[Marketing Week] Bob Koigi: The rise of addressable ads: Personalization at scale

In today’s fast-paced, digital-first world, where advertising is evolving and consumers are being exposed to more communication platforms, dictating what kind of content they consume, companies are shifting to addressable advertising, a more precise and effective way to deliver personalized messages to highly specific audiences, and even individual consumers.

Advancements in data analytics, digital technologies, and the rise of connected devices are at the heart of this trend. From TV ads to digital banners and social media posts, addressable advertising can reach consumers across multiple platforms in real time, with tailored content based on user behaviors, interests, demographics, and even geographic locations.

This evolution is reshaping how brands connect with their customers, and its growing prominence signals a crucial shift in how businesses approach their marketing strategies.

ITV and Carwow, the UK’s online destination for car changing, have announced their new retail commerce partnership - Auto Match. A groundbreaking new advertising solution available through ITV’s advanced self-serve programmatic platform Planet V, it will empower car advertisers to connect with known active car buyers through ITVX. By securely matching Carwow’s audience data with ITVX’s registered users, Auto Match enables precise audience targeting.

Publicis Groupe recently entered into an agreement to acquire Lotame, the world’s independent identity solution. The combined data and identity assets of Lotame and Publicis Groupe’s 2.3 billion global profiles will enable clients to reach 91% of adult internet users with personalized messaging at scale with even greater accuracy.

At the beginning of this year, dentsu announced a new evolution in its data and identity partnership with The Trade Desk, focused on addressability with Unified ID 2.0 (UID2), measurement, and data-driven decisioning to help marketers win in the algorithmic era of advertising. Through the partnership, dentsu can deliver personalized experiences powered by its unique Merkury identity backbone of 268MM consumers across The Trade Desk platform.

And Viant Technology Inc. has also enterd into an expanded agreement with Disney Advertising focused on making premium CTV, video, and display inventory addressable and biddable for advertisers. This new capability leverages Viant’s CTV expertise, extensive reach among independent ad agencies and future-ready, AI-powered solution, to maximize insights with the scale of Disney’s leading streaming footprint, driving up to 20% improvement in addressability.

Campaigns of the week

Media Smart, the UK advertising and media industry’s education programme, has partnered with TikTok to produce a collection of creator-led videos and resources to help parents, caregivers and teachers feel confident supporting teens’ use of online platforms. The campaign, first rolling out in the UK before launching in EU territories, sees TikTok content creators invite their audience to a crash course in digital creation, advertising content and online safety.

Wieden+Kennedy London has unveiled St. Patrick’s Day campaign for Kahlúa - this time with a cheeky solution for cocktail lovers facing “St. Patrick’s Day pressure” to drink stout. Available exclusively at select UK and Ireland pubs on March 17th, punters can score a free Schneaky Espresso Martini by ordering it with a secret code word at the bar.

KFC, the fried chicken brand known for its creative storytelling, has launched a new campaign called Original Fake Games—transforming all those misleading "fake game ads" cluttering your social feeds into actual playable mobile games. The campaign goes beyond mere downloads; KFC is enlisting gaming influencers to test and review Original Fake Games, ensuring authenticity, driving word-of-mouth, and sparking conversation across social media.

Very has released the latest chapter of its distinctive Haus of Flamingo brand platform which, for the first time, is branching out beyond womenswear to reflect customer shopping habits. The Departure campaign features a hero 30″ TV advert, along with cut down versions, including a Very Pay bespoke asset, mens and kids stand-alone assets and an extensive suite of social-first content.

Agencies and accounts

Dentsu has announced that Heineken, the international brewer, has extended its global media relationship with the network, continuing its eight-year relationship. With a substantial planned media investment, the new two-year contract will see dentsu representing Heineken across 100 markets including Mexico, Brazil, UK, Italy, Germany, Spain, The Netherlands, South Africa, Nigeria, Vietnam and India.

The All England Lawn Tennis Club has appointed VCCP, the challenger network for challenger brands, as its global creative agency of record - beginning with The Championships, Wimbledon 2025. VCCP will work with The All England Lawn Tennis Club to develop a new global creative advertising strategy for this iconic tennis event, engaging sports fans worldwide.

Rocket Software, a global technology player in modernization software, has named independent marketing and communications agency, FINN Partners, as its European agency of record. Effective immediately, Rocket Software selected FINN for its technology communications expertise, aiming to build the company’s brand awareness in the UK, France and Germany, through a creative and highly proactive PR program.

The Marina del Rey Tourism Board, the official destination marketing organization dedicated to promoting Marina del Rey as a premier choice for both leisure and business travelers, has announced Be Boldly Public Relations as its new agency of record. The LA-based agency will spearhead the global communications strategy, including leisure, trade, and MICE media relations, influencer marketing, and creative year-round planning.

Partnerships and acquistions

Blended agency iO is joining forces with Digital For Youth, an organization that helps young people in poverty to access laptops and digital skills. Together, they will ensure that no one is left behind in this rapidly digitising world. To put the collaboration in the spotlight, iO developed an audio ad that will soon be heard in the popular podcast De 7.

Nielsen, a global player in audience measurement, data, and analytics, and LiveRamp, a data collaboration platform, have announced that audience segments from Nielsen Marketing Cloud (NMC) are now available in the LiveRamp Data Marketplace. With this expansion of their relationship, the companies continue to enhance data accessibility across the industry, enabling seamless integration of Nielsen’s data to drive strategic advertising and programming decisions and outcomes.

New York University (NYU) and Sony Corporation through its Personal Entertainment Business' U.S. operations (Sony) have announced the launch of the Sony Audio Institute, an initiative designed to prepare the next generation of creators and innovators within NYU's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, fostering innovation at the intersection of technology, music and business.

Quad/Graphics, Inc. a marketing experience company that solves complex marketing challenges for its clients, has announced a strategic partnership with Adalytics, an advertising analytics and data science provider. Through the collaboration, Quad and its full-service media agency, Rise, will become among the first in the industry to implement protocols and exclusion filters that directly reduce ad delivery to obvious non-human traffic across media-buying platforms.

Captains of Industry

This week, we spoke to Eva Rausch is the Managing Director for Europe about her vision for the European market, her plans to tailor GUT’s global creative solutions to resonate with the diverse European audience and the trends shaping the industry.

Other major news of the week

VML has been named a Leader among Marketing Creative and Content Service Providers by Forrester Research. The Forrester Wave: Marketing Creative and Content Services, Q1 2025 evaluates 10 of the most significant providers. The Forrester report notes that VML has the highest current offering category score in the evaluation.

The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has announced that David Lubars, former Chief Creative Officer of BBDO Worldwide, will be honoured with its lifetime achievement award, the Lion of St Mark, at the Festival in June. With a career spanning more than 40 years, Lubars has won more than 600 Lions, and under his creative leadership, he helped BBDO achieve unprecedented success, including being named Network of the Year at Cannes Lions a record-setting seven times, leading it to win Network of the Decade in 2020.

Ogilvy has announced that it has elevated Tim LeGallo to Chief Production Officer, North America. A new role within the agency, LeGallo will be integral to Ogilvy North America’s regional leadership.

Bob Koigi is the editor-in-chief of Marketing Report.One

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