Data + Privacy

This year, Black Friday stretched on for days and days. And the retail holidays is evolving in other ways, as online shopping takes over.

There are now 19 states that have enacted comprehensive consumer data privacy laws, eight of which are currently in effect.  When talk turns to the most impactful of these state privacy laws, the conversation usually starts and stops with California. However, recent developments should alter that conclusion. The Maryland Online Data Privacy Act (MODPA) takes […]

In today’s fiercely competitive advertising landscape, brand procurement teams are under incredible pressure to demonstrate value for every media dollar spent. Too often, they conflate efficiency and value.  The push for tighter margins is not without impact, especially as it extends across the entire advertising supply chain. Agencies feel the pinch as brands demand more […]

It’s no secret that Publicis Groupe has outperformed both on an absolute basis as well as in comparison to its ad holding company (“HoldCo”) brethren. In the last five years, Publicis’ market cap has more than doubled (+160%) from $10.5 billion to $28 billion as the firm has racked up big client wins, largely at […]

I’m the creative and user experience director for a marketing agency that works with hundreds of CPG and ecommerce brands. I love using AI in my day-to-day job. Before you start wondering about the likelihood of a creative guy embracing AI, know this: It’s not for producing the actual work. Rather, I use it as […]

Does the incoming Trump administration and RFK Jr.’s potential appointment as the head of Health and Human Services (HHS) spell the end of TV drug ads? Probably not, argues Josh Walsh, CEO and co-founder of BranchLab, a data science firm for health care advertisers, and this week’s guest on The Big Story. Efforts to crack down […]

As the advertising landscape evolves, retail media has emerged as a powerful beast that marketers must harness. ANA’s recent Retail Media Networks Fair brought together advertisers, retail media networks, a Wall Street advisor and measurement experts to discuss today’s hottest medium. The main takeaway? There is an urgent need for brands to adapt and thrive […]

Digital advertising has long promised precision and efficiency. But our obsession with “following the audience” has allowed low-quality sites and vanity metrics to thrive while brand integrity suffers. This singular focus on targeting audiences and measuring their impact through typically non-incremental attribution, rather than evaluating media quality, has steered us off course. The digital landscape […]

Reflection a couple of weeks after election day is inevitable. But planning for what’s next is where the real impact lies.  Political ad strategies evolved quickly this year, as campaigns moved beyond exclusivity, focusing on flexibility and reach.  Here’s what this cycle taught us and how it will guide our business in the medium term.

Jessica Alter, co-founder of the nonprofit Tech for Campaigns, believes political campaigns should model their digital ad strategy on that of seed-stage startups. She joins the podcast this week to talk through this year’s unexpected election results.