San Jose, CA – PayPal is developing a cutting-edge advertising platform designed to leverage its extensive customer data, enabling merchants to better target their ads. The payments giant has appointed Mark Grether, formerly of Uber, to spearhead this new venture, aiming to create a dynamic and personalized platform that enhances advertising spend performance for merchants while offering consumers compelling deals.
The new business initiative includes the PayPal Advanced Offers platform, which was launched earlier this year. This platform allows merchants to reach customers based on detailed purchasing data, down to the stock-keeping unit (SKU) and individual products purchased across the internet.
Diego Scotti, EVP, GM of the consumer group and global marketing and communications at PayPal, emphasized the connection between commerce and advertising. “Commerce and advertising are deeply connected, and we believe that the advertising platform we are building at PayPal will become a must-use marketing channel for merchants big and small. I’m thrilled to have Mark join our team and lead this important work.”
PayPal’s move mirrors similar strategies by other financial institutions. In April, JPMorgan Chase launched a digital media business allowing advertisers to use transaction data to target the bank’s 80 million customers.
In addition to hiring Grether, PayPal has also brought on John Anderson from Plaid as SVP, GM of the consumer group. Anderson will lead product strategy for both PayPal and Venmo globally, further strengthening the company’s consumer-focused initiatives.