Robert Andrews

CANNES — It’s not just a marker of Cannes Lions’ expansion that a payments company like PayPal was a key fixture at this year’s event. It’s also a symptom of PayPal’s own emergence into the advertising business. PayPal unveiled its own PayPal Ads platform in October 2024, adding Offsite Ads this April. Mark Grether, SVP […]

CANNES — In an advertising ecosystem grappling with signal loss and privacy demands, the prevailing wisdom has often involved centralizing vast pools of consumer data. A new approach, however, posits that the future of data intelligence lies not in collection, but in connection—using artificial intelligence to find patterns across disparate datasets without ever moving them […]

Everyone knows the TV, tech and ad industries are replete with high-level buzzwords. What will it take to move to practical, operational concerns? For one ad-tech leader, the industry has reached a “tipping point” – it is time for collaboration to establish the standards for this next phase. “I’m interested in diving into the how […]

MiQ is set to showcase new ad formats and the transformative power of AI at the upcoming Beet Retreat Berkshires 2025, July 20 to 22. Lara Koenig, VP, global partnerships, MiQ, said the company plans to discuss how the technology can be leveraged to meet advertiser demand in the streaming space. Interactive formats and direct […]

CANNES — For many modern agencies trying to prove their worth, the ultimate challenge lies in connecting the dots between a consumer seeing an ad and making a purchase. In that quest, manyare increasingly looking to retail media networks, which hold the first-party purchase data necessary to verify whether a campaign truly influenced a sale. […]

CANNES — In the fractional seconds of a programmatic auction, the decision to bid on an ad impression is a high-stakes gamble. For advertisers under pressure to optimize every dollar, the challenge is separating the impressions likely to perform from the swathes of those that will not, a process often clouded by dozens of competing […]

CANNES — Without a firm tether to reality, AI models risk “hallucination,” producing outputs that are plausible but ultimately unhelpful for marketers seeking concrete results. The challenge is to connect sprawling data points to deterministic truths, ensuring that massive computational power translates into measurable business outcomes. That requires an anchor, according to Carla Serrano, chief […]

CANNES — In an age where digital platforms promise unprecedented connection, many people are feeling more st year or two.” Live events offer a starkly different value proposition, according to Maureen Murphy, EVP, client partnerships, NBCUniversal, suggesting that live programming acts as a powerful counter-current to the isolating effects of algorithmically-curated content feeds. This focus […]

CANNES — For many brands, premium video advertising occupies a specific role in the marketing mix, one focused on broad reach and the high art of storytelling. But for a performance-focused brand born in the digital age, that traditional separation is becoming obsolete — even the most cinematic, top-of-funnel video creative must be held accountable […]

CANNES — With some industry counts topping 250 distinct media networks, brands and their agencies face a significant challenge in managing and optimizing campaigns across the latest fragmented ecosystem. This is the view of Tim Castelli, VP, global advertising sales, Instacart, who believes the industry is entering a necessary phase of consolidation. In this video […]

CANNES — The convergence of addressability and performance in connected TV is taking a step forward as the two largest streaming platforms join forces. A new partnership between Roku and Amazon is creating what executives describe as the first authenticated CTV identity graph covering more than 80% of all streaming, a development that promises to […]

CANNES — The future of shopping may involve conversations with bots, not browsing websites. Agentic shopping – where AI-powered agents handle purchases – is poised to become as crucial for brands and retailers as having a website is today. “I do believe in the future of agent shopping,” said Michael Komasinski, CEO of Criteo, in […]

CANNES — The ability to reach consumers at the precise moment they’re engaged in a specific activity is the holy grail for advertisers. For one rapidly growing commerce media platform, that moment happens millions of times daily during rides and deliveries. Positioning itself as a “commerce media company” rather than strictly retail media, Uber Advertising […]

CANNES — The mobility revolution has created more than just a convenient way to get from A to B. It’s generated vast oceans of data about consumer behavior, location, and intent – and now those signals are being transformed into advertising opportunities. Uber thinks its wealth of first-party data – drawn from 170 million monthly […]

CANNES — After TV viewing pivoted to on-demand, “live” content may be coming back — with a twist. Younger audiences are increasingly associating live experiences with social platforms and streaming rather than traditional broadcast events, said Megan Pagliuca, chief product officer at Omnicom Media Group, in this video interview with Beet.TV. She said this evolution […]

CANNES — With so many retail media networks now taking off, how are ad buyers ever going to measure them all? Retail media networks’ varying measurement approaches create significant complexity for marketers trying to evaluate performance across platforms, according to Amie Owen, global chief commerce officer, IPG Mediabrands. “I don’t necessarily think it’s a challenge, […]

CANNES – The world’s largest advertising festival is getting even larger, with record attendance, partnerships, and award entries marking a significant evolution in how the event engages with the French Riviera city that hosts it. No longer content to be confined within the walls of the Palais des Festivals, Cannes Lions has over time transformed […]

The battle for consumer attention is increasingly being waged in unconventional spaces, and for one major airline, the sky itself presents a fertile ground for media and commerce innovation. A year after launching its media network, United Airlines is looking beyond traditional advertising, aiming to transform the travel journey into a seamless, shoppable experience. In […]

Domestic U.S. travel is set to outpace international tourism as economic headwinds continue to impact global mobility patterns. That shift is creating a significant opportunity in the U.S. Hispanic market, where travelers are showing outsized engagement with domestic destinations, including parks, cruises, and lodging facilities. “They are the fastest growing engine in terms of travel […]

An inflection point may have arrived for commerce media, as the confluence of digital shopping transformation, privacy changes, and the deprecation of traditional identifiers forces brands to rethink their conversion strategies. This evolution is creating new opportunities at the intersection of media exposure and transaction points, providing advertisers with real-time feedback loops that enhance performance […]