Media Buying Briefing: Publicis Media Exchange’s Joel Lunenfeld on CES and the growing role of tech in investment

Much of that tech resides or works through Publicis Media Exchange, the media-side investment arm of Publicis. And that group is led in North America by Joel Lunenfeld, a boomerang of sorts at the holdco — he worked for Moxie Interactive for a decade until 2011, when he moved to Twitter as its longtime vp of global brand strategy. Lunenfeld returned to Publicis as CEO of PMX last March, and will have boots on the ground at CES this year.

Digiday asked Lunenfeld his thoughts on CES, the programmatic world and how the acquisition of influencer agency Influential and Mars United Commerce last year, broadens the investment opportunities for Publicis’ clients. 

The following interview has been edited for space and clarity.

What are you hoping to get out of this year’s CES?

I’ve been attending CES for the last 20 years and I always look forward to seeing the immediate future of consumer technology and how it will impact connection and engagement for brands. Heading into 2025, it’s remarkable how AI has now impacted every category at the show, from connected devices, to autos, to wearables, displays, and content delivery/creation. Outside of the rise of IOT, there’s never been one throughline for every technological advancement. I’m also personally excited to see the AI/robot technology this year and how humanoid robots will soon be integrated into our everyday lives. 

Influencers and creators have muscled their way to serious consideration in media planning. How does access to Influential agency, which Publicis bought last year, help you to integrate that world into your offering? How much are clients looking for that? 

Influencer marketing is now a strategic channel vs. a standalone tactic to drive engagement on social. Our clients are looking for scalable 360 [degree] activation across all channels that drive back to measurable business outcomes. By combining Influential’s world-class team and capabilities with Epsilon’s unique data and identity assets, and the scale of Publicis Media, we are enhancing our ability to understand consumers. This allows us to better identify creators who can authentically connect brands with their target audiences and reach them across the entire internet.

What’s the biggest change programmatic investment needs to undergo this year? 

Programmatic Investment needs to divest from passive targeting and activation methodologies, specifically the open exchange. PMX will continue to take an active role in dictating supply path optimization and leveraging our expertise to deliver for our clients in the most efficient and effective way possible. That means enhanced partnerships with supply partners at best-in-market pricing with fewer [steps]. 

What’s your primary focus for PMX in 2025? Clients, tech, integration, something else? 

As always, the absolute priority is our clients and delivering for them. This is why we continue to make investments in diversified capabilities and to place an emphasis within PMX on integrating those capabilities. We will continue to focus on developing proprietary technologies like PMX Lift, which leverages Epsilon’s … identity and technology. 2025 will also see us drive deeper integration of commerce and influencer capabilities within PMX. Programmatic as an activation strategy can extend beyond standard media and PMX will be at the forefront of opening these new channels for our clients. 

Given AI’s omnipresence, what are PMX’s priorities for integrating AI into your systems – beyond what you’ve already done? 

At PMX, we continue to evaluate third-party offerings on behalf of clients and guide them to diversify their investments. We’ll always support ongoing education and the development of internal tools, such as Marcel and custom algorithms delivered through our proprietary Decision Sciences Framework (DSF), which help us continually enhance our capabilities for clients.

Color by numbers

The rise in attention metrics and greater adoption of AR lenses has created a seemingly happy marriage for brands. At least that’s what independent media agency Wpromote found with research it developed with Snapchat and attention firm Lumen Research. Conducted in October 2024, the three main findings are that: AR drives attention and outcomes; Interactive brand experiences drive deliberate decision-making in consumers; Following the playbook for effective creative practically guarantees results. When compared to campaigns without AR, brand lift netted out to: 

• 2.4x higher ad awareness
• 1.8x higher brand awareness
• 1.4x greater brand association 

Takeoff & landing

• Horizon Media Holdings, which owns Horizon Media and all its offshoots (and there are many), named industry veteran Bob Lord its president, reporting directly to founder and CEO Bill Koenigsberg. Lord has been consulting at Horizon for the last year. (See below for Lord’s thoughts heading into CES.) 
• In late December, IPG’s Initiative won Volvo’s global media business (except for China), beating out incumbent Mindshare. 
• Speaking of Initiative, Initiative India’s vp of investments, Seema Nambiar, is leaving after 34 years within IPG. 

Direct quote

“There’s so much opportunity for us if we can let the machines do the work, and augment — not replace, but augment — our intelligence as human beings, and create a better value proposition between the brand and their consumer, that’s ultimately what we want to do.”

— Bob Lord, newly minted president of Horizon Media Holdings, talking about the enhanced Blue platform Horizon will demo at CES 2025. 

Speed reading

• Research editor Catherine Wolf offered up bonus coverage from Digiday’s 2024 Media Agency Report, delving into programmatic’s evolution, the greater appeal of CTV and the changing nature of agency partnerships. 
• Ronan Shields took another look at the proposed Omnicom acquisition of IPG, weighing the upsides and downsides of the deal, which is expected to close later in 2025. 
• I wrote about the “forgotten middle” of marketers who are likely too small for massive holding companies to focus on, creating bona-fide opportunity for independent agencies.