Please save the dates for VideoNuze’s inaugural Connected TV Advertising Brand Suitability Summit (virtual) on the afternoons of November 16th and 17th.

As we all know, connected TV advertising is exploding. eMarketer estimates that in 2021, in the U.S. alone, CTV advertising will exceed $13 billion, and will more than double, to over $27 billion in 2025. Other analysts are forecasting even faster growth.

But there are still many challenges for CTV advertising to achieve its full potential. One of the most significant challenges over the past several years has been “brand safety” - advertisers’ discomfort with having their brands associated with anything but premium, “brand-safe” content. This is a topic we’ve explored deeply at prior VideoNuze CTV Ad Summits.

Beyond the traditional conversations about and solutions to brand safety, there is a more recent focus on “brand suitability” in CTV advertising - how advertisers can optimize their adjacency to particular premium video content, according to specific performance metrics. “Suitability” is a critical evolution in industry vocabulary because it moves the conversation from negative associations of “safety,” to instead focus on the positive nature of appropriate advertising.

Integral to the topic of brand suitability is Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I). Increasingly, advertisers and agencies recognize that advertising campaigns and the professionals who create and execute them must reflect society’s diversity and its evolving values. Brand building is becoming more purposeful around advancing equity, inclusion and representation. As CTV advertising gains a larger share of both linear TV and digital ad spending, it is poised to play a more important role in brand suitability and DE&I.

For all of these reasons, the time is now right for a first of its kind industry event that is 100% focused on brand suitability and safety in CTV advertising along with the integral role of DE&I. This is VideoNuze’s Connected TV Advertising Brand Suitability Summit’s mission. An opportunity for the industry’s top thought-leaders to convene and dig into all aspects of this complex, vital topic. Through a highly curated program of keynotes, research presentations, interviews and panel discussions, attendees will immerse themselves in all the key issues and how they’re being addressed through modern approaches and solutions.

I’m planning for the CTV Advertising Brand Suitability Summit to feature significant involvement from large ad agencies and advertisers who are leading in both CTV advertising and DE&I. I’m really proud to share that I will be directing 10% of all paid sponsorship revenue to agency partners, or their designated affiliates, to advance their DE&I initiatives. I’m also really excited that a number of the industry’s leading companies have already committed to be sponsors of the CTV Advertising Brand Suitability Summit. Based on my initial outreach, I’m anticipating this event will be very well-received across the industry. If you would like to learn more about sponsorship opportunities, please contact me.

Please visit the CTV Advertising Brand Suitability Summit’s website for more information and registration. I'll have a lot more information to share in the coming weeks. I’ll also be sharing VideoNuze’s full 2022 event plan, which will build on 15 years of successful online video and CTV events that have been attended by thousands of industry professionals. Next year will feature at least three compelling CTV advertising events, including one in the first quarter.

For now, please save November 16th and 17th for what I hope will be two high-impact afternoons of learning and networking.