CMO TLDR: Omnicom Shifts to Amazon; WPP’s Breakup Math
The Sum of WPP's Parts
WPP's Breakup Math Doesn't Add Up
WPP's market value has plunged to £3.3 billion, yet its media-buying division alone could be worth £8 billion, meaning a buyer could pay a 35 percent premium and effectively get the rest of the advertising giant for free. The problem is that extracting that valuable unit from WPP's portfolio of 90-plus ad and PR agencies would be messy and time-consuming, deterring both private equity and strategic buyers. With the stock down 60 percent this year and no clear bidder in sight, new CEO Cindy Rose may need to break up the company herself to unlock any hidden value for frustrated shareholders.
Ad Tech: Amazon vs. The Trade Desk
Omnicom Reportedly Shifting Ad Spend to Amazon From Trade Desk
Two ad tech sources say Omnicom moved a double-digit percentage of its expected third-quarter programmatic spend from The Trade Desk to Amazon DSP, a potential inflection point that intensifies competition in the demand-side platform market. The Trade Desk flatly denies the shift, while Omnicom won't confirm any strategy change, though industry watchers note the agency holding company won Amazon's US marketing account last year and such a move would make strategic sense. The rumored pivot comes as Amazon undercuts Trade Desk's roughly 20 percent take rate with minimal fees, pressuring the independent DSP leader despite its strong third-quarter earnings showing 18 percent revenue growth.
Amazon's Ad Push Hinges on Overcoming Trust Gap With Marketers
Advertisers worry that Amazon's demand-side platform algorithmically favors the company's own inventory over open web placements, steering budgets toward Amazon's higher-margin ecosystem rather than toward the best performance outcomes for brands. The concern is particularly acute for retail marketers seeking conversions outside Amazon's commerce loop, though Amazon's vast shopper data makes its DSP uniquely valuable for identifying in-market audiences. Amazon has responded by introducing programmatic guaranteed deals, publisher direct access, and supply exclusions to give advertisers more control, but the fundamental question remains whether these tools are truly neutral or simply better packaged guardrails around the same gravitational pull toward Amazon's properties.
Quick Links
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Publishers and ad agencies are deploying AI-generated synthetic audiences to conduct market research at a fraction of the time and cost of traditional focus groups, allowing brands like The Times and Dentsu to test product ideas and campaigns instantly without survey fatigue.
Albertsons and NBCUniversal launched a clean room measurement tool that directly links connected TV ad impressions to in-store and digital sales, with a Chobani pilot generating $4.22 return on ad spend and addressing long-standing gaps in video advertising accountability.
Amazon is rolling out sponsored prompts within its Rufus AI shopping assistant, marking the first major test of advertising inside conversational commerce and forcing brands to rethink retail media strategies as consumers increasingly rely on AI for purchase decisions.
The Atlantic is selectively blocking AI crawlers unless they drive meaningful traffic or subscriptions back to the site, creating a scorecard system that aims to force AI companies to negotiate licensing deals rather than freely scrape content for training their models.
Target is launching a shopping app inside ChatGPT starting Thanksgiving week, allowing customers to browse, build baskets, and checkout through conversational AI as retailers race to embed commerce directly into generative AI platforms.
Key Article Takeaways - TLDR
Amazon vs. The Trade Desk has become the defining H2 matchup, and Amazon is winning by sheer force. By undercutting fees and leveraging Prime’s premium inventory and retail data, Amazon is demonstrating that performance outweighs concerns about independence. Marketers treat it like another essential platform, much like Google or Meta. At the same time, TTD’s long-time pitch of transparency and better supply paths matters less in this environment (especially when Amazon owns its own content and platform). Unless TTD finds a new offensive angle, “we’re the independent option” won’t be enough to hold the line, as evident with Omnicom’s spend shift.