As if the marketing landscape weren’t confusing enough, grocery giant Kroger has created 84.51°, an agency that runs marketing programs for packaged goods manufacturers wanting to reach 60 million Kroger-buying households. Channels include in-store advertising, co-branded Web advertising, and a private social network for Kroger’s most engaged customers. Are retailer-based marketing networks the next big thing?

Switching to consumer data integration, we have a very interesting study from cross-device identity vendor LiveRamp about how marketers are using individual-level identity resolution to better measure performance. Nearly everyone (94%) said cross-media identity resolution is needed to accurately assess marketing performance, while just 21% had people-based measurement in place. Almost half (42%) didn’t know how to get started. Other interesting data too.

The U.S. Senate has passed a bill that could potentially ban TikTok in the U.S. if its Chinese owner, ByteDance, does not sell its holdings within a year. The bill now goes to the President Biden, who has said he will sign it. Court challenges are likely to follow.