As the world recovers from the devastating impacts of COVID-19 that has also redefined the future of living, retail is one of the sectors where the future is steadfastly being shaped by digital, as shoppers envision a future where nearly two-thirds (64%) of their shopping will be online in the next 10 years.

According to a report by Wunderman Thompson which surveyed over 31,000 consumers globally on their current and future shopping habits, online shopping continues its dominance by accounting for 58% of all spend.

Brands are closing the gap on marketplaces with online spend doubling through direct-to-consumer (D2C) channels, from 7% in 2022 to 14% in 2023, and brands should look to review their online sales models, with more than half (58%) of global shoppers saying they like to buy from branded marketplaces.

This week in the advertising front, Clear Channel Netherlands, an Out of Home (OOH) media and infrastructure company, has announced a new partnership with Hivestack, the world’s, independent, programmatic DOOH ad tech company to offer programmatic DOOH advertising via the Hivestack SSP.

DIRECTV Advertising, a pioneer in the converged addressable space, also announced a partnership with 605, a global player in television and cross-platform measurement, planning, analytics and attribution.

By tapping into 605’s sophisticated measurement platform and rich data partnerships, DIRECTV Advertising will continue to build on its legacy of delivering best-in-class audience-based, data-enabled media solutions.

Omnicom Group Inc. has set a first-mover collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to reimagine creativity and accelerate innovation with generative AI foundational models for advertising.

As part of the collaboration, Omnicom will use AWS generative AI and machine learning (ML) services, including Amazon Bedrock and Amazon EC2 Trn1n instances powered by AWS Trainium chips that are purpose-built for ML workloads, to help accelerate the transformation of advertising campaign development.

In mergers and acquisitions, WPP has acquired a 30% stake in Majority, the US-based creative agency that combines a multicultural talent model with award-winning general marketing capabilities. The strategic partnership between WPP and Majority will create a compelling and differentiated offer to the current and prospective clients of both companies. Majority specialises in “disruptive creativity that moves culture” across services including advertising, strategic planning, digital, branded entertainment, design, product innovation, experiences, art and activism.

Elsewhere, Volvo Group has signed an agreement to collaborate with Heidelberg Materials, one of the largest building materials companies in the world.

The aim is to reduce carbon emissions in the construction sector by jointly investigating and developing how loading and hauling needs can be solved with the help of electrified vehicles and related services.

And, The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN Climate-Change-convened Fashion Charter have launched the Sustainable Fashion Communication Playbook, a guide for consumer-facing communicators in the global fashion industry to align efforts to sustainability targets, incorporating both environmental and social factors.

Bob Koigi is an editor at Marketing Report One

www.marketingreport.one