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CMO TLDR: Your Weekly Marketing Brief

Weekly Digest - January 31, 2025

Author

Peter Brendan
January 31, 2025

CMO TLDR: Your Weekly Marketing Brief

Earnings Updates

Inside Meta's Q4: AI, Ads, and More

  • Ad Revenue Booms: Q4 ad revenue reached $46.8 billion (up 21% YoY), driven by increased impressions (up 6%) and higher ad prices (up 14%).

  • AI is Key: Meta is heavily investing in AI, with over 4 million advertisers already using their generative AI ad tools. The Advantage+ shopping campaigns saw explosive growth (70% YoY in Q4). Expect more AI-powered ad solutions in the future.

  • Focus on Performance: Meta is refining ad placement and performance metrics, leveraging AI for personalized ad ranking (Andromeda ML system).

  • Looking Ahead: While Meta AI's monetization is focused on user experience for now (potential future paid recommendations), its impact on advertising and recommendations will be significant in 2025. Meta's heavy investment in AI infrastructure signals a long-term commitment to this space.

Retail Media

ROAS vs. Incrementality in Retail Media

As retail media spending rises, marketers are shifting focus from ROAS to incrementality to prove ad effectiveness. Retailers like Kroger and Albertsons are developing tools for better insights. This hands-on approach requires experimentation to accurately tie ad spend back to sales, amidst calls for standardization in the industry.

NBCUniversal & Instacart: Bridging Retail Data and TV Advertising

NBCUniversal and Instacart have partnered to bring the power of retail data to TV and streaming advertising, offering marketers more precise targeting and improved measurement. By integrating Instacart's shopper data with NBCU's ad inventory, advertisers can reach high-intent customers and re-engage past buyers, moving beyond traditional demographics. Early beta tests with CPG brands have shown promising results, with ROAS ranging from 8x to 17x.

AdTech M&A

The Trade Desk's Approach to M&A

The Trade Desk prioritizes tech development over acquisitions, seeing them as distractions. Despite acquiring Sincera, its focus remains on core business growth and publisher partnerships. CEO Jeff Green highlights trends like Google's potential market changes and growing programmatic advertising on platforms like Spotify and streaming TV. The company's commitment to privacy with Unified ID 2.0 remains steadfast amid Google's evolving policies.

Agency News

Omnicom and IPG's Modest Revenue Growth Outlook

A recent merger-related filing reveals that Omnicom Group and Interpublic Group (IPG) expect modest revenue growth through 2029. The projections, developed during merger talks, indicate a low single-digit growth with a 3% revenue increase anticipated. Despite these cautious estimates, they offer insights into the companies' internal projections. The merger is set to be completed by the second half of 2025.

Jessica Chan single-handedly manages Perplexity's publisher partnerships, leveraging her LinkedIn and Meta experience to foster sustainable relationships and navigate AI-related challenges.

Google's open-source Marketing Mix Model, Meridian, helps marketers make smarter decisions with features like Bayesian inference and customizability. It offers insights across channels and is supported by over 20 partners. 

Pinterest is making waves in the programmatic advertising world by expanding its partnerships with two major players: Index Exchange and Criteo. This move signals a strategic shift towards a more open programmatic ecosystem for the visual discovery platform.