Cannes Lion wasn’t always on retailers’ radars, but as retail media has steadily grown in sophistication and influence, the glitzy advertiser conference in France is quickly becoming an annual mainstay for retail marketing executives.
In fact, at this year’s event, which took place June 16-20, Amazon President and CEO Andy Jassy was named the Media Person of the Year. And yet despite the fact that Amazon is the pioneer and leading player in retail media, there is still “a ‘church and state separation’ between the creatives in the Palais and retail media networks outside,” shared retail media industry analyst Kiri Masters in a LinkedIn post from the event.
But being sidelined as part of the “newcomers” cohort didn’t stop many of the major players in retail media from showing up and making waves with a flurry of announcements about new advertising capabilities and collaborations. Here’s a rundown of some of the biggest advertising news from the week.
New Entrants on the Advertising Stage: WhatsApp, Marriott
Meta Announces Plans for WhatsApp Ads – Ads are coming to messaging app WhatsApp for the first time. It’s a departure for the platform, which was once ruled by the unofficial slogan of one of its founders: “No ads. No gimmicks. No slogans.” Of course, now the app is owned by advertising powerhouse Meta, which announced earlier this week that ads will soon appear in the “Updates” section of the app, which is separate from a user’s private messages.
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Brands will soon be able to offer and promote monthly subscriptions to their WhatsApp channel, where users such as brands, influencers and politicians can share content with an unlimited number of people. Advertisers also will be able to pay to promote their channel so that it appears more prominently in the feed-style Updates section.
“We’ve been talking for years about how to build a business on WhatsApp in a way that doesn’t interrupt personal chats, and we believe the Updates tab is the right place to introduce that,” said Meta in a blog post announcing the news. “The Updates tab is where you discover something new on WhatsApp — whether that’s a friend’s status from their wedding day or a creator’s entertaining channel — and it’s now used by 1.5 billion people per day globally. Now the Updates tab is going to be able to help Channel admins, organizations and businesses build and grow.”
Marriott Formalizes its Commerce Media Presence – Hospitality group Marriott International formally launched its commerce media network, although many elements of the offering have been around for several years now. Touting its 237 million-member Marriott Bonvoy loyalty program and 9,500 global properties, Marriott Media is making the case that it’s a standout in the burgeoning arena of travel media, which also now includes companies such as United Airlines, Expedia, WHSmith and TripAdvisor.
Marriott Media offers advertising placements across its website, loyalty app and within hotel rooms, as well as off-site placements on third-party websites and social platforms, with PepsiCo, Visa, Uber, Starbucks, Audible and Resy just some of the brands that have already taken advantage of the offering. In particular, Marriott called out the opportunity to place content on Marriott Bonvoy TV, which runs on TV screens in hotel rooms across the chain’s properties.
“Today’s travelers expect personalization and welcome thoughtful discovery,” said Peggy Roe, EVP and Chief Customer Officer at Marriott International in a statement. “Marriott Media is designed to enrich, not interrupt, serving guests content, recommendations and offers in ways that feel natural, relevant and aligned with their travel experience. Through sophisticated measurement, including brand lift and awareness studies, attributable conversions and advanced modeling, we empower our brand partners to align their campaigns with our travelers, ensuring meaningful engagement at every touch point.”
Chris Norton, SVP of Marketing, Data Activation and Personalization at Marriott has been appointed to lead the new Marriott Media division as General Manager.
Some Interesting New Retail Media Pairings
CVS x Reddit – A new collaboration between CVS Media Exchange (CMX) and Reddit aims to help brands move beyond the traditional search engine and tap into new online forums for brand discovery. The integration will make CMX’s first-party shopper data available for advertisers to target their messaging within Reddit community forums, allowing brands to “introduce themselves in a highly relevant way, in timely moments, natively integrated into the platform’s conversations,” according to an announcement in Emarketer.
“Reddit is where high-intent shoppers come not just to browse, but to engage in real conversations, especially when it comes to health, wellness and beauty,” said Mike Romoff, Chief Revenue Officer at Reddit in a statement. “By collaborating with CMX, we’re connecting that unique intent and authenticity with the scale and physical presence of CVS, creating a seamless path to purchase experience for shoppers. It’s a natural alignment that gives brands a powerful way to connect with consumers at the heart of their decision-making journey.”
Comcast x Mastercard – Comcast Advertising has teamed up with Mastercard to better enable campaign measurement for TV advertisers of all sizes. By combining the two companies’ data, Comcast will be able to share measurement insights with TV advertisers, quantifying the impact campaigns have on geographically aggregated retail spend.
As Comcast pointed out, in the social media era of “last click” attribution and real-time reporting, TV advertising doesn’t always “get the credit it deserves for influencing action and driving sales.” This partnership aims to shift that and stop the bleeding of action-focused ad dollars into more metrics-heavy environments like connected TV and social media.
“At Comcast Advertising, our goal is to help advertisers unlock the full potential of TV by making it more measurable, actionable and aligned with business outcomes,” said James Rooke, President of Comcast Advertising in a statement. “The truth is, TV is a results engine that connects top and bottom funnel in a way that no other medium can. Endless studies have shown this. However, we don’t make TV advertising as easy or seamless as social media platforms do. Our goal across Comcast Advertising is two-fold: make it easy and prove it works.”
Amazon x Roku – Amazon and Roku could be seen as competitors in the world of streaming TV, but instead of duking it out for advertising dollars, the two companies have teamed up. A new integration between Amazon Ads and Roku will give advertisers access to the largest authenticated CTV footprint in the U.S., available exclusively through the Amazon demand-side platform (DSP).
According to the companies, the new collaboration will enable advertisers to reach a logged-in audience of approximately 80 million U.S. CTV households across The Roku Channel and Prime Video, as well as other leading streaming services that are available on the Roku and Fire TV operating systems, including Disney, Fox Corporation, Paramount, Tubi and Warner Bros Discovery.
The integration will utilize a custom identity resolution service, allowing the Amazon DSP to recognize logged-in viewers across the Roku OS and devices in the U.S.. The service will enable advertisers to reach the same viewer deterministically across different streaming channels and devices, providing more accurate audience targeting and measurement.
“Our exclusive partnership with Roku is a giant leap for advertisers, bringing best-in-class planning, audience precision and performance to TV advertising,” said Paul Kotas, SVP of Amazon Ads in a statement. “We’re removing the guesswork to provide advertisers with unprecedented capabilities and delivering performance in ways that simply weren’t possible before. By combining our technologies, advertisers can now drive full-funnel campaign outcomes — from awareness through conversion — while eliminating media waste across Amazon and Roku streaming audiences.”
Instacart x Pinterest – Pinterest has teamed up with Instacart to help brands enhance their campaigns on its platform by allowing them to target high-intent audiences based on Instacart shopper data. The goal of the collaboration is to connect Pinterest users with products they’ll love in the moment they’re planning to use them, whether meal-prepping for the week, planning a backyard movie night or redecorating an office.
In the initial phase of the partnership, select brands advertising on Pinterest will be able to advertise their products to Instacart first-party audience segments. Pinterest ads will become directly shoppable via the Instacart partnership, giving Pinterest users the ability to complete a purchase in just a few clicks. For example, a user who pins a cocktail recipe would be able to instantly order the ingredients.
A second phase is expected to introduce closed-loop measurement, which would tie Pinterest ads to actual product sales across the Instacart Marketplace of over 1,800 retailers and help prove campaign impacts with real purchase data.
“Pinterest is an incredible platform for inspiration, and that inspiration can often lead to a purchase,” said Ali Miller, VP of Ads Product at Instacart in a statement. “By layering in Instacart’s valuable retail media data, we’re giving brands a more targeted way to reach high-intent Pinterest users at the right moment, when they’re open to discovering something new and deciding what to buy next.”
Last-Mile and Ride-Share Apps Rev Up Ad Capabilities
One of the biggest areas of commerce media expansion has been with car-based delivery and travel services like DoorDash, Grubhub, Uber and Lyft. And as competition mounts in that last-mile space, each platform is working to set itself apart from the crowd.
DoorDash Buys Off-site Retail Media Solution – Delivery app DoorDash unveiled a sweeping set of updates to its ad platform with a new suite of AI-powered tools and the acquisition of ad tech platform Symbiosys. DoorDash has worked with Symbiosys for years and will now integrate the platform’s off-site advertising capabilities more deeply into its own media offering so as to include search, social and display advertising.
“We’re building the future of local commerce advertising,” said Toby Espinosa, VP of Ads at DoorDash in a statement. “With new product capabilities, AI-powered tools and Symbiosys’ off-site reach, businesses of any size can now connect with high-intent consumers seamlessly. Moving forward, every business, from local owner-operators to the largest global brands, will have the opportunity to grow on DoorDash and beyond with the click of a button.”
Uber Lets Brands Pick up Riders’ Fare – Uber Ads is expanding its Ride Offers product internationally across seven countries, including the U.S., Canada, the UK, Mexico, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand. The product allows brands to offer Uber riders discounts on their next Uber ride as a way to foster brand affinity and loyalty.
“Ride Offers are a powerful way for brands to meet consumers where they are, both literally and emotionally — by providing savings that matter in the moment,” explained Megan Ramm, Uber Advertising’s Global Head of Sales in a statement. “It’s more than just a discount; it’s a gesture that builds trust, loyalty and lasting brand impact.”
At the same time, Uber also announced the debut of a new in-house Creative Studio that can partner with advertisers to help craft original, culture-first campaigns that seamlessly integrate into the Uber platform.
Advertisers can Take Over the Cars in the Lyft App – Lyft also is looking to bolster its advertising appeal with a suite of new ad solutions, including the opportunity to sponsor maps in the Lyft app and, similar to the Uber Rides offering, sponsor riders’ trips.
The new Sponsored Map Vehicles offering will let a brand exclusively “own” the Lyft map nationwide for a full day by taking over the map experience with custom vehicle icons and brand messaging. Brands can now also sponsor ride discounts for trips in Standard and Priority modes and present non-skippable video messaging to riders.
Google Looks to Maintain Ad Dominance with New Commerce Media Suite, YouTube Capabilities
Amid all these new advertising platforms, Google wants marketers to know it’s still the place to start for digital campaigns of all kinds.
The company has launched a new Commerce Media suite of tools to better help retailers and brands effectively connect with customers and drive sales. The suite encompasses advancements across Search Ads 360, Display & Video 360 and Google Ads, to offer commerce media operators and advertisers expanded reach and AI-driven performance with control and transparency.
Features include:
- Brands and retailers can now use Google AI for strong Commerce Media results. Target’s Roundel is the first retail media network to enable online, app and offline sales data measurement in Performance Max via Search Ads 360. Beyond Performance Max, Google Ads now also supports search, shopping and demand generation campaigns;
- Google Ads features improved self-service options for retailers and marketplaces like Shopee, Rakuten and Flipkart to share product catalogs with brands;
- To boost off-site scale, Google is bringing commerce and retail media to YouTube via Display & Video 360, as announced back in May; and
- Google is piloting product-level measurement for brands and retailers to assess the effectiveness of their media spend against product and category sales data.
Additionally, Google announced a new feature in YouTube, dubbed Open Call, which aims to easily allow brands to discover and partner with creators at scale. Select advertisers can now place an open call to work with multiple creators in the YouTube Partner Program at the same time, within the Creator Partnerships Hub.
One of the biggest storylines coming out of Cannes this year has been the growing importance and influence of creators, as AI reshapes online discovery. For the first time, ad revenue from user-generated content and platforms will exceed the amount earned from professionally produced content this year, according to WPP Media’s global president of business intelligence.
“We’re in an era where entertainment, commerce and data are converging to reshape the path to purchase into a ‘spaghetti soup,’” shared Pacvue President Melissa Burdick in a LinkedIn post from Cannes. “From discovery to conversion, the process is non-linear. Consumers are discovering in one place and possibly buying there, or another place. The new mandate? Own the relationship. Show up where consumers discover, decide and buy, through trusted voices, native formats and platforms that convert attention into action.”
