Yes We CAN
Matt Prohaska has spent more than a decade helping publishers, brands and their ad tech partners clean up their data strategies. Now, he’s turning that playbook over to nonprofits.
Prohaska is launching the Charity Action Network (CAN), a 501(c)(3) consultancy that will apply digital marketing and media expertise to the nonprofit sector. “The nonprofit industry is often contained within its own ecosystem,” he tells AdExchanger. “CAN looks to be a unique bridge into both industries to solve bigger problems faster.”
For example, DetecTogether – which helps firefighters detect cancer earlier – lacked the targeting capabilities to expand a Boston-specific outreach program nationally. CAN is now running that campaign.
But why launch CAN now? Federal grant funding has shrunk, private donations are down and nonprofits are getting squeezed. “There is more pressure than ever on nonprofits,” Prohaska says, “creating an immediate need for all of us to do more.”
CAN’s consulting arm is already live. But it has a more ambitious offering in mind: the “Giving Exchange.” It’s essentially a programmatic marketplace, but instead of matching ad supply and demand, it’ll match donation dollars, volunteer hours and PSA inventory in real time. RFPs went out to more than 20 tech firms this week, with a Q1 2027 launch target. A “Charity Co-Op” is also coming next year so that nonprofits working on overlapping issues can more easily pool their resources.
Sounds like a conversion worth optimizing for.
Unmaxxed
In programmatic, the “maxing” trend has its own fraught history with Google’s Performance Max and all its predecessors.
But in general consumer marketing, there’s a new trend of brands embracing the language of “maxxing,” pulled from a new, younger set of influencers – namely Clavicular and other self-described “looksmaxxers.”
Grooming brand Harry’s quipped in an ad that its new razors are for “jawmaxxing,” The Wall Street Journal reports; Marriott touts its Labor Day “weekend maxxing” deals.
There are new media channels driving these consumer trends. Some of the most prominent “looksmaxxing” influencers who are signing major brand deals began building their live video audiences on streaming platforms like Twitch and Kick. The transition to selling men’s grooming products, mainly via TikTok, is a recent pivot.
The trend has produced a surge in health and beauty products marketed to men. One surprise ecommerce powerhouse on TikTok is cologne. Somehow, an influencer making the pitch helps sell the product without the buyer having smelled it first.
But the Journal also cites a boost in sales for more suspicious products like “drinkable self-tanner.” Which feels like the kind of product – akin to an infrared tooth whitener or a hat equipped with red lights to cure baldness – that practically screams TikTok seller.
The Quest For Engagement
Discord’s new ad format could be good news for both gamers and their in-game avatars.
The new format, called Play Quest+, allows brands to offer in-game rewards for completing certain accomplishments. It’s set to launch in early September.
Once players accept a Quest, they link their Discord and game accounts so Discord can track their progress. Then, brands can deliver rewards at pivotal moments in the game using Discord’s Social SDK and Events API.
But Discord is a platform that “[runs] on trust,” Nicole van Zanten, co-president and chief growth officer at social media management agency ICUC, tells Digiday. Most of its users are there to play games and socialize, and “the moment it feels like an ad wearing a game’s clothes, the community will most certainly clock it.”
So, one of the ways Discord and its brand clients can ensure that the ads don’t feel, well, too much like ads is to cater their rewards to particular games.
“If it’s a badge or cosmetic that means something inside that [game] server’s culture,” said van Zanten, “it lands.”
But Wait! There’s More!
Brands are bringing their creator ambassadors into the C-suite. [Digiday]
Google, Peacock and Apple convinced Maryland to strike down its first-in-the-nation digital advertising tax as unconstitutional. Now, similar ad taxes in Illinois, Utah and Washington could be in jeopardy. [Bloomberg Law]
LinkedIn’s new tool for reporting AI slop has been used more than a million times since its launch a few weeks ago, and the company says users are already seeing 40% less slop in their feeds. [Engadget]
Apple Messages on Mac integrates ChatGPT. [The Information]
