Retail media networks are expanding rapidly, but with that growth comes a deeply fragmented landscape. Brands are increasingly struggling to manage their advertising spend across dozens of disjointed platforms, and independent marketplace agency Podean is making a strategic play to solve that headache.
Backed by private equity firm Mountaingate Capital, Podean has officially acquired retail media and Amazon DSP specialist Ad Advance. The buyout is a clear push for global scale in a sector demanding consolidation.
Podean founder Mark Power notes the acquisition is a direct response to marketers needing a unified approach across global marketplaces.
“The acquisition of Ad Advance accelerates our vision to be the leading independent agency servicing brands on marketplaces around the world and further strengthens our media operations and technology offering,” Power said.
Podean chief executive officer Travis Johnson adds that integrating Ad Advance perfectly complements the agency’s existing momentum. “This is the next step in our creation of something unique and at scale in the market,” Johnson said. “We are excited to join forces and leverage our combined capabilities as one team of marketplace and retail media network experts.”
Podean founder Mark Power and CEO, Travis Johnson. Image: Podean
The cure for retail media fragmentation
The combined operation now boasts 260 staff scattered across 17 countries on five continents. Together, the teams manage campaigns for over 330 brands, including Mattel, Danone, and HexClad Cookware. Crucially, they are navigating more than 100 global marketplaces and 40 distinct retail media networks.
This is exactly where the Ad Advance acquisition delivers value. The US-based agency brings deep, specialised expertise across Amazon DSP and 22 emerging commerce channels. By absorbing Ad Advance, Podean is positioning itself as a single point of truth for brands that want to play in multiple retail environments without hiring a specialist for every single network.
Ad Advance founders Matt Wiklund and Joe Shelerud will join the Podean leadership team to spearhead product development. And to keep those disparate channels working together.
Integrating the technology
Alongside the talent acquisition, Podean is integrating Ad Advance’s Streamline technology into its own machine learning platform, Purvey.AI.
Podean co-founder and chief strategy and analytics officer Ryan Craver says the combined technology will deliver a highly differentiated end-to-end offering for marketers.
“We are excited to be adding Ad Advance’s Streamline technology to Purvey.AI,” Craver said. “Combined with our global team, this technology platform will deliver a truly differentiated end-to-end marketplaces offering.”