Signaling to clients a deeper move into AI, Horizon Media announced three new appointments yesterday for accelerating the independent media agency’s “AI-native product innovation and marketing intelligence.”
Krish Kuruppath (formerly Epsilon), Jeremy Flynn (Clear Channel) and Allan Johnston (Vivaki AOD, Razorfish) are the executives and will report into Dominic Venuto, the agency’s Chief Product and Data Officer.
Horizon President Bob Lord said the hires reflect a commitment by the agency which was spurred by artificial intelligence: “It’s universally acknowledged that the marketing landscape demands more than incremental improvements to the traditional agency approach…” Read the release.
Adweek noted that the moves will support Horizon’s “AI native” marketing platform called Blu which was “introduced in September 2023, [and] is designed to streamline marketers’ tech stacks by combining data integration, automation, and AI-powered decisioning.” Read more on Adweek.
Applovin loving AI
At least one Wall Street analyst thinks Applovin is leading everybody when it comes to AI and ads (or at least in one respect) and the company deserves its lofty valuation.
UBS analyst Chris Kuntarich said in a note to investors yesterday, “All in, it’s still underappreciated that [Applovin] is ahead of [Meta] and [Google] using LLMs to deploy code, while [Applovin’s] smaller scale and lean operating philosophy also make the efficiency gains more visible in the P&L.”
Read more on Robinhood’s Sherwood News which calls Applovin “the ad tech company that makes everyone think of ‘Superbad.’”
Podcast: vibe revenue
Kim Graves, who is GM, Americas at Notion (a connected workspace/workflow solution), discussed enterprise sales in the age of AI on the 20VC podcast last Friday.
Ms. Graves shared [beginning 57:10] several insights on how her clients are embracing the opportunity with AI including “vibe revenue” ….
“It’s picking up.
I see enterprises going from experimental AI budgets to looking at what are the outcomes that they’re trying to drive with AI, because that’s where AI is going to be very sticky.
Another thing I’ve heard recently is “vibe revenue,” where there’s a lot of experimental budget with AI and companies are just trying things out.
But the real winners will be the companies that have those renewals a year or two later, because they’ve figured out how to drive business priorities with AI.
Ms. Graves also discussed the importance of AI in her day-to-day as a sales leader:
I was actually thinking about this after my performance review on Tuesday…
My performance isn’t based on how well am I using AI or how savvy I am. My performance review continues to be:
How do I drive revenue?
How do I drive a pipeline?
How do I drive my people?So, given those elements, I think through the following:
“How can I use AI to do that more effectively, so I drive those results even further?”
The companies that figure out how to ultimately drive the bottom line are going to be the ones that win.
The other thing I will say is, from selling AI, I think it’s also about the companies making it easier for their people to get started.
And one solution from my sales perspective would be: how can I easily integrate with their existing solution?
If they’re already using Salesforce, Microsoft Teams, Slack or Google Drive, how can you start to integrate into those systems, so you’re starting to change that AI behavior in processes that they’re already used to?
Hear more on the Apple Podcasts app (June 27 – 1 hour, 10 minutes).
Entertaining the fans
Experian and Audigent team up with Fandom and its AI-enabled FanDNA Helix ad platform to reach Gen Z consumers (June 26) – Gamesbeat
Caught cheating with AI
According to Marketing Dive yesterday, “Cannes Lions has withdrawn the Creative Data Lions Grand Prix winner, ‘Efficient Way to Pay’ for Consul, after consultation with entrant agency DM9 (…) The move follows the discovery that the entrant used artificial intelligence-generated content to simulate real-world events and campaign outcomes.
Read more on Marketing Dive. And, see the ad on Vimeo.
More: Cannes Lions Statement – DM9 entries into Cannes Lions 2025 (June 30) – Cannes Lions
In 10 years
“PwC research shows that the global economy could be nearly 15% bigger than expected in 2035 if AI delivers a jolt to productivity comparable to the productivity booms ignited by foundational technologies in the past.”
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“US Deals 2025 midyear outlook” (June 18) – PwC
Prompt: How will Meta’s Advantage + platform feature set evolve in 5 years?
Response from Meta.ai
Meta’s Advantage+ platform is likely to undergo significant evolution over the next 5 years, driven by advancements in AI, machine learning, and emerging technologies. Here are some potential developments that could shape the platform:
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Enhanced AI-driven ad optimization: Advantage+ might leverage more sophisticated AI models to optimize ad performance, predict user behavior, and automate campaign management.
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Integration with emerging technologies: Expect potential integration with technologies like augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and the metaverse, enabling more immersive ad experiences.
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Expanded cross-platform capabilities: Advantage+ might further enhance cross-platform measurement and targeting, allowing advertisers to reach users seamlessly across multiple platforms…
Read more on tipsheet[dot]ai’s website.
Podcast: Roku and Amazon
Miles Fisher, who is Roku’s Sr. Director, Global Ad Platform Partnerships & Business Development, joined the “Inside The Stream” podcast for a review of Roku’s Amazon ads partnership.
Mr. Fisher sees a “full funnel future” with CTV and commented that there is still room for improvement on the creative side of things.
“I think the creative side of performance TV is still in such early innings. And we’re really excited to innovate with our homegrown solutions, with partners like Amazon. There’s a ton of startups [we met with at Cannes], who are really focused on AI and what that means for performance TV, reducing costs and creating higher impact units.”
Hear more on the Apple Podcasts app (June 27).
Opinion
- Legacy Media is Trying to Kill AI Innovation (June 27) – IPwatchdog
- How CEOs can lead AI adoption without losing their teams (June 30) – Ad Age (subscription)
More stuff
- Mark Zuckerberg announces creation of Meta Superintelligence Labs. Read the memo (June 30) – CNBC
- Media Buying Briefing: Two years later, media buyers still aren’t fully sold on The Trade Desk’s (AI-enabled) Kokai platform – Digiday (subscription)
- Trump says he found a TikTok buyer (June 30) – The Hill