Empower

Virtual concerts were once the novelty. Now, gaming platforms are becoming something more interesting: persistent venues where fans can discover, play, create and experience music together.
From Fortnite Festival and Roblox to GTA Online and Beat Saber, music is increasingly being built into the experience itself rather than simply streamed into it. That creates new ways for artists and brands to engage audiences through gameplay, virtual worlds, artist integrations and social experiences.
The opportunity is shifting from sponsoring a moment to creating something fans actually want to enter, participate in and return to.
Empower Ocean’s Gordon Agunobi, VP, Media Investment, looks at how gaming is changing where fans experience music.

Retail media is getting a lot more crowded.
Amazon and Walmart may dominate the category, but a growing group of mid-tier commerce networks is making a bigger play for brand dollars. At Ascendant Network’s recent Showcase event, companies including DoorDash, PayPal, Instacart, Macy’s, Home Depot and Albertsons made the case for why their audiences, data and commerce signals belong in broader media plans.
The bigger shift may be that these platforms aren’t positioning themselves solely as performance channels anymore. They’re moving up the funnel, expanding their offerings and competing for a larger role in how brands build audiences and drive growth.
For advertisers, that creates more opportunity, but also more choices and more questions around measurement, incrementality, and value. Empower Ocean’s Stephanie Stanczak, VP, Media Investments, takes a closer look at where retail media is heading next.

What does NFL fandom reveal about local media?
A new NFL Fandom Index offers an interesting look at where fan engagement runs deepest, ranking markets across everything from apparel purchases and live event attendance to social engagement, radio listening, streaming, and linear TV viewing.
The results are a good reminder that audience size isn’t the only measure that matters. Buffalo, Kansas City and Green Bay lead the rankings, while radio remains particularly strong in several of the NFL’s most passionate markets.
As Empower Ocean Jillian Saul, VP, Media Investments, Local, points out, fans don’t care which platform their team lives on. They follow their passion across radio, TV, streaming, and social. For advertisers, that makes local fan intensity an important consideration when evaluating media opportunities.

A view is not a view.
Video platforms may all report “views,” but what actually counts as a view can vary significantly across YouTube, TikTok, Meta, and other environments. That makes cross-platform comparisons far less straightforward than they appear.
The better question isn’t just how many views a campaign generated. It’s what those views actually represented, and what happened after they were counted.
Empower Ocean’s Casey Holbrook, SVP, Digital Media and Innovation, provides a closer look at why video measurement needs more context.

The walls around social advertising are starting to come down.
Pinterest’s move to make premium inventory available through DSPs like DV360 is more than a new buying option. It signals a broader shift toward a more connected media ecosystem, where social can be planned, measured, and optimized alongside display, video, and CTV.
Empower Ocean’s Taylor Reynolds, Director, Digital Media, explains why Pinterest opening its inventory could be an important step toward truly omnichannel media buying.

For years, marketers treated social and Connected TV as two very different channels. One was built for phones. The other was built for the living room.
That distinction is fading fast.
As social platforms expand onto connected TVs and streaming platforms embrace creator-led content, the line between social and CTV is becoming increasingly blurred. For advertisers, that shift has implications far beyond media buying—it changes how we think about audiences, creative, and the future of video.
Kris Wilhelmsen, VP, Programmatic, looks at why the living room is becoming social’s next frontier.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup proved something many marketers already suspected: streaming continues to grow, but the biggest live events still deliver unmatched scale on linear television.
The tournament also reinforced that audiences aren’t watching on just one screen. They’re moving between broadcast, streaming, social media, and creator content throughout the match.
Empower Ocean’s Taylor Jarvis, Senior Specialist, Investment, tells us what the World Cup taught us about the future of sports advertising.

Political advertising is ramping up toward what is expected to be the most expensive midterm cycle on record. But the biggest takeaway for marketers isn’t simply how much will be spent, it’s how political dollars are changing the media marketplace.
As campaigns begin buying earlier, targeting local markets more aggressively, and extending pressure well beyond traditional political windows, advertisers need to rethink how they plan for inventory, pricing, and reach.
Carrie Tiz, Associate Director, Investment takes a snapshot of what agencies should be watching as the 2026 midterms accelerate.

Some moments transcend entertainment and become cultural events that reshape conversations across media, cities, and brands.
Whether it’s a sporting event, a product launch, or a celebrity milestone, the biggest opportunities aren’t created by paid media alone. They’re fueled by earned attention, social participation, and authentic brand engagement.
Max Sedor, Supervisor, Media Strategy & Planning, explains what one of this summer’s biggest cultural moments can teach brands and marketers about showing up in real time.

Sometimes a sneaker drop needs a mic drop.
Proud to see our work with JD Sports recognized as Best Celebrity/Influencer Campaign at the Chicago Interactive Marketing Association Awards.
Congratulations to our amazing team and our partners at JD Sports. The best work happens when strategy, creativity, and culture move together.