Dive Brief:
- PMG is piloting a new artificial intelligence agent infrastructure from Comcast technology platform FreeWheel that is designed to streamline premium video transactions, according to a press release.
- The infrastructure, which is powered by a suite of intelligence tools and FreeWheel’s Model Context Protocol server, embeds AI within premium video transactions to help buyers optimize performance in real time and automate workflows.
- The FreeWheel tie-up comes as PMG undergoes a repositioning, inclusive of a new “Engineered for Impact” tagline, to better align itself with the industry’s growing emphasis on AI. The global independent marketing agency is also expanding, with new offices in Mexico City and Toronto.
Dive Insight:
PMG is among the growing list of agencies betting on AI as the way forward, as indicated by both its repositioning and partnership with FreeWheel. The agency last week launched its rebrand with a letter from founder and CEO George Popstefanov that reflects the Dallas-based independent’s AI ambitions and touts its proprietary operating system, Alli, as being “built for how modern businesses grow” by creating continuity between decisions and outcomes.
“As AI reshapes workflows and the lines between content, media, and commerce continue to blur, the gap between insight and action will widen,” wrote Popstefanov in the letter. “The companies structured to close that gap will lead.”
PMG is an early pilot of FreeWheel’s new AI agent infrastructure, allowing clients to use the capabilities within its Alli operating system. The infrastructure is built from FreeWheel’s MCP Server, which provides a foundation to allow AI agents to communicate directly with FreeWheel’s platform, and its intelligence tools, which monitor deal performance, analyze spend and inventory quality and automate decision-making.
Within Alli, advertisers can use the FreeWheel solution to analyze deal performance and optimize streaming campaigns more efficiently, allowing for more real-time optimization.
“Often AI in our industry today is just a wrapper around generic models. What we have built with FreeWheel is true technical interoperability,” said Mike Treon, head of connected TV and video strategy at PMG, in a statement.
The recent moves from PMG come as the agency eyes an expansion. In February, the company announced new offices in Toronto and Mexico City, the latter of which is intended to serve as a strategic hub for PMG’s Latin American operations. PMG employs over 1,000 people globally and has done work for brands including Apple, Nike, Sephora and Intuit.
A number of agencies have been pushing out solutions designed to help marketers tie AI use to real results, though analysts have become skeptical about how far such bets can go. Last week, Publicis Group acquired AI-powered creative measurement and analytics startup AdgeAI to appeal to marketers that are contending with a higher volume of content and struggling to preserve quality — a trend that has become more widespread amid the generative AI boom.
