News Briefs

The Mars Agency and Analytic Index, a Utah-based data platform, have formed a strategic partnership to bring higher levels of data and commerce intelligence to Mars' proprietary martech platform, Marilyn.

The combination of Marilyn and Analytic Index’s retail search and digital shelf intelligence platform will help Mars deliver actionable insights to clients across multiple e-commerce environments, according to a news release.

The partnership expands Mars' suite of shopper insights, retailer intelligence and performance measurement tools already provided to clients through Marilyn.

"E-commerce and retail media are critical aspects of the connected commerce landscape, and our practices in those areas are already best in class," said Rob Rivenburgh, CEO of The Mars Agency, in the release. "Now, combining Analytic Index's retail search and media knowledge with Marilyn's shopper insights and performance data will enable our clients to make even better decisions, create more connected experiences and drive even stronger results."

In two years, Analytic Index has provided unique insights into the digital media activity taking place on Amazon, Walmart, Target and Kroger. The company will also soon extend its Amazon coverage into Europe and Canada and expand its U.S. purview to track Albertsons Cos., Lowe's, The Home Depot, Best Buy and Chewy.

Analytic Index was co-founded by Nathan Rigby and Mike Karlsven, the team that previously launched and operated One Click Retail (now Edge by Ascential).

The partners will continue to serve clients independently while also joining forces as needed to deliver a strong set of insights on connected commerce, per the release.

Atlanta-based SmartCommerce, which provides SaaS solutions for CPG companies, has acquired Myxx, a shoppable marketing platform, and Basketful, a provider of in-context e-commerce tools and category/channel insights.

Myxx CEO Dede Houston will join SmartCommerce and continue to drive Myxx's vision, according to a recent news release. The digital shopping platform was designed to simplify the grocery shopping experience by connecting brands and retailers to shoppers through add-to-cart recipes and e-commerce marketing tools.

“Today’s technology puts the consumer squarely at the center of product discovery, purchase and repurchase. Rather than shopping by pushing a cart down a crowded aisle, consumers are turning to influencers, friends and contextual solutions like recipes to find and choose products,” said Jennifer Silverberg, CEO of SmartCommerce, in the release.

“The Myxx functionality applies to much more than just recipes — it makes it easy to buy and sell anything that is purchased as a package (e.g., DIY kits, cleaning bundles, outfits and beauty regimens), which is important because consumers buy solutions, not products. We’re beyond excited to bring this new functionality to our CPG clients,” Silverberg added.

In a news release announcing the other acquisition, Basketful co-founder Jim Lesch said, “Consumers amplify the messages that matter to them, and filter the ones that don’t, so effective marketing requires getting the right message on the right product to the right consumer at the right time and in the right context. Our tools and insights engine combined with SmartCommerce data and reach will help accelerate that for CPG brands.”

SmartCommerce has already begun integrating Basketful and Myxx’s technologies and analytics, and the company will begin rolling out enhanced services to clients in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Bright Mountain Media, an end-to-end digital media and advertising services platform, and the company’s Wild Sky Media publishing division, which primarily engages multicultural audiences, have unveiled a zero-party data platform called the MomIndex.

The MomIndex provides real-time insights into one of the most powerful consumers: moms. Zero-party data, or data that a consumer voluntarily shares with a brand, allows Wild Sky Media and its advertising partners to get in touch with moms directly and more personally, according to a recent news release.

The MomIndex gives advertising partners access to Wild Sky Media’s zero-party data for consumer insights and targeting across its portfolio of sites, including Mom.com, CafeMom, LittleThings and MamasLatinas.

“Our sites were built on the idea of community — it’s in our DNA as a company — so this year we renewed our investment in this virtual village in order to forge deeper, more meaningful relationships with our core audience of moms,” said Matt Drinkwater, CEO of Wild Sky Media’s parent company, Bright Mountain Media, in the release. “… MomIndex allows us to hear directly from our audience, providing us a digital pipeline into what moms are thinking at that very moment. Understanding moms’ current mindset — their hopes, dreams, questions, concerns — allows us to have a conversation with them in real-time and better serve their needs.”

“As we enter a difficult economic period, knowing exactly how moms plan to navigate the challenges ahead has never been more important,” added Justin Santino, Wild Sky Media’s SVP of revenue operations. “MomIndex will play an integral role in informing our advertising and e-commerce campaigns, as well as our editorial curriculum.”

Wild Sky Media will regularly share findings from the MomIndex in the coming months. The inaugural study will dive into the concept of the “default parent” — the invisible load of parenthood that falls to one parent (typically moms) and the impact it has on budgeting and planning, especially ahead of the holiday season.

In a move to accelerate innovation, Kroger in-house data shop 84.51° has created a science and technology solutions team and related venture dubbed 84.51° Labs. Led by chief data and technology officer Todd James, the team will work to deliver solutions that advance how shoppers engage in the retail experience at Kroger.

Utilizing first-party customer purchase data, the team will work to drive its insights-to-activation engine and unlock the ability to scale sciences through platform engineering, according to a news release.

Former senior director at Capital One, Christina Garcia, recently joined the 84.51° leadership team as senior vice president of engineering. Garcia will be responsible for the company's software engineering, data, architecture, security teams and technical capabilities. At Capital One, she led significant portions of the cloud journey and built an engineering function for a key commercial venture.

With the goal of accelerating innovation, 84.51° Labs aims to reinvent grocery from a merchandising perspective and power decisions that impact CPG shoppers and Kroger category managers.

Led by Andrew Cron, chief scientist, SVP, science, 84.51° Labs will pursue a diversified portfolio of data science technology opportunities with a focus on business impact and scaling business teams. Labs’ leadership will work on business planning processes to develop business cases and align roadmaps for incubation and adoption, according to the release.

The structure includes:

• Research Center: Explores a portfolio of advanced data science technology capabilities and feasible development opportunities.
• Rapid Development: Creates new prototypes to demonstrate the value of new solutions and deploy throughout the enterprise.
• R&D Studio: Explores the intersection of emerging technologies, data & science and customer experiences to better serve customers.

In today’s competitive environment, it can be challenging for small and emerging brands to drive purchase intent and build awareness. Only 15% of new CPG products are still around in two years' time, according to research from Nielsen.

AdAdapted, a shopping list marketing and insights platform, has partnered with WeStock, a retail sales platform that simplifies data for CPG brands, to address these challenges and help emerging brands grow distribution and ensure they stay on shelves by increasing sales.

The partnership aims to increase the availability of AdAdapted and WeStock’s tools to each of their customer bases, providing them with a more holistic approach to retail distribution and increasing sales velocities and shopper loyalty.

“Emerging brands need efficient and effective tools to grow and maintain their retail footprint through shopper engagement,” said Cameron McCarthy, co-founder and CEO, WeStock, in a news release. “Together with AdAdapted, we make it easy for businesses to get shopper endorsements to win on-shelf distribution and then to reach new consumers, gain product trials and ensure their brands succeed.”

“AdAdapted and WeStock both bring unique offerings and solutions to the table that help small and emerging brands get in front of new shoppers and drive data-driven sales,” added Mike Pedersen, co-founder and CEO, AdAdapted.

AdAdapted, a shopping list marketing and insights platform, has partnered with Flipp, a retail technology company, to help U.S. brands drive shopper intent and simplify the process of building digital shopping lists for shoppers.

Flipp is a shopping app for list building, circulars and deals, connecting North America’s retailers and CPG manufacturers to shoppers each week. The partnership means AdAdapted’s add-to-list technology can be utilized on the Flipp platform. AdAdapted can advertise CPG products to shoppers as they build their mobile lists on Flipp, enabling brands to reach shoppers via branded products and driving awareness, consideration, purchase intent, trial or sales.

“In this inflationary environment, shoppers are increasingly using digital pre-shopping tools to decide what to buy — digital circular readership in the U.S. is at a four-year high,” said Sam Rosenbaum, director, brand platform, Flipp, in a news release. “By partnering with AdAdapted, we’re helping brands shape purchase decisions in this incredibly high-intent context while providing a non-disruptive, relevant experience for our users.”

Beyond Flipp, AdAdapted’s exclusive network of apps includes Tasty, Our Groceries, Buy Me a Pie, BigOven, Listonic and Prepear, among others.