This month, adland professionals are focused on a pair of media-buying showcases — last week’s digital-focused NewFronts and the upcoming TV-focused upfronts — that present an opportunity to take stock of an evolving advertising landscape. Amid privacy challenges, threats to popular platforms and the impact of artificial intelligence (AI), digital ad spend is still expected to grow about 10% in both 2024 and 2025, led by continued growth in retail media and connected TV (CTV), according to a recent report by Advertiser Perceptions.
As advertisers shift their spend to those two channels, legacy media conglomerates and retailers with media networks of their own continue yearslong efforts to connect content and commerce. These new deals look to capitalize on tech-centered developments in both spaces, fusing the scale and brand-building power of CTV with the data-driven, outcomes-oriented capabilities of retail media.
“Media and ad tech companies need to form relationships with retail media platforms or risk missing out on one of the few large and quickly growing segments of the digital advertising market,” said Eric Haggstrom, director of business intelligence and head of forecasting for Advertiser Perceptions, in a statement around the report.
With the upfronts just days away, Disney and NBCUniversal have announced such deals, while Amazon — a leading retail media player with growing video ambitions — has primed the pump for its first upfront event.
Consumer data in the crosshairs
Partnerships between media companies and retailers have steadily increased in the last few years amid the proliferation of media networks and in advance of the signal loss expected from Google's again-delayed plan to deprecate third-party cookies in Chrome. First-party data is core to both the retail media proposition and the ad platforms developed by major media players that seek to unite content across channels.
NBCUniversal — a leader in developing the future of targeting, measurement and streaming — continued its efforts to turn TV into a commerce-enabled performance marketing channel with this week's announcement of a new collaboration with Instacart. Expected to launch in Q2 in streaming before moving to linear, the expanded collaboration allows CPG advertisers to reach in-market consumers and measure campaigns with the use of ad exposure and purchase data.
“Advertisers are increasingly prioritizing strategic audiences, and with this partnership, CPG brands will be able to connect the next generation of grocery shoppers in a highly engaging environment,” said Alison Levin, president of NBCUniversal's advertising and partnerships, in a statement.
NBCUniversal was the first official streaming partner of Instacart, which has continued to build out its ad platform with moves like powering Google Shopping ads and partnering with third-party verification providers — efforts that helped Instacart receive its first advertising accreditation from the Media Rating Council. The latest deal helps CPG brands connect with high-intent consumers and prove campaign efficacy with closed-loop measurement, said Tim Castelli, vice president of global advertising sales at Instacart.
“Consumers can see a CPG’s ad on streaming and get that product delivered to them via Instacart in as fast as an hour,” Castelli said in a statement. “It’s a win-win for both consumers and brands.”
"Media and ad tech companies need to form relationships with retail media platforms or risk missing out on one of the few large and quickly growing segments of the digital advertising market."
Eric Haggstrom
Advertiser Perceptions
In kind, Disney Advertising today (May 8) announced a collaboration with Walmart Connect that gives advertisers enhanced audience targeting and closed-loop measurement capabilities for brand campaigns across the company's CTV inventory on Disney+ and Hulu, per details shared with Marketing Dive.
A proof-of-concept program will launch in Q2 with select advertisers across categories including CPG, consumer electronics, telecommunications, auto, apparel and beauty before scaling to all eligible advertisers over the next few months. The partnership allows Walmart Connect advertisers to apply the retailer's first-party shopper data for targeting and measurement using Disney's Audience Graph in programmatic, helping marketers better understand purchase intent and outcomes.
“Disney is committed to bringing innovative solutions to advertisers that tap into unique and actionable first-party data to drive insights, and prove effectiveness through the most transformative technology,” said Jamie Power, senior vice president of addressable sales at Disney, in a statement. “Walmart has incredible data insights for planning and measuring, that when combined with the most impactful streaming environments — is a winning combination for advertisers.”
Walmart Connect, which saw revenue up 22% in Q4 2023, has previously boasted about the performances of partnerships with video platforms Roku, TikTok and TalkShopLive and has started making overtures to non-endemic brands in the automotive, entertainment, financial services, quick-service restaurant and travel industries. As part of the deal, Disney will join Walmart Connect’s Partner Lab, which NBCUniversal joined last year.
Partnerships like the expanded NBCUniversal-Instacart pact and new Disney-Walmart Connect deal are likely to proliferate due to data signal loss caused by industry and regulatory changes, according to Nicole Perrin, senior vice president of business intelligence at Advertiser Perceptions.
“Media sellers are under at least as much pressure from advertisers as ever before to help them reach the right audiences and prove that their ads have an effect,” Perrin said in emailed comments. “Organizations that have their own first-party data about consumers that can be used to target and measure ads will look for ways to team up with media sellers that are privacy-safe for consumers as well as being protective of the organization's owned data assets.”
Amazon looms large
Walmart could be an even bigger player at the convergence of retail media and CTV if its planned acquisition of smart TV maker Vizio clears regulatory hurdles — but it won't be alone. Amazon's advertising business continues to grow, driven largely by product ads around its e-commerce marketplace, with ads introduced on its Prime Video platform in January showing encouraging early results, per an earnings call last week.
Amazon's continued focus on Prime Video, along with livestreaming service Twitch and ad-supported streamer Freevee, comes as the company readies its upfronts debut on May 14 after years of presenting at the NewFronts. In advance of the presentation, the company yesterday (May 7) announced three new streaming TV ad formats that boost interactivity and shoppability on Prime Video.
The new formats, available during the upcoming broadcast year, include shoppable carousel ads that can be browsed during ad breaks, interactive pause ads that feature "Add to Cart" and "Learn More" overlays, and interactive brand trivia ads that present an opportunity for brand storytelling and several types of customer interactions. The introduction of living room remote capabilities expands the availability of ad formats that "go far beyond QR codes," per details shared with Marketing Dive.
"...Expect heavy competition for streaming ad budgets that will grow at a moderate rate in 2024."
Eric Haggstrom
Advertiser Perceptions
“We are developing innovative experiences to help brands better engage with customers, as we work to transform streaming advertising through our differentiated combination of reach, first-party signals, and ad tech,” said Alan Moss, vice president of global ads sales for Amazon Ads, in a statement. “Ads in Prime Video provide an unparalleled experience for advertisers to deliver on any full-funnel marketing objective – whether it’s awareness, consideration, or conversion.”
The new formats allow advertisers to reach Prime Video's average monthly ad-supported reach of more than 200 million global customers. Interactivity is quickly becoming table stakes in the CTV space, with Amazon's interactive ads driving 10-times more product page views and conversions than non-interactive formats, according to company research. The new capabilities, and whatever else Amazon has in store for the upfronts, could set the stage for incremental ad spend down the road.
“In the long run, we believe Amazon will be able to draw incremental streaming budgets from SMBs that sell on their platform, but we expect minimal contribution in 2024,” Advertiser Perceptions' Haggstrom said in its recent forecast. “These assumptions could be quickly disproven in the coming months but expect heavy competition for streaming ad budgets that will grow at a moderate rate in 2024.”
