Habit Burger & Grill takes direct aim at competitors in Los Angeles with OOH media bought by Exverus

How is AI used in programmatic advertising? What is programmatic advertising? Programmatic advertising is powered by AI and machine learning to power the auctions themselves, serve How is AI used in programmatic advertising? AI-powered algorithms analyze vast amounts of data to identify patterns and trends in user behavior – As AI technology evolves and advances, so too, will its media buying capabilities -- but it’s not there

Add Meta's AI-powered Advantage+ suite into the mix, delivering 22% performance lifts on average, and Meta's AI-powered Advantage+ tools are driving significant performance gains, with businesses using Advantage ad targeting and placement Advantage+Creative , a generative AI  tool that creates several variations a social commerce  tool tying ad views to actual conversions; and now, Advantage+Leads , which uses AI , head of Meta’s Global Business Group, says the company is driving massive user engagement through AI

lifting Shoppable CTV isn't just about sales Instructional beats promotional content Prioritize UGC over AI Prioritize UGC over AI Consumer sentiment on AI-generated video ads is at an all-time low. Generative AI tools like Invideo and Gemini Veo can quickly churn out content, but the rise of misinformation If you're going to use AI, always double-check facts, ensure accuracy, and prioritize a personal, relatable "extremely important" to their social media strategy, compared with just 2% who say the same about AI

With third-party cookies on life support, it's imperative that brands target audiences based on the media they consume, not personal data. The media buyers at Exverus always consider context when targeting consumers. Why contextual advertising impacts ROI The ad industry has been studying the effects of context since 1958, but many marketers have shrugged it off like a task they'd get around to eventually. That era just ended. With third-party cookies on life support and privacy regulations tightening globally, contextual advertising isn't just timely - it's table stakes. But convincing your CFO requires answering one simple question: "Does contextual advertising deliver measurable ROI for brand campaigns?" The answer is yes, but not reasons you might expect. Unlike performance campaigns where you can draw a straight line from click to conversion, brand campaigns operate on a longer timeline and require more sophisticated measurement. Contextual advertising fits naturally into this framework because it influences brand perception at scale without relying on invasive tracking. Research from Integral Ad Science (IAS) shows that contextually aligned ads deliver a 23% increase in detailed ad recall and a 27% boost in recollection of broader brand narratives. Furthermore, research shows contextual ads are 50% more likely to be clicked on, and they deliver 30% higher conversion rates. Why? When ads appear in content consumers already care about, they inherit that positive attention. When ads align emotionally and cognitively with surrounding content, they feel helpful, rather than intrusive. Many brands know intuitively that reaching audiences in relevant content environments matters, but translating that intuition into budget justifications requires data - not just vanity metrics, but true impacts on the business. Here's how. Key metrics that demonstrate ROI Brand lift A properly structured brand lift study measures whether your contextual placements are actually moving the needle on awareness, consideration, and purchase intent. We've seen contextual campaigns deliver brand lift increases ranging from 5% to 25% depending on category, creative quality, and media mix. The key is using test-and-control methodology to isolate the impact of your contextual placements from other marketing activities. A scientific approach to measuring paid media's impact on actual business growth Viewability & Attention Because contextual ads appear in relevant content environments, users are already engaged with related topics—they're not being interrupted mid-scroll through unrelated content. Industry benchmarks show contextual placements often achieve 5-15 percentage points higher viewability rates than behavioral targeting, with some premium publishers seeing viewability rates above 80%. More importantly, attention metrics (measured through eye-tracking or engagement proxies) tend to be stronger when the ad aligns with the content context. Advertisers can now measure the quality of attention paid to their ads. But is it worth the investment? Cost-efficiency Contextual advertising typically delivers 10-30% lower CPMs than behavioral targeting, especially on premium publisher inventory. Why? Because you're not paying the "audience tax"—that premium charged for highly specific behavioral targeting segments. Lower CPMs mean your brand campaign budget stretches further, achieving more reach and frequency within the same investment. Cross-channel attribution Contextual advertising rarely operates in isolation, and its impact often shows up in downstream channels. We've tracked significant increases in branded search volume (15-40% lift is common) following contextual brand campaigns, along with measurable improvements in direct traffic and organic social engagement. Eliminating data silos and maximizing visibility into the customer journey is crucial to understanding how your omnichannel campaigns are performing. MMM can track the impact of upper-funnel, brand-building tactics on sales performance downstream. Examples of contextual targeting The Chosen meets viewers where they already watch For 2025's The Chosen: Indie Streams to Big Screens campaign, Media Director Anna Elema and her team gathered insights about their target audience using market research tools like MRI Simmons. Then, they determined the media mix based on channels the typical consumer of that profile already frequents, rather than relying on identifiable data from the consumers themselves. At the end of the campaign, the Analytics team partnered with DISQO for a cross-channel brand lift study to capture the impact of paid media across Search, Social, CTV, Audio, and others holistically. The study showed a +5.6% brand lift, or a staggering 4.6x the industry standard! This client was an indie production with a limited budget, so we couldn't waste a dollar appealing to irrelevant audiences. Contextual targeting helped us efficiently reach viewers in brand-safe environments they already trust and enjoy. Exverus VP Tasha Day explains the award-winning strategy that sold $5MM at the box office Premier Protein teases premium recipes in Pinterest One of Exverus' largest clients, Premier Protein, knows well the power of social media advertising and social commerce, but platforms like Instagram and TikTok are saturated - it's hard to stand out! Pinterest, by contrast, is more niche and specifically interest-based. Users visit Pinterest actively hoping to be inspired, learn new things, and discover new products. As part of an ongoing, integrated media strategy, the Premier Protein team at Exverus took over the Pinterest homepage and search page with dayparted recipe videos to catch coffee drinkers in the morning and fitness enthusiasts later in the day. The results? Reach that exceeded Pinterest's CPM standard by 14% and Engagement that outperformed benchmarks by 8%! Click to see more Premier Protein activations on Pinterest Seedtag explodes awareness & consideration for Colgate Click to see more of Seedtag's campaign case studies Switching gears now: An ad-tech vendor we work with, Seedtag, illustrates how contextual advertising maximized brand awareness and positive perception for Colgate Plax mouthwash. Seedtag deployed its custom Contextual Impact Display, Contextual Branded Video, and Contextual Engagement Display formats against online content related to wellness, lifestyle, sports, and health that Colgate users enjoy. The ad units felt informative, rather than disruptive. As a result, brand favorability spiked 44%, and purchase consideration lifted 12% among Colgate's target consumers. Seedtag's cookie-less solutions drove measurable impact on the brand's sustained growth. Brush up on the basics of programmatic advertising with real FAQs from marketers. Final Note Consider multidimensional alignment: Match not just the topic but the emotional tone, energy level, and cognitive environment of the content your ad runs against. A funny ad in a sitcom only works if humor connects authentically to your brand story. For more media buying tips, agency news, and case studies, subscribe to our weekly Paid Media Insights newsletter.

AI-powered ad creative, targeting, & tracking Pinterest’s AI-powered Performance+ campaign builder ingests out social media as "the new big tobacco," accusing their (faster growing) competitors of utilizing AI

The prestigious honor goes to agencies who have shown significant growth & innovation in the last 5 years. We are honored to be named Adweek’s Breakthrough Media Agency of the Year !! 🏆 Our talented team and brave clients earned this award through their creativity, tenacity, and honesty.  “Exverus clients appreciate the customization and personalized attention they get from the agency, as is evidenced by the brand Stella & Chewy’s , a raw pet food company that found Exverus because it could help the brand punch above its weight in the crowded pet food market.  ‘They have the years of experience, but they also are incredibly nimble and are able to be reactive in the moment and adjust to suit our needs in a really thoughtful way”, Betsy Radue, senior director of media, PR, and digital marketing for Stella & Chewy’s told Adweek.  ‘One of the best things about Exverus is how they really focus on prioritization and keep us honest about the metrics that matter to our business goals.." - Doug Cornille, chief growth officer at BellRing Brands [parent company of Premier Nutrition Company] Cornille added that the Exverus team is extremely proactive, challenging the brand and ensuring it has the best media plans.” Read more about our decade of successful campaigns for brands like CLIF Bar, New Belgium & Bell’s Brewery, and Kum & Go here:  https://www.adweek.com/agencies/adweek-breakthrough-media-agency-of-the-year-exverus-media/   For media strategy tips, research, and analysis; subscribe to our weekly Paid Media Insights   newsletter for free here .

company, and I've met a bunch of people at your company, you're all wicked smart, but you pass the airplane How we're using AI at work MH: Are you optimistic about AI being able to take some of the repetitive

Trade Desk Photo Credit: The Current  by The Trade Desk Unpopular opinion: Hillary Kupferberg wants AI She says passing off tedious and mundane tasks like billing to an AI assistant would free us all up to

AI LLMs are the funnel now. Surely we couldn't get through an article about product marketing without mentioning AI or agentic commerce Conversational AI is a new purchase channel. Learn more below: AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude will soon collapse the customer journey into a single

evolved from a niche forum into a marketing powerhouse, reshaping how consumers make decisions & how AI When someone asks an AI chatbot for product recommendations or advice, there's a strong chance Reddit's Key Facts: Reddit is now among the most-cited domains by AI models , making it a ripe opportunity for brands to be visible in AI results. While ChatGPT still relies most heavily on Wikipedia, both Google AI Overviews and Perplexity—the AI

audience segments will reshuffle; media channels will converge; paths to purchase will shorten; and AI Learn how AI powers MMM for comprehensive looks at campaign results, plus when to use MMM vs. What role does AI play in media planning? AI excels at tactical optimization, pattern recognition, and processing large datasets. But AI doesn't replace strategic thinking.