(L to R): Talia Arnold, Charles Lai, Tasha Day, Anna Elema, Sam Suarez, Hillary Kupferberg, Melissa Andraos, Melanie Mogey, Ryan Adams, Sean Edwards NEW YORK, NY — Exverus' own Media Director Anna Elema,  one of the agency's four original employees, is shortlisted for Campaign US Agency of the Year's Media Planner/Buyer of the Year category, and her team (which runs paid media strategy for smash TV hit "The Chosen" on Prime Video) is shortlisted for Media Team of the Year ! The seventh annual Campaign US Agency of the Year Awards recognize inspiring leadership, creative excellence and outstanding business performance at creative and media agencies across the U.S. The winners will be announced in March 2026. “Congratulations to our finalists, who have not only persevered through this challenging time in the industry but have also managed to drive breakthrough creativity that moves this sector forward...The jury composed of industry leaders has spoken and we look forward to celebrating together with you and your teams,” said Luz Corona, editor of Campaign US . Anna is known for building out creative media campaigns with fresh ideas that go beyond the basics and leverage midsized budgets for outsized impact. Never one to settle for the tried-and-true, Anna guides her clients into award-winning activations like spreading women’s empowerment messages around New York for Anna Wintour’s MasterClass , splashing Annie Leibovitz’ photography across the globe for “The Chosen” , and running a wildly popular social media giveaway for Stella & Chewy’s that supported local pet stores. There’s a reason Anna’s campaigns keep winning the top industry awards – they prove that creativity and technical agility are the key ingredients for media excellence. "Anna does an amazing job at listening to our vision and needs and turning it into a world-class campaign that drives results. The Exverus team is an active partner with us, not only planning and executing the campaign, but also making real-time optimizations based on what they are seeing. They do not ‘set it and forget it’ – they are a close partner truly obsessed with our success.” - Andrew Young, Head of Global Advertising & Insights for "The Chosen" Entries were evaluated by a panel of brand marketers. As clients, these marketers work with agencies daily and are in the best position to evaluate their successes in the past year. For more information about the 2026 Campaign US Agency of the Year awards, visit: https://www.aoyawardsus.com/ About Campaign US Campaign US captures the evolution of professional creative services, focusing on the U.S. We serve as a resource to creative and marketing professionals adapting to a fast-changing industry, while offering a community where creative talent can share their opinions and celebrate their work and achievements. About Exverus by Brainlabs Founded in 2014, Exverus by Brainlabs is a global, independent media agency growing brands through full-funnel media planning & buying, traditional and programmatic advertising, retail media & e-commerce, paid search, paid social, and analytics. Our data-driven media plans combine brand and performance under one scientific brain to confidently allocate every ad dollar for the maximum return. Named for the Latin phrase "from the truth", Exverus by Brainlabs is dedicated to transparency and long-term client trust.

While social media platforms can often feel enraging, distracting, or dividing; Pinterest commits to being an oasis of self-expression, discovery, and inspiration. Key Facts: Pinterest has 570 million monthly active users globally  and 98 million in the U.S., making it the second fastest-growing social media platform after Instagram as of May 2025. Pinterest delivers 32% higher ROAS than other digital platforms , according to a three-year Nielsen study of US and UK campaigns in food, health/beauty, and home decor. Positively viewed platforms can be up to 94% more impactful  in driving purchase intent compared to platforms viewed as non-positive, making Pinterest's brand-safe environment valuable. Pinterest Media Network Connect launched in September 2025 , enabling retailers to share first-party audience data and conversion data for better campaign tracking and sales attribution. Pinterest is one of the first places we look for fashion ideas, new recipes, design trends, or ways to decorate for a kid's birthday party. But beyond flipping through boards for inspo, it's a highly underrated advertising platform for brands looking to grow. With 570 million monthly active users globally and 98 million in the U.S. [as of May 2025], Pinterest is the second fastest-growing social media platform after Instagram. What's new in Pinterest advertising for 2025? Pinterest Media Network Connect In September 2025, Pinterest began rolling out its newest self-service tool, which collects retailers' first-party audience data, conversion data, and product catalogs to help advertisers better track the actual impact of their campaigns on sales. Holiday spending gold rush With tariffs looming and prices uncertain, marketers are in a particularly tough spot, tasked with making difficult decisions about how to keep sales up while consumer sentiment is down. Fortunately, economic spending continues to grow -- Q2 of 2025 saw 3.8% growth , with robust momentum expected for the rest of the year. This behavioral trend provides a ripe opportunity for brands to marry performance marketing now  (to get in on the doom spending spree) with brand equity building  (to keep customers returning when they’re in a better spot down the road). Fortunately, some media channels (like Pinterest) are proactively preparing for shaky waters by gathering data and sprucing up their offerings to help advertisers do more with less. AI-powered ad creative, targeting, & tracking Pinterest’s AI-powered Performance+ campaign builder ingests conversion signals, audience signals, creative assets, and objectives to automate ad placements and elevate brand affinity, traffic, and sales on the backend. Performance+ bundles creative assistance with target ROAS bidding together  for the strongest lower-funnel performance yet. In 2024, Pinterest expanded its Clean Rooms Partnership with LiveRamp , which allows marketers to safely use first-party data for targeted ads without needing to re-share that information with the social platform. LiveRamp’s Authenticated Traffic Solution can now be connected with Pinterest’s API for Conversions. This new solution builds on existing capabilities by creating addressable audiences that can be reached at scale and measured on any channel. This integration makes Pinterest the first platform to invest in both measurement solutions for their advertisers. Pinterest’s visual search  features let users interact with image Pins to quickly find and shop all the items in a picture. FAQs Why should I advertise on Pinterest? Positivity sells. Pinterest CEO Bill Ready has called out social media as "the new big tobacco," accusing their (faster growing) competitors of utilizing AI in a destructive way, leaving the world "more distracted, more depressed, and more divided." It's an interesting approach, given Pinterest is a social platform itself, but it speaks to the company's dedication to creating a different kind of experience from its rivals -- one that is built around self-expression and discovery. In a 2023 campaign, Pinterest championed the concept "Don't Don't Yourself" to encourage people to break out of their existing habits and routines. This shift to positivity and optimism presents an excellent opportunity for brand safety, something declining in other blue-chip social platforms. Positively viewed platforms can be up to 94% more impactful in driving purchase intent compared to platforms viewed as non-positive. How do I advertise on Pinterest? The media buying process on Pinterest is similar to other digital advertising platforms: Set up a Business Profile for free Establish a campaign objective using Pinterest Ads Manager, like brand awareness, driving web traffic, or converting sales. Define your target audience by demographics, psychographics, location, interest, etc. Creative assets: Choose which Pins to use in your ads, or use the Pin builder to create new ones Set your budget & bidding: Determine your daily or lifetime campaign budget. Then set your bids, which determines how much you pay per click or impression. Create ad groups: Multiple ad groups can target different segments of your audience or display different messaging, each with their own campaign objective, targeting, and budget. Analyze and optimize: Pinterest analytics provides rich insights into campaign performance. Optimize as you go by adjusting your bids, audience, or budget. But don't switch things up too often! Campaigns need sufficient time to gather significant data. How much does it cost to advertise on Pinterest? The cost depends on a number of factors, like: bidding strategy (manual or automated) competitiveness of keywords and industry targeting criteria (broad vs. niche) ad format campaign goals But a typical click-through cost (CPC) ranges from $0.10 to $1.50 per click; while cost per conversion usually ranges from $0.00 to $2.00. A three-year Nielsen study of US and UK food, health/beauty, and home decor campaigns found that Pinterest delivered a 32% higher ROAS than other digital platforms. As advertisers, we find Pinterest's position in the market very compelling. The positive atmosphere, the brand safety, the strong campaign performance, and constantly evolving media buying innovations are a real boon to our clients. To find out what else we’re hearing from Pinterest in agency-exclusive meetings, contact one of our paid social media experts here .   For more advertising news and tips, join our free weekly Paid Media Insights  newsletter.

Even for national or global brands, localizing the messaging and targeting can significantly increase revenue and media ROI. Photo Credit: Valeriia Miller When it comes to ad targeting, bigger isn’t always better.  Even for national or global brands, not every product or marketing campaign will be relevant to every consumer. Spending ad dollars to reach irrelevant consumers is a waste, so segmenting is non-negotiable! On a recent earnings call, Adidas  CEO Bjørn Gulden said, “We need to be a global brand with a local mindset. And I say local again and again and again – the world is developing in a way that you need to be successful locally. And, locally, it always starts with the consumer and the athlete.” And today, a wealth of technological developments are making it easy to get super-precise with your targeting and make the deepest impact for your brand. Why is local marketing important in 2026?  First, in years of economic uncertainty , media buyers need to be extra judicious in allocating every dollar for the maximum return. Focus your advertising budget into areas with the highest potential for conversion (either now or down the road).  Second, we’ve all heard it ad infinitum , but the media consumption landscape is fragmented . Everybody’s watching, listening to, and scrolling something different! Local marketing is a great way to broaden and retarget your audience, wherever they might be online. A recent Gallup poll  shows that Americans’ trust in the media is down  nationwide, thanks to misinformation and bias running rampant. People may be more trusting and responsive to messaging in their local news and communities than mass media outlets.  Source: Gallup 2024 Furthermore, SOCi’s Local Visibility Index 2024  reported that high-visibility brands  increase their revenue 2-3x the rate of the average company are more than twice as likely to be seen by consumers searching for local businesses online Collectively earn about $54.1B per year left behind by low-visibility brands Finally, EMARKETER  reports that 68% of US internet users say localized messaging from national brands makes the ads more relevant … …but only 26% of marketers consider strengthening hyperlocal advertising a top priority! That’s a big opportunity for your brand to swoop in and meet the neighbors.  Hyperlocal advertising significantly increases consumer curiosity, trust, and purchase intent. How do I optimize my Google Business Profile to show up when people search “[my product/service] near me?" Google  prioritizes three main factors when determining which businesses show up for "near me" searches: Relevance  is how well a Business Profile matches what someone is searching for. This means your Google Business Profile category, business description, services, and attributes need to align closely with search intent. Distance  (or Proximity) is self-explanatory – the proximity of the business to the searcher is a key factor affecting the positioning of the listing in Google Maps. Google considers the user's location to show the nearest relevant businesses.  Prominence   relates to how well-known and reputable your business is, both online and offline. This includes your review quantity and quality, citations across the web, and overall online authority. Other factors may include customer reviews, multiple locations (businesses with more have an advantage), and recent activity with the listing.  Learn how to adjust your content and search engine marketing strategies for AI-powered brand discovery. How can AI help with hyperlocal advertising? AI has always been the engine of programmatic advertising , which enables precise targeting and measurement  for optimization.  But now, you can get really granular with the help of machine learning models that build AI audience personas   based on behavioral patterns and media consumption in a given zip code.  Generative AI technology helps with dynamic creative optimization (DCO)  by producing multiple variants of a creative visual  asset to test at scale. DCO tech  can recognize patterns between audience behaviors and times of the day or year, customer attributes, and creative aspects.  How can I market to a specific region offline? One of the best ways to reach regional audiences is to sponsor local events.  Professional, college, or even high school sports bring people together by the thousands; and the audiences are attentive, in a positive mindset, and loyal to their teams. Concerts and music festivals do the same. Leveraging this built-in passion and sense of community can really serve your brand.  Out-of-home (OOH)  or digital- out-of-home (DOOH) media  is another great way to expand awareness and spread your message at scale. Dynamic creative optimization comes in handy here, too – you can automatically switch your messaging depending on the time of day, weather, or foot traffic patterns. The creative possibilities are endless, and programmatic DOOH  media buying makes precise targeting and measurement a breeze.  “We've heard skepticism about whether OOH works, but we've made a real impact for clients when we've paired foot traffic measurement with our OOH campaigns. We geofence the OOH targeting, and we can see who has passed by and whether they come into stores. From there, we can track lifts or changes in foot traffic after a billboard goes up. We've seen increases as high as 37% for a single store!” - Georgia Schreiner, Exverus Media Director Experiential activations  like pop-ups, in-store appearances, and guerrilla stunts make a big impression, bring people together, and spur millions of organic social posts for scale. How do I determine which markets to run paid media campaigns in? When we run national campaigns like Equinix B2B  or The Chosen  theatrical premieres, we carefully choose the most important designated marketing areas (DMAs) based on factors like:   Audience fit , which suggests conversion potential Scale of media availability Proximity to selling stores/retailers Size of addressable target audience in each market DMAs have historically been defined by TV and radio advertising networks, but they’re important for efficiently running paid social , search , out-of-home (OOH), experiential, and other media channels, too!  It takes a team of expert media planners and analysts to compile a bird’s eye view of your hyperlocal advertising’s impact on overall brand-building and sales growth.  To ask questions or find out more about hyperlocal, national, or global media planning strategies, drop us a line below! For more ad buying news and tips, join our free, weekly Paid Media Insights  newsletter.

Gen Z shoppers have been skipping digital ads since they were born. They grew up in a world where social media and technology are ubiquitous, making it harder for traditional advertisements to capture their attention. This presents a unique challenge for brands: How can you create memorable experiences that resonate with your target audience? The answer: think outside the screen and build better experiences . What are experiential marketing campaigns? Experiential marketing is about creating immersive experiences that engage consumers on a deeper level. Unlike traditional advertising, which focuses on pushing products, experiential marketing seeks to pull consumers in with memorable moments. It's about establishing an emotional connection with the customer before asking for a sale. One key aspect of experiential marketing is offering opportunities for real-world interactions . It's bringing advertising to life, appealing to more than just visual or auditory senses, as most ads do. Whether it's a pop-up event, a branded installation, or an interactive campaign, experiential marketing seeks to bring people together in the physical world, where they can touch, feel, and sense the brand in a tangible way. These one-off events are a lot of work and can be expensive, so why should brands bother? Why is experiential marketing so successful? As mentioned above, the multisensory nature of brand activations and the opportunities for authentic connection they offer make them more memorable (meaning higher brand recall ) than just seeing a digital ad on a screen. Second, brands looking to capture the attention of Gen Z shoppers should know that this generation values experiences over material objects -- they would rather show off a cool place or event they attended than a room full of stuff. Furthermore, experiential marketing can explode social media engagement . Gen Z is highly active on social media, and they love to share experiences with their friends and followers. By creating memorable experiences that are worth sharing, brands can tap into their attendees' influence and reach a wider audience. Insider Intelligence estimates that 60.7% of US adults between the ages of 18 and 24 are expected to be social buyers in 2024, making the need for experiential marketing paired with social media increasingly important. Finally, well-executed experiential marketing campaigns have a higher chance of getting free publicity for your brand than a standard ad. Publications like Campaign and Ad Age love to cover creative ideas that bring a brand to life. Experiential marketing examples The 2024 Super Bowl in Las Vegas was filled with fun, experiential activations. Ashley Furniture, for example, took over the Dawg House Saloon & Sports Book inside Resorts World casino, replacing tables and chairs with Ashley sofas and loveseats for watching the game. They placed QR codes on the coffee tables, sending visitors to the Ashley website to view inventory and specs for future consideration.   Meanwhile, Gatorade built an immersive, invite-only experience to launch its Gatorade iD membership. Upon signing up for the membership, invitees got an access card to the event, where they could use touch-screen kiosks to customize a Gatorade water bottle, answer questions to be matched with one of Gatorade’s Hydration products, or sit for a photo shoot with a robotic camera—the same technology Beyonce embedded into her Renaissance tour routine last year. Finally, Exverus Media's own 2018 Living Wall out-of-home (OOH) activation for SUJA won an Adweek Media Plan of the Year Award ! For that campaign, we partnered with NPRP Media and Humanaut to create a painted wall with real plants popping out in a trendy part of Los Angeles where Instagrammers flock. Experiential marketing fulfills the need for more holistic and interactive buyer experiences. Innovative strategies like these blur the traditional boundaries of retail, offering an experientially rich, seamless shopping journey that resonates with Gen Z's preference for novelty and convenience. Moving forward, paid media advertisers should explore similar ways to integrate social commerce strategies into their campaigns. Even if you don't have big-game budgets to work with, we can get creative and think of ways to meet potential customers IRL. Is your brand ready to explore experiential marketing? This piece originally appeared in our weekly Paid Media Insights newsletter. For more tips, research, and analysis; subscribe for free here .

What brands need to know about generative engine optimization (GEO) to drive sales rather than traffic Artificial Intelligence (AI) has wedged its way into our daily lives, revolutionizing how we work. From Gmail's suggested replies to HubSpot's AI Assistant, AI has simplified tasks such as responding to emails and planning our schedules. However, its impact on business marketing is more profound and is poised to reshape the digital landscape. What's next for AI-powered search marketing? Google keeps pace While generative AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Perplexity challenge Google's long-held search dominance, Google is keeping pace with a flurry of new developments like AI Overviews in search results, Multimodal AI, Gemini 3, Meridian, and PMAX, just to name a few. In fact, Exverus Associate Director of Paid Search Michael Robbins predicted to ADWEEK in 2025: "Google Gemini will even the field with ChatGPT in 2026. ChatGPT struggles to keep pace on quality and profitability because it doesn’t have the advertising infrastructure Google does." As a media buying agency, we're keeping a sharp eye Google and other AI platforms piloting ad offerings for our clients. Agentic commerce AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Perplexity and retailers like Amazon and Walmart began rolling out AI shopping assistants in 2025, helping online shoppers discover brands, recommend products, and compare prices. Brands, in turn, have begun plugging their product info and marketing activations directly into AI App SDKs to meet and convert consumers right where they search. We expect agentic discovery and shopping to quickly develop and transform e-commerce marketing in 2026 and beyond. Click to learn how your brand can get recommended to shoppers by AI chatbots & shopping assistants. Optimizing for conversion value, not just visibility or clicks Google processes 16.4 billion searches daily versus ChatGPT's 800 million queries—a volume gap that seems insurmountable. But here's what the market share charts don't show: AI search visitors demonstrate 4.4x higher conversion rates than traditional organic search visitors, according to a June 2025 SEMRush study. Since we can't buy AI search ads yet, brands must treat AI Overview citations as their competitive moat, shifting focus from traditional rankings and traffic to authority and brand visibility. FAQs about GEO What is generative engine optimization (GEO)? According to SEO.com, generative engine optimization (GEO) is the practice of optimizing your brand to be more visible in generative AI search engines. To appear in generative engines, you need to create good content, answer questions directly, and build your brand visibility. The emerging generative models of search engines prioritize speed and efficiency, resembling chatbots more than the conventional keyword-driven search model. To align with these changes, content must be easily digestible and provide direct answers to users' queries. Why are my click-through rates dropping? AI Overviews (AIOs) are fundamentally altering search result layouts. Recent research confirms a significant shift in search behavior: both organic and paid CTRs have reached historic lows, especially for queries featuring AIOs. AIOs contribute to "zero-click" searches, where users get answers directly in the search results, reducing website visits. While CTRs drop, search marketing remains critical for brand authority, trust, and engagement. Your content can still drive awareness and consideration for your business; it just needs to evolve away from optimizing for clicks and toward optimizing for sourcing in AI-generated answers. Plus, your brand website is already writing your ad copy: PMAX, Advantage+, and TikTok Smart Creative all scrape brand sites to generate ad copy. PMAX optimizes across Google's entire ecosystem, not just traditional search placements. Our clients see optimal results when deploying multiple campaigns with robust creative assets and comprehensive audience data. How do I optimize my content for GEO? Answer frequently asked questions (FAQs). Instead of writing around keywords, answer questions your audience is likely to ask about the topic in natural language (no fluffy corporate speak!) Structured data. Schema markup makes a website 6x more likely to appear in rich snippets and reduces the cost per acquisition (CPA) by an average of 23%! First-party data fuel. High-performing first-party data strategies begin with observed on-site behavior. Sites with strong event tracking see 2.8x higher conversion rates! Keep it up to date. Google scans your site every 24–48 hours to optimize ads. Outdated content means outdated targeting. Technical hygiene is non-negotiable. Web vitals, schema markup, load speed, mobile responsiveness—these now determine media performance. Test different ad formats to maintain visibility. While AI Overviews don’t allow direct ad placement, Google says other formats like PMAX and Shopping Ads can still be included in AIOs if they're aligned with the searcher's intent. Additionally, Google's Demand Gen campaigns deliver immersive, discovery-focused ads designed for upper-funnel objectives. Include case studies or examples. The word "examples" in a page title or header is a strong signifier to LLMs - and humans love them, too! Repurpose earned media coverage for your owned channels. Quotes or interviews in reputable publications, brand mentions, and positive reviews all contribute greatly to your AI Search ranking. (Thank your PR team!) While some tactics are universally beneficial, it's crucial to tailor them to the specific needs of each business. For instance, a clothing company might prioritize "Gen Z fashion tips" over technical jargon, while health snack food brands may focus on authoritative content and statistics instead of excessive keyword use. How do I measure AI visibility? Rather than click-throughs or site visits, AI visibility as a metric incorporates many different signals pointing to your company's authority level, expertise, and trustworthiness. Here are some of the emerging metrics of GEO success, as reported by WARC: Source: WARC "Future of Media 2026" While AI tools offer powerful awareness-building capabilities, success in using them still hinges on human direction and high-quality data inputs. Fortunately, we're all stocked up on both. For further reference: Brainlabs, "Rethinking marketing metrics in the age of AI Visibility." Profound, "AI Platform Citation Patterns: How ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and Perplexity Source Information." For more ad buying news and tips, join our free weekly Paid Media Insights newsletter.

Reddit has evolved from a niche forum into a marketing powerhouse, reshaping how consumers make decisions & how AI answers their questions. When someone asks an AI chatbot for product recommendations or advice, there's a strong chance Reddit's community discussions are directly shaping that answer. 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. Users are more likely to trust recommendations and make purchases from Reddit forums than other social media platforms. Brands can get started with this 7-step Reddit marketing strategy: Audit your audience's Reddit behavior Start with a test budget Test Reddit's standard ad formats Experiment with high impact, custom ad formats Consider organic participation Understand Reddit's emerging Shopping ecosystem Measure beyond ROAS If you're still pouring all your ad dollars into Meta and Google while ignoring Reddit, you're missing one of the most compelling opportunities in digital advertising right now. The platform has quietly evolved from a niche community hub into a marketing powerhouse that's reshaping how consumers make decisions—and how AI answers their questions. 2025 Updates: Reddit dominates AI-generated answers Here's the headline that should grab every marketer's attention: Reddit claimed the number one spot as the most cited domain for AI across all models in Q2 2025, according to data from analytics platform Profound. It was cited twice as often as Wikipedia in the top ten most cited domains. While ChatGPT still relies most heavily on Wikipedia, both Google AI Overviews and Perplexity—the AI models consumers are increasingly turning to for answers—rely most on Reddit as a source. This isn't just an interesting data point. It's a fundamental shift in how information flows online. When someone asks an AI chatbot for product recommendations, travel advice, or buying guidance, there's a strong chance Reddit's community discussions are directly shaping that answer. More than 70 million people now use Reddit's on-platform search each week, and the platform is actively positioning itself as a go-to search engine. For brands, this creates a powerful multiplier effect. A well-placed, authentic contribution to a Reddit discussion doesn't just reach that subreddit's community—it potentially influences millions of AI-generated responses and search results for months or even years to come. Click to learn how we successfully built supplement brand Theralogix' trustworthy reputation and grew sales with Reddit marketing. Why diversifying beyond Meta and Google pays off The advertising landscape is more concentrated than most marketers realize, and that concentration represents a missed opportunity. Google and Meta capture 88% of mobile app ad spend despite shifting user attention, while independent apps have over 2 billion global daily active users—equal to Instagram and TikTok combined. The financial case for diversification is compelling. As EMARKETER reported in August 2025, consumer app marketers who diversify their media mix beyond Google and Meta see an average increase of 116% in Day 30 ROAS. Among categories with statistically significant data, shopping, education, and health and fitness marketers achieved the strongest results, with average Day 30 ROAS improvements reaching 214%. This isn't about abandoning Meta and Google—they remain essential channels. It's about recognizing that your audience's attention has distributed across platforms that your advertising budget hasn't yet followed. Learn social media advertising budget allocation: 60% Meta, 30% TikTok, 10% Reddit. Click for expert tips, metrics, attribution models & real case studies. Why Reddit works: Trust, authenticity, & influence Reddit succeeds as a marketing channel because it operates fundamentally differently from other social platforms. According to Reddit's own research, the platform delivers three critical advantages: Trustworthy 7 in 10 Reddit users agree that Reddit is a trustworthy platform to inform product and brand decisions—outperforming Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok, Pinterest, Discord, Snapchat, and YouTube. Authentic 69% of users agree that Reddit conversations offer authentic experiences that make it easier to compare products. Influential Reddit users are more likely to buy a product or brand if conversations on Reddit recommend it. The platform's structure around niche subreddits means you're not just targeting broad demographics—you're reaching people who are actively engaged with topics directly related to your product or service. Someone browsing r/fitness or r/personalfinance isn't passively scrolling; they're deeply invested in that interest and actively seeking recommendations. Reddit's long game: Why it matters now Reddit stands out as an under-monetized digital media channel—it earns below-average ad revenues per hour of time spent compared to other major social networks, trailing both Snapchat and X in monetizing its user activity. For advertisers, this under-monetization is actually good news. It means less competition for ad placements, lower costs per impression, and opportunities to establish brand presence before the platform becomes saturated. Reddit is building new advertising tools including product ads, shopping ecosystems, freeform ads, and AMA (Ask Me Anything) units. While Meta and TikTok are established and crowded, Reddit being in build mode means first-mover advantage for advertisers willing to invest now. The platform is also playing the long game on user attention. Reddit is the social platform where consumers are projected to maintain the most "time spent" year over year. Unlike scroll-heavy platforms where users mindlessly consume content, Reddit users are leaned-in, actively seeking information, and often closer to a purchase decision. A simple Reddit marketing strategy that works Based on our experience helping clients build successful Reddit presence, here's the approach we recommend: 1. Audit your audience's Reddit behavior Identify 3-5 subreddits where your target customers genuinely spend time. Use Reddit's search function to see what questions they're asking and what problems they're trying to solve. Match your targeting to the funnel Reddit offers sophisticated targeting options that let you reach audiences based on communities (specific subreddits), interest groups, keywords, and standard demographics. The key is aligning your targeting with where users are in their journey. For example, if you're marketing a fitness supplement: Upper Funnel (Awareness) : Target broad fitness communities like r/fitness and r/bodybuilding Mid Funnel (Consideration) : Focus on nutrition-focused communities like r/nutrition or r/loseit Lower Funnel (Conversion) : Reach users in action-oriented communities like r/MealPrepSunday or r/Supplements This funnel-based community targeting ensures you're delivering the right message to users at the right stage of their decision-making process. 2. Start with a test budget Allocate a small percentage of your social budget (5-10%) to test Reddit promoted posts across your identified communities. Start with awareness objectives before moving down funnel. Test Reddit's standard ad formats Reddit offers three core ad products to get started: Promoted Posts : Reddit's flagship ad format that reaches users in their feeds as they explore content from relevant communities. These look native to the platform and blend seamlessly into the browsing experience. Conversation Placements : Deliver your ad within a conversation thread, beneath the post and before comments, engaging users when they're most leaned-in to a particular topic. Product Ads : A newer offering specifically designed to display important products across all Reddit platforms, reaching lower funnel goals and driving high-intent users to your site with a native look and feel. 4. Experiment with high-impact custom formats Once you've established baseline performance with standard ads, consider Reddit's non-standard offerings: Freeform Ads : This highly engaging format allows for heavy information coverage using multiple asset types (images, videos, text). Users click the ad to read full content rather than leaving Reddit immediately, making it excellent for storytelling and upper-funnel brand building. Promoted AMAs : "Ask Me Anything" sessions are uniquely Reddit formats that allow brands to connect with the community in an exclusive, authentic way. Pick a recognizable host (like a founder, subject matter expert, or brand ambassador) and set the stage for relevant interaction. Reddit has streamlined AMA ad creation directly in Ads Manager with dynamic CTA buttons that drive users to RSVP and participate. Takeovers : For maximum impact, consider Reddit Takeover (site-wide homepage takeover), Category Takeover (owning top communities in your target category for 24 hours), or First View (owning the first unique ad impression on Reddit's Home and Popular pages). Data shows that takeovers incorporated into a full-funnel strategic plan can drive a 68% increase in conversion rates and 12% improvement in cost per acquisition. 5. Consider organic participation. While paid advertising is the fastest way to scale, having team members genuinely participate in relevant subreddits (with full transparency about their affiliation) builds authentic brand equity that amplifies paid efforts. 6. Understand Reddit's Emerging Shopping Ecosystem Reddit is actively building out shopping tools for H1 2026 testing, including organic shopping features, upper funnel shopping ads, and lower funnel shopping ads with contextually relevant dynamic product ads served in product conversations with Reddit-native social proof. Early adopters of these tools will have opportunities to shape how shopping evolves on the platform. Measure beyond immediate ROAS Given Reddit's long-tail nature and influence on AI/search, consider assisted conversions, brand lift, and longer attribution windows when evaluating performance. The brands winning on Reddit today aren't necessarily the biggest or best-funded—they're the ones willing to meet users where they are, contribute value to communities, and think strategically about how the platform's unique characteristics create marketing leverage. That's an advantage any brand can develop with the right strategy and commitment. Ready to develop a Reddit strategy that drives real results? At Exverus by Brainlabs, we help brands build authentic presence across emerging channels while maintaining efficient customer acquisition. Let's talk about what's possible for your brand.

Not just for content creation, generative AI can already optimize ad personalization, predictive analytics, and real-time data monitoring. Generative AI, the advertising industry's buzziest buzzword, is emerging as a powerful tool that could potentially reshape the way we as advertisers strategize our campaigns. But for media planners, it can be difficult to see how generative AI can actually help in day-to-day tasks. When you're constantly planning, launching, and optimizing campaigns, it's easy to dismiss anything that doesn't immediately improve efficiency or increase ROI. But the truth is, generative AI is already proving its worth in media planning and will only become more important in the future. Initial findings show that when AI-based media buying is employed the ROAS can double or triple compared to previous efforts. So: How can generative AI be used for media planning? Here are a few applications available TODAY that we're testing for our clients. Precise Audience Targeting AI's Deep Learning enables a breadth and depth of knowledge in how targeting is applied to ad campaigns. Instead of broad audience targeting segments like "in-market auto shoppers", AI unlocks the nuances of an individual's consumer journey and has a much deeper understanding of the context of the ad. It analyzes customer data and third-party signals to provide segmentation recommendations, making data-based strategies more effective and efficient. The uncomfortable truth is that traditional audience targeting wasn't just legally problematic—it was strategically flawed. We paid a premium "audience tax" for behavioral segments that promised precision but delivered diminishing returns. Consumers rejected invasive tracking. Regulators caught up. And the foundation crumbled. But here's the opportunity: The collapse of cookie-based targeting is forcing brands to rebuild smarter, more sustainable segmentation strategies. At Exverus, we've been helping clients navigate this transition for years, and the results speak for themselves. The new playbook: Three pillars of post-cookie targeting 1. Contextual intelligence. Modern contextual advertising goes far beyond keyword matching. It's about aligning your message with the emotional tone, content environment, and audience mindset. Research from Integral Ad Science shows contextually aligned ads deliver 23% higher ad recall and 27% better brand narrative recollection. We've seen it work: Our campaign for The Chosen achieved 4.6x the industry standard brand lift by meeting viewers in content they already trust and enjoy—no personal data required. 2. First-party data as your moat. The brands winning right now are building direct relationships with customers through owned channels: email lists, loyalty programs, zero-party data collection. This isn't about replacing third-party cookies with creepy alternatives—it's about earning trust and permission. Retail media networks exemplify this perfectly, offering first-party purchase data at scale while respecting consumer privacy. 3. Privacy-first measurement. Ditch vanity metrics like clicks and impressions. Invest in tools that respect consumer privacy while delivering real business insights: marketing mix modeling (MMM), attention metrics, brand lift studies, and AI-powered contextual solutions. These aren't workarounds—they're upgrades that measure what actually matters. Ad Personalization Generative AI can be used to create custom ads based on the viewer. This capability is so much more than the "dynamic" ads of the past. Imagine the ability to deliver custom video ads informed by the viewer's demographics and location, and those decisions being made in real time and at a fraction of the cost of producing multiple video commercials for different markets/regions. At Exverus by Brainlabs, we've spent 12 years refining our approach to full-funnel media planning for growth-stage, culture-creating brands. Here's what demonstrably works. Improved Programmatic Advertising Performance AI is driving improvement in programmatic advertising performance by powering recommendation engines based on past performance and enhanced audience targeting. Unlike its human counterparts, AI never sleeps. This makes real-time bidding and programmatic buys a breeze. Answers to all the questions you never thought to ask. Automated Planning Documentation The generation of crucial media planning documentation such as investment plans, campaign parameters, creative assets, and media placement selection is being automated by AI, leveraging campaign-level insights in the process. Data-Driven Virtual Assistants Tools like Omni Assist provide data-driven insights, notifications, and recommendations throughout the planning and buying workflow, reducing discovery time and accelerating learning. But as with any tool, generative AI is only as good as the data and inputs it receives. The onus is still on us to provide the strategy, prompts, brand information, and feedback to make sure the tech is working for us, and not the other way around. This piece originally appeared in our weekly Paid Media Insights newsletter. For more tips, research, and analysis; subscribe for free here.

Social media platforms are now brand discovery hubs, and search engines are now mid-funnel. Learn how to meet savvy consumers everywhere they search. Need efficiency in your paid media plan? Save money on lower-funnel media spend by building awareness and demand for your brand among new consumers before they search. What is discovery-driven demand? Consumers, especially of Gen Z, are increasingly discovering brands without actively seeking them in a process that WARC  calls discovery-driven demand. The consumer journey  isn't a straight line anymore—it's a multidimensional, curiosity-driven web shaped by discovery-first platforms. We've found that establishing brand recognition earlier in the journey dramatically reduces the premium you'll pay for bottom-funnel conversions. This upstream approach doesn't just build awareness—it creates efficiency across your entire media investment. Is social media a search engine now? December 2024 data from ForbesAdvisor shows that social media has rapidly overtaken traditional search engines like Google and Bing as the first choice for product and trend discovery among Gen Z and Millennials. Interestingly, only 64% of Gen Z and 35% of millennials use search engines for brand discovery, a significant decline compared to 94% of Baby Boomers. Instead, popular social platforms are becoming primary search tools, with 46% of Gen Z and 35% of millennials preferring them over traditional search engines. A whopping 44% of Gen Z discover new brands on social media daily! Why the shift? Trust and community. Social networks like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok have given voice to influencers and creators who have credibility with younger generations, which traditional marketing efforts lack. Ads are nice, but it's amazing to have a creator who fits the demographics of your target buyer and talks about your product.   That's why partnerships, influencer marketing, and user-generated content are vital to today's campaigns. Micro and macro communities have been built around these individuals, creating a sense of authenticity and connection  that search engines (and brands) simply can't compete with alone. While social media platforms can often feel enraging, distracting, or dividing; Pinterest commits to being an oasis of self-expression, discovery, and inspiration. How else do Gen Z shoppers discover brands? Here are a few ideas for reaching new consumers everywhere they’re open to inspiration:  1. Optimize for social-search  and retail-search Apply SEO principles to: Instagram , where captions perform better than hashtags to meet searchers in discovery mode TikTok , which is ripe for expanding reach and influencing viewers, particularly on its For You page and in search results Retail media networks , which can pair shopper data with sponsored recommendations more precisely than ever Exverus’ paid search expert Michael Robbins advises, “Find the long-tail search terms that resonate with your consumers best, and aim to own those key terms. Be specific; don’t take your hands off the wheel, going broad-match or letting the ‘algorithm’ do the work.” CASE STUDY: For Dymatize protein powders, we chose to highlight the brand’s unique flavor offerings (like Fruity Pebbles!) in the creative assets for social and retail media, and in turn, we saw searches for those same flavors spike significantly. Influencer and UGC social content effectively drove Dymatize branded searches 2. Invest in (and repurpose) visually engaging content. TikTok videos, Pinterest  boards, and Social Reach activations pique curiosity and engagement. Pinterest is especially well-suited for reaching people not looking for a particular product but open to inspiration.  And don't just tout a product, build a community. Research suggests that as many as 60% of millennial purchases are driven by FOMO, or Fear of Missing Out. Build the perception that owning a particular product means belonging to a larger community, and young adult customers will loyally align themselves with your brand.   3. Create new paths to purchase. Our award-winning Premier Protein & Dymatize campaign for October 2023 Prime Day did just that. On TikTok  and Instagram, we served up the kind of influencer content our target enjoys to create awareness; nurtured consideration and urgency with TikTok’s interactive features; and attached shoppable links from the social videos directly to the Amazon product pages with excellent deals to follow through with purchase. Learn more below: Start the conversation. To be recommended by AI-driven search , focus less on website click-through and more on product feeds that answer searchers’ natural questions. Engage meaningfully in conversations on Reddit , which trains AI models, as well. Reddit has evolved from a niche forum into a marketing powerhouse. Learn how consumers make decisions and how AI uses Reddit to answer their questions. Get OOH and IRL. High-impact, out-of-home (OOH) media activations are excellent awareness-builders that drive branded searches.  John Hoover, SVP at NPRP Media , has the proof: “OOH media drives 7x more social engagement and search than any other format. An impressive 48% of people exposed to OOH featuring a celebrity or influencer visit the product or brand’s website afterward.” Case Study: When MasterClass sought Exverus’ help announcing the new talent on their platform (Gordon Ramsay, Serena Williams, Lewis Hamilton, etc.) we partnered with NPRP Media to implement a can’t-miss blend of large-format and digital OOH, paired with social retargeting, in multiple target demo areas. As a result, we saw a 667% boost in MasterClass searches, 47% lift in positive brand sentiment, and a 25% lift in aided brand awareness. The campaign won two Adweek Media Plan of the Year awards! Digital OOH media activations for MasterClass significantly raised branded searches Businesses that rely on traditional search traffic are being left in the dust by generative AI tools and shifting consumer behavior.  Don’t wait to be searched for—strategically position your brand where discovery happens organically, creating demand before consumers even know what they're looking for. Ready to rethink your discovery strategy? Let's discuss .  This piece originally appeared in our weekly Paid Media Insights newsletter. For more tips, research, and analysis; subscribe for free here .

In August 2025, Premier Protein and Milk Bar debuted free, protein-enhanced dessert menu items with media support from Exverus by Brainlabs. Photo courtesy of Premier Protein Key Facts: Launch Date : August 2025 Promotion Hours : 3:00pm-4:00pm daily (Power Hour) Locations : Milk Bar NYC, LA, DC flagship stores + new Chicago location Delivery Partners : GrubHub, UberEats, DoorDash Featured Product : Blueberry Pancake Super Cookie Nationwide Availability : milkbarstore.com shipping Marketing Support : Exverus by Brainlabs (media agency of record) Key Personnel : Christina Tosi (Milk Bar Founder), Amy Larek (Premier Protein Senior Director of Marketing) Full Press Release: (EMERYVILLE, Calif.) August 1, 2025 --   Premier Protein  understands the power of an afternoon sweet treat – but doesn't believe in sacrificing flavor for nutrition. That's why they're collaborating with the iconic team at  Milk Bar  to deliver protein-packed menu items this August. That's right, the minds that brought you the viral cereal milk ice cream, birthday cake truffles and compost cookies are now baking with the dependable, yet delicious, Premier Protein to create a decadent Protein Menu all month long. With support from media agency of record  Exverus by Brainlabs , Milk Bar will be hosting a daily Premier Protein Power Hour, right when that afternoon slump hits! During the hours of 3pm – 4pm, fans can get one protein menu item for FREE at participating Milk Bar locations (NYC, LA and DC) and on partner delivery apps (GrubHub, UberEats and DoorDash)., ensuring your midday treat has the power to fuel your journey and keep the party going! "As a mom, business owner, and eternal dessert lover, I'm always looking for ways to fuel my day without sacrificing deliciousness," said Christina Tosi, founder of Milk Bar. "That's why I'm so excited to team up with Premier Protein on this delightfully unexpected yet truly crave-worthy collaboration, proving you really can have your cake and eat it too." "At Premier Protein, we believe that a health and wellness journey shouldn't mean compromising flavor. That's why we've partnered with Milk Bar, whose creativity and impressive flavor innovation we've long admired, to bring to life a delicious menu made with some of the most popular products in our portfolio." -- Amy Larek, Senior Director of Marketing For fans who can't make it to the flagship stores, Blueberry Pancake Super Cookie will also be available at the new Chicago Milk Bar store and online at  milkbarstore.com  for delivery nationwide. Premier Protein:  Instagram ,  Facebook ,  TikTok ,  Pinterest   Exverus by Brainlabs:  Instagram ,  LinkedIn ,  YouTube   For more media buying campaigns, news, and tips, join our Paid Media Insights  newsletter.

Exverus by Brainlabs was awarded Gold for The Chosen: Indie Streams to Big Screens full-funnel media campaign. DECEMBER 12, 2025 -- Independent media planning and buying agency Exverus by Brainlabs has been awarded Gold for Best Campaign by an Independent Agency at the 2025 Festival of Media: North America Awards for The Chosen: Indie Streams to Big Screens. Led by Exverus VP of Media Planning & Strategy Tasha Day and Media Director Anna Elema, the planning and performance marketing teams behind the campaign engineered an entirely new model for the entertainment industry by turning a small, indie TV show into a $50MM smash at the box office globally. We took over Times Square in NYC with giant DOOH featuring promo shots by Vogue photographer Annie Leibovitz. We leveraged community power, interactive digital units, and appeared on tentpole TV events to drive theater ticket sales. As a result, we lifted Aided Awareness by 4.6x the Entertainment category benchmark, sold 6.1MM tickets globally, and generated over $50MM in box office revenue, charting in the Top 3 among big-studio blockbusters. Watch the official campaign case video below: "It's exciting to be part of this unconventional way of bringing entertainment and content to people. I do think it very much could be the way of the future. It's shifting from traditional studios to making it about what the fans want , and they're showing (or they're proving) that they want it by investing in it." --Tasha Day, VP of Media Planning, Exverus by Brainlabs Festival of Media: North American Awards (FOMNA) was launched in 2017 and has significantly grown every year since. It recognizes, benchmarks and amplifies the best of the best media work from North America and Canada. The jury, featuring industry leaders from Google, The Coca-Cola Company, Meta, PepsiCo, Amazon, Microsoft, Mars, L’Oréal, and Audible, convened for the final round of judging to determine this year’s winners. The awards were announced live on Thursday, December 11th, 2025 in New York. See the full list of winners here . About Exverus by Brainlabs: Founded in 2014, Exverus by Brainlabs is a global, independent media agency growing brands through full-funnel media planning & buying, traditional and programmatic advertising , retail media & e-commerce, paid search , paid social , and analytics . Our data-driven media plans combine brand and performance under one scientific brain to confidently allocate every ad dollar for the maximum return. Named for the Latin phrase "from the truth", Exverus by Brainlabs is dedicated to transparency and long-term client trust. Learn more at exverus.com . Wonder what we can do for your brand this year? Drop us a line below, and let's talk!

Exverus VP of Media Planning & Strategy Tasha Day spoke on the Screen & Sponsor podcast about the omnichannel media strategy for TV's smash hit “The Chosen”. An excerpt of their conversation is below. Listen on Spotify | Apple Podcast S&S: I'd love to hear about the different channels that Exverus is hitting with this and what inspired you to go with those particular mediums. Tasha Day: We like to look at everything. As I mentioned, at Exverus we're believers in a full funnel strategy; that awareness is just as important (it’s critical) to drive conversion results (ticket sales, merchandise sales, etc.) And so we have a varied media mix that we employ to drive results for “The Chosen”, which includes:  For our ongoing merch plan, it's everything from Video and YouTube, where we know we can target not only faith-based content but other history content and things that resonate with the kind of viewers who would be interested in “The Chosen”.  For our upcoming campaign, for example, for the release of Season Five, this is gonna be next-level because we know we really need to make a splash. And so we've got tons of tentpole activations from:  Times Square Out-of-Home March Madness lots of high-impact CTV that connects directly to ticket sales through a QR code Display: We'll be retargeting people who were exposed to our CTV in the first week and then letting them know: Part Two is gonna be coming out this weekend; Part three is coming out the next weekend. Paid Search to capture interest in all the demand we're creating as a result of featuring "The Chosen" in these super cool Out-of-Home wallscapes and taking over Times Square.  It's gonna be really exciting! "We're creating a moment for 'The Chosen' this year." Shoppable CTV Ads: Are Consumers Ready for T-Commerce? And then, since you brought up the app, we've seen tremendous results driving app downloads for "The Chosen". In fact, in three months, we helped drive an additional million downloads, so they've got over 5 million now. And [we’re] using Display and Search placements in Apple to drive serious web traffic; we saw over +211% increase in where-to-watch web traffic, which would lead people to download the app, so they could watch previous seasons of “The Chosen” for free.  That's the great thing about “The Chosen”, is that they want to make it accessible to everybody regardless of where they live or what language they speak . So it's available in 50 languages, and we also support the effort globally. We have media buys – YouTube, for example, in 20 international markets pushing viewership through the app so that people know that it is available to everyone. It's available for free, so they can join the community and get excited about what really is a very emotional drama that's really fun to watch. S&S: Of course, this is a special instance, but as you're talking, I'm just thinking to myself: It's almost like a DTC play, because you and the filmmakers are managing this full-funnel experience for everyone. And if you're working, I assume, with a traditional distributor, then maybe there are more stipulations about how you might approach something like that, which will be a question for another time! But it's just something that came to mind as you were talking – perhaps this is a new way we're gonna start seeing things get made and then supported by agencies. T: Absolutely. And it's exciting to be part of this unconventional way of bringing entertainment and content to people. I do think it very much could be the way of the future. I mean, it's shifting from traditional studios to really making it about what the fans want, and they're showing (or they're proving )   that they want it by investing in it. The series has been available on multiple streaming partners in the past, and they're consolidating this year. I don't know if I'm at liberty to share quite yet who that one streaming partner is gonna be, but it is a big one! Just the fact that the streaming partners were competing  to be able to have the rights to stream all the seasons and this new one, shows what kind of demand and interest there is in the show.  We're super stoked about this year, as well as the fact that there's gonna be coming theatrical events that are even bigger. Because what happens after “The Last Supper” is the series of events that happen in the story, between the crucifixion and the resurrection…there's so much story to tell. It's really exciting to be a part of it. S&S: I am kind of curious. What challenges do you guys face? I imagine being crowdfunded that, sometimes you guys have to maybe pull back budget or things like that? Or is it because you guys have the nonprofit? Does it come in pretty well? Is your budget pretty consistent?  T: No. Actually, it has not been. One of the biggest challenges that we faced initially and that we've been communicating and working with “The Chosen” – and they've been great partners, they see us as experts and true partners, and they listen to what we have to say – is coming in, knowing what it really takes to break through for theatrical release, because it is competitive. And with declining movie attendance as it is, plus many features coming out on the same weekend, it's gonna be really challenging to make an impact, with $3MM nationally. I mean, that's just pennies when you're talking about a theatrical release.  And so over the past year, we have had many, many conversations and shared much data to prove how an increased investment would benefit them in terms of reach and frequency, media best practices, and principles we'd be meeting that would set them up for success to help them reach their theatrical ticket goals and their merchandise sales goals. It has very much been an education along the way, both for us and for them as our partnership has grown, to prove why more investment was actually going to help them unlock their business goal success. So, their investments are up much more – 4x [higher] this year than they were last year. So it is working, and we have a ton of faith that all of that media and increased media investment is going to make the impact that they need to keep the show going.  S&S: I imagine that you guys have to spend a lot of time figuring out the lifetime value of a crowdfunded project. Right? Are they sticking around and then also buying the merch and how you guys are able to benefit from that? I'm curious, what are you guys' main KPIs? I guess you have the app installs, the viewership, and (I imagine) return on investment, but I'm just curious.  T: Yeah, it does vary by initiative. For the theatrical piece, they've done a lot of research; they actually have really smart research people on their end who formerly worked at Disney. And their goal for this theatrical release is to increase their awareness, because through research, they realized that was one of the biggest barriers to getting people to actually attend subsequent theatrical releases. Nobody knew that there was a release one weekend, and then two weekends later, they were gonna release the next couple of episodes in theater. So, we have an awareness increase: a hard number that they want to reach, say, they wanna get to a 55% awareness [goal] with this campaign, which I totally think we can do, especially because we've done the work, and we know what our media plan will get them.  But then also, in tandem with that is ticket sales. They have ticket sales KPIs . They've got numbers that they have to meet. And so, we're connecting the pipes on the back end and implementing things like I mentioned, like the QR code that will lead to ticket purchase on our CTV so that we can track ticket activity on our end so that we can monitor how well the media plan is delivering against those ticket sales goals.  Of course, merch is a really interesting one, and we've done some really, really cool things there because merch was all about a revenue increase goal. And so, we have done a lot of work connecting the pipes on the back end between their Shopify accounts and our dashboards and data and implementing multi-touch attribution that attributes how much merchandise sales each channel is providing – how much CTV, for example, or how much Search is contributing to the revenue goals. We've learned so much about the different multi-touch attribution models there are between algorithmic and linear. And I know it seems like I'm seeking a different language, but it's been super interesting to put such concrete results against our media plans for merch.  S&S: Well, I think it's interesting too. You always hear of media agencies that wind up helping their clients actually discover new target audiences . I talked to some folks at some point that said, We didn't realize that our home security camera could be interesting for fish owners who wanted to watch their fish while they were gone. So just funny things like that. But it seems like there's an opportunity with all this data and analytics to really go deep for them and then bring them insights that maybe they didn't even know. T:  Absolutely. And that's another one of our goals for this year's campaign is that they identified some areas where we can beef up viewership even against women, which might seem counterintuitive, but the majority of viewership comes in through men who bring it to their family. And so, one of the goals is: How can we find the right insights to connect with women so that we're getting women to also start the viewership chain and bring it into their home? Of course, the a-ha  moments come not only with research upfront but as we activate the campaign and look at performance. That's going to be a particular focus this year, is to figure out how can we really connect with women and then optimize our plans so that we're speaking to them in a way that then fuels word-of-mouth or it grows the fanbase with women specifically.  S&S: Awesome. Well, thank you so much, Tasha, for sharing all of these insights. I feel like I learned quite a bit about the process of marketing a series. So really appreciate having you on, and until next time.  T: Thanks so much for having me. This has been really fun. For more advertising news and tips, join our free, weekly Paid Media Insights  newsletter.

How our retail media and e-commerce experts build cohesive shopping experiences that meet audiences everywhere Photo Credit: Cottonbro Studios We've said it before -- kill the funnel ! The linear sales funnel is now obsolete, as the path to purchase is complex. Consumers weave between physical stores, websites, apps, and social platforms with increasing fluidity. For brand marketers and advertisers, this presents both a challenge and an opportunity: how can you create cohesive, compelling experiences that meet potential consumers wherever they are? Download our original report here The difference between unified commerce and omnichannel Unified commerce (UC) represents the natural evolution of omnichannel strategies. While omnichannel focused on consistency across touchpoints, unified commerce takes this further by integrating backend systems to eliminate silos and create truly seamless experiences. UC allows us to manage optimizations, implement automation, report data, and more all in one platform or tech stack. According to a December 2023 Bolt survey , retailers identified omnichannel selling as a trend with the greatest impact on their business in 2024—ranking it equally important as AI. This shift isn't just about technology; it's about fundamentally reimagining how brands connect with consumers. The importance of unified commerce for brands Customer acquisition Shoppers don't think in siloes or channels. A 2024 report by Coresight Research (the official research partner of Shoptalk) showed that 65.8% of US consumers use multiple channels (such as online or in-store) to some degree when shopping. Winning brands need to understand their target consumers' habits in multiple areas of life and reach them at multiple, connectible touchpoints. Loyalty and retention Offering your consumers multiple ways to buy increases the chances they'll come back for more -- as long as it's a positive experience! Build more effective media plans Collect insights from everywhere your consumers engage with brands and build a clear data narrative in order to develop more effective media plans in the future. How to build a unified commerce strategy Invest in unified tech stacks Work with commerce platforms and marketing technology providers that offer integrated solutions. Look for partners that can connect the dots between physical retail, e-commerce, social commerce, and marketplaces. At Exverus, we use Skai to manage our e-commerce search efforts for the Amazon, Walmart, Sam's Club, Instacart, Target, and Kroger retailers. Other platforms include Salesforce, Adyen, and Kibo. Follow the customer, not the channel Structure your marketing plan around audience segments , rather than channels. This approach keeps the focus on delivering value to specific audiences regardless of where they engage. Use mobile as the connective tissue Mobile is often the bridge between physical and digital experiences. Prioritize mobile strategies that enhance discovery, consideration, and conversion across environments. Build measurement frameworks that cross channels Develop attribution models that account for the complex, non-linear customer journey. Focus on understanding touchpoint influence rather than siloed channel performance. Challenges to consider Data fragmentation Bringing together in-store, online, and offsite behaviors requires significant investment in infrastructure and strategy. Many brands struggle with legacy systems that weren't designed for cross-channel integration. Privacy and trust Consumers want personalization but are increasingly wary of how their data is used. Transparency and compliance will be critical as privacy regulations evolve and consumer expectations shift. Relevance at scale Delivering contextual, effective ads without overwhelming consumers or violating their privacy is a delicate balance. Brands must find ways to be present without being intrusive. Read here The path forward The brands that will dominate aren't just connecting channels; they're obliterating the boundaries between them completely. Your consumers are already living in a unified world. They're swiping from TikTok to Amazon to your site to a physical store without blinking. If you're still thinking in terms of "digital strategy" versus "retail strategy," you're already dead in the water. The real question isn't whether you'll adopt unified commerce, but when . Will you be the brand that sets the standard, or the cautionary tale that couldn't keep pace? For more ad buying news and tips, join our free, weekly Paid Media Insights  newsletter.