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Brian Gleason, formerly the driving force behind retail media at Criteo, has transitioned to a new leadership role as CEO of contextual ad platform Seedtag, asserting that contextual advertising represents an even more significant growth frontier than the burgeoning retail media sector he championed. His move signals a potential paradigm shift in how marketers approach audience engagement, emphasizing a return to advertising’s core principles of connection and emotion, rather than an overreliance on granular targeting mechanisms.
Gleason’s conviction stems from a perceived drift in the advertising industry. "We’ve become so hyper-focused on cookies and targeting that we lost what advertising really was about: connection," he stated in an interview with AdExchanger. He posits that true connection with audiences is built on capturing attention and evoking emotion, elements that traditional cookie-based tracking and simplistic content taxonomies often fail to quantify. However, he sees a transformative role for advanced AI, particularly "agentic AI tools," in uncovering deeper insights that can be effectively leveraged by ad tech platforms.
Seedtag’s strategic alignment with this vision is exemplified by its acquisition of video-focused SSP Beachfront last year. This move was designed to empower its proprietary AI agent, Liz, to target audiences across Connected TV (CTV) and the open web, with a focus on contextual relevance and emotional resonance. This integration underscores Seedtag’s commitment to moving beyond keyword-based contextual targeting towards a more nuanced understanding of content and its impact on viewers.
Seedtag’s Ambitious Growth Trajectory and the Contextual Market
Gleason’s assessment of the contextual advertising market is substantial, estimating its current value to be between $250 billion and $350 billion. This figure, he notes, was a key factor in his decision to leave the "commerce media" space, which he still holds in high regard, for what he believes is a larger, more impactful opportunity.
Seedtag, under Gleason’s leadership, is poised for significant expansion. The company has already established a global presence, operating in 17 markets and connecting with over 16,000 publishers. While its origins lie in Madrid, its entry into the U.S. market two years ago has yielded impressive results, with a 120% growth rate in the past year. In the EMEA region, Seedtag reported over 30% growth in the last quarter, indicating strong momentum across its key territories.
Strategic Priorities Under New Leadership
Gleason has outlined three primary priorities for Seedtag moving forward. The first and most critical is the widespread introduction of "neurocontextual targeting." This innovative approach aims to connect with audiences based on emotion, attention, and interest, moving beyond the traditional keyword and category analysis that defined earlier forms of contextual advertising. Seedtag’s AI platform, Liz, is central to this objective, enabling a more sophisticated understanding of content and its psychological impact.
The second priority is continued global scaling, with a particular emphasis on accelerating growth in the U.S. and other key markets. This involves solidifying existing relationships and forging new ones to expand Seedtag’s reach and influence within the advertising ecosystem.
Thirdly, Seedtag is focused on a cross-channel strategy, with a significant investment in building out its capabilities within the CTV space. Recognizing that contextual advertising’s potential is still largely untapped in this rapidly growing category, the company aims to overcome current limitations and offer more robust contextual targeting solutions for television and streaming environments.
While Gleason emphasizes that there will be no "fundamental change" in Seedtag’s overall direction, his specific expertise is expected to accelerate growth in key areas. His extensive background in agency holding companies, including a decade at WPP and strong relationships with major players like Publicis and Omnicom, positions him to enhance Seedtag’s integration into agency planning systems. Furthermore, he highlighted the importance of expanding publisher supply, especially in CTV, and deepening relationships with brands.
Empowering Publishers and the Evolution of Programmatic Advertising
Gleason’s career began in publishing, and he brings a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities faced by content creators. His focus for publishers centers on maximizing the value derived from their consumer relationships. This involves not only employing effective targeting mechanisms but also ensuring that advertising is deeply relevant to the content itself. Seedtag’s Liz agent is envisioned as a tool to help publishers gain a more profound understanding of their content and its inherent emotional connection with their audience, thereby enabling more effective monetization strategies.
The advertising industry is increasingly debating the future of programmatic advertising, with a growing vision of AI agents on both the buy-side and sell-side communicating directly. Gleason acknowledges this trend but expresses caution about an overly fragmented agent landscape. He believes that while connectivity between these two realms is essential, the market will likely consolidate around a few key players. He likens Meta’s dominance in social and Google’s Performance Max to distinct pathways, with Seedtag aiming to be the intelligent intermediary that bridges the buy and sell sides with comprehensive data and insights. The challenge, he notes, lies in achieving this connectivity at scale, across multiple channels, which is precisely what makes the current opportunity so compelling.
Addressing the "Black Box" Concern in AI Adoption
The increasing reliance on AI in advertising has raised concerns about "black-box" systems and a lack of accountability. Gleason acknowledges these valid concerns, stressing that transparency, brand safety, and privacy must be the foundational pillars of any AI-driven advertising solution. He advocates for complete transparency regarding inventory, ad placement, and outcome reporting.
He emphasizes that the adoption of AI should not be solely a technological endeavor. "It can’t just be technology talking to technology," he stated. Instead, Seedtag aims to "bring people along the journey," educating clients on how their AI models work, how they can be customized, and how they effectively surface emotional connections. This human-centric approach to AI implementation is crucial for building trust and ensuring accountability.
Seedtag’s Position in a Blurring Marketplace
The lines between Demand-Side Platforms (DSPs) and Supply-Side Platforms (SSPs) are increasingly blurred, prompting questions about Seedtag’s place in this evolving ecosystem. Gleason clarifies that Seedtag is not aiming to become an end-to-end platform. Instead, it operates an exchange where its inventory is accessible, and it intends to further develop this infrastructure.
The core of Seedtag’s strategy is to make its intelligence accessible through various buying paths. While the Liz agent serves as the primary activation interface, Seedtag also provides pathways for those who prefer to utilize traditional DSPs to activate campaigns through its exchange. This flexible approach ensures that Seedtag can meet the diverse needs of advertisers and agencies.
Exploring Synergies with Retail and Commerce Media
Given Gleason’s previous tenure at Criteo, his perspective on the intersection of retail and commerce media with contextual advertising is particularly insightful. He envisions powerful synergies, stating, "If I’m thinking about commerce and neurocontextual, well, emotion is brand recall." He elaborates on the potential of combining emotional signals with contextual targeting and purchase intent to influence campaigns across the entire marketing funnel, from awareness to conversion. This forward-looking perspective suggests a strategic openness to collaboration, even with former competitors. "We’d love to have that conversation with everybody, including Criteo," Gleason concluded.
The implications of Gleason’s strategic pivot are significant. As the digital advertising landscape grapples with privacy changes and the deprecation of third-party cookies, a renewed focus on contextual relevance, augmented by sophisticated AI, could offer a sustainable path forward. Seedtag, under Gleason’s experienced leadership, is positioning itself as a key player in this evolution, aiming to redefine how brands connect with consumers in an increasingly complex digital world. His emphasis on emotion and attention, coupled with a commitment to transparency and publisher empowerment, suggests a thoughtful and potentially transformative approach to the future of advertising.
