Since its founding in 1986, QVC’s on-air personalities have hawked stainless-steel steak knives and Tupperware with the same cozy-yet-ruthless refrain: act quickly, pick up the phone, and buy now.

If streamers have their way, that’ll soon be as easy as lifting the remote control.

Shoppable ads, which effectively turn television interfaces into shopping carts and let viewers purchase the products they see on screen, have followed in the footsteps of social commerce platforms, bringing the ease of e-commerce to the tube. While the ad format has been of interest for a few years, there were considerable advancements in the format unveiled during this year’s upfronts.

In May, Amazon announced upgrades to shoppable ad formats for Prime Video, including formats like carousel ads and interactive ads that allow users to shop from a pause screen. Warner Bros. Discovery also announced last month that it would bring a “seamless and integrated shopping experience” to Max.

• The platforms join Peacock, Disney+, Samsung, LG, and Roku, which have all made strides to bring shopping experiences to TV.

In other words, the QVC of streaming is nigh—because if you’re going to be targeted with an ad for dog food or toilet paper, why not buy it right then and there?

Continue reading here.—RB

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Last week, PepsiCo used Cannes to introduce a new can.

Officially, it’s the Pepsi Smart Can, which Mark Kirkham, SVP and CMO of international beverages at PepsiCo, described as an “LED engagement platform” presented in the form of the soda giant’s classic beverage container.

The innovation, originating from the company’s Dublin-based team, is intended to be a new storytelling medium for the brand, as the device enables the company to deliver custom messages and offers to each recipient, starting with media and influencers, Kirkham told us. The video content displayed on the can was largely made by creators, and SVP and chief design officer Mauro Porcini said the hope is that it will spur the creation of content by the influencers who receive it.

The move comes a few months after Pepsi’s new visual identity—including a new logo and an updated color palette—began hitting shelves, and builds on its “Thirsty for More” brand platform. The innovation will serve as a unique method to garner brand impressions, Porcini said, and is a result of the soft drink company’s focus on entrepreneurial thinking in design.

Getting smart: The Smart Can was developed about a year ago out of a simple brief to create an idea for a promotion that’s never been done before. One Pepsi marketer and one designer “riffed” until they came up with this concept, Kirkham said, and when they brought him a rough prototype, it was a “ta-da” moment, he said.

“You guys just created a piece of technology and a new platform for engaging our consumers that we’d never seen before,” Kirkham remembered thinking.

Continue reading here.—EC

Reddit is partnering with two leading brand safety companies, Integral Ad Science and DoubleVerify, as it continues to lure ad dollars.

The new partnerships will allow advertisers to use DoubleVerify and IAS’s measurement and brand safety tech, which can scan text and images and, in theory, prevent advertisers from appearing alongside content they might want to avoid. The partnerships will also give advertisers access to the companies’ viewability and measurement tools.

Reddit has long faced brand safety concerns from advertisers, since controversial content, including pornography, can be found on the site. But since going public in March, it’s been pitching itself to Madison Avenue as a “must buy” for advertisers, rolling out full-funnel capabilities and new inventory.

• Reddit first announced it was working with DoubleVerify in 2022, but announced further measurement tools for advertisers this week. Reddit has also worked with other vendors like Oracle on third-party verification. Oracle this week announced that it was divesting from its advertising business.

“Our partnership will give Reddit customers additional confidence that their ads are appearing alongside content that aligns with their brand values via reliable and accurate data,” IAS CEO Lisa Utzschneider said in a statement.

Read more here.—RB

Boost your brand. Combining brand budget with shopper budget to build full-funnel campaigns can do big things for your biz. Want proof? Walmart Connect helped Clorox max out the numbers for their 2023 back-to-school cleaning products campaign by using both brand and shopper budgets. Read the case study.