Posts for 'Advertising'

I’m pleased to present the 356th edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

This week we explore the concept of “TV as an app,” which represents a paradigm shift in how TV is accessed by viewers. Of course the rise of Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and others has paved the way for app-based viewing, but an entire TV lineup being delivered via an app to a connected TV device is still a significant change from conventional set-top box-based viewing.

“TV as an app” got a boost this week with Comcast’s beta release of the Xfinity TV app for Roku. I’ve given it an initial try and provide some observations. In addition, Colin was moderating a panel on video apps this week and shares further insights he heard.

We then shift focus to this Sunday’s Super Bowl, which will once again feature multiple free streaming options as well as localized dynamic ad insertion in the streams, which is a first. I’m keeping an eye on the ads to see if they offer any meaningful viewer engagement.

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This Sunday’s Super Bowl will once again be a showcase for great football and for compelling, creative advertising. As always, advertisers will be spending big to be in the game as the rate for a 30-second spot is approximately $5 million. Add in the cost of producing the ad and pre-promoting it, and the Super Bowl is easily the biggest single advertising investment a marketer makes.

While the Super Bowl ads will no doubt entertain and move us, the bigger question is, will they engage us? Will they spur us do something beyond saying “Wow, that was cool!” before we shift our attention to the next ad or back to the game?

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Many analysts will be looking past Facebook’s Q4 ’16 earnings, which will be reported later today, for reassuring signs of how the company will continue its blazing revenue growth in 2017 and beyond. Over the past couple years, there has been no other company (except possibly Google and Apple) that has benefited financially more from the shift to mobile lifestyles.

Facebook’s 1.8 billion monthly active users in Q3  ’16 were 93% mobile. And 97% of the company’s $7 billion in Q3 ’16 revenue, which was up 56% vs. Q3 ’15, was advertising-based. Clearly Facebook has become a mobile advertising machine.

But trees don’t grow to the sky; the number of global mobile users is slowing and Facebook’s ability to include more ads in users’ newsfeeds is reaching its limit. As a result, Facebook has messaged that revenue growth will soften. Clearly Facebook needs a next act, and so over the past 6-9 months Facebook executives, including CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg, have repeatedly signaled that the company intends to be “video-first.”

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I’m pleased to present the 355th edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

This week we discuss four topics that caught our attention and we wrote about: research from GFK MRI that 30% of U.S. millennials are now “cordless” (here), Netflix’s move into reality TV programming (here); Google enabling YouTube ad targeting based on users’ searches (here) and the new chairman of the FCC, Ajit Pai (here). We dig into all of these topics and discuss their implications.

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Extreme Reach has released a new e-Book, “Video Ad Streaming: A Simple Change that Will Set a New Industry Standard,” highlighting the inefficiencies of current cross-screen video ad fulfillment and urging a modern approach with ad creative centrally managed and accessible.  

The e-Book identifies the core problem of siloed TV and video workflows, which result in TV ads that are widely used online to be duplicated and re-formatted repeatedly. All of this causes major delays in getting the right ad to the right place at the right time.

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Brightcove has published a manifesto highlighting ad-supported online video’s challenging economics and proposing improved viewing experiences, ad optimization and reduced operational complexity as critical solutions. While observing that online video usage has clearly “crossed the chasm” to become a mainstream experience, the manifesto notes that “the extreme concentration of ad dollars among a few mega companies” (citing Morgan Stanley research that 85% of incremental spending goes to Google and Facebook) will ultimately mean fewer content options.

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Last Friday, while most of the world was focused on the presidential inauguration, Google announced that YouTube advertisers will now be able to target their ads based on users’ past Google searches, as well as their demographic information. Depending how this is executed, there could have significant upside to YouTube’s advertisers, further incenting them to shift budgets from TV to YouTube.  

In a blog post, YouTube’s director, product management Diya Jolly provided the example of a user who is searching for winter coats on Google and is then presented with video ads by a particular retailer on YouTube. No doubt we have all had the experience of searching for a product, only to have ads immediately start appearing in web sites we subsequently visit. The same would now happen, but with video ads on YouTube.

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TV advertising is moving the way of online video advertising - with an emphasis on greater data use and audience-based targeting. That’s the conventional wisdom driving huge investments at TV networks. But in a candid panel discussion yesterday at AdExchanger’s Industry Preview, senior TV ad executives raised lots of questions about the extent to which TV will ultimately go the digital route and specifically whether sophisticated data-based targeting will take hold in the TV industry.

The session included Maureen Bosetti, Chief Investment Officer at Initiative, Peter Naylor, SVP, Ad Sales at Hulu, Marianne Gambelli, Chief Investment Officer at Horizon Media and Donna Speciale, President, Turner Ad Sales, with Kelly Liyakasa, Senior Editor at AdExchanger moderating.

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Videology has released its “2017 TV & Video Outlook,” a series of interviews with ad industry executives from AT&T AdWorks, Bell Media, CNN International, comScore, GroupM, LiveRamp, MediaCom, Nielsen, OMG, Oracle, WhiteOps and others. The executives provide their insights and analysis on TV/video ad convergence, programmatic, targeting/data, mobile, measurement, fraud and lots more.

Reading through the interviews, it’s clear the proliferation of viewing devices and fragmentation of audiences are critical market drivers (no surprise!). That makes efficiently targeting specific audiences with ads, using data and automation a big opportunity. But many of the executives are pragmatic about where data-driven targeting currently stands and what still needs to be done. Overall the tone is both optimistic and realistic.

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The application of data and automation by national TV networks to help sell their ad inventory was the topic of one of our afternoon sessions at the SHIFT // Programmatic Video & TV Ad Summit recently. Greg Anderson (Managing Director, Xaxis Media Group, North America), Brett Hurwitz (Business Lead - TV, AOL), Brian Napolitano (VP, Ad Sales, Ovation), Vin Paolozzi (SVP, Innovation, MAGNA), Chris Raleigh (Chief Commercial Officer, Placemedia) and Dan Punt (Managing Director, FTI Consulting) moderating.

The group dug into how programmatic opens up the value of TV ad inventory to new buyers, how new efficiencies are being created, how all of this is affecting organizations on both the buy and sell sides, and how cross-screen measurement and emerging currencies will evolve, among other topics.

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Programmatic video and TV are both taking off, but lots of challenges still remain. What are they, how will they be resolved and over what time frame? These were the key questions addressed in our closing session at the SHIFT // Programmatic Video & TV Ad Summit a few weeks ago. The session included Joanne Chen (Partner, Foundation Capital), Barry Green (Head of Business Development, North America, VertaMedia), Dave Katz (VP/GM, Programmatic Revenue Platforms & Operations, Univision), Rich Sobel (SVP, Programs & Services, Publicis Media) and Joe Grover (CEO, Altitude Digital) moderating.

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Conde Nast is in the middle of executing a massive transformation of its business from being a traditional print publisher to becoming a multi-platform storyteller with video having a central role.  At our recent SHIFT // Programmatic Video & TV Ad Summit, we were privileged to hear fantastic insights about the company’s video playbook in a 30-minute interview Lisa Valentino, SVP, Network Sales and Partnership of Conde Nast and Chief Revenue Officer of Conde Nast Entertainment did with Matt Gillis, SVP, Publisher Platforms at AOL.  

The interview covered an array of topics, with Lisa zeroing in on how Conde has built up its video business by embracing an open distribution model that has been so successful that social is now the primary way that audiences engage with Conde’s brands.

The company has mined its archive of 90K articles for ideas and content that contribute to over 5K videos now being custom created annually for various social and distribution platforms. Lisa shares one great example of an Emma Stone interview video that got 2 million views on Facebook which was then edited and posted elsewhere the next day and got 8 million views.

Lisa talks in highly specific detail about the enormous complexity behind all of this plus the cultural changes that are resulting from new talent the company has attracted. Importantly, she also provides great insights about how the company is monetizing its content, the critical role of programmatic and how it is staffed, plus the challenges of today’s measurement models, among other topics.

Overall it is a fascinating glimpse into how Conde Nast is leveraging video to completely change its business model. Lisa expertly conveys how much of this is ongoing experimentation, with success equally due to innovative strategies and relentless execution.

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eMarketer forecasts that by 2018 programmatic video ad spending will be $10.6 billion and programmatic TV ad spending will be $4.4 billion. But how will all this spending impact multiscreen campaigns, and what are the key challenges ahead? These were the primary topics of a session at the recent SHIFT // Programmatic Video & TV Ad Summit which was moderated by Videology’s Chairman and CEO Scott Ferber. Panelists included Ashish Chordia (Founder and CEO, Alphonso), Andrew Feigenson (Managing Director, Digital, Nielsen), Jason Kanefsky (Chief Investment Officer, Havas Media) and Rachel Schlanger (Head of Partnerships, Initiative).

The panelists discussed the issue of knitting together measurement across TV and digital platforms, which is required for multiscreen programmatic to scale up, and how this is being addressed. Other challenges included cutting through some of the confusion around how to select technology partners when many sound similar, reducing the use of acronyms, organizing teams properly to capitalize on multiscreen and improving trust and predictability.

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Ad agencies are in the middle of seismic industry changes including keeping up with viewers’ new behaviors, clients’ increased demands and content providers’ evolving business models. All of that is leading to the need for “smarter media buying,” according to Amanda Richman, president of Starcom USA, who was our afternoon keynote guest at the recent SHIFT // Programmatic Video & TV Ad Summit.

In an interview with MediaLink SVP Matt Spiegel, Amanda described how her agency (and its parent company Publicis) is pursuing more holistic discussions in its upfront negotiations with TV networks across TV and digital, how it is using data more extensively to define target audience and how it is refining key performance metrics across screens. Importantly, Amanda discusses how measurement challenges continue to impact the market.

Amanda also digs into the influence both Google and Facebook are having and how content providers are reacting plus how these walled gardens fit into overall media plans. Amanda also talks about opportunities with pay-TV operators, especially locally. She also talks at length about how her agency and others are organizing themselves, including the role of specialists in data and technology.

Overall, it’s a really insightful discussion of both the role of agencies and how media will be bought and sold in a more automated and data-driven era.

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Data and automation are at the heart of programmatic’s influence on video and TV advertising. At the recent SHIFT // Programmatic Video & TV Ad Summit, we dug in deeply to data and measurement in a session including Larry Allen (VP, Ad Innovation and Programmatic Solutions, Turner Ad Sales), Joan Fitzgerald (VP, Product Management and Business Development, TiVo), Noah Levine (SVP, Advertising Data & Technology Solutions, Fox Networks Group), George Musi (SVP, Head of Analytics and Insight, Optimedia | Blue 449), with Tim Hanlon (Founder and CEO, The Vertere Group) moderating.

A key theme the panelists explored was the complexity involved with multiple measurement systems and data sets. With traditional TV and Nielsen as a single currency, transacting was relatively simple. But with the panelists explaining how their companies are using data and how this leads to customized buys, advertisers’ ability to synch up objectives and results is getting ever more complicated. How to solve this is clearly going to be an ongoing challenge.

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NBCU is balancing audience-based targeting conducted though a variety of data and platform initiatives with ads sold the traditional way, based on context and Nielsen metrics. That was one of the key takeaways from a keynote with Dan Lovinger, NBCU’s EVP, Advertising Sales, NBC Sports at our recent SHIFT // Programmatic Video & TV Ad Summit.

In a wide-ranging interview with Wall Street Journal senior editor Mike Shields, Dan discussed how NBCU’s Audience Targeting Platform (ATP) enables the company to re-optimize upfront buys across its entire portfolio, using its own data. Dan contrasted ATP with the company’s recently-launched NBCUx for Linear TV, which allows advertisers to bring their own data and then review all available scatter inventory to create an audience-targeted media plan.

As Dan explained, both approaches are meant to give advertisers more flexibility and efficiency in reaching desired audiences. While the use of data is core, Dan sees data more as a commodity, with the real value being how and where it’s being applied. And while audience-based targeting is gaining momentum, Dan noted that context is still very important and many advertisers remain focused on that.

In the interview Dan also discussed how NBCU is expanding its access to more digital inventory via deals with BuzzFeed and Apple News. He also elaborated on digital viewership in the recent Rio Olympics and how those ads were sold, especially how NBCU structured deals with both Facebook and Snapchat. Dan also highlighted how NBCU has reduced its ad loads in VOD and is very focused on optimizing the viewer’s experience, among other topics.

NBCU has become a leader in the use of data and automation to mine more value from its broad portfolio of networks and digital inventory. Dan’s interview offers great insights about how NBCU is thinking about data and evolving its business going forward.

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At the recent SHIFT // Programmatic Video & TV Ad Summit, we had a deep dive session called “Transactions in Transition: Sizing Up the New Possibilities” in which our panel discussed the key changes in transactions/business models for programmatic video and TV. The panel explored the trend in content providers pursuing private marketplaces along with how they’re operationalized, the shift to audience guaranteed models, yield optimization and the pros and cons of header bidding for video ads plus much more.

The session included Jason Barnett (Head of Programmatic, Teads.tv), Dvir Doron (Chief Marketing Officer, Cedato), Erica Schmidt (EVP, Managing Director, North America, Cadreon), Bryan Sherman (VP, Director, Programmatic, Media Technology, Digitas LBi), with Matt Prohaska (CEO and Principal, Prohaska Consulting) moderating.

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Watching video on mobile and connected TV devices is exploding, particularly among younger audiences. Yesterday’s Q3 ’16 FreeWheel Video Monetization Report noted that 22% of video ad views were on connected TVs (up 63% YOY) with 17% on smartphones (up 39% YOY) and another 9% on tablets (up 15% YOY). Combined, that means nearly half of all video ad views are on mobile and connected TV devices.

To further explore video advertising on these devices and programmatic’s growing role, at our recent SHIFT // Programmatic Video & TV Ad Summit, we had two dedicated sessions, one on mobile and one on connected TV devices.

The mobile session included Brian Danzis (Head of Global Video Monetization, Spotify), Jeremy Hlavacek (VP, Global Automated Monetization, The Weather Company, an IBM Business), Frank Sinton (CEO and Founder, Beachfront Media), Sarah Warner (Managing Partner, Digital Investment Lead, Programmatic and Video, GroupM), with Alanna Gombert (SVP, Technology & Ad Operations, IAB) moderating.

The connected TV session included Sean Buckley (SVP, Global Revenue, SpotX), Scott Rosenberg (VP, Advertising, Roku), Seth Walters (Senior Partner, Interactive & Connected Television, Modi Media, part of GroupM) with yours truly moderating.

Below are the session videos.

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