Flywheel

Amazon Launches Alexa+ Agentic Ads for External Merchants

Amazon announced Alexa+ Agentic Ads at Cannes Lions, a new shoppable, agentic conversational ad format that lets users complete purchases inside the ad without leaving the experience. The format — timed to Prime Day and beta-testing with partners including Papa Johns and The Orchard (a Sony subsidiary) — uses LLM-driven natural conversation to answer customer questions and carry transactions on Echo Show and other Alexa surfaces. Amazon previously folded its Rufus shopping assistant into Alexa+ to create Alexa for Shopping. The company and beta partners are still validating metrics such as transaction completion rates and pricing. The move follows broader industry shifts toward agentic shopping driven by Google and OpenAI, with OpenAI projecting growing ad revenues that signal rising advertiser interest in AI-native commerce experiences.

Flywheel Launches GEO Tool for Retail AI Assistants

Omnicom-owned commerce media agency Flywheel is rolling out a generative engine optimization (GEO) tool designed to help brands appear more prominently inside AI-powered shopping assistants run by major retailers. The GEO tool analyzes the AI systems used by Amazon (Alexa for Shopping), Walmart (Sparky) and Target (Target’s AI assistant) and recommends content and signals that increase the likelihood a brand’s products will be cited in AI-driven shopping recommendations. Flywheel positions the tool as an extension of traditional SEO/SEM capabilities aimed at making products more visible in emerging, conversational shopping environments. The story was published by Adweek on 2026-06-23.

Adweek 50 2026: Leaders Shaping Advertising's Future

Adweek published its 2026 ADWEEK 50, a profile roundup of top leaders across advertising, marketing, media and technology. The feature highlights executives driving revenue growth, organizational transformation, AI-enabled workflows, notable creative campaigns and strategic deals across agencies, brands and media owners. Individual profiles include quantified business outcomes (revenue growth, user milestones, retention and partnership wins), examples of AI investment and productization, interactive CTV and streaming ad technology adoption, and notable creative work such as Super Bowl campaigns. The package showcases how these leaders balance creativity, team wellbeing, and commercial rigor while preparing organizations for an AI-driven and rapidly realigning industry. Publication date: 2026-06-09.