Commentary
GroupM's Retail Media Specialist Triad Is Closing Its Doors
- by Richard Whitman , Columnist, April 19, 2020
WPP’s GroupM confirmed over the weekend that it is closing its retail media specialist Triad. The company attributed the move to the combined impact of the pandemic and ongoing changes in the retail industry.
WPP acquired Triad in 2016 for $300 million. Last year was a tough one for the agency — it lost its largest client Walmart.
Walmart subsidiary Sam’s Club struck a deal with Triad later in the year to acquire the proprietary tech stack the firm had developed for it, effectively taking the operation in-house.
There were reports that WPP held talks to sell the company but no deal was completed.
Triad employees were informed of the decision late last week. The business will wind down over the next couple of months.
GroupM issued a statement confirming the closing:
"The dramatic changes in the retail industry, coupled with the economic conditions triggered by the global pandemic, have brought us to the difficult decision to close Triad, a retail media business based in St. Petersburg, FL. We are proud of Triad’s role as an early retail media pioneer, as evident in the successful sale of its proprietary technology and engineering team to Sam’s Club in fall of 2019. Our heartfelt gratitude goes out to Triad for its leadership, customer innovations and retail media inventions.”
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As an ad guy, I always feel bad whenever a specialized unit closes because it's going to mean two things: unemployed people and people who will then have to face narrow-minded headhunters who will say "oh, but you have RETAIL experience, but not 'frilly pink dress' experience".
However, if a unit specialized in retail is forced to close because of the changes in the retail environment... that also means that they did not adapt at all.