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Criteo’s new CEO has his work cut out for him.
When Michael Komasinski takes over for Megan Clarken on February 15, the executive will be faced with a unique set of challenges.
When Clarken became CEO in 2019, the sales media was a considerably smaller space with fewer players involved. While Clarken has successfully moved some of Criteo’s business into retail media and away from retargeting, Criteo now has significantly more competition as retail media has become a booming sector with every retailer, agency and adtech company that wanted a piece of the market.
The industry is also facing slower growthshakeups of the holding company, increased M&A action, and the reality that Criteo’s revenue comes largely from cookie-dependent retargeting. Media sales represent 22% of Criteo’s revenue.
Criteo is the largest independent adtech player in retail media with a market capitalization of $2.1 billion at the time of this article’s publication.
Several analysts and experts ADWEEK spoke to raised a central question about Komasinski’s hiring: What is The ending of Criteo? How Komasinski shepherds the company through these challenges could help put it in the spotlight.
“There are massive growth opportunities in media today with new advances in AI and a global rise in e-commerce, driving hyper-personalized consumer touch points across more content and devices than ever before,” Komasinski said in a statement announcing his appointment. “[Criteo] has built incredible AI assets over the years to deliver compelling business solutions for our customers and drive shareholder value.”
Criteo did not respond to a request for additional comment.
Adv holding companies draw lines on sales media
Fresh off five years at Dentsu, Komasinski brings an agency perspective to Criteo that could serve the company well as M&A action changes the dynamic between retail adtech companies and holding companies.
“Most in the [retail media network] the space is looking to improve agency partnerships,” an agency executive told ADWEEK. “Criteo has been ahead of the curve here.”
Omnicom’s proposed acquisition of IPG, announced in December, will bundle more retail media technology into the combined holding company thanks to a series of acquisitions including Flywheel, Acxiom and Node of intelligence.
