Demand-Side Platform (DSP): Market Structure, Ecosystem Anatomy & Strategic Positioning

Home Depot Names Retail Media Leader; More Mall Ads Incoming

Adweek reports that The Home Depot has appointed Christine Foster as general manager and VP of Orange Apron Media, effective Sept. 8; she joins from Kroger Precision Marketing and will oversee the retailer’s retail media business across its 2,300+ stores and ecommerce, including managed-service and self-serve offerings. The retail-focused roundup also notes hires at companies including Dentsu, a rumored Perion acquisition in retail media circles, Dollar General expanding its relationship with DoorDash, and Amazon bringing brands into its back-to-school marketing push. The piece is a commerce-focused newsletter-style roundup by Jessie Dowd covering multiple recent moves in retail media and commerce marketing.

GumGum expands into CTV with three new formats

Ad-tech company GumGum has launched three new Connected TV (CTV) creative formats — Recast, Surround and Sidecar — designed to adapt existing video and social assets for streaming environments without requiring new productions. Recast converts vertical/social-first videos into 16:9 CTV creatives; Surround adds branded visual space around the video (enabling interactive or shoppable experiences); Sidecar places supplementary brand or product information alongside a central video. GumGum says the formats are now available globally, with recent rollouts including Japan, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France. The move complements GumGum's existing CTV inventory (standard video, In-Video formats and Pause Ads) and ties into its contextual-targeting strategy and prior MRC accreditation work discussed in US trade press.

The Trade Desk’s Turnaround Push Begins

The Trade Desk is signaling a potential turnaround after weak growth and leadership departures by unveiling a major refresh of its core ad-buying platform, rebranded as Kokai Zuma, and integrating a new agentic AI assistant that leverages specialized Koa agents for campaign setup, audience building, measurement and more. The company reported Q2 revenue of $715 million (up 3%) and guided Q3 at $650 million, below analyst expectations. CEO Jeff Green emphasized a shift toward agentic workflows and usability improvements. The DSP has also added several senior hires — including a chief commercial officer, CFO, CMO, and a new board member — while competitors (PubMatic, Magnite, Kargo) push their own agentic offerings. The moves appear aimed at addressing product complaints, competitive pricing pressures from Amazon and Yahoo, and strained supply-side relationships.