Marketing
11 January
Albertsons, Omnicom Media partner on CTV
A new solution will provide targeting and measurement tools for CTV, with ads purchased through The Trade Desk.

Photo by Nicolas J Leclercq on Unsplash
A new solution will provide targeting and measurement tools for CTV, with ads purchased through The Trade Desk.
A partnership announced at the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) highlights the convergence of two growing areas of digital commerce and advertising: streaming TV and retail media.
The news: Media services firm Omnicom Media Group (OMG) is partnering with Albertsons Media Collective, which is the grocer’s retail media arm. The collaboration will result in new a solution designed to help marketers target and measure return on investment for advertising through Connected TV (CTV), which describes streaming platforms such as Hulu and Netflix or devices like Roku and XBox.
How does it work? OMG is set to combine audience data from its Omni marketing orchestration system with Albertsons Media Collective data on more than 30 million shoppers of the company’s grocery stores. Using this, it can buy advertising directly within the platform of The Trade Desk, which is a media buying solution.
Why is this important?
For CTV: The new solution is designed to help brands optimize CTV campaigns. With the growth of streaming platforms, advertising opportunities have followed. A September 2021 study from Innovid found that CTV devices accounted for 52% of all CPG video ad impressions over the prior year, and advances like ad-supported tiers on Netflix and Disney+ only figure to bring more. CTV is held out as the best of two worlds of advertising: It presents the opportunity to reach a captive audience while they are watching content on their television, just like linear TV ads. But since the platforms are powered by the internet, CTV also holds the promise to help brands reach specific shoppers based on their profile and interests, as well as measure results. In the end, the thinking goes that it can tie advertising on TV more directly to sales. But the tools that power this new frontier in digital marketing remain in building mode.
For retail media: Retail media is growing quickly in its own right. eMarketer projects spend in the category will reach $61.2 billion in 2024 in the U.S., which is nearly 20% of total digital ad spend. Retail media is typically thought of in the context of running ads on ecommerce marketplaces. But this partnership shows how the valuable first-party data that powers it can be used beyond a retailer’s website, and power other forms of emerging advertising. This was also on view in another Albertsons announcement from CES: A clean room collaboration with Pinterest and LiveRamp.
Key quote: "Connected TV is the fastest growing advertising channel, but as OMG said when we published our CTV Standards Call-to Action in 2021, targeting and measurement deficits in the space are a significant barrier to investment," says Megan Pagliuca, chief activation officer at Omnicom Media Group North America. "Combining Omni audiences with Albertson's shopper data within the Trade Desk, our clients will be able to tailor CTV messaging and spend directly to Albertson's shoppers and measure the impact of their media dollars where it matters most - at the cash register."
OMG adds to retail media partnerships: The CES announcement marked the latest retail media splash at a big industry event from OMG. Last year, it announced deals with Amazon, Walmart, Instacart and Kroger Precision Marketing at the Cannes Lions festival. It was at that event that Albertsons Media Collective and The Trade Desk also launched a partnership. With Albertsons, OMG said it aims to for this to be a start. It wants broaden the firms' work together beyond CTV to a media activation tool and its programmatic private marketplace for point-of-purchase screens. Retail media has a role in a number of levels of an emerging ad ecosystem that is comfortable moving between channels, and puts shopper data at the center.On the Move has the latest hiring update from The Vitamin Shoppe and At Home.
Heidi O’Neill has a new role at Nike. (Courtesy photo)
This week, Unilever, Nike and BigCommerce are seeing major transitions in the executive ranks. Meanwhile, The Vitamin Shoppe named a permanent CEO, and At Home brought on a longtime Walmart executive as president.
Conny Braams. (Courtesy photo)
Consumer goods giant Unilever announced key changes in top leadership roles. These include:
Graeme Pitkethly will retire as chief financial officer, effective at the end of May 2024. The board is set to launch a formal search for his successor. Pitkethly has been with Unilever for 21 years.
Conny Braams, who serves as chief digital and commercial officer, will leave the company, effective August 2023. Braams previously held senior management roles including Executive Vice President (EVP) of Middle Europe; and EVP Foodsolutions Asia, Africa and Middle East.
Craig Williams. (Courtesy photo)
Nike, Inc. announced several key leadership changes focused on consumer-led growth and marketplace. They are as follows:
Heidi O’Neill who is currently president of consumer and marketplace, will become president of consumer, product and brand.
Craig Williams, who is currently president of the Jordan Brand, will become president of geographies and marketplace at Nike, Inc.
Matthew Friend, EVP and Chief Financial Officer at NIKE, Inc., will expand responsibilities to include procurement, global places and services and demand and supply management.
Jared Carver will serve as CEO of Converse. Over the last four years, he served as VP/GM of North America for Converse.
Scott Uzzell, the previous CEO of Converse, transitioned to a new role as VP/GM, North America for Nike, Inc.
“These shifts will allow us to streamline our focus across product, brand storytelling and marketplace, mining deep consumer insights to deliver breakthrough innovation and engagement, while building long-term growth and profitability,” said Nike CEO John Donahoe, in a statement.
Lee Wright. (Courtesy photo)
Lee A. Wright was named CEO of The Vitamin Shoppe on a permanent basis, after serving as interim CEO since January 2023. Wright previously served as Chief Commercial Officer of Franchise Group and in executive roles at Conn’s.
Muriel Gonzalez was promoted to president of the retailer, after serving as EVP and chief merchandising and marketing officer of The Vitamin Shoppe since August 2020.
BigCommerce announced the following leadership roles:
Daniel Lentz was promoted to chief financial officer of BigCommerce, effective July 1. He previously served as SVP of finance and investor relations. Lentz will succeed CFO Robert Alvarez, who is retiring after a 12-year stint as CFO.
Chuck Cassidy was promoted to general counsel, effective June 2. Cassidy previously served as VP and associate general counsel. He will succeed Jeff Mengoli, who is retiring.
Hubert Ban was named chief accounting officer. He will replace Vice President of Accounting and Principal Accounting Officer Thomas Aylor, who departed the ecommerce platform on May 19.
Jeff Evans. (Courtesy photo)
Jeff Evans was named president and chief merchandising officer of At Home, the home goods retailer.
Evans previously served as EVP of entertainment, toys and seasonal at Walmart, managing the largest general merchandise business for the retailer. He rose to the position after serving in executive roles at Walmart US and Sam’s Club.