Outbrain Inc. (OB): Marketing Mix Analysis [Dec-2025 Updated]

You're looking past the headlines to see if Outbrain Inc.'s merger with Teads actually created the omnichannel powerhouse they promised. Honestly, the shift is defintely dramatic: they're now a global player reaching 2.2 billion consumers across 36 countries, blending performance marketing with big brand video, evidenced by CTV growing over 100% in Q1 2025. With Q1 revenue hitting $286.4 million, up 32% year-over-year, the financial results are backing up the strategy. Let's cut through the noise and look at the four P's-Product, Place, Promotion, and Price-to see the concrete structure behind this growth story.

Outbrain Inc. (OB) - Marketing Mix: Product

You're looking at the core offering of Outbrain Inc., which, following the February 2025 acquisition of Teads, now operates under the Teads brand. This entity positions itself as the omnichannel outcomes platform for the open internet. The platform is designed to drive full-funnel results for marketers across premium media environments. Honestly, the market they are targeting is substantial; the open internet itself represents a $175 billion opportunity.

The product strategy clearly merges native performance capabilities with newer video and branding solutions. This is evident in the 'brandformance platform strategy' they are pushing. For instance, Outbrain Direct Response (ODR) by Teads applies performance expertise to enhance Return on Investment (ROI) across the open internet, blending unique reach, contextual insights, and AI. You can see this focus in their customer base: approximately 500 advertisers spend at least a half a million dollars on a rolling 12-month basis, with an average annual spend exceeding $2 million, which accounts for roughly 70% of total customer spend.

Central to the platform is the use of Predictive AI for contextual and audience targeting. Outbrain predicts moments of engagement to deliver measurable outcomes for advertisers and publishers by employing AI and machine learning. This technology is deployed across more than 7,000 online properties globally. The goal here is to bring the precision typically associated with walled gardens into the open environment, reshaping audience experiences.

The product suite has seen specific innovation with the new 'Moments' vertical video solution for publishers. This offering, which launched in Q3 2024, showed strong adoption, being live on over 70 publishers as of Q1 2025. Key publishers using it include Axel Springer, Fox News, and Webedia.

The expansion into Connected TV (CTV) is a major growth driver for the product portfolio. CTV revenue experienced more than 100% year-over-year growth in Q1 2025 on a pro forma basis. By the end of Q1 2025, CTV accounted for approximately 5% of total ad spend. To support this, the platform now has access to over 300,000,000 TV screens globally, with about half of that inventory coming from exclusive partnerships with LG and Vida.

Here's a quick look at some key product-related operational and financial data from the Q1 2025 period, which reflects the combined entity's performance:

The product ecosystem is continually evolving, with updates spanning areas like Affiliate Marketing, High-Conversion Content, and repurposing social campaigns. The company is focused on bringing the precision of walled garden capabilities to the open internet through these integrated solutions.

• Use of Predictive AI for context-driven addressability and measurement.
• Focus on driving measurable outcomes from branding to performance objectives.
• Integration of legacy Outbrain performance solutions with legacy Teads enterprise brand customers began in Q2 2025.
• Secured new strategic Joint Business Partnerships (JBPs) with Ferrero, Haleon, Philip Morris International, and Beiersdorf.

If onboarding for new premium supply partners takes longer than expected, the immediate realization of full-funnel outcome benefits could be delayed. Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Outbrain Inc. (OB) - Marketing Mix: Place

You're looking at the distribution backbone of the newly combined entity, which, as of February 3, 2025, operates under the Teads brand following the acquisition of Teads by Outbrain Inc.. The 'Place' strategy here is all about maximizing the breadth and quality of the open internet inventory accessible to advertisers through a single, optimized path.

The physical and digital footprint is substantial. The company is headquartered in New York, but its operational muscle is spread across 36 countries globally. This global presence is critical for serving multinational advertisers and managing diverse publisher relationships.

The core of the distribution strategy rests on the direct relationships forged with both sides of the marketplace. This two-sided platform approach is how Teads ensures inventory is available where and when it's needed across the open internet.

Here's a quick look at the scale of this distribution network as reported around the closing of the acquisition and in Q1 2025:

This combined scale is positioned to create one of the largest optimized supply paths for premium inventory on the open internet. The distribution isn't just about volume; it's about curating access to quality media environments, including web, mobile, and Connected TV (CTV). The growth in CTV inventory is a key distribution channel focus, with CTV revenues growing by more than 100% year-over-year on a pro forma basis in Q1 2025.

The distribution strategy is further defined by the platform's ability to serve the entire marketing funnel, meaning the 'Place' extends to where the consumer is in their journey. This is facilitated by integrating both branding and performance solutions across the available inventory. The focus is on connecting quality media with advertiser creative and context-driven addressability.

Key elements defining the 'Place' strategy include:

• Omnichannel platform across web, mobile, and CTV.
• Focus on premium, curated media environments.
• Direct relationships with global advertisers and agency holding companies.
• Leveraging combined contextual and interest data sets for targeting.

The integration process itself is part of the near-term distribution management. Management executed key integration steps, including refining sales packaging and pricing, to drive better execution in the combined entity. The goal is to ensure this vast network translates efficiently into advertiser outcomes, which is why they are targeting at least $180 million in Adjusted EBITDA for the full year 2025. Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Outbrain Inc. (OB) - Marketing Mix: Promotion

The promotion strategy for Outbrain Inc. (OB), now operating under the Teads brand following the February 2025 acquisition, centers on a unified approach to messaging and channel execution.

Core strategy is 'brandformance,' uniting brand equity and direct response.

The combined company is pushing a 'brandformance' strategy, which merges the high-margin video and branding expertise from Teads with Outbrain's established performance solutions. Feedback from hundreds of advertisers and media owners on this platform strategy in the first quarter of 2025 was described as highly encouraging. This hybrid model aims to deliver measurable outcomes while building long-term brand equity. The advertiser spend mix reflects this balance, with approximately 2/3 of spend directed toward performance campaigns and approximately 1/3 toward branding campaigns. You're seeing a clear push to serve both brand-building objectives and direct-response needs on the same platform.

Strategic Joint Business Partnerships (JBPs) with enterprise brands like Ferrero.

A key driver for growth is the focus on strategic Joint Business Partnerships (JBPs). The company closed the first quarter of 2025 with more than 50 JBP partnerships. These include new commitments with major enterprise brands such as Ferrero, Haleon, Philip Morris International, and Beiersdorf. Management sees a large opportunity for growth by servicing new product lines, geographies, and marketing objectives within these partners' portfolios.

Initial cross-selling of legacy performance solutions to Teads' large brand customers.

To accelerate the 'brandformance' narrative, the company initiated the cross-selling of legacy Outbrain performance solutions to the large enterprise brand customers inherited from Teads. Early wins in this cross-sell effort were reported in the second quarter of 2025, with an expected acceleration into the second half of the year. This is critical for realizing the full potential of the combined offering.

Focus on first-party data and contextual targeting to counter privacy changes.

In response to evolving privacy regulations and the decline of third-party cookies, promotion efforts are heavily leaning into privacy-centric targeting methods. Advertisers are being guided to use their own first-party data and contextual targeting as leading solutions. Outbrain Inc. (OB)'s Interest Targeting capability specifically utilizes its proprietary Interest Graph, which is built on first-party data gathered from consumers engaging with its content. Furthermore, contextual targeting is executed via IAB Category Targeting, allowing ads to be shown on pages matching specific content context rather than relying on individual tracking.

Here's a quick look at some key metrics reflecting the scale and focus of the combined company's promotion efforts through the first three quarters of 2025:

The promotion mix also includes significant investment in newer, high-engagement formats, which helps convey brand value effectively:

• CTV revenue growth exceeded 100% year-over-year in Q1 2025, reaching about 5% of total ad spend.
• The 'Moments' vertical video offering is live on over 70 publishers.
• Moments video is delivering double the engagement versus other branding formats.
• The company has access to over 300 million TV screens via exclusive home screen inventory on devices like LG and VIDAA.

Also, the company is focused on operational efficiencies that support promotional investment, having actioned 90% of compensation-related cost synergy targets as of Q1 2025.

Outbrain Inc. (OB) - Marketing Mix: Price

You're looking at the hard numbers for Outbrain Inc. (OB) pricing strategy as of late 2025, post-Teads integration. The top-line performance gives us a starting point for what customers are paying into the ecosystem. Revenue for Q1 2025 was reported at $\text{}\$286.4 million\text{}$, which was up $\text{}32\%\text{}$ year-over-year. Looking ahead, the company is guiding for full-year 2025 Adjusted EBITDA to reach at least $\text{}\$180 million\text{}$.

The core of Outbrain Inc.'s pricing models is performance-based, designed to drive measurable outcomes for advertisers. Honestly, this means you're paying for action, not just impressions. The foundational model runs on a Cost-Per-Click, or CPC, basis, where you set the bid, and you're charged for the clicks your campaign gets. Still, the focus is on the result, which is why metrics like Cost Per Action (CPA) and Return On Ad Spend (ROAS) are key performance indicators for advertisers using the platform.

Here's a quick look at the structure of spend among the top-tier advertisers, which gives you a sense of the average commitment level for significant partners:

The pricing structure is clearly designed to capture value from high-volume spenders, with these top advertisers representing a substantial portion of the total customer spend. Also, remember that the platform is actively cross-selling solutions, which can influence the final effective pricing or value proposition for these large accounts.

Financially, the integration of Teads has a clear price tag attached to future efficiencies. Outbrain Inc. is targeting $\text{}\$65 million to \$75 million\text{}$ in annual synergies in 2026 resulting from that acquisition. This expected capture of cost and revenue benefits directly impacts the long-term cost structure, which underpins future pricing flexibility.