PVSB (0:00)

Hey, it's PVSB with the CPG guys. You know we talk a lot about.

Sri (Papa Raj) (0:04)

This on the show. For CPG marketers today, it's not just about reaching consumers, it's about connecting with them meaningfully at every touch point.

PVSB (0:15)

Here's the reality.

Sri (Papa Raj) (0:16)

Shopping isn't just an event anymore, it's.

PVSB (0:18)

Woven into daily life.

Sri (Papa Raj) (0:20)

And with consumers spending over 90 minutes streaming content, daily entertainment has become central to the shopping journey. Amazon Ads unifies commerce, Entertainment and open Internet to reach 86% of US households, turning trillions of consumer signals into powerful results both on and beyond Amazon. So visit advertising.Amazon.com to learn more.

PVSB (0:51)

Hello, it's December 2nd, 2025. Welcome to episode 13 of the Commerce Riff with the CPG Guys. Weekly short segment burst digestible about 10 minutes of content, both audio and video. We hope you enjoy our curated stories. I'm of course your co host pvsp. Unfortunately my other co host man known as Sri AKA Papa Raj, co founder of Think Blue Consulting. He and his wife are on the road because their two daughters are on tour and they're trying to cover both tours. So good luck to them. Please do follow our Instagram, TikTok and YouTube channels. Simply call the CPG guys. Yeah, it's that easy. So let's get to this week. Our first topic is Mega Merger Omnicom Group officially completed its $13 billion acquisition of rival Interpublic Group late Wednesday afternoon, according to a company press release. The close of the transaction creates the world's largest advertising holding company, bringing together IPG mainstays such as FCB Media Brands and Axiom with Omnicom's powerhouse portfolio including BBDO Worldwide, OMD and of course Flywheel. Quote this is a defining moment for our company and our industry, said John Wren, OMNICOM's chairman and CEO, in announcing the deal. Quote with the completion of this deal, Omnicom is setting a new standard for modern marketing and sales leadership, creating stronger brands, delivering superior business outcomes and driving sustainable growth. The combined entity reflects the escalating importance of scale, especially for agencies looking to lead in data driven marketing, retail media and artificial intelligence. Axiom stands out as a particularly strategic asset, one that could materially strengthen platforms like Omni and Flywheel Digital and accelerate the industry's march towards true closed loop attribution. Omnicom and IPG project $750 million in annual cost synergies and a pro forma 25 billion plus in combined revenue. Still, near term questions remain. Will individual agency brands maintain their identities or undergo consolid who will lead key integrated teams? How will existing clients be serviced during the transition, and how quickly will clients access the expanded capabilities? Omnicom plans to unveil its full leadership team on December 1st. As with any merger of this magnitude, the integration will be complex and competitors may look to capitalize on potential disruption. But if executed well, the combination positions omnicomp for a level of industry leadership we've never seen before. From retail dive Best Buy raises full year guidance as consumers remain resilient the retailer saw Q3 revenue and comparable sales growth despite macroeconomic pressures. Meanwhile, it's advancing agentic AI integration. The retailer raised its full year guidance now expected revenue in the range from $41.65 billion to $41.95 billion compared to previous guidance of 41.1 to $41.9 billion. Comparable sales growth is also expected to be between 0.5 and 1.2 instead of the previously predicted decline of 1% to growth of 1%. CEO Corey Berry had previously expressed concern over a widening consumer income divide, but the executive sounded positive about consumer sentiment during the third quarter. Quote for the most part, customer shopping behavior in Q3 did not change materially for from the commentary we have shared for the past several quarters, unquote, barry said in a call with analysts Tuesday. Quote Customers remained resilient but deal focused and attracted to more predictable sales movements, including our back to school sales event and our techtober sales held in close proximity to the October Prime Day event. UNQUOTE the retailer's Q3 results and its strategic focus on omnichannel experience marked an upbeat tone for some industry analysts. Quote we believe Best Buy continues to execute well and gain market share in the consumer electronics space based on its ability to introduce newness, leverage its scale and vendor relationships, manage costs and operate efficiently, Tesla Advisory Group analysts led by Joe Feldman said in an email. Note Note Tuesday, quote Looking ahead, new initiatives such as higher margin memberships, marketplace and advertising businesses, as well as ongoing product innovation and the replacement cycle should help fuel positive comp and earnings growth, unquote the executive also highlighted some recent in store experiences with different vendors during the call, such as an immersive showcase area with Meta AI glasses demos at 50 stores. Additionally, said Best Buy is now implemented in most of the new Ikea pilots it announced in July. Looking forward, CEO Barry said Best Buy will continue to focus on scaling new profit streams and provide more unique store experiences for consumers, according to Marketing Dive. Gap is proving that viral marketing can translate directly into retail performance, especially as the brand's relevance with Gen Z continues to rise. Recent collaboration with the girls group Catseye, that's a familiar name, delivered a staggering 8 billion media impressions, fueling double digit gains in Gap critical adult denim category. Gap reported 7% year over year Comparable sales growth reaching $951 million for fiscal Q3 ending November 1st per parent company Gap Inc. Earnings disclosure the surge was driven in large part by the breakout Better in Denim campaign, which generated more than 500 million cross platform views and helped repel Gap to the number six adult denim brand in the US up two spots from 2024. This also marks the brand's eighth consecutive quarter of positive comp sales, an important signal in today's volatile apparel landscape. Music driven spot featuring Cat's eye dancing to Kelly's 2003 hit Milkshake created meaningful traffic and momentum in a category central to Gap's turnaround. Executive called Better in Denim one of the most successful campaigns in the brand's history and a model for its refreshed marketing playbook, one that reclaims cultural relevance through smart product, sharp storytelling and strategic amplification. Quote this campaign demonstrated the power of the playbook in action, featuring trend right product amplified by culturally relevant storytelling, said Richard Dixon, CEO of Gap Inc. During the company's Q3 earnings call. He doubled down on earlier comments describing the Cat's Eye collaboration as a true cultural takeover and a blueprint Gap plans to build on moving forward. Lastly, according to Digidive, closing arguments in the US DOJ versus Google Ad tech case were heard on Friday, November 21, marking the end of a two year legal saga and the start of an even more consequential one for the open Web economy. Judge Leonel Brinkoma has already ruled that Google illegally monopolized publisher ad servers and ad exchanges. What she decides next will determine whether the company keeps its core infrastructure for monetizing the open web I. E. Its ad server doubleclick for publishers and Ad exchange Ad X, or is forced to give them up in the remedies phase. The DOJ argues that only a structural remedy can fix what the court already found to be illegal tying scheme between DFP and ADAX during the remedies phase of the trial. A government preferred option is a divestiture of adex and potentially DFP as well, along with requirements to open source, Google's auction logic and hard bans on self preferencing. The DOJ argued that 46% of indirect open web display spend flows through Google Ads and another 20% via its demand side platform DV360 and 60% of ADX auctions examined. Google Tools were the only bidders, underscoring how effectively Google sealed off demand for itself. Google is pushing for a much narrower intervention. The company has already repeatedly emphasized that Brinka did not find its buy side tool to be monopolies, and there were no unlawful acquisitions arguments the company used to claim. DOJ is overreaching. Closing arguments wrapped on Friday, and if the liability ruling is any guide, some expected that decision to drop by the close of 2024, only to wait until April for an answer. A remedy's decision is not coming quickly. Most observers told Digiday that mid-2026 is a more realistic window for a final remedies order, followed immediately by years of appeal. All right folks, that's our take on relevant commerce happenings. For so many announcements this past week we thought were meaningful and could be passed on in this riff. We hope you enjoyed it. We also hope you had a really great Thanksgiving. Please do click like our posts on all platforms. Follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok and now YouTube. See you next week.