Pine Away
The Trade Desk has taken an unprecedented bruising recently.
In Q4, TTD missed its guidance for the first time ever, precipitating a major investor sell-off.
Then, this week, Digiday chronicled the weakening ties between TTD and key agency partners. Meanwhile, Adweek reported that buyers and publishers bemoan TTD’s supposed product improvements, including its new media buying platform Kokai.
Anonymous mudslinging is part of being the titleholder – but punches still hurt.
According to The Verge this week, Sonos abruptly canceled its plans for a video streaming device, codenamed Pinewood internally. The product was “far along,” so it’s a sudden shift to ditch the idea entirely and reassign staff.
This is a blow for The Trade Desk because its much-ballyhooed new operating system, dubbed Ventura, was counting on Sonos as its pilot partner. The Pinewood product would have been the first device to carry Ventura.
Sonos may launch more hardware down the line, of course, and that hardware may even include Ventura. It’s also not like The Trade Desk is going to give up on its OS ambitions. But for an ad tech company to find a toehold in streaming hardware is far easier said than done.
The Soda Shoppe
The battle between WPP and Publicis over the Coca-Cola media account highlights how agency holdcos have evolved in recent years, The Drum reports.
Coke is conducting a review of its US marketing, which is an account worth a reported $700 million-plus per year. The brand has already called out WPP and Publicis as the finalists.
But Coke’s review comes at a time when WPP – which is fighting to retain the business – has lagged behind Publicis. WPP recently disclosed that its revenue was down 1% in 2024, which was worse than investors anticipated and led to WPP shares hitting a four-year low. Meanwhile, Publicis is ascendant thanks largely to investments in data and software.
WPP has had the global Coke account for the past four years. Before that, Coke worked with McCann for 60 years (!). WPP won the account by launching a dedicated team, called Open X (no relation to the ad tech OpenX), and promising to transform Coke’s marketing portfolio to 60% digital.
WPP recently revamped its agency GroupM with a $300 million investment in AI, which CEO Mark Read says will be key to future client relationships.
But a media exec who spoke with The Drum says it’s “too early for [GroupM’s investments] to materialize into better momentum on this kind of competitive pitch.”
Selling Nico-teens
While “Snus” might sound like the name of an Ikea closet organizer, it’s actually a Swedish tobacco pouch product that’s now taking off in the US, writes Carrie Battan at The New Yorker.
And it’s an interesting marketing case study.
Snus look like little dirty brown dollhouse pillows that one nestles within their gums to release nicotine into their bloodstream. To attract Swedish women, snus manufacturers began creating white versions with flavors like apple mint and jasmine tea.
But women didn’t bite. The American manosphere, however, got right on board, as podcasts and personalities like Andrew Huberman, Joe Rogan, Tucker Carlson and Barstool Sports began touting their favorites.
This feels reminiscent of Juul, which remains a cautionary tale. Juul’s flavors and social marketing catered to teens, and then regulators came calling.
But snus brand Lucy, which calls its new line “Excel,” is hoping to deflect scrutiny because its marketing conjures workaday business life that isn’t cool to teens. Even so, it’s very difficult for marketers to keep adult-focused products from being hawked to teens.
As Battan notes, there are grown men with large followings of kids who watch them play video games – and livestreamers often call out their snus or other problematic products, like energy drinks.
Adults and kids don’t exist on separate planes of existence.
“It seemed preposterous to me,” Battan writes, “that any kind of marketing, in 2025, could avoid the eyes of teenagers.”
But Wait! There’s More
Speaking of: Google says age verification should be restricted to sensitive apps in response to a Utah bill that would make app stores responsible for distinguishing between adults and minors. [WaPo]
Something is rotten in the state of Cupertino. [Daring Fireball]
The Amazon-based ecommerce brand aggregator market is falling apart. [Bloomberg]
New investment banks and boutique firms are coming for LUMA’s crown as ad tech’s top dealmaker. [Adweek]
With curation being used to optimize supply chains, can media buyers and sellers finally find common ground – or should publishers push for more control? [AdMonsters]
Convenience stores are selling fewer and fewer snacks and drinks – but lotto tickets never slow down. [WSJ]
Meta is seeking to block the sale of a book by a former employee that alleges the company planned to censor content in China and give the Chinese government access to user data. [NYT]
You’re Hired
Nexxen appoints four new executives. [release]
Kasia Leyden Joins Acorns as CMO. [blog post]
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