This week’s Week In Review: Publicis Groupe acquires identity platform Lotame, WPP partners with Stability AI, Volvo debuts its first AI-generated ad in Dubai, the BBC launches an AI innovation team, and Google introduces ‘AI Mode’.
Agency
Publicis Acquires Data Platform Lotame
Publicis Groupe announced the acquisition of Lotame, an independent identity solution, as part of its AI strategy.
Lotame’s identity platform, which spans 109 countries and 1.6 billion IDs, will be integrated with Publicis’s 2.3 billion global profiles, expanding its reach to 91 percent of adult internet users, the agency has said.
“In the age of AI, the name of the game is connect or die,” said Arthur Sadoun, Chairman and CEO Publicis Groupe.
WPP Announces Partnership with Stability AI
WPP has partnered with Stability AI to enhance AI-generated content for clients across image, video, and audio formats.
The collaboration integrates Stability AI’s models into WPP Open, the agency’s AI system, while Stability AI gains market insights to expand its reach.
WPP has increased its AI investment to £300 million. The partnership aims to strengthen WPP’s in-house production and studio capabilities, meeting growing demand for high-quality, AI-powered visual content.
“The advertising landscape is evolving quickly, and AI is at the heart of that evolution,” said WPP’s CEO Mark Reed. “Our investment in Stability AI, alongside our increased annual investment of £300m in AI and technology through WPP Open, ensures WPP and our clients remain at the forefront of this new era of innovation.”
Volvo Debuts First AI-Generated Ad in Dubai
Volvo launched Saudi Arabia’s first AI-generated advertisement as part of its ‘Come Back Stronger’ campaign, marking its return to the region.
Produced by Dubai-based creative agency Lion Creative, the campaign was developed using AI tools like MidJourney for visuals and Runway for production, with the script refined by ChatGPT.
Media
BBC News Opens AI Innovation Team for Personalised Content
BBC News is launching a new department focused on AI, innovation, and audience growth to offer more personalised audience content, particularly for under-25s.
New changes could include AI curating content for audiences based on previous behaviour on social media.
BBC News CEO Deborah Turness told the Guardian that the changes were necessary due to challenges around declining broadcast audiences and rising news consumption on social media. The broadcaster emphasised that its AI use will align with public service values of accuracy and impartiality.
“We must become ruthlessly focused on understanding our audience needs on delivering the kind of journalism and content they want, in the places they want it, designed and produced in the shape that they enjoy it,” Turness told the Guardian.
“We must do this on platforms that deliver a best-in-class consumer experience, offering personalisation, recommendation and unique user journeys. And we must deploy AI to support, enable and accelerate our innovation and growth.”
AI Search Engines Slash Publisher Traffic by 96%, Report Finds
A new report by TollBit, shared exclusively with Forbes, reveals that AI-powered search engines send 96 percent less traffic to news websites compared to traditional Google search. Despite AI firms’ promises of new revenue streams for news outlets, publishers are seeing little benefit, while web scraping by AI developers has doubled in recent months.
The study, analysing 160 websites, found that companies like OpenAI, Perplexity, and Meta collectively scraped sites two million times in Q4 2024, with each page accessed seven times on average.
LA Times Introduces AI-Generated Political Ratings for Opinion Pieces
The Los Angeles Times will begin displaying AI-generated political ratings on select opinion pieces, its owner Patrick Soon-Shiong announced.
The new feature, ‘AI Insights’, will not apply to news stories but will be used on columns, commentary, and editorials.
Developed in partnership with Gen AI chatbot Perplexity, the tool categorises articles as Left, Centre-Left, Centre, Centre-Right, or Right, based on factors like policy positions, rhetorical devices, and expert sources. The AI also generates ‘Perspectives’, summarising arguments and alternative viewpoints.
Tech
Google Introduces ‘AI Mode’ Search Feature
In a note on its website, Google announced an experimental AI search tool called ‘AI Mode’ – which can tell users what is on the internet rather than showing them.
Available to Google Premium subscribers and powered by Gemini 2.0, the new feature expands on Google’s ‘AI Overview’ tool – which gives an overview of search results – and provides more tailored answers to a user’s Google search, cited links and a search bar for follow-ups.
Meta Targets Businesses with AI Agent Tool
Meta is testing ‘Business AI’, a new feature allowing AI agents to interact with users on behalf of businesses across Facebook and Instagram.
The tool, which works like a chatbot, enables small businesses to answer customer inquiries via voice or text without needing expensive AI investments.
These AI agents can be trained on brand content and guidelines while avoiding off-limits topics. Currently free for businesses, pilot tests are occurring.
The tech giant said the feature aims to enhance customer engagement for users by handling inquiries like product recommendations and promotions automatically.
Estée Lauder Uses Copilot AI for Marketing Insights
Microsoft released an article outlining how The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) uses Microsoft 365 Copilot to accelerate product development, marketing, and consumer insights.
The partnership, Microsoft says, integrates Copilot Studio, Azure OpenAI Service, and Azure AI Search to analyse trends, gather data, and streamline operations.
The article outlines a new innovation, ConsumerIQ, an AI-powered tool that gives marketers access to decades of consumer data. This allows teams to quickly respond to emerging beauty trends, such as an influencer’s viral lip gloss review, by launching targeted marketing campaigns or developing new products.
This AI-driven transformation is part of Estée Lauder’s ‘Beauty Reimagined’ strategy, aimed at boosting efficiency and innovation.
