GroupM at WPP Commerce 2020

GroupM Talks Amazon, Cookies, & More at WPP Commerce 2020.

WPP’s Commerce event is an immersive two-day experience that delivers a comprehensive overview of the commerce sector in addition to bringing together a network of partners and allies to help marketers effectively lead commerce initiatives for their brands. Many advertisers and agencies both use the invitation-only event to inspire new ways to navigate the complex reality of the future of commerce, retail, and technology.

This year’s event, attended by over 300 WPP clients, partners, and agencies, was hosted in Miami Beach from February 25 to February 26 and included multiple thought-leadership sessions from GroupM Services teams, including Catalyst and Xaxis.

Dominating the Competition: Hacking Amazon to Drive Sales & Market Share

Catalyst and GroupM Services’ Executive Director for Marketing and Growth, Kerry Curran, partnered with John Denny, VP Digital Marketing & eCommerce at CAVU Ventures, for an interactive discussion on innovative approaches to marketing with Amazon. The session armed legacy brands with the Amazon success strategies commonly used by the new and nimble insurgent brands that are taking the CPG world by storm.

Curran and Denny encouraged attendees to question traditional approaches and perceptions around Amazon marketing. They shared real-life examples and case studies to showcase that advertising on Amazon has value and opportunities beyond ROAS and sales and can also be a key brand building channel for advertisers.

In a Cookie-less World, How Do you Find your Shopper?

Xaxis’s SVP of Strategy, JR Crosby, and GroupM Services Executive Director, Greg Anderson, joined forces on a thought-provoking discussion about the cookie-less future.

Crosby and Anderson shared recommendations on the type of data advertisers should be leveraging and provided an interactive demonstration of targeting without cookies. They reiterated that now is the time to test new data sources and uncover new insights with the help of AI.

Student & Teacher: A Commerce Curriculum Designed by DTC Challengers & Established Brands

Curran again took the stage, this time to moderate a panel discussion including Ricky Busby, Brand Building Leader, New Ventures at Georgia-Pacific LLC, Kieley Taylor, Global Head of Paid Social at GroupM, and Vivian Chang, VP of Growth at Nurtanext/Clorox to share inspiration for how DTC brands and legacy brands can learn from each other even though they are often on opposite sides of the ring.

Based on Curran’s fall 2019 Ad Age article, the panelists shared their experiences working across new DTC challenger brands and legacy advertisers to share tips for increasing speed to market, improving internal collaboration, hiring the right skillsets for success, and managing performance marketing channels. Key recommendations included the importance of building cultures of experimentation/testing and resisting the urge to achieve perfection before launching new products or introducing new messaging and tests into the marketplace.

Commerce in 2020 & Beyond

In addition to GroupM’s workshops and mainstage presentations, WPP Commerce featured sessions from platform executives at Google, Amazon, and Pinterest, as well as panel discussions with brand leaders from Coca-Cola, Conagra, Staples, Diageo, and more. From predictions about the future of Amazon Advertising to Google’s take on the next wave of computing, attendees left WPP Commerce with inspiration for how to better reach their consumers and grow their businesses in 2020 and beyond. Thanks to networking time and the interactive tech lounge, conference attendees also left with new connections from the WPP community who can provide expert support and solutions during their commerce journeys.