Advertising Intelligence Framework: A guide to assessing marketing platform capabilities in the AI era

Reflecting advertiser interests on both sides of this paradigm shift, our framework establishes five core capability categories, each indispensable for effectively connecting advertisers with audiences:   

1. Data Assets

The foundational inputs that enable intelligence capabilities. This category measures the volume, quality, and variety of proprietary data that companies possess about consumers, businesses, and the physical world. 

 2. AI/Tech

The ability to process data inputs into intelligent outputs. This category evaluates model development, infrastructure, and the specialized algorithms that power personalized, proactive intelligence.  

3. Distribution

The ability to reach users and provide access points for intelligence services. This includes user engagement patterns, hardware endpoints, ecosystem completeness, and trust that inspires receptivity to predictive intelligence. 

4. Commerce / Transaction

The ability to monetize intelligence through commerce and advertising. This category evaluates infrastructure for transactions, advertising systems, and business relationships.   

5. Content / Media

The ability to pair entertainment with advertising opportunities and intelligence surfaces. This category focuses on how content ownership enables high-impact ad inventory, commerce integration, and ecosystem lock-in – not content quality for its own sake.   

Notably, distribution capabilities stand out as the most enduring competitive advantage for providers entering the AI era - and the highest barrier to entry. Cultivating the ability to effectively reach billions of daily users requires not just capital, but consistent brand building, intricate ecosystem development, and platform innovation that cannot be acquired overnight. Even the development of State of the Art foundational AI models does not create an insurmountable moat or prevent partners without frontier capabilities from success.

There are pathways to success in the AI era that treat intelligence as a commodity and focus instead on offering unique applications and integrations. Our framework groups today’s marketplace leaders into four Strategic Groups: Ecosystem Builders, Specialists, Challengers, and Hardware Heavyweights.

1.Ecosystem Builders 

Providers in the ecosystem builder grouping combine broad consumer reach and multi-surface distribution with diversified monetization. These providers are strong across at least three of the five capability pillars (Data, AI/Tech, Distribution, Commerce, Content) and often set industry standards and shape the competitive landscape. In our analysis, this category is currently made up of Alphabet and Amazon.  

2.Specialists 

Providers who can best be described as specialists are defined by having deep strength in one or two pillars (e.g., social engagement, commerce infrastructure). Specialists excel in their niche and rely on partnerships or federated ecosystems to fill gaps in other capabilities. This inaugural analysis groups Alibaba, Meta, Microsoft, Tencent, and xAI together in this category.

3.Challengers 

Emerging or fast-moving players with frontier technology or unique distribution wedges can best be described as challengers in the AI advertising era. These companies are building toward full-stack capability but currently lack the scale or breadth of other providers. Their future success will depend on their ability to continue to rapidly innovate, build strategic alliances, and execute at speed. Our analysis places Apple, ByteDance, and OpenAI in the challenger category.  

4.Hardware Heavyweights 

These companies are best able to leverage significant device footprints and sensor ecosystems (phones, wearables, smart homes, automotive). Their advantages lie in physical distribution and real-world data, but they will need to develop services, intelligence layers, and advertising systems to better unlock monetization opportunities in the future. We currently assess Samsung and Xiaomi as cornerstones in this strategic grouping. 

For global advertisers, these insights translate into clear strategic imperatives for partner selection. We expect advertisers to prioritize partnerships with collaborators who can offer persistent multi-modal signals and proactive intelligence, coupled with transparent AI systems and continually evolving shoppable content solutions, and interoperability with marketers’ existing and future provider ecosystems. Successful partners will also be equipped to navigate the shifting regulatory sands and technological advancements, ensuring that advertising efforts remain both effective and compliant.  

As the landscape continues to shift rapidly, advertisers should pressure‑test their strategies against five key questions: 

1. Do we own our customer intelligence, or are we renting it? 

2. Can our partners demonstrate incrementality and trustworthy off-platform conversion without direct commerce capability? 

3. Are our current targeting strategies built to withstand shifts in privacy regulation through 2030? 

4. Do we have robust plans in the event distribution drops suddenly among our top partners? 

5. When AI bots make purchase decisions for consumers, will they recommend our products or services? 

The road ahead: Strategic choices and emerging opportunities 

The current marketplace is dynamic and fluid, offering multiple avenues for companies to achieve leadership. The next five years will be defined by crucial strategic choices regarding capability development, potential mergers and acquisitions, and the formation of impactful partnerships. These decisions will undoubtedly reshape the competitive landscape, and we remain dedicated to guiding advertisers through these complexities, ensuring they are empowered to make informed decisions that drive intelligent growth and foster meaningful connections with consumers. 

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