CANNES — In the fast-paced world of digital media, commerce media is emerging as a golden opportunity for publishers.
That is according to Joseph Meehan.
In this video interview with Tameka Kee for Beet.TV, Meehan, GM, Commerce Supply at Criteo, says this new field offers a $50 billion incremental opportunity for publishers.
A New Frontier for Digital Media Budgets
“If you’re a publisher, you can rely on your digital media budgets, but now you have this new area to tap into. That’s massive and fast-growing,” Meehan says.
Citing McKinsey data, he says the space means an anticipated enterprise value reaching $1.3 trillion by 2026.
Commerce audiences, according to Meehan, are “proprietary data… understanding the different segments that our consumers belong to, that they purchase against”.
This data helps publishers understand their audiences’ shopping behaviours, providing a valuable new data point to leverage.
Looking Forward: The Full Potential of Commerce Media
Meehan’s excitement about the future of commerce media is palpable. “Start with unifying the digital media budgets,” he says. “And then taking that and saying, okay, what else can I do as a publisher?”
He envisions a future where publishers could create commerce-informed creative experiences, rethink commerce as part of their affiliate strategies, and even become “pseudo retailers” themselves.
As Meehan says: “We see a full spectrum of publishers just tapping into it. That’s an exciting change that the industry’s going through.”
Commerce Grid: Unifying Digital Media and Retail Media Budgets
Criteo recently launches its new supply-side platform (SSP) offering, Commerce Grid, designed to help publishers tap into retail media budgets.
The platform leverages Criteo’s proprietary data set, the Commerce Index, helping publishers understand the commerce demographic of their website. “We call it the commerce composition that allows publishers to understand… who are the shoppers who are coming to their site? What are they buying?,” Meehan adds.
Despite its primary function as a tool for publishers, Commerce Grid offers value to a wider audience. “Publishers can’t get any money unless agencies are engaged in the platform. So, it’s about creating tools that publishers can better engage with the media buyers and the agencies,” Meehan mentions, indicating the platform’s potential to unite the buy-side and sell-side around commerce.
Meehan also highlights the benefits for retailers, who can use Commerce Grid to extend into offsite activity and attract audiences back to their sites. “As retailers look for additional demand sources as their businesses grow, they can use programmatic demand from Commerce Grid as a way to pipe into that,” he says.
You’re watching coverage of the Global Retail Media Summit at Cannes Lions 2023, presented by Criteo & Habu. For more videos from Beet.TV’s Cannes Lions 2023 coverage, please visit this page.