This week's headlines paint a clear picture: AI is becoming the backbone of business strategy. In today's MadTech Daily, we discuss global ad spend set to top USD$1tn in 2026, WPP being demoted from the FTSE 100, and the EU probing Meta's AI use in WhatsApp. Eventbrite is changing hands in a deal worth USD $500m (£378.8m). The acquisition by Bending Spoons underscores the challenges facing the ticketing platform, whose growth has slowed despite strong brand recognition.
"If a picture paints a thousand words then why can't I paint you?" - David Gates/Bread I don't know if humans created paintings before they created language, but it's safe to say that telling stories through images is one of our oldest forms of communication. Fast forward to today and the leaders of the out-of-home advertising industry - "it's not just billboards anymore" - are working to modernize their business with the latest developments in artificial intelligence and advertising technology. How are they doing? To answer that I spent some time with a group of folks at the vanguard of the business.
Italian intimates brand Intimissimi has introduced a new marketing concept with the launch of its "Feel the Billboard" out-of-home campaign for its Ultralight With Cashmere collection. Set at street level, the billboards, which went up Monday night, have a wild posting aura as they invite passersby on the street to interact with it by inviting them touch and feel an enlarged swatch of the Ultralight With Cashmere materials, which is adhered to the advertising poster.
Reveal's expansion into Europe is a game-changer for the OOH industry. Their precision in audience curation and understanding of OOH formats provides the perfect data foundation for our measurement technology.