Posts for 'Advertising'

NBCU is enabling clients to buy national TV ads using a self-serve programmatic TV approach. The new private market arrangement is powered by technology provider 4C. NBCU already works with AOL, TubeMogul and Videology to enabling programmatic buying of its ad inventory. The first client using the self-service approach is Target, which will be able to meld its first-party customer data with NBCU’s own audience data to target certain viewers with ads.

Target’s agency of record is GroupM’s Essence, which is where Adam Gerber, formerly SVP of Client Development and  Communications at ABC, was recently appointed SVP of Investment for North America.

continue reading

A new survey from SintecMedia indicates that a majority of TV executives believe their organizations are either not well prepared to sell advanced TV and digital video ads in one streamlined process (35%), or aren’t sure about their ability to do so (29%). Conversely 41% felt that their organizations are very well prepared to do so.

The new data comes as viewers, especially younger ones, are shifting their consumption to online in record numbers. Consequently, the need to reach audiences across screens, however they may be watching, is critical. That a combined 64% of executives are either not sure or not confident in their ability to sell cross screen ads in a streamlined manner is a worrisome data point.

continue reading on VideoNuze iQ

Early bird discounted registration is now available for VideoNuze’s SHIFT // 2017 Programmatic Video & TV Advertising Summit on Wednesday, November 29th in NYC. This will be our 3rd annual SHIFT conference, with last year’s event drawing 400+ attendees and 50 executive speakers.

Twelve industry-leading companies are on board as sponsors, including Title Partner FreeWheel; Premier Partners  SpotX, VertaMedia and Videology; Headline Partners 4C Insights, Beachfront Media, Cadent, Cedato, SintecMedia, Smart AdServer and Vemba plus Branding Partner Roku.

I’m very grateful that all of these companies are supporting SHIFT. There are additional sponsorship opportunities available; please contact me if you’d like to learn more.

SHIFT is entirely focused on how data-enablement and automation are revolutionizing video and TV advertising. eMarketer estimates that spending on programmatic video and TV (including addressable ads) will reach nearly $16 billion in 2018. Every macro industry trend suggests that for video advertising to be sustainable, it must become more targeted, efficient and effective. This is why programmatic approaches are gaining momentum.

The SHIFT program will include a mix of keynote interviews, panel discussions, fireside chats and research presentations. The goal is to provide attendees with insights and data that are valuable in both day-to-day and longer-range planning. Stay tuned for more information about the program and our initial group of speakers.

Learn more and register now!

I’m pleased to present the 386th edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

After taking a couple weeks off from the podcast, Colin and I are back, and today we discuss 4 different industry stories that have caught our attention. First up, just before Labor Day, Roku filed its S-1 IPO document, sharing financial details for the first time. Colin and I are both struck by the strength of Roku’s “platform revenues” and believe the company’s strategy of innovating with low-priced streaming devices to gain market share has opened up many revenue options (though Colin’s a bit worried about Roku losing its valuable neutrality position in the wake of launching the Roku Channel this week).

We then move on to T-Mobile’s plan to give away Netflix to its unlimited family plan subscribers. It’s the latest “video as bait” play by a wireless carrier, and we both see this trend accelerating. Another interesting bundle play this week was the $5/mo promotion from Hulu and Spotify. We discuss its potential to extend beyond the initial college student target.

Finally, Colin and I were both intrigued by a plan unveiled by Newsy, a popular millennial-focused news app, to create a linear TV channel by taking over Retirement Living TV’s pay-TV subscribers. It’s a relatively unusual move given most TV networks are launching OTT apps these days.

Listen in to learn more!
 
Click here to listen to the podcast (22 minutes, 55 seconds)

Click here for previous podcasts.

Click here to add the podcast feed to your RSS reader.

The VideoNuze podcast is also available in iTunes...subscribe today!

OpenSlate, which helps online video ad buyers understand YouTube content in order to plan and optimize their ad spending, has released a post-campaign brand safety auditing solution. The new solution leverages the same data set OpenSlate has collected on 350 million plus YouTube videos, allowing buyers to close the loop and better understand how their campaigns delivered against brand safety parameters.

continue reading

There’s plenty of M&A and financing activity in the video adtech space, with the latest news coming this morning with RhythmOne acquiring YuMe for $185 million. The deal had been rumored for a while and unites YuMe’s demand-side capabilities with RhythmOne’s supply-side and programmatic platform. YuMe was one of the earliest video adtech players to go public, back in 2013, but has had a bumpy ride as the industry rapidly evolved.

continue reading

I’m pleased to present the 385th edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

On today’s podcast, Colin and I discuss the role of advertising and subscriptions for premium video. I wrote about this topic earlier this week, observing that video providers today are experimenting with all models to see what succeeds. The urgency to find the successor to the lucrative multichannel bundle approach is becoming more urgent as cord-cutting increases.

Colin and I both believe the picture is currently quite murky. We contrast the success Netflix, for example has had with ad-free viewing while subscribers to both CBS All Access and Hulu still appear to prefer to pay less and get a full ad load.

I think there’s real power in a brand’s original identity and it’s quite hard to transition from one model to another. Colin sees more upside from “freemium” approaches that introduce viewers to content with ads but then try to upsell them to subscriptions.

Listen in to learn more!
 
Click here to listen to the podcast (25 minutes, 1 second)

Click here for previous podcasts.

Click here to add the podcast feed to your RSS reader.

The VideoNuze podcast is also available in iTunes...subscribe today!

Advertising, subscriptions, or both? All video providers are currently grappling with the fundamental question of what business model to pursue. With the cost of producing high-quality video and the challenge of attracting and audience more daunting than ever, deciding which path to follow has taken on increasing urgency.

But if the stakes are higher, so too is the murkiness, especially when it comes to what consumers will pay for. Just because Netflix has 50 million U.S. subscribers doesn’t mean getting to a million is straightforward for an SVOD wannabe.

continue reading

Two video ad tech providers, Genesis Media and Altitude Digital, announced they have merged in a deal that is rooted in using data to optimize video publishers’ ad inventory. The new company combines Genesis Media’s technology to analyze publishers’ content, ads and audience with Altitude’s video supply side platform. The merged company will be called Genesis Media and be led by CEO Mark Yakanich, with Altitude’s Joe Grover becoming president and chief marketing officer.

continue reading

Video ad tech provider Extreme Reach has released its inaugural Benchmark Report for video advertising for Q2 ’17, finding, among other things, that video ad completion rates, viewability and time spent have all increased over the past year. For everyone in the industry, these numbers are encouraging signs that video ads are maturing and resonating with audiences, which will in turn help drive more spending.

Key highlights of the new report include:

continue reading on VideoNuze iQ

Videology has released its latest Knowledge Lab research report which is focused on first-party data and how it is being used to help target video ads.  Among the highlights of the report are that 25% of video campaign impressions Videology now serves use first-party targeting. Overall, the percentage of video campaigns using first-party data has increased from 5% in 2015 to 11% in the first half of 2017.

continue reading on VideoNuze iQ

Video ad tech provider Cadent announced this morning enhancements to its core addressable linear TV solution to enable ad delivery across OTT, network DVR and VOD as well. The entire system connects to multiple third-party ad servers through open standards so that pay-TV operators can fulfill on advertisers’ desires to plan, deliver and measure video campaigns holistically across screens.

In a briefing, Cadent’s CTO and COO, Stephanie Mitchko-Beale told me that a big differentiator for Cadent’s solution is that all ad decisioning is done in the cloud, which reduces the load that set-top boxes must carry and allows operators to dynamically insert ads in appropriate places. Operators can aggregate audiences across the different ways viewers consumer content, in turn giving advertisers a total view of usage.

continue reading

Yesterday I posted the recent Video Ad Summit keynote interview with Brian Lesser, CEO of GroupM North America, in which he articulated some of the key challenges facing advertisers today: consumers are harder than ever to reach, data is becoming more valuable, workflows and media buying need to be simplified and agencies need to be more streamlined, among other things.

Video ad tech providers are well aware of these imperatives and this week, 2 new partnerships that were announced (one between YuMe and Mediaocean and the other between DataXu and Teads), along with a new strategic consulting initiative announced by SpotX, all pick up, in one way or another, on the points Brian made.

continue reading

We had 2 terrific keynote interviews at our recent 7th annual Online Video Advertising Summit, with Brian Lesser (CEO, GroupM North America), which was conducted by Matt Spiegel (Managing Director, Marketing & Technology Solutions, MediaLink) and with Troy Young (Global President, Hearst Digital Media), who I interviewed.

Taken together they provide invaluable insights from both the buy and sell sides about how to succeed in the rapidly changing video industry.

Each interview is a little over 30 minutes. Links to all of the session videos from the Ad Summit are included at the bottom of this post. Enjoy!

Watch the keynote interviews

I’m pleased to present the 378th edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

First up this week, Colin shares reactions to a presentation he attended by Jennifer Dorian, GM of Turner Classic Movies and FilmStruck about how TCM is focusing on its core fans to build community and strengthen its brand. Colin was very impressed with the range of initiatives TCM is taking as examples of how a traditional cable TV network can deepen its relationships with viewers.  

We then transition to discuss AMC Premiere, the new $4.99 per month service recently launched by AMC and Comcast allowing ad-free viewing of current season programs. I really like the fact that the companies are experimenting with a new business model, but as I wrote, based on other similar services, I’m not super-confident that there is huge pent-up demand to pay extra to avoid ads, especially since the programming available is limited.

Listen in to learn more!
 
Click here to listen to the podcast (19 minutes, 20 seconds)

Click here for previous podcasts.

Click here to add the podcast feed to your RSS reader.

The VideoNuze podcast is also available in iTunes...subscribe today!

Even as online video advertising booms, questions of trust continue to loom large in the industry. Whether it’s brand safety, misreported and unaudited metrics, viewability or fraud, the industry as a whole is grappling with how to instill a greater sense of trust among all parties.

At our recent Online Video Ad Summit we had a really thoughtful session, “Putting Trust First in Online Video Advertising” in which panelists explored all of the above issues, starting with the most fundamental question, “How do we define brand safety?” It was a really illuminating discussion of all the cross-currents in play and the difficulty of resolving them cohesively, given a multitude of priorities.

The session included Natalie Gabathuler-Scully (VP, Revenue Operations, Vevo), Jonathan Katz (VP of Demand Platforms, Trusted Media Brands), Steve Rubel (Chief Content Strategist, Edelman) and Ben Versh (Director, Media Team, Pfizer), with Eric John (Deputy Director, Video, IAB) moderating.

Watch the video (36 minutes, 41 seconds).

Watch the video now