News Briefs

Men’s grooming brand Manscaped has launched in Tesco stores across the U.K. after a successful debut at Tesco in Ireland. 

As Manscaped’s second retail partner in the U.K. — joining pharmacy and health and beauty retailer Boots — Tesco will stock an assortment of the brand’s grooming tools and formulations in 337 locations across the U.K. and online at Tesco.com.

“Tesco Ireland was our first European brick-and-mortar retailer, and our debut was met with great success,” Catherine Cronin, vice president, retail, said in a media release. “We are thrilled to build on this and bring our best-in-class products to hundreds of locations in the United Kingdom. Tesco is a market leader for good reason; it is a reputable and well-trusted name that has served the U.K. for over 100 years.”

The selection of Manscaped’s core collection now available in-store and online at Tesco U.K. includes:

• The Lawn Mower 4.0 – A fourth-generation groin and body hair trimmer featuring SkinSafe technology, an LED spotlight, wireless charging, waterproof design and a travel lock.
• The Essentials Kit 3.0 – A kit including The Lawn Mower 3.0 trimmer and Crop Preserver anti-chafing ball deodorant.
• Crop Preserver ball deodorant – An anti-chafing lotion with aloe vera.
• Crop Cleanser groin wash – A gentle wash featuring a prebiotic-infused formula with vitamin E, aloe and menthol.

San Diego-based Manscaped was founded in 2016 and has since rolled out globally in 39 countries via DTC and on Amazon in more than 100 countries. In the U.S., the brand’s retail partners include Target, Best Buy, Macy’s, Walgreens and Men’s Wearhouse.

Zitcha and Broadsign have teamed up to integrate the Broadsign out-of-home (OOH) programmatic advertising platform with Zitcha’s retail media platform. 

The collaboration was forged to help retailers “maximize and monetize” in-store digital display networks and enable advertising partners to view and book available in-store inventory and review campaign performance alongside the retailer’s other media channels, according to a media release.

The companies say the combination of technologies enable a retailer and its advertising partners to develop more holistic on- and off-site marketing strategies and leverage the retailer’s first-party data for more effective customer targeting and attribution reporting. 

The integration arrives as 80% of shopping still happens in-store, according to research from the National Retail Federation (NRF). And, U.S. retail media spending is on the rise — with projections for it to increase from $31 billion in 2021 to $61 billion by 2024, according to eMarketer.

[Read: Marketers More Enthusiastic About Retail Media, Report Finds]

“The potential of in-store retail media is huge and yet still relatively underutilized by retailers and brand advertisers,” Troy Townsend, CEO, Zitcha, said in the release. “We think the ability to run in-store screens and report on transactions, similar to other marketing channels, is going to be a game changer for brands looking at how they spend their OOH budgets.”

“Out-of-home and retail media are colliding, and we’re thrilled to be working with Zitcha to break down barriers to a more holistic retail media advertising experience,” added Adam Green, Broadsign senior vice president of strategy. “Our joint efforts will help retailers and advertisers reap the benefits of omnichannel advertising across retail media network inventory, including in-store displays. The new integration will allow them to reach audiences on the path to and now also at the point of purchase, while simultaneously providing a simpler way for retailers to monetize their in-store display networks.”

Broadsign works with retail giants globally — including Auchan, Ahold Delhaize, Coles and Woolworths — to scale, manage and sell digital and static OOH inventory through automated software, intelligent campaign tools, network operations and programmatic advertising.

Zitcha brings together a retailer’s onsite, offsite and in-store media assets to create a scalable omnichannel retail media platform for brands. The platform combines data-driven campaigns with reporting and walled gardens.

PetSmart is luring shoppers to stores by offering pet parents a festive photo opportunity for their dog or cat with Santa Claus this holiday season as well as extra incentives for participating loyalty members.

The “Paws & Claus” photo event will take place Dec. 16-17 at all stores in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. According to a dedicated web page promoting the event, reservations are recommended and will take priority, though walk-ins will be accepted, time-permitting. Appointments are open now for all locations via the retailer’s website. 

Photos can be taken on personal devices as well as using the on-site store device, which will deliver the image via the email provided. 

PetSmart Treats Rewards members (excluding walk-ins) can earn three times the points for purchases made on the day of their appointment by using their Treats Rewards email to check in to the event. 

Rewards members who make a photo appointment will also receive a special code for one free 19-page (8.5 inches × 8.5 inches) hardcover photo book from Mixbook (valued at $37.99 in the U.S. and $46.99 in Canada). The offer expires Dec. 31. 

In addition, PetSmart is also offering participants $10 off one in-store purchase of $20 or more Dec. 16-17 if they use Afterpay. To redeem, shoppers will have to activate the offer in their Afterpay Wallet using promo code “PETSMARTSANTA10” before making their in-store purchase. 

Boston-based Breaktime Media has brought on three new team members with deep experience in the industry.

Brad Godwin joins the company as SVP of sales, partnerships and client evangelist. He is focused on helping brands and their agency partners win at retail.

Godwin has more than a decade of agency experience. He recently completed a six-year tenure at Shopkick, where he last served as SVP, head of CPG/retail partnerships.

Adam Gottsch has also headed from Shopkick to Breaktime to become its newest sales director. His previous role was VP, brand and retail partnerships. Before that, Gottsch held senior positions at eBay Ads and Triad Retail Media.

Rounding out the hires is Carly Michaels, who is now Breaktime’s senior project management lead. She worked at Quotient Technology for seven years in various roles, including project management office manager, senior media project manager and senior media sales planner.

Breaktime continues to add experience to its teams following the hiring of Jake Morrisroe this summer as director of promotions.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has named the recipients of its 2023 Geo and Global AWS Partner Awards. The cloud computing company’s annual program recognizes members of its AWS Partner Network (APN) from around the world that play key roles in helping customers drive innovation and build solutions on AWS.

LiveRamp, a data collaboration platform, was one of the companies recognized this year during Amazon’s Partner Awards Gala at AWS re:Invent event taking place Nov. 27-Dec. 1 in Las Vegas. The recipient companies were recognized for having business models that embraced specialization, innovation and cooperation over the past year and continue to evolve and thrive on AWS, according to a media release from LiveRamp.

LiveRamp received Global Industry Partner of the Year in Advertising and Marketing, which recognizes top AWS Partners who collaborate alongside top brands, media publishers, agencies and technology companies.

Advertisers, marketers, publishers, media companies and platforms use LiveRamp’s embedded solutions on AWS to amplify the value of their first-party data and enhance their data infrastructure in the cloud. LiveRamp says its technology allows these companies and their data teams to build an enterprise identity foundation, engage in privacy-centric data collaboration and enhance activation, media measurement and ecosystem connectivity within their cloud environment.

“We are deeply honored by this recognition from AWS,” Noel McMichael, vice president of commercial cloud at LiveRamp, said in the release. “It reflects the caliber of our team, strength of our collaboration with AWS, and exceptional value we are delivering to our joint customers.”

The APN is a global program focused on helping companies build successful AWS-based businesses or solutions by providing business, technical, marketing and go-to-market support. The APN includes independent software vendors (ISVs) and systems integrators (SIs) around the world, with AWS Partner participation growing significantly during the past 12 months, per the release.

A panel of AWS experts selected the winners based on strict criteria with third-party audit conducted by Canalys, and selected with a special emphasis placed on customer success use cases presented in the nomination form, according to AWS.

LiveRamp is an AWS APN Partner and an AWS Clean Rooms Partner.

See the full list of honorees here. 

Music, media and advertising technology company Stingray has launched 18 new audio and video channels on Samsung TV Plus, Samsung’s free ad-supported streaming TV and advertising-based video on-demand (AVOD) service. These channels are now live and available to users in the U.S. on Samsung Smart TVs, Galaxy devices, Smart Monitors, Family Hub refrigerators and on the web.

The new audio channels on Samsung TV Plus cater to a broad spectrum of musical tastes and genres, such as Hot Country, Remember the 80’s, Nothin’ But 90’s, Flashback 70’s, Smooth Jazz, Easy Listening, The Spa, Today’s K-Pop, Today’s Latin Pop, Romance Latino, Classic Rock, Hip-Hop and Greatest Hits, according to a media release.

[Also Read: Stingray Grows Streaming Partnership with TCL in U.S., Canada]

Stingray also launched video channels on Samsung TV Plus. These are available on both FAST channels (i.e., free connected TV streaming services like Samsung TV Plus, Roku and YouTube) and as collections via AVOD. These include:

• Stingray Holidayscapes offer themed holiday backdrops set to uplifting season-based music.

• ZenLIFE by Stingray promotes daily wellness with guided meditation, tranquil sounds and easy-listening music.

• Qello Concerts by Stingray presents full-length concert films and documentaries about popular artists.

• Stingray DJAZZ offers jazz concerts, films and documentaries from top venues and festivals.

• Stingray Classica highlights classical music concerts and ballets from venues around the world.

"We are incredibly excited to join forces with Samsung TV Plus, a leading FAST service with unparalleled reach in delivering free premium entertainment, to showcase our diverse portfolio of audio and video channels," Jim Riley, president, U.S. division at Stingray, said in the release. "This collaboration underscores the appeal of high-quality music experiences and significantly broadens our audience to millions of Samsung TV Plus users across the U.S."