Dive Brief:

• WPP Media is bringing more commerce media data to connected TV (CTV) ad buying through a new pact with Criteo, according to a press release. 
• The two are offering advertisers curated Deal IDs that are supported by Criteo’s Commerce Grid and can be activated on any demand-side platform (DSP). Criteo’s data signals, estimated to represent over $1 trillion in annual e-commerce sales, will be enhanced with WPP Media’s artificial intelligence-powered Open Intelligence solution to create shopper audiences. 
• The goal is to realize the same degree of precision and measurement that’s available in digital in a premium CTV environment carrying broad audience reach. Roku, Samsung and Scripps piloted the offering that looks to inject more performance into CTV advertising by activating its potential to reach shoppers.  

Dive Insight:

WPP Media and Criteo are uniting as commerce media and CTV continue to converge. The partnership weds Criteo’s supply-side platform (SSP), Commerce Grid, and rich set of data signals with WPP Media’s supplier network and Open Intelligence, an AI-powered “large marketing model” that is designed to predict audience behavior and market performance.

CTV and commerce media have been moving closer together as advertisers try to generate more concrete outcomes, such as driving foot traffic and sales, from a channel that’s traditionally leveraged for mass reach and brand awareness. The news sees two titans in their respective categories working together to meet that client demand while CTV soars. U.S. ad spending on the channel is expected by eMarketer to grow 16.8% in 2025 to reach $33.48 billion. 

WPP Media is the world’s largest ad-buying agency and Criteo wields a wide view into commerce media, with data signals drawn from 17,000 e-commerce sites, 200 global retailers and a range of open web publishers. Key to the partnership is Criteo’s Commerce Grid, billed as the world’s first commerce-oriented SSP. WPP Media launched Open Intelligence in June, shortly following its rebrand from GroupM, as a way to push past conventional ID-based targeting. WPP Open assesses factors including geographical, commercial and behavioral data to create custom AI models, which can be further souped up using the client’s own data sets. 

Advertisers taking advantage of the pact can deploy the two companies’ Deal IDs on the DSP of their choice. The solution has already been piloted by top industry players, including Roku, which leads the CTV device market in the U.S. 

“This partnership is about more than better targeting. It’s about giving brands the ability to reach broad audiences with the same level of precision and measurability they expect from digital,” said Joseph Meehan, general manager, global commerce supply at Criteo, in a press statement. “By combining the unique strengths of each company into one streamlined solution, we’re giving brands a smarter way to activate high-intent audiences and transform CTV into a true performance channel.”