Adtaxi vs Carat

New Adtaxi Survey Finds 77% of Consumers Will Maintain or Increase Holiday Spending as Shoppers Start Earlier, Seek Value and Go Mobile-First

New Adtaxi survey reveals 77% of consumers will maintain or increase holiday spending, with shoppers starting earlier, seeking value, and going mobile-first.

Douglas expands Carat partnership to all European markets

Following a pitch, the Douglas Group is expanding its existing partnership with Carat in the DACH region to all European markets. The new cooperation will start on January 1, 2027. Carat will take over strategic and operational media management for all 20 European Douglas markets, including France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania, Romania, Slovenia, and Spain. The goal is to strengthen the balance between international brand leadership and local market relevance, and to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of media investments across all markets. Rik Strubel, CMO of Douglas Group, said they aim to increase the impact of their media investments. Katja Anette Brandt, CEO Germany & Media Practice President Central Europe at dentsu, expressed pride in winning the pitch. The pitch combined expertise in strategy, media, data, commerce, and transformation. This win helps offset the recent loss of the Commerzbank media account to Deep Media.

• The Douglas Group expands its partnership with Carat to all 20 European markets.
• The new mandate starts on January 1, 2027, following a pitch.
• Carat will handle strategic and operational media management for Douglas across Europe.

Agencies Push Agentic Media, Address Client Rogue Fears

At Advertising Week, media agencies are advancing agentic advertising initiatives while addressing client concerns about rogue AI activity. Dentsu's Carat partnered with NBCUniversal, Freewheel, and Newton to launch a planning, buying, and optimization agent for upfront investments, with a luxury retail client already using it. Tinuiti launched a 'Bliss Point Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server' to integrate measurement with AI agents. Stagwell relaunched Assembly as Stagwell Media with its agentic system Machine OS. Executives emphasize human oversight, governance, and approval thresholds to build trust. Additionally, the article discusses the importance of 'moments' in commerce media, with examples from ExxonMobil, Dollar General, and Pepsi's Nordic campaign with Wolt.

• Dentsu's Carat partnered with NBCUniversal, Freewheel, and AI firm Newton to launch a planning, buying, and optimization agent for upfront investments; a luxury retail client is already using it.
• Tinuiti launched a 'Bliss Point Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server' to enable AI agents to access its measurement layer directly.
• Stagwell relaunched its Assembly media agency as Stagwell Media, centered on agentic system Machine OS.

AI Deepens Marketing's Measurement Paradox, Kantar Finds

At The Drum Live, measurement experts discussed a paradox: marketers have more data than ever, yet confidence in using it is declining. Kantar previewed research showing declining confidence among 800 senior marketers globally, accelerating over the past year. AI is both a contributor and potential solution, but panelists warned that AI only works as well as the data it's fed. Fragmentation and self-serving platform metrics exacerbate distrust. The consensus favors incrementality and outcome-based measurement over last-touch attribution and surface metrics. Organizational alignment on success definitions is critical. The shift also highlights the short-term vs. long-term balance, with confidence in this balance dropped from 60% to 50% in a year. Preparing measurement systems with proper data taxonomy and C-suite ownership is essential for AI readiness.

• Kantar research (survey of 800 senior marketers) shows declining confidence in media mix and data use, accelerating over the past year.
• 97% of executives believe data volume has outgrown their capacity to connect and understand it.
• Marketer confidence in balancing short-term performance and long-term brand building fell from 60% to 50% in a year.