Let’s Make A Deal
When marketers select an agency to work with, there’s a chance they’re also selecting a tech provider – they just might not realize it.
Many media accounts are tied to specific tech commitments, but the latter isn’t always communicated directly to marketers. It’s a “dirty little secret” in the ad industry, one consultant tells Ad Age.
Publicis, for instance, recently won the Microsoft account from Dentsu. And then shortly thereafter came the news that Publicis had selected Microsoft Azure as its preferred cloud provider and was giving all of its employees access to Copilot.
Both companies “declined to comment” on whether the partnership announcement was tied to the account win, according to Ad Age.
Regardless, rather than being locked into infrastructure they never agreed to, brands want objective guidance from agency partners as they evaluate AI tools. That dynamic helps explain why marketers worry that choosing an agency can sometimes mean inheriting a tech stack they never explicitly chose.
Yet, in some arrangements, according to Simon Francis, founder and co‑CEO of marketing consultancy Flock Associates, tech companies provide agencies with dozens of employees at no cost, while the agency then charges brand clients for that same labor.
“It’s effectively a rebate,” Francis said, “or an arbitrage.”
The Open Web Fade
Jeff Green, CEO of The Trade Desk, made headlines last month when he took aim at the advertising trade press, accusing outlets of leaning into “drama and cynicism” rather than curiosity and substance. His comments came amid reports that major holding companies were pulling money out of the DSP following audits that uncovered alleged hidden fees.
But a different narrative emerged during WPP’s earnings call earlier this week, Digiday reports.
WPP CFO Joanne Wilson framed the situation more pragmatically, saying that holding companies are dialing back on the open internet as a primary buying channel. More specifically, Wilson stated that WPP works with a number of DSPs and SSPs and makes decisions about partners on a case by case basis, with the goal of investing spend effectively and maintaining full transparency.
In regard to The Trade Desk, Wilson noted that the DSP “operates in the open internet, so it’s potentially a smaller segment of the overall advertising market.”
Industry data shows that the open web is no longer where most ad dollars are going. Spend is shifting toward platforms like Meta, Amazon and streaming, where data and measurement are more tightly controlled and directly tied to outcomes.
Green, however, is on record as defining the “open internet” as including CTV, audio, retail media-style inventory – basically anything that isn’t in a walled garden.
Potayto, potahto?
Hey, Remember The CW?
The CW Network was always a strange outlier in broadcast TV. Born of a joint venture between CBS and Time Warner in 2006, the channel never actually turned a profit. In fact, much of its mid-2010s revenue came from a $1 billion deal that gave Netflix exclusive streaming rights to its biggest shows.
Things changed in 2022 when Nexstar bought a 75% stake in The CW. After canceling nearly a dozen original scripted series, the channel pivoted to unscripted shows and sports instead, promising that it would finally become profitable in 2026.
Ironically, The CW’s path to profit once again seems based on the same playbook: streaming partnerships.
Deadline reports that ESPN has obtained exclusive streaming rights to The CW’s sports programming, amounting to roughly 800 hours of content annually. The CW will handle ad sales for the games it broadcasts, while ESPN will benefit from the influx of new subscribers.
Meanwhile, The CW is also bringing its entertainment titles to The Roku Channel this fall, representing another 800 hours of content.
The CW does have its own streaming TV and mobile apps, by the way, which are free and supported by ads. Neither seem to be a priority for Nexstar, and there are no plans for SVOD versions.
“What we realized very quickly is that the world does not need another direct-to-consumer product,“ CEO Brad Schwartz tells Deadline.
But Wait! There’s More!
ChatGPT’s growth rate is slowing compared to rival Claude, which probably isn’t good news for OpenAI’s impending IPO. [The Verge]
Beast Industries, the company run by YouTuber MrBeast, is hiring a VP of agency partnerships. [Business Insider]
Major retailers like Ralph Lauren and Ulta Beauty are increasingly pushing their products on TikTok Shop. [WSJ]
Howdy, Roku’s new SVOD streaming service, has surpassed one million subscribers. [TechCrunch]
CDP Hightouch raises a $150 million Series D at a $2.75 billion valuation. [release]
