Agency holding company Publicis Groupe has announced the launch of a new retail media platform housed within its data unit Epsilon. The new unit, Epsilon Retail Media, builds on Epsilon’s acquisition of retail media tech business CitrusAd three years ago. Publicis says the offering will combine Epsilon’s proprietary identifier with artificial intelligence in the ad server, which it says will drive stronger outcomes on retail media’s own digital storefronts, and other inventory powered by their data.
Epsilon has been a key part of Publicis’ growth streak in recent years, and Publicis hopes its identity solution can deliver further growth in its retail media offering, which by its nature leans heavily on identity. Its CORE ID, built upon a range of identifiers including email, phone number, IP address, device data, various offline data points, and first- and third-party cookies, works to identify users across the web for targeting and measurement.
In Epsilon Retail Media, Epsilon’s AI tech CORE AI will be used to analyse potential shoppers whenever an impression is available in order to inform marketing decisions, and this will be augmented by the CORE ID. This data will be used to target ads, and Epsilon says its AI will learn over time what does and doesn’t work, helping to optimise spend.
Epsilon says the presence of offline data within its CORE ID is a key differentiator. “Our person-first intelligence takes a dramatically different approach from traditional DSPs and retail media technology providers, who filter audiences based on where they are versus who they are, excluding a large portion of shoppers that advertisers want to reach out the gate,” said Dave Peterson, GM and global head of Epsilon Retail Media. “They then evaluate their ‘best guess’ of the shopper behind the impression, given their IDs are rooted in email addresses or other digital identifiers, not verified offline data. And when they do get around to evaluating the bid, they can only take a few variables into consideration before making a decision.”
