News Briefs

Commerce advertising platform Chicory promoted Meghan Howard to chief revenue officer (CRO) in January. Also, Jason Young will transition from an operational role as president to Chicory's board of directors. The transition comes after Chicory celebrated its highest revenue year to date in 2022.

"We are very grateful for [Young’s] energizing leadership and ongoing commitment to Chicory, and are extremely excited for this new chapter with Meghan Howard as our CRO," Chicory CEO and co-founder Yuni Sameshima said in a media release.

Over the past 18 months, Chicory has laid out a 10-year vision, grown its team by 30%, launched two new products and developed new marketing strategies, according to the release.

The leadership team now consists of Sameshima, chief operations officer and co-founder Joey Petracca, Howard and vice president of strategic partnerships Nick Minnick. As CRO, Howard will be responsible for executing the company's growth plans and revenue operations.

Howard, based in New York, served as Chicory's VP of sales and account management for more than four years, growing the team and increasing company revenue. Before Chicory, Howard spent time at Valassis, holding different positions in both the sales and client success organizations. There she garnered experience in organizational structure, resource deployment and process architecture.

"I'm thrilled to be promoted to CRO at such an exciting time in Chicory's — and the industry's — evolution," Howard said in the release. "Chicory's commitment to building and delivering innovative solutions that drive results for our clients in an ever-evolving landscape will continue to be key to our growth."

eGrowcery, a white-label e-commerce platform serving grocery retailers, and AdAdapted, an advertising technology solution specialized in getting brands on shopping lists, have partnered to help retailers grow their digital footprint and related sales.

The partners will support CPG brands in personalizing the shopping experience and driving engagement, purchase intent and increased spend on retailers’ digital advertising platforms, according to a news release.

“This partnership is all about eGrowcery and AdAdapted driving more platform eyeballs and enabling more sales for the retailers we serve,” Patrick Hughes, CEO, eGrowcery, said in the release. “It creates the optimal combination of shoppable promotional messages that are relevant to the shoppers’ needs and match those with our retail client’s objectives."

The joint AdAdapted-eGrowcery offering was forged to help retailers and brands extend their reach to where customers organically spend their time online, while also giving them a first-to-market path to conversion with one click. The move also aims to expand retail media opportunities for grocers.

“AdAdapted’s patented shoppable technology and experienced sales and execution team, combined with eGrowcery’s superior e-commerce experience, creates a win for the customer, advertiser and retailer,” Molly McFarland, co-founder and chief revenue officer, AdAdapted, said in the release.

Advertising technology company Criteo has forged a preferred relationship with Magnite, an independent omnichannel sell-side advertising platform, to enable Criteo’s global retailer partners to leverage connected TV (CTV) through Magnite.

The collaboration will help retailers drive growth by extending their audiences off-site into addressable CTV environments to provide closed-loop measurement to their brand and agency partners, according to a news release. 

In terms of digital ad channels, CTV and retail media are continuing to grow this year, with CTV projected to grow 27.2% and retail media by 20.5% in the U.S., according to eMarketer. 

“Retail media is moving up the marketing funnel, and we’ll see CTV and closed-loop measurement converge this year,” Brian Gleason, chief revenue officer at Criteo, said in the release. “Together, Magnite’s brand-safe, best-in-class CTV inventory and Criteo’s powerful in-market, commerce audiences will bring meaningful, measurable results to retailers, driving more revenue.” 

The partnership enhances Criteo’s demand-side platform (DSP) — Commerce Max, designed for enterprise brands and agencies — while also offering demand opportunities for Magnite’s platform customers. Commerce Max soft-launched after a market test with Best Buy in September 2022 and will roll out to key markets later this year. 

“Criteo occupies a unique position in the retail media marketplace, helping 160 retailers globally extend their audiences beyond their own walls,” Sean Buckley, chief revenue officer at Magnite added. “We’re excited to work closely with the Criteo team to add value with our CTV expertise and help retailers leverage the high impact of premium, large-screen CTV along with the dynamic, audience-specific strengths that this format can deliver.” 

Kroger Health, the healthcare division of The Kroger Co., has unveiled a new brand campaign dubbed "A World of Care is In-Store." The effort focuses on the various ways shoppers can take advantage of Kroger’s health services at its local grocery stores. 

Through streaming video, radio commercials, social media posts and in-store signage, the brand campaign aims to tell the story of how Kroger’s 24,000 health professionals (e.g., registered dietitians, pharmacists and nurse practitioners) make it easier for customers to live healthier lives, per a news release.

"'A World of Care Is In-Store' speaks directly to our purpose to feed the human spirit," Colleen Lindholz, president, Kroger Health, said in the release. "It highlights that Kroger Health is no farther away than our neighborhood grocery store. We sit at the nexus of food and pharmacy, which uniquely positions Kroger Health to improve outcomes through simplified health, wellness and nutrition solutions. Every day, we provide millions of customers the care they need to thrive, right in their communities."

The Kroger Family of Pharmacies and The Little Clinic teams have collectively administered more than 12 million COVID-19 vaccines across 35 states during the last two years. The company's 226 The Little Clinic locations offer diagnostic treatment, ongoing health management, wellness visits and preventative care, among other services.

"By offering a variety of services, we aim to transform how quality and comprehensive health care is delivered," said Marc Watkins, MD, chief medical officer, Kroger Health. "This campaign demonstrates Kroger Health's commitment to ensuring health services are accessible and are available for customers where they are."  

Live commerce platform TalkShopLive partnered with Best Buy in December to connect livestream and in-store shopping. The collaboration aims to eliminate costly shipping expenses while getting products to shoppers quickly, according to a news release.

The effort launched on Dec. 12 with a live online show hosted by TikTok star Noah Schnacky, who highlighted some of his favorite products. (View here.) Shoppers who purchase from the livestream platform have the option to select in-store pickup for Best Buy orders.

TalkShopLive chose to launch its in-store pickup feature with Best Buy because of its longstanding relationship with the retailer, according to the release.

"We constantly strive to innovate solutions for retailers and brands to connect their live shopping experiences with physical shopping experiences," TalkShopLive CEO and founder Bryan Moore, said in the release. "For our large retailer partners, we have proven that products featured in TalkShopLive shows often garner an omnichannel sales lift upward of 1,500%. As holiday shopping often leads to shipping delays, in-store pickup allows customers to have a personal and interactive live shopping experience without any worries on delivery times."

In November, TalkShopLive revealed its first live commerce shopping windows on the streets of New York. Consumers could watch, listen and shop livestreams featuring celebrities such as Shania Twain, Dolly Parton, Garth Brooks, Kelsea Ballerini, Gloria Estefan, Drew Barrymore and Bobby Flay. 

Live commerce is emerging as a retail trend across sectors. Retailers are leveraging TalkShopLive's shoppable content by simultaneously sharing livestreams on their domains and social platforms as well as with publishers and suppliers to create multiple storefronts through content, according to the company. Walmart has also worked with TalkShopLive to host over 160 livestreams.

Marketplacer, a global technology SaaS platform, has signed a partnership agreement with CitrusAd, Publicis Groupe’s retail media tech company, to deliver advanced advertising opportunities. 

The agreement enables suppliers on Marketplacer-powered platforms to "stand out" on the digital shelf using sponsored products ads to drive incremental sales, according to a news release. This will also enable the marketplaces to grow their share of retail media revenue, which is expected to double in size to more than $60 billion from 2021 and 2024 in the U.S. alone, according to eMarketer.

CitrusAd, which is powered by Epsilon, helps retailers, distributors and wholesalers of various sizes build retail media networks in over 30 countries.

“This partnership with Marketplacer further cements CitrusAd’s vision for retail media for everyone, everywhere,” Adam Skinner, CitrusAd's chief operating officer, said in the release. “This solves the longstanding challenge of enabling marketplaces and their suppliers to benefit from the retail media revolution. Marketplaces are hugely important in e-commerce and are a high-growth sector.”

Marketplacer’s clients will have access to new revenue streams, and they can accelerate their marketplace strategy through a unified media network solution. Sellers will better understand what products to push and recommend to their customers, as well as understand cart behavior.

“By implementing CitrusAd via Marketplacer, you can maximize a marketplace’s earning potential through its seller networks and brand partners,” added Vanya Jakovljevic, Marketplacer Americas partnerships lead. “We’ve seen brick-and-mortar supermarkets get the most out of their shopper base for years, giving them the competitive edge through smarter media that reaches more shoppers across more channels. Now marketplaces can do the same.”