Dive Brief:

• Wonder, which operates delivery-first restaurants and is parent to Blue Apron and Grubhub, has acquired content media company Tastemade, per details shared with Marketing Dive. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
• Wonder plans to create a media network that will combine Tastemade’s brand storytelling capabilities and digital audience with Wonder’s first-party data and delivery capabilities. Tastemade’s audience totals 160 million followers across social media and 13 million monthly users across streaming channels.
• This is Wonder’s second recent acquisition after its deal for Grubhub closed earlier this year. In the latest deal, Wonder gains a creative studio and Tastemade’s connected TV (CTV) know-how, expanding the company’s food-related services and its ability to offer advertising opportunities to brands.

Dive Insight:

Add Wonder to the growing list of non-retail companies looking to use their first-party data and captive audiences to create a media network. Like United Airlines’ Kinective Media, which uses the company’s category knowledge to target travelers, Wonder intends to leverage its insights into the food category to create ad programs for brand partners.

“We’re excited to inspire consumers through world-class video storytelling across the Wonder family of brands, while enhancing our ability to deliver innovative, end-to-end advertising opportunities for brand partners,” said Marc Lore, founder and CEO of Wonder, in a press statement. 

While media networks have been quickly proliferating, the question remains as to how successful they can be. A recent report from Forrester found that many retailers’ media networks — outside of Amazon’s, which is far and away the dominant network — have yet to live up to their promise for advertisers. 

One factor that may work in Wonder’s favor is Tastemade’s activity in CTV. CTV ad spending is projected to surpass linear TV ad spending by 2028, according to eMarketer. Tastemade’s creative studio can support a wide range of brand opportunities, including 10-second shorts and feature-length documentaries.

Further bolstering Wonder’s overall proposition is the potential convergence of retail media and CTV. Earlier this year, Amazon unveiled Brand+, a tool that uses artificial intelligence to mine shopping, browsing and streaming data to optimize CTV advertising across its retail media network. 

Tastemade co-founders Larry Fitzgibbon and Steven Kydd will take executive roles within Wonder. Fitzgibbon will be CEO of Tastemade and executive vice president of Wonder Media, Advertising & Content, while Kydd will be president and head of business development and international at Tastemade. The team will report to Wonder Chief Growth and Marketing Officer Daniel Shlossman.