron Sobol, head […]

The shift to programmatic buying in connected TV advertising is happening faster than many industry forecasts predicted. With programmatic transactions now dominating the CTV landscape, media owners are being advised to develop sophisticated yield strategies that unify their approach across screens while leveraging artificial intelligence to maximize revenue from every impression. “Publishers really need to […]

For retail media networks born out of large-scale commerce operations, the next phase of growth depends on looking beyond their own backyards. As the sector matures, the imperative is shifting from servicing endemic brand partners to winning over the wider agency marketplace with scalable, easy-to-use advertising tools. With US retail media ad spending projected to […]

The retail media sector continues its rapid expansion, with global spending projected to grow from $184 billion in 2025 to over $300 billion by 2030, according to a forecast from Forrester “My plan for the future is to really revolutionize retail media into retail services,” Evan Hovorka, VP, product and innovation, Albertsons Media Collective, said […]

Talk of a “search apocalypse” has dominated industry conversations since the emergence of generative AI, with many predicting the demise of the traditional search engine. Some forecasts add fuel to the fire, with Gartner, for example, projecting that traditional search engine volume will decline by 25% by 2026 as users turn to AI chatbots. Looked […]

Fears over an AI-driven “search apocalypse” may be overblown, but brands must nevertheless look beyond a simple query-and-response box to the broader digital ecosystem where consumers are increasingly living. With some LLMs now launching their own browsers, the focus may shift to how search, research, and purchasing all take place inside a single, continuous experience. […]

It may look like the future of television, but its appeal is rooted firmly in the past. To the viewer on the couch, the distinction between broadcast, cable, and streaming is increasingly irrelevant; it is all simply television. For the millions of viewers flocking to free ad-supported streaming television, or FAST, the experience is familiar. […]

In an advertising ecosystem fixated on digital channels, it can be surprising to learn that a major retailer’s media strategy is overwhelmingly centered on its physical footprint. For UK grocery chain Co-op, about 80% of its retail media business is rooted in its brick-and-mortar stores, making them the undisputed core of its commercial engine. This […]

Achieving true intimacy at scale has long been the advertiser’s holy grail — but a complex one to achieve. The answer, as ever, could be AI, which allows advertisers to analyze audiences down to a single person and orchestrate a journey across a fragmented landscape of social media, streaming platforms, and e-commerce sites. But this […]

Today’s digital media are the most measurable ever. But does a focus on short-term, addressable media metrics skew the advertising industry, neglecting the important work of brand building? This balancing act between brand and performance, and between automation and ingenuity, is top of mind for Stacy DeRiso, global brand president, Initiative. Having led the agency’s […]

As new technologies make it easier than ever to place a “buy now” button in front of a consumer, the pressure to demonstrate immediate return on investment is immense. But could this short-term focus risk undermining the long-term work of brand building? This is the view of Brendon Volpe, chief strategy officer US at UM […]

With the audience now firmly established in the CTV environment, the focus is turning toward making those impressions count. For some, the next phase of CTV advertising involves moving beyond simple reach to drive tangible consumer action. That is the opportunity for streaming platforms to evolve advertising from broad exposure to measurable patient engagement, said […]

In the commerce media space, few categories of company are in quite as advantageous a position as those which hold the purse strings. For American Express, the bet is that its unique position as both a card issuer and a merchant acquirer provides an unmatched view into the habits of high-spending shoppers. This strategy is […]

The captive audience has long been the holy grail of advertising. But what about the audience that is literally captive, buckled into the backseat of a car with an average of 20 minutes to spare? Uber Advertising recently surpassed a $1.5 billion annual run rate and is growing at a rapid clip. The goal is […]