While retailers rush to launch new ad formats and in-store screens, brands have a simpler request: prove that their advertising works. With Circana's acquisition of Nielsen's Marketing Mix Modeling business in August and NCSolutions in June, the company is positioning itself as the independent arbiter retail media desperately needs. Leading this charge is Cara Pratt, just 90 days into her role as President of Global Retail and Media, who brings the unique perspective of having built Kroger's retail media network from the inside.
You know the old adage "garbage in, garbage out"? Well, it applies to the walled gardens, too, even with all of their access to first-party data. The big ad platforms have been investing more in end-to-end automated systems for planning, launching and optimizing ad campaigns, but they still need high-quality data inputs to feed those tools.
