In today’s MadTech Daily, we cover Albertsons introducing advertising within its AI shopping experience, Forbes testing a creator-led strategy to expand its reach, plus the biggest announcements, deals, and talking points emerging from Cannes.

Cannes Day Three: Uber Eats wins Media Grand Prix; Meta rolls out new AI tools

Uber Eats’ “Build Your Own Super Bowl Commercial” won the Media Grand Prix at Cannes Lions on Wednesday. The interactive campaign lets fans browse unaired clips to create a commercial in-app, like they would a food order. The project broke Uber Eats’ Super Bowl sales record by USD$36m (£27.3m) and saw 3.7 million incremental app visits.

With AI being the hottest topic on La Croisette this year, Meta announced a series of new AI-enabled updates, including an end-to-end creative solution and “experiences” to connect marketers directly to consumers. The move reflects a paradigm shift across the industry as more platforms shift towards automated tools.

Albertsons opens AI search ads via Criteo 

Albertsons is expanding its retail media offering by introducing advertising within its AI-powered shopping experience. Through a partnership with Criteo, brands will be able to place sponsored products in recommendation carousels inside Albertsons’ conversational search tool, which is powered by Google and launched in September. The move gives advertisers a new way to reach shoppers as they search for products using natural language queries and AI-driven recommendations.

Jill Pavlovich, senior vice-president of digital customer experience at Albertsons, said the growing adoption of AI-powered search has created an opportunity to connect brands, products and consumers in a more relevant and contextual way. The initiative reflects a broader industry trend of retailers embedding advertising opportunities into AI-assisted shopping experiences as retail media networks continue to evolve.

Forbes bets on creator-led growth

Forbes is experimenting with a creator-focused content strategy aimed at growing its audience beyond its owned platforms. Under a new 'Forbes Creator' initiative, the publisher is working with six creators, including venture capitalist and social media personality Griffin Johnson, to produce video-led content distributed across platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, as well as through live events. The programme uses bespoke commercial arrangements that combine talent fees with revenue-sharing agreements, while ownership of content varies depending on the project.

The move reflects a broader shift among publishers towards creator-led distribution as they seek to reach younger, social-first audiences and offset declining traffic from search and social referrals. Forbes said creators will have flexibility in how they participate, with partnerships ranging from content production to event involvement and the development of new intellectual property.