Weisler Media LLC

The New Rules For Consumer Engagement

2025-10-25T11:10:00.005-04:00

Haley Gribben, Strategy & Insights Manager at Net Conversion, just authored a study on the new rules for consumer engagement which shed new light on what is happening in the media marketplace. “Our goal (in conducting this study) was to give marketers practical insights into topics such as economic confidence, spending habits, brand loyalty, and the impact of different media sources,” she shared.

The survey of 1,200 U.S. adults in July 2025 used the Pollfish platform focusing on consumers 18 to 64 with household incomes of $50,000 or more, who had recently made a significant non-essential purchase and subscribed to at least one OTT streaming service.

Charlene Weisler: What are the major takeaways?

Haley Gribben: We identified a few fundamental shifts that marketers should focus on:

1. Conscious consumption demands lasting value. Consumer confidence is low, with 59% saying the economy is worse than last year. The result is that 92% have recently changed spending habits—seeking more deals, reducing non-essentials, or opting for generic brands. However, they are not stopping spending entirely. They're just highly deliberate, still prioritizing experiences they truly value, like dining out and traveling.

2. Value-driven switching is changing what loyalty means. Eighty-five percent recently switched brands for an economic or value-related reason and 40% are less loyal to brands than a year ago. Brands must work harder to earn customers at every touchpoint, showing clear value for money and consistent product quality.

3. AI is broadening the purchase journey. Up to 62% of consumers in some categories now spend more time researching purchases than they did last year and AI is playing a significant role. Forty-five percent are using AI recommendations to inform their decisions and half of AI users report that these tools are increasing both research time and number of sources they consult.

Weisler: How do these takeaways replicate or diverge from historical findings?

Gribben: While some of our results support previous studies, we found new and unexpected insights. Consumers continue to feel uncertain about the economy. Value for money and consistent product quality remain the main reasons for brand loyalty. When researching purchases most people still rely on search engines, online reviews, recommendations from friends and family, and brand websites. Marketers should maintain focus on these key areas.

Our study stands out by showing how consumer confidence, changing behaviors, and the buying journey are connected. Beyond just measuring sentiment, we looked at how these factors shape long-term spending habits. While others report low confidence, our data reveals that 95% of people are making lasting changes to their spending affecting how they interact with brands and make choices. We also found that brand loyalty is dropping faster and more deeply than before. Four in ten consumers are less loyal than they were a year ago which suggests that economic pressures are pushing more people to switch brands.

Our findings about the new role of AI in consumer decision-making are especially interesting. Historically, new tech is seen as a way to speed up the purchase path but our data shows that AI recommendations are increasing research time and the number of sources used. This suggests AI is being used to widen exploration paths rather than as a shortcut. This fundamentally changes how marketers must think about content strategy and influencing the purchase journey.

Weisler: What actions should marketers take from these?

Gribben: Marketers need to recognize that ongoing economic pessimism (51% expect conditions to decline) and the rapid pace of consumer change mean data-driven agility is no longer optional – it’s now a core competitive advantage. We see three key lessons:

● Nail the basics, differentiate through trust which comes from honesty and authenticity. Consumers want pricing transparency and genuine commitments that align with brand values, not overt political messaging.

● Blend head and heart and test rigorously to find what works. Buying decisions are complex. Messages need to appeal both to rational factors — like quality and savings — and to emotion, through storytelling and connection. But there’s no one-size-fits-all approach.

● Move from reactive to predictive. AI is expanding research paths and there is growing opportunity within streaming advertising. Given the fragmentation and the hyper-personalization of media consumption, marketers need to embrace a precision data-driven approach. This means moving beyond static plans and reactive reporting to strategic use of data to continuously refine campaigns based on real-time performance by audience, platform, and device.

Artwork by Charlene Weisler

Screenvision Media Attention Study Proves The Value of Cinema

2024-07-08T10:31:00.001-04:00

The holy grail of advertising effectiveness is capturing viewer attention and by doing so, facilitating the consumer journey outcome. For Screenvision Media, attention measurement in cinema has resulted in a recently released Media Attention study that offers fascinating insights. Jen Friedlander, Screenvision’s Senior Vice President of Insights and Measurement, explained that, “We've been laser focused on proving out attention in the cinema space. Since 2023 attention became a buzzword and an emerging metric to measure the quality of an impression.”

The Media Attention study had two goals, according to Friedlander. “One was to conduct and prove out attention in the in the cinema space. And two was to make sure that the cinema data was available.” It is vital to capturing data in such a way that there is not only the ability to compare to other datasets but also to make it digestible for industry usage. As such, “we wanted to make sure that we had that cinema data available both for ourselves for comparison and also for agencies that are starting to actually plan and optimize against attention,” she shared.

To that end, Screenvision partnered with Amplified Intelligence on two out of the three study phases, capturing movie goers in the natural cinema environment rather than in a lab. “We recruited movie goers to come to our theaters, pick their films, bring their friends and get their concessions,” she explained. Amplified Intelligence then brought DSLR cameras into the venues and placed them on either side of the screen to map facial expressions for over 500 data points that measure attention level at the eye level.

This seamless approach proved, “Undisruptive to the movie going experience. Movie goers, of course, had to give their consent to be filmed. But most movie goers thought they were being filmed for the duration of the movie and not just the pre-show so everyone was doing their normal movie going behaviors,” she noted. Moviegoers were tested twice in New York, in April and December, and in Milwaukee in partnership with Magna Global.

The biggest takeaway from the study, according to Friedlander, was that cinema delivers the highest active attention of any media platform and twice that of TV. They compared the three market cinema data to TVision data, which, she explained, “is the gold standard of attention measurement on the TV side.” This comparison showed that cinema averages an, “84 active attention to ads versus TV, or even CTV, where that number is about 30. That's a difference of 25 seconds of a 30 second ad being viewed in the cinema environment versus only about 9 or 10 seconds of a 30 second ad being viewed on linear or CTV.”

And this deep attention is consistent across advertising categories, implying no need for special creative for cinema. “Sometimes people think they need something special to really stand out on screen. We tested a variety of creative that were made for TV, we tested across categories and we did not see significant differences between ads,” she shared. The big takeaway here is that it is the cinema environment is less about the creative and more about the environment.

Capturing attention for ads from any age cohort is impressive but especially so for younger viewers. A surprising takeaway from the study was that the youngest demographic group had the highest attention scores. “The 18-24 and 18-34 active attention to the ads were even higher than the over 35. That's a demographic that's highly distracted with an attention span of 8 seconds as they double and triple screen all the time. But I think they really value that time away to check out and immerse themselves in the cinema experience,” she marveled. She added that the study showed that younger cinema attendees in the study actually put their phone away during the pre-show. “Is there any other time you can find an 18-24 year old that wants to put their phone away?” she posited. “In the cinema environment I think they value that time to really immerse themselves and engage in the experience that they've planned and paid for.”

The biggest challenge in measuring attention is standardization of measurement. “There's a variety of companies measuring attention. It could be via camera, via eyeglasses, some are using neuro-technology and so there are nuances how each company is collecting and interpreting the data,” she noted. But she added that the ARF and IAB are focused on providing best practices on advancing measurement beyond legacy metrics and reaching an Omni Channel attention metric. For Screenvision, comparing their results to TVision attention and viewability data at home for TV viewing makes the most sense at this time because, “it's a very similar methodology.”

When it comes to engagement compared to attention, Friedlander stated that, “Engagement is the mindset of the consumer in the moment that you're reaching them. How leaned in are they? What is their mental availability in that moment?” Within the cinema world, she sees that, since moviegoers have planned and paid to be there, “they've opted into the shared experience with friends and other fans for this completely undistracted experience.” To her, that's the height of engagement, “that ideal mix of social passion, emotion, content, anticipation, all of those factors culminate and driving attention. So to me, engagement drives attention, and engagement is really about sort of the mindset and that moment that you're reaching them.”

The next steps in this journey focus on educating the industry. “Not only getting in front of agencies and brands, but also being active participants in the ARF panels and getting on various panels sharing those results,” and connecting the dots between attention and outcomes.

For Friedlander, “moviegoers are the most passionate content fans but also the hardest to reach. They are younger compared to linear which has 80% of their primetime audience over age 50. The majority of our audience, about 80%, is under age 50.” She added that cinema also reaches an audience that doesn’t watch linear TV because they are cord cutters and cord nevers. “Cinema provides incrementality, reaching a young demo in a highly efficient way and one that you can't reach elsewhere. We call them the Elusives because they truly are elusive. It’s another way that brands can connect with a highly desirable audience on the biggest screen in the world in a moment that matters,” she concluded.

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com

Artwork by Charlene Weisler

Matching Ads with Emotional Context to Programming. An AI Approach with Wurl

2024-07-01T15:13:00.000-04:00

Wurl, a connected TV adtech company owned by marketing platform AppLovin, has embarked on an interesting approach to ad monetization. Partnering with BrandDiscovery with its GenAI-powered contextual targeting, Wurl is said to be able to, “precisely match ads with the emotion and context of programming in real time,” according to Wurl’s VP of Business Development for Agencies and Brands, Peter Crofut.

He explained that by aligning an ad’s emotion to the content’s emotion, brands can improve viewer memorability and campaign engagement which he says, “ultimately drives stronger outcomes and performance. Our own data has shown that advertisers can experience a significant uplift in conversion of 2-3x when they find moments of emotional resonance.”

Charlene Weisler: How does the AI matching component work?

Peter Crofut: Wurl uses GenAI to analyze the emotion of the content in the scene closest to the ad break. That analysis is based on Robert Plutchik’s wheel of emotions which includes eight primary emotions at three different intensities (high, medium, and low) that can be combined to represent the full spectrum of human emotional states. Once the emotional score for the scene is determined, it is then matched to an ad with a similar emotional score. This prevents viewers from having a jarring experience where, say, they’re crying from watching a sad scene and are then disrupted with an overly upbeat ad. When scenes and ads are misaligned that’s where negative attention can be created for a brand.

Weisler: What data is collected – how is the platform measured?

Crofut: To determine the emotional segments of the content for BrandDiscovery, we leverage GenAI to view and analyze content from a variety of different sources including images, sound, and text. From there, BrandDiscovery assigns, at a scene level, the corresponding emotional value as determined by the AI. Notably with GenAI, we offer scene-level targeting through BrandDiscovery as opposed to categorizing an entire program, series or channel under any one contextual category. Equally, BrandDiscovery’s targeting is free – we don’t charge any data fees for emotional segments. In terms of measurement, we work with independent partners like EDO and Kantar to look at things like campaign effectiveness, brand awareness, brand favorability, and purchase intent for BrandDiscovery campaigns.

Weisler: How does scene-level analysis work?

Crofut: BrandDiscovery was born out of a curiosity to consider whether or not ads that were emotionally aligned with content perform better. During initial testing, we discovered that the most significant correlation with ad engagement took place when the emotions depicted in the scene just before the ad break aligned with those portrayed in the ad creative. As a result, Wurl developed its own GenAI models trained against millions of assets to analyze content in real time. As noted earlier, we use Plutchik’s wheel of emotions to determine the emotional score of the scene, and then match it with an ad that scored similarly. This analysis is calculated in real time across FAST (free ad-supported streaming TV) channels just before the ad break for highest relevance.

Weisler: Can you give an example of what a campaign looks like?

Crofut: We recently partnered with Media.Monks, who was tasked with executing a CTV campaign for a financial services client to expand its audience, improve awareness, and ultimately boost purchase intent. Using BrandDiscovery’s emotion-based targeting to run CTV ads across Wurl’s network of premium content publishers, Media.Monks was able to bolster the resonance of their client’s brand messaging and optimize targeting for more impactful brand engagements. The client saw a 7x lift in aided brand awareness and 2x lift in purchase intent compared to five-year industry benchmarks for Lending brand impact studies.

Weisler: What are the opportunities here?

Crofut: CTV offers massive potential for brands to connect with audiences in meaningful ways, especially as the biggest screen in the home. And, while contextual targeting on CTV certainly isn’t a new concept, we’re confident in the idea that emotions-based targeting is truly reshaping how we think about this approach today. By aligning ads based on the emotional context of the scene right before the ad break, brands can meet audiences where they already are and not just increase attention, but increase positive attention among viewers.

Weisler: What are the challenges?

Crofut: Media buyers today face a fragmented CTV ecosystem with multiple walled gardens and no standardized metadata – one movie or TV show could be categorized as multiple different genres depending on where you look. And, while CTV offers a significant step above linear in that it offers the ability to control who sees an ad, it still lacks control over the placement of the ad. All of this has resulted in limited transparency into where ads are displayed and in what contexts, ultimately contributing to the fact that advertising dollars have not kept pace with the shift in viewership from linear to CTV. By aligning ads’ emotions with the emotions of the programming, brands can have more confidence that their ads will show up in the appropriate context and better resonate with audiences.

Weisler: What are your next steps?

Crofut: In advertising, we hear a lot of talk about finding the right user at the right time with the right ad – though, in reality, we don’t really know what “right” is. As with all AI-driven innovation, the technology only gets stronger over time as it learns from more inputs. Right now, we’re in the early stages of seeing brands utilize emotions-based contextual targeting on CTV – as more advertisers adopt this approach, we’ll have even greater knowledge to learn and grow from as an industry and help us define what the “right” context truly is.

This article first appeared in Mediapost.com

Artwork by Charlene Weisler

Putting the Viewer First - A Look at Freewheel’s Viewer Experience Lab

2024-06-26T10:31:00.000-04:00

The secret to compelling advertising is an ongoing project but, thanks to advanced research techniques, it is possible to more fully understand which ad experiences best engage viewers.

FreeWheel has developed such a technique using MediaScience, a company that mines insights to improve the quality of ad experiences through FreeWheel’s Viewer Experience Lab.

Launched in 2023, this initiative is designed to help address, as Chris Glover, FreeWheel’s Vice President of Marketing explained, “an incredibly complicated industry. We're focused on very minute aspects of advertising technology but when we go home and watch TV we get annoyed, just like every other consumer.” Some of the biggest annoyances, he noted, include ad repetition, latency and, “unnatural creative breaks” that interfere with the content narrative. Such annoyances diminish not only the enjoyment of the programming but also the engagement of the advertising.

Although it is called a Viewer Experience Lab, it is not a lab per se. Rather it is more of a research approach. “We've partnered MediaScience which is an expert in neuro-marketing audience research and technology,” he explained. This includes viewing sessions where they can control the variables such as pod duration, latency and repetition both in home and at a mini lab facility. Testing includes, “Neuro metrics like heart rate, eye tracking, facial coding to truly understand how viewers are experiencing, how viewers are feeling when they view advertisements,” he stated. From there, insights are gleaned such as viewer sentiment on ads and branding KPIs, for example.

The results so far have led to both micro and macro insights according to Glover. On a micro level, with ad pods, for example, “we found that when ad pods were built with ads all of the same lengths, either 15s or 30s, viewers found the ad breaks shorter,” he shared. “So if they saw a pod with four 30s for a total of two minutes or they saw one with a 30 then a 15 and then another 15, the inconsistent pod would have felt longer to them.” The finding that pod consistency across ad formats leads to better viewer experience can be immediately applied in the field and should deliver better results.

On macro level, Glover has found that while advertising in general, “gets a bad rap,” it's not totally true. “Advertising has traditionally been thought of an annoyance and no one likes advertising breaks but we found there's actually a lot of positive sentiment for advertising particularly when the ads are relevant to the consumer.”

The ultimate takeaway upends a media shibboleth. “The ads themselves don't hurt program enjoyment. It's the bad ad experience. Our study found there was no change to program liking among viewers when there were ads present versus when there are no ads present and that alone is a very interesting data point,” Glover concluded.

So it’s not the ads that are the problem, it is actually the experience that gets in the way of ad enjoyment. “It's the ad repetition, the latency, the blank slate that viewers sometimes see. Those are the real problems of the industry and that's what we're shining a light on,” he noted.

Ultimately, the Viewer Lab has been designed to improve three major areas of advertising – Quality of ads, Quantity of ads and Relevancy of ads. For each of these important pillars of research, FreeWheel has designed whitepapers, the last of which, Relevancy, is due out soon.

The goal through all of this research effort is to help guide advertisers and content providers as to the most effective and engaging ad delivery methods. “We're never going to be prescriptive to a publisher, saying, ‘Hey, you should do it exactly like this.’ It's more insights to help them as they look at their own ad strategies,” he explained and added, “What are some things they can do, such as creative diversity, remain really, really important. But any light that we can shine to provide best practices about how they're ultimately delivering advertising to consumers and planning and selling their advertising, we think is very valuable.”

For Glover, “Advertisers have a lot of choices and they can buy advertising in a lot of different environments. I would advise them to not lose sight of putting themselves in the viewers’ shoes. We advise advertisers to work with trusted partners who are putting this issue first.”

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com

Artwork by Charlene Weisler

“Primetime is Personal” and Other Findings from Involved Media’s Streaming Study

2024-05-18T11:00:00.000-04:00

Trying to get your finger on the pulse of television, much less to define it, is an ongoing exercise. Enter Involved Media, an international full service media agency, with a new study titled Connected Audience Spring 2024 Report.

This study, fielded in January 2024, examines the state of streaming. Tess Erickson, Director, Strategy and Research with Involved Media, explained that this study, the first for the agency, is slated to become bi-annual. “We determined that we needed to have our own proprietary, consistent wave over wave study, that we can design and analyze in-house and to get a better sense of exactly the questions we want to ask,” she noted.

The study revealed that SVOD subscription streaming within the ad universe has grown significantly in the past year as compared to findings from similar studies. “About a year prior, we had just over half of our sample reachable by SVOD ads. That number in our most recent survey was 66%. So there has been a really big explosion in this,” she shared. While some of this can be explained by the timing of the study in January when football is in high gear, there were also, according to Erickson, additional new ad supported tiers added in the last year or two with more live events within the streaming universe.

“People who selected the premium tier were really hard to reach,” she noted, “But the increase in live events, like we see with Amazon, allows for reach to those premium viewers who are willing to pay extra to avoid some ads. Those are now people that will be reachable as long as they're watching those live events.”

For Erickson, the data shows that the definition of primetime is shifting, arguably because streaming is more of an on-demand viewing activity. For her, “when primetime starts for people is very personal. They start their prime time viewing when they can pay attention. They watch on their own start time and they're using that time to watch the content they're most excited about.”

The study also found that Netflix is the dominant streaming platform, commanding up to 90% of those viewers who have multiple streaming platform options. Why? One possible reason is the choice of programming for which Netflix has heavily invested. Another, according to Erickson, is that Netflix was a first mover. “Everyone's heard of Netflix,” she posited, “If you're going to have a streaming service, you're going to have Netflix.” In addition, Netflix is known for a range of programming genres, thus appealing to a range of more potential viewers. “What we see is 60% of Netflix viewers associate the platform with three or more types of genres. By comparison, Prime Video, Disney+, Peacock and Max, majority of viewers associate them with two or fewer genres.” Essentially, “Netflix has done a great job of not just being there. They've done a great job of expanding the content they have so that they can be a little bit of everything to everyone. In the same way the TV used to be.”

Another finding that might be of concern to FAST networks is the decline in this platform for viewers. According to the study findings, about half of the sample said that they watched a FAST network in the last month - down from about 60% previous studies. Again, this might be because the study polled in January when there were very competitive live events being streamed. However, for Erickson, this portends a trend. “It's hard for me to see where the FAST audience has room to grow. It's hard to create a really strong connection for FAST services because they don't subscribe and don't pay. You don't feel guilty for only using to be once a month.”

Involved is planning the next wave of this study in third quarter when they intend to incorporate Youtube premium, all forms of audio and short form video. “We're always looking to improve the study. It's an interesting field because the way people are engaging with media has become so different from person to person that we are constantly trying to figure out the best way to ask questions that everybody will be able to recognize themselves in the question,” she stated. Clarity is vital. “The way people engage with media becomes so distinct from each other.”

Finally, while Involved has fielded studies in Canada and the US, the plan is to expand the study into Australia enabling all of Involved Media’s three major markets available to their clients. From there it will be possible to compare markets internationally.

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com

Artwork by Charlene Weisler

The Upfront Evolution Explained. An Interview with DeadLizard CEO Todd Reinhart

2024-04-30T14:21:00.003-04:00

It seems to me that Upfronts are continuing to evolve at an ever increasing pace. I sat down with Todd Reinhart, Partner & Co-Founder of DeadLizard to get his take on where we are now in informing the media marketplace and where we are going:

Charlene Weisler: What do you see as the evolution of Upfronts over the past decade?

Todd Reinhart: There have been many changes in the media landscape in the past decade making analysis of the evolution complex. However, the key drivers of change over time are storytelling, technology and resources. A decade ago, Upfronts were dominated by big splashy events that leveraged talent, programming and viewership. Today, the Upfronts are selling experience, narrative and brand.

Weisler: What do you attribute this to?

Reinhart: The big reason (as make no mistake, demographics are still critically important) is ad tech development yielding tool sets that enable advertisers to flexibly target highly focused groups of viewers at larger and more efficient scales. Current Networks (and especially Streamers) have unprecedented stockpiles of viewer data at their fingertips. For buyers, data easily eclipses the cachet of any given flagship show or actor. Sellers, by necessity, need to package access to their data in more of a brand narrative as it is not tied to a specific franchise, but rather can be available across network programming. A big component driving change is resources. There is an ever-widening gap between independent networks and media conglomerates. The tilt on the playing field is so steep that most independent Nets have taken to hitting the Upfront season early to snatch as many niche ad dollars as possible before the media giants crash onto the scene in early May. The hard truth is that there are two distinct markets at play operating at entirely different levels - one that is flush with the latest and most powerful ad technologies and data capture, and another that isn’t.

Weisler: Do you think that Upfronts are more effective than five years ago or not and why?

Reinhart: They are and they aren’t . The defining line is scale and resources, as independent Nets are approaching and engaging in the Upfronts today very differently from the portfolio Network conglomerates. Across the board, all Upfronts have become more experiential in nature, but many of the independent networks skew toward a more historically traditional Upfront where they tout talent and content and activate on that axis for building affinity and fandom. Media giants can offer proprietary ad tech tool sets on a scale that independent networks cannot. So, in a way all Upfronts are generally more effective as they are pursuing an evolution of their viewership - deeper fandoms over simple eyeballs. However, the ad tech component of today’s Upfronts is one of the most competitive spaces with the largest opportunity for returns - but it is very much pay-to-play. Smaller Nets have lost efficacy and competitiveness in relation to their position 5 years ago.

Weisler: How can one craft a compelling Upfront when the industry continues to transform?

Reinhart: By keeping one eye on the present and the other on the future, while viewing it all through a lens that is specific to that content provider’s brand and narrative. Every Network has a unique story, audience and offering - so each has different metrics for what makes their value prop compelling or what elements for inclusion are optimal.

First and foremost, the data and research should inform the narrative, define brand fans and evangelists, and reveal the primary strategy to connect advertisers to them. Buyers are sitting through dozens of presentations in a short period of time - stats and rankers quickly blur together (every Network has a #1 demo for something, right?), but emotive and affinity-based lines are much stickier in hearts and minds.

Having developed solutions for events and small agency groups, the calculus for which way to go needs to be rooted in brand and sales goals for the Upfront and the synergy of message with the method in which it’s delivered. Perhaps you’re a smaller network with a bread-and-butter stable of syndicated programs and a couple of original niche series? Small agency groups might be the way to go this year based on upcoming programming, audience trends, and your competitive set. Or you’re a Network with a growing portfolio of channels and a strategic acquisition on the horizon - a larger event to prep the marketplace and press with a growth mindset for the next year could be the call. Or you could be an established Network that is looking to pivot, and you need to shift perception first amongst buyers and then advertisers themselves - a hybrid approach of curated and heavily branded small events at your largest agencies could be the winning strategy. It all comes down to keeping your goals centered, sticking to the strategy and narrative, and getting that Upfront audience converted into advocates for your brand.

Weisler: How does data and research play a role in the presentation?

Reinhart: Ten years ago, lots of research-backed information and rankers appeared quite regularly in Upfront collateral - the buyer hard sell, if you will. There has been a generalized pivot away from eyeball counting, and a massive lean into brand affinity and fandom. This results in a sell to ad buyers that hits more on the emotive, qualitative and aspirational level.

Weisler: What do you see as the trends in Upfronts going forward?

Reinhart: I see an acceleration and amplification of the forces that have driven change in the industry as we continue 1, 3 or 5 years out from now. Core to this will be a continued divergence in the landscape in terms of the big and small players. What will be very interesting coming out of this particular Upfront season will be the very definition of who is a big or small player. That question is in play as Amazon, Netflix and YouTube wade into the traditional space which they themselves were key in disrupting to get to the heights of their sway and influence today. There is also breakneck speed with which new technologies are developing within the content space with a move into more experiential and fandom/brand affinity themes as we see both Augmented Reality and AI generated content move from niche to mainstream. These forces will require continued evolution and adaptation of the Upfront structure. Ten years from now we just might have fully immersive AI-generated Upfront experiences that are beamed out to millions of AR headsets across the globe, but perhaps then, as now, everything old will be new again just in a different shell.

This article first appeared in Mediapost.com

Artwork by Charlene Weisler

Outfront and StreetMetrics Launch a Breakthrough in Dynamic Measurement

2024-04-26T11:52:00.000-04:00

Measuring transit out-of-home advertising through the consumer journey has gotten much easier thanks to a partnership between Outfront Media and StreetMetrics. Their efforts have produced a breakthrough solution to dynamic measurement and attribution.

Christina Radigan, Senior Vice President, Strategic Research & Insights, OUTFRONT and Drew Jackson, CEO of Street Metrics explained how this achievement enables planning, reveals campaign insights and streamlines attribution analysis for bus advertising.

According to Radigan, Outfront is one of the largest media networks with a roadside billboard posters and extensive transit and street level media. It was within bus advertising specifically that they were first introduced to StreetMetrics. For Jackson, his company is a third party media measurement platform specifically built for the outdoor advertising industry. “We got our start in the transit side,” he noted, “But we measure more than that from planning to campaign to outcome measurement, providing the full funnel full suite of metrics.”

The partnership has resulted in a game-changing application for dynamic data – fluid data which changes over time - that is poised to strengthen the entire out-of-home market. “Our measurement product predicts and forecasts the potential amount of impressions that could be associated with our media or custom packages,” Radigan explained. What sets this innovation apart is that it has the, ”ability to have data that can be used for planning to gather an insights and then actually using that same data set, that continuum of data, to then actually determine outcomes. That's a key differentiator and leading force of measurement for out of home,” she added.

This is only the beginning, she assured. “While it's starting with bus, we're really ambitious and hoping that we can continue to (expand) this relationship and partnership. We are very excited about this being something that we can put us on par with digital channels that use continuum data to do planning, insights, and correlation of targeting audiences and packaging to a business outcome.”

Capturing and measuring dynamic bus data involves a variety of data sets and protocols in conjunction with different ad campaigns. Jackson noted that, “You have to look at the unit level and the individual. You have to get really granular with time. Also, campaigns are always evolving. The campaign that's on a specific bus is not always the same and the interaction, types and amounts of people that are coming in contact with that media are always evolving. There’s seasonality and changes such as when Covid hit and people were traveling less. We need to understand the ebbs, flows and movements and the connection points and ultimately, the tools to help surface insights.”

For Outfront, the goal was to, according to Radigan, “modernize measurement and have the ability to look at data historically. What we're trying to do is create a look back of historical anonymized data so that we can identify trends. You need to have data for about 12 to 18 months to identify what seasonality looks like, what markets are growing or giving more exposure to campaigns and associating that to a campaign level.”

There are great variations by markets as well. “A campaign in Miami might look very different than a campaign in New York City in January in terms of its exposure month to month,” she stated, to drive value, especially around major events such as the New York Marathon. In the near future, according to Radigan, it will be possible to reconcile the estimated audience with the campaign exposure and correlate it to a business outcome, “such as football to a store visitation. For example, with Wendy's we drove football and we were able to say that by using our street metrics data, we were able to Geo fence locations and venues to understand the impact of those exposed to store visitation.”

For Radigan, StreetMetrics protocol helped to evolve out of home from brand messaging and brand awareness to lower funnel behavioral metrics. “The opportunity I see is out of home is delivering on brand exceptionally well but we're also showing and proving the efficacy of these lower proof points that oftentimes other channels are used to deliver. The ultimate picture is that it's moving the needle for out of home holistically. It puts us on par with digital.”

This effort is somewhat collaborative in that the competitive set that Radigan visualizes is not necessarily other out of home companies. In fact, she sees this innovation as a channel-wide competitive advantage. “We want to grow the pie for transit and ultimately the entire sector. It's really about growing share for industry and getting on par with other channels with the delivery and types of data that they have,” she explained.

The response from the agencies has been gratifying. “Last year we doubled the amount of attribution studies we did. It's a six-fold increase from pre pandemic. I think they're energized. I think that the agencies are really excited about it and they've been thrilled with having the outcomes and measurement that we weren't able to provide years ago. Advertisers are leaning in and using the channel against different KPIs. And we're seeing repeat business.”

Next steps include further benchmarking and, a “continued collaboration with stakeholders, other vendors that offer transit, to really dive in, evaluate the data and look at how we can bring it to market in a meaningful way. Because of the newness around it, it's making sure that we bring in all the stakeholders that are relevant within our own business practices and increase the ease of accessing the data,” she concluded.

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com

Artwork by Charlene Weisler

A+E’S Precision and Performance Toolkit Advances Media Buying, Planning and Selling

2024-04-13T17:17:00.001-04:00

In an industry that continues to adapt to new technology and an overwhelming choice of data options, A+E’s Precision and Performance toolkit stands out for its flexibility and measure-ability. Erica Barnes, A+E Networks’ Director of Strategic Audience Sales and Partnerships, is enthusiastic about the tool’s capabilities in delivering a true one to one marketing solution to brands.

Precision and Performance has been a critical part of A+E Networks’ toolbox since its launch in 2016. Since then it has continued to outpace media industry sales platforms in innovation and personalization. “When we initially came up with this offering it was rooted around the recognition of two things. One - that television is a mass reach vehicle. We needed to find ways to help people lean in and reach a specific audience to make their media impressions more efficient. Two - to help on the back end with performance measurements that prove we were driving real impact to customer engagement after being exposed on our networks. That was the impetus and those core values haven't changed,” she explained.

The toolkit is customizable and targeted with audience based applications that use a variety of datasets and platforms. “Our team is here to provide flexible solutions for our brand partners. What has changed is the quantity of ways in which we can accomplish those same key goals,” she noted. Perhaps the most important aspect of this latest version is the range of options for a brand. “Our biggest marketplace differentiator is that we are flexible. We offer one size / fits one solution. It is an incredibly collaborative process where our main goal is to help our brands and partners accomplish what they are specifically looking for, in whatever way, shape, or form that comes in,” she asserted.

The areas that the toolkit now covers includes, according to Barnes, “audience targeting capabilities and optimizing media proposals that include business outcomes, measurement for all various areas of the funnel all the way from awareness to search to foot traffic to actual sales of products,” and in addition, “we're continuing to offer business outcomes,” that are guaranteed to, “drive a certain amount of lift to whatever that business outcome guarantee is.”

Precision and Performance boasts range of data options that span linear, digital and addressable and activate in both Nielsen and Non Nielsen alternate currencies like VideoAmp. “We are overlaying content and using data to inform where our content is being placed and amplifying partnerships. And we are now fully cross platform, offering across both our linear and digital properties,” she added.

An important factor in the value of Precision and Performance is that the results of a campaign are independently assessed. “We work with very, very trusted third party attribution vendors. We do not grade our own homework. It's something that we feel very passionately about. Every type of result that we have is validated and vetted to make sure that the statistical significance makes sense that the data is accurate,” she explained.

The results are then contextualized with results delivered to clients with insights and actionable next steps. “We're not just sending raw data back, saying, ‘Here you go, you figure it out.’ We are looking into what the marketplace was like, what the economy was like in that quarter, how their creative drove incremental value, which was more effective, which didn't work so well,” she noted. The download helps to illuminate, “how we can work to improve together and help media be more effective in driving the consumer engagement they're looking for.”

Arguably the biggest challenge is overcoming industry uncertainty and the rapid pace of change. “The biggest challenge,” she mused, “is industry adoption and standardization because when there are so many different options or paths or ways to look at data or analyze a media campaign it can be challenging to standardize. That's why A+E Networks is part of the Joint Industry Committee for Alternate Currency Development to ensure that we're approaching these changes in the industry in a uniform way and providing that white glove best in class service to our brand partners.” The key here is to be flexible. “We know that the marketplace is challenging. We know our industry is challenging and viewership is changing. How can we be flexible and offer solutions that gets (the client) what they need and not what we need?”

Looking forward, Barnes intends to, “continue to keep a finger on the pulse. Tools are constantly evolving so it's important to evaluate new partners and look into different solutions such as AI and alternate currencies. How can we make sure that we are moving at the speed and honestly little bit ahead of the speed of where our marketplace is going, so that by the time a brand partner needs something, we're already there, and we have those solutions in place.”

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com

Artwork by Charlene Weisler

Matched Audiences Maximize Digital Audio Ad Performance. Engaging Results From a MAGNA SXM Study

2024-03-13T17:14:00.001-04:00

A majority of Americans now are digital audio listeners according to Melissa Paris, Vice President of Sales Research and Analytics at SXM Media. To better understand this important population, MAGNA and SXM Media division of SiriusXM partnered on a research study, “Matched Audiences for Unmatched Audio Performance” that looks at the value of using advanced data to better target and reach digital audio listeners.

This study is the first of its kind for audio but it incorporates knowledge gained from previous studies on digital video, Kara Manatt, Executive Vice President of Intelligence Solutions at MAGNA explained. “We've never done anything like this with digital audio testing how the same ad is going to perform with matched versus demographic targeting.” But, she added, “It's not the first of its kind in the sense that we've done similar types of testing with digital video to understand how using these different methods of reaching people can affect ad effectiveness.”

The study used a combination of first party data from participating brands matched against a panel in a clean room and third party data curated by Axiom. Manett noted that brand customers within the first party data were those who have a high propensity to buy in that category, thus going beyond standard demographics. “To me that underscores the uniqueness of the study. The whole purpose of the study is to go beyond demographics and the fact that we are not just the age range we are in. There's much more nuance to groups and individuals than the age range.” Any skew was strictly brand and customer base related.

Among the key findings, Paris explained, was that, “People of all ages are receptive to digital audio ads in general. That was a baseline finding.” The study also found that digital audio ads have, “higher memorability and higher aided recall among matched audiences holistically when we compared them to demographic audiences,” noted Manett.

“When we break it down by audience types, we saw that both first party and third party data sets we used beat out demographics alone. When we looked at unaided and aided recall in both of those metrics, first party drove the highest lifts in general, followed by third party audiences, followed by demographic audiences. This underscores the finding that memorability is much stronger among match audiences,” Manett added.

In measuring the purchase phase, “We saw some interesting nuances. When we looked at people who were specifically new to the category, we saw that matched audiences showed a 3 times higher impact on purchase intent.” For her and of particular interest to advertisers, “We were able to prove that matched audiences are not only more effective, they're also more cost efficient. With their ability to drive purchase intent, we saw that on a cost per person basis that the match to audiences is actually cheaper or more cost efficient than using demographic audiences,” Manett stated.

“This is one of those studies where we saw a confirmation about things we had anticipated and that we were proven right in in terms of the hypothesis we set out to prove,” explained Paris. “But from an external perspective, I think the biggest surprise is the cost efficiency.”

For Manett, creative also impacted the study findings. When measuring audience reactions to the ads themselves, “and people are asked how they feel about those ads, we found if we can make some tweaks on what we know about these audiences, the ads perform much, much better. Even small tweaks in the creative based on the data used to reach these audiences help make the ads work harder. The big finding is making sure that we do our best to customize the creative based on who we're reaching.”

“There's a lot of evidence here for brands to do more exploration when it comes to digital audio. If they're buying digital audio and they're only using demographics this study will hopefully encourage them to try out first party or third party match audiences, and if they are already using matched audiences, this will encourage them to think more about the creative approach. Maybe it's time to start messaging these audiences uniquely more through customized creative if they aren't already,” Paris concluded.

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com

Artwork by Charlene Weisler

The Highest Reaching Campaigns All Have Similar Attributes. Revealing Findings From Effectv’s TV Viewership Report

2024-01-10T11:15:00.001-05:00

Effectv has just released their latest edition of the bi-annual TV Viewership Report. This wave examines data from the first-half of 2023 data in the multiscreen TV landscape, offering advertisers and marketers revealing takeaways about consumer viewing habits in the Comcast footprint.

Essentially, the report noted that found that successful video ad campaigns, that is, those that provided the greatest reach, shared similar attributes and media mixes. “Brands that optimize reach and results are deploying a common approach with traditional TV as the foundation and streaming as a supplement to reach those hard-to-reach viewers,” the report stated. The importance of traditional TV as a pivotal element for a successful campaign is a fairly stunning revelation considering how linear TV is sometimes dismissed in some campaigns.

The study also revealed that high reach campaigns have a combination of consistent advertising over a broad range of dayparts, endpoints, networks, FAST, VOD and live programming from news and sports. The combination of all of these elements provides a roadmap for advertisers to maximize their reach across platforms.

This current wave analyzed 40,000 multiscreen campaigns. “There are qualifications required for campaigns to be included in a TV Viewership Report analysis,” noted Annie Hagerty, Research and Insights Manager, “We verify that campaigns have enough impressions and investment to be reflective of sufficient delivery, we focus on local advertising campaigns, and all campaigns include traditional TV and Streaming.”

While there are many new ways for consumers to access content and many more varieties of content available, traditional TV leads all other forms in driving reach in a multiscreen advertising campaign (77%). Streaming and free ad-supported streaming TV plays important roles in attracting to reach light and no-TV viewing households so a careful combination of all viewing forms is vital to reaching as many viewers as possible.

Interestingly while optimizations can vary by ad category, audience, and geography, the essential foundations of a multiscreen campaign remain true across these different factors. “Regardless of ad category, audience, or region, we see that traditional TV provides a scale of reach that advertisers should maximize on, while streaming provides incremental reach and reaches households that are hard to reach through traditional TV due to little or no viewing,” she stated.

The report noted that that 20-30% of investment be applied to streaming regardless of these different factors. “When we’ve researched how to maximize reach among different audiences, we’ve consistently supported this recommendation. We do see audiences, like retirees, maximizing reach closer to a 20% of investment to streaming, while young adults closer to the higher end of the range. Advertisers should keep the behaviors of their audience in mind when deciding on strategies, but a foundation in traditional TV is important to achieve the scale of reach,” she added.

With this latest version of the report, “there’s a great opportunity to see what the common strategies are among our highest reaching multiscreen campaigns to be sure those are being included in advertising strategies,” Hagarty explained. “These high-reaching campaigns shared several strategies including consistent advertising across endpoints and time of day – emphasizing the importance of advertisers following the audience where and when they are watching to maximize reach.”

For those advertisers trying to best structure their most effective campaigns, “It can be difficult to verify the full impact of campaigns when TV and streaming are not being optimized within one strategy. Creating a holistic multiscreen campaign leads to greater opportunity in campaign optimization for the intended audience,” she offered.

Understanding the full media landscape is crucial to campaign success. “If an advertiser has been waiting to adopt a multiscreen strategy, the time is now as our data shows that it is becoming increasingly important to combine traditional TV and Streaming. If an advertiser has a multiscreen campaign, I recommend verifying that your campaign is using traditional TV as a foundation and is inclusive of strategies that reach audiences consistently across many endpoints,” she concluded.

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com

Artwork by Charlene Weisler

CLIK Conference 2023 Reveals Some Surprising Consumer Behaviors

2024-01-08T15:41:00.004-05:00

Every year, the CLIK conference presents some of the best examples of consumer research from a range of subjects and sources.

In partnership between the University of Louisville and Doe-Anderson, This year’s conference offered attendees insights into a range of subjects with an expanded outlook. John Birnsteel, CEO of Doe-Anderson and Professor Michael Barone, Chair Marketing Department at the University of Louisville, College of Business offered their views on some of the top studies at the conference.

Charlene Weisler: What set this year’s conference apart from previous years?

Birnsteel: This year we saw a lot of multicultural themes coming through in the research. In terms of multicultural, we oftentimes think about that as gender or race but this was political – a kind of diversity of political ideology. It's the second year in a row that a paper has been presented looking at political ideology and that was a highlight - the implications that politics can have on consumer decision making.

Weisler: You have several very interesting studies. Tell me about the surprising conclusion to the Status vs Uncertainty study and explain how marketers can fall into stereotyping and what they can do to prevent that.

Birnsteel: This study looked at political leanings and the propensity to adopt what they call a really new product, an “RNP.” What the research showed is that it was a reliable predictor of uptake. But what was surprising was that I think most of us would think, if asked, “Who's more likely to pick up a new product, a progressive or a conservative?” You'd probably say a progressive, but the research showed that messages and a focus on the status of having something new first was really compelling to the conservative audience. So with really new products, conservative ideologically leaning people were more likely to pick that up, as opposed to progressive people who were more compelled by messages of the high performance of the product, not the fact that it was new.

Barone: If you can, through readily available data, identify consumers (by political) ideology, you can position the same product in two different ways, depending on which segment you're trying to reach based on whether it has to be more about status or performance. It could be the same innovation that's out there. You'll just be more effective marking it one way for people who identify more conservatively and marketing it in a different way for people who are more liberal in their mindsets.

Weisler: Looking at some of the major studies at the conference, what was the one biggest surprising conclusion of each study?

Birnsteel: Looking at cultural differences was important for the Top Rated or Best Seller study. Interdependent cultures were more compelled by the top rated, so much so to even pay more for those products.

Birnsteel: The Just Keep It: Returnless Product Replacements Signal Trust and Increase Brand Support study revealed that return-less replacement policies signal trust and increased brand support. It’s an overlooked benefit in the idea that the more trusting you are of people, the more they'll trust you. From a business perspective, I was thinking about the cost implications, you know, how much the price of how much is it worth to give away products that you're not going to get returned back or might not get returned back.

Birnsteel: With the Periodic Donations are a Diagnostic Cue of Donor Charitable Commitment study I was surprised that what was perceived to be greater by consumers was for a company to perhaps give a million dollars over 10 years and show that sustained commitment rather than if a company gives 10 million dollars to a cause as a one-time donation.

Barone: There's literature out there on competitive altruism that kind of speaks to the status signaling effect of really large donations that would provide sort of a different pull towards the one time big splash donations. Rather, within the range studied here, relatively smaller amounts and more frequent giving is a better signal of credibility and corporate social responsibility efforts.

Birnsteel: With the No Comments study understanding the interpersonal and professional consequences of disabling social media comments, you can see why a company would turn off comments when things get heated, right? You'd think that heated comments would actually turn people off. But the absence of dialogue turned people away. I think this is actually something that people in public relations have known for a long time. Like, you don't say ‘no comment’ because while it shuts down the conversation – it can leave a negative impression.

Birnsteel: The Entitative Effects of the And-Brand Name was a fun one. This paper looked at having brand names with the word “and” in it and the implications it has on consumer mindsets. I think the presenter actually reproduced Doe-Anderson’s logo into Doe & Anderson. It substantiated the belief that that a group with “and” in their brand name can connote more credibility than an individual because consumers think there's more accountability there and more trust.

This article first appeared in Mediapost.com

Vevo, The Home of Music Television, Reveals the Top Emerging Artists for 2024

2024-01-06T17:15:00.001-05:00

In the world of music television, Vevo stands out as the leading FAST network in the U.S. and the world, dedicated to music and music videos. Cementing its reputation as the Home of Music Television, Vevo publishes an industry ranking of top music talent titled, DSCVR Artists to Watch. This annual list highlights emerging artists who are likely to make a significant impact on the music scene in the near future.

The list has become a good predictor of success. Julie Triolo, SVP Research & Marketing, Vevo, explained that, “Year after year this program showcases a diverse range of musicians from various musical genres, backgrounds and regions. Some of the notable artists who made this list in the past are the likes of Sam Smith (2014), Billie Eilish (2018) and Ice Spice (2023) to name a few.”

While the list always highlights the most talented and promising musicians for each year, there can be differences year to year based on current trends and an ever evolving consumer landscape. What sets the 2024 list apart from previous years is, “an increased focus on international artists. While the 2023 class featured artists from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Puerto Rico, the 2024 class expands to include artists from Australia, Canada, and Germany. This global representation reflects the growing diversity and interconnectedness of the music industry,” she explained.

Another key difference this year is the emphasis on alternative and indie music genres. “The 90s have had a resurgence in our society from fashion trends to our lexicon and the revival of grunge attributes in music,” she noted. There is also a broader range of musical styles within each genre which showcases the richness and depth of talent within each genre.

There are some artists whose careers surged since their inclusion in the 2024 list. “Chappell Roan has been critically acclaimed for her raw, grunge inspired sound that’s part of that indie alternative revival mentioned previously,” Triolo stated. “She’s been highlighted recently in major music publications and blogs as a result of being part of the DSCVR family.”

Another example of the impact of Vevo’s DSCVR Artists to Watch is Fridayy’s rise to fame, “which provided a platform for her unique sound to connect with a wider audience. She’s now been featured on popular Spotify playlists and has put her on the map with accolades among critics and fans alike.”

For the first time ever, Vevo is highlighting a DSCVR Artist of the Year with Renee Rapp selected as the inaugural honoree. Triolo noted that, “The impact of Renee Rapp’s nomination has increased her exposure level, content consumption and engagement metrics. While Renee’s super stardom began with the comedy series on HBO Max in Sex Lives with College Girls, her appointment as the very first DSCVR artist of the year elevates her profile as a musician on the precipice of becoming a global force in the music industry.”

DSCVR Artists to Watch, now in its tenth year, has become the expert voice in the industry and one of the most highly anticipated reveals that shape the future of music. “Fifty eight percent of consumers take pride in finding music before it gets too popular and 78% say they discover new music through online music videos,” Triolo explained and this excitement helps brands stand out and resonate with viewers. “Our audience has shown positive responses towards brands that associate themselves with new artists,” she stated and added, “Forty nine percent of consumers feel that brands who surround musicians and music content get credit for being on top of the latest trends in pop culture. They are also more likely to view brands favorably, associating them with innovation, creativity, and support for emerging talent.”

Music also helps to spur purchase intent, “Forty seven percent are more favorable towards brands that feel connected to musicians and the music industry and are more likely to consider purchasing from brands that support musicians and the music industry,” she shared.

Audience loyalty leads to brand loyalty according to Triolo. “Overall the Vevo audience expresses a strong preference for brands that support new artists as 44% of consumers are more likely to consider purchasing brands that advertise around their favorite music videos, while 42% are more likely to buy from brands that advertise around music video content that is diverse and representative of the world around them,” proving that consumers appreciate brands that support the discovery of new music, connect with authentic music, and contribute to the success of emerging artists.

“At Vevo, we amplify artists’ voices and are the common thread that connects them with audiences at scale. Diverse audiences seek content that represents their culture and experiences. Buying Vevo is a direct support of diverse media and the artists and audiences we serve,” she concluded.

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com

Artwork by Charlene Weisler

Revealing Video Martketplace Trends in the Freewheel 1Q23 Report

2024-01-03T13:55:00.000-05:00

For the past thirteen years, FreeWheel’s Video Marketplace Report has provided the advertising industry with core assessments of an ever evolving national and global digital video marketplace. Released twice a year, the report includes an analysis of the advertising marketplace, current audience usage habits and an assessment of the programmatic marketplace.

According to Bridget Greaney, Consultant at Comcast FreeWheel, the basis of the analysis was derived from the rich anonymized first party data set culled from the FreeWheel platform on premium video for 1Q23, compared to 1Q22. This yielded key takeaways for the industry. According to Greaney, “We're seeing a shift toward more ad supported tiers with the convergence of publishers and consumers. The publishers are looking for a more financially sustainable approach to streaming often with subscription streaming sites.”

From the consumer side of the business, she indicated that, “Consumers are looking for a more a way to manage their costs as it was with original traditional television. We now see more ad supported premium video content which has resulted in overall ad view growth at 9% across the U.S and EU compared to the same time last year.”

Unsurprisingly, viewer experience is becoming an important factor in ad optimization. “There is the increasing importance of the viewer experience because there is so much more premium video relying on supported content that optimizing the viewer experience becomes vital,” she asserted. “It's always been important,” she averred, “but it's becoming even more so. We think of three different buckets of quantity, quality and relevancy of the ads for the audience and have found that audiences do not mind watching advertisements as long as it doesn't disrupt their overall content viewing experience.” In addition to ad relevancy, viewer experience is impacted by other factors such as device type and screen size. “How does that factor into what publishers may consider when it comes to the viewer experience?” she queried.

Comparing global to U.S. data, she explained that, “one very interesting point is how the distribution platform breaks down. TV everywhere is most prominent in both the U.S. and the EU. But that's where the similarities for distribution platform end. There's a significantly larger use of operator authentication platforms in the EU than in the U.S. and a lot more OTT in the U.S. and that's in part because Europe has a much stronger use of set top boxes whereas in the U.S., FAST channels that are direct to consumer through OTT platforms are more prominent. It is interesting to see that while the majority platform still is the same in both worlds once you start digging in, different regions function a bit differently.” She saw from the data that, “Content curation opportunities vary by platform. Longer form content may be accessed on a larger screen, for example and you can do longer and more mid-roles which enable greater ad loads.” But according to Greaney , oftentimes the threshold for those number of commercials can become disruptive for a viewer. “They have a low threshold. So you have to be more particular.”

In terms of trends, Programmatic is one area which has experienced dramatic growth over the years. “We saw 21% growth in the U.S. in programmatic distribution. It is current 35% of the ad views in the U.S. and 19% in the EU in the first half of this year. It is a growing area of the industry,” she noted.

Finally, when you compare audience targeting to behavioral targeting, the U.S. is more committed to audience targeting while the EU relies more heavily towards behavioral targeting.

Looking ahead, Greaney believes that, “The video marketplace will have more content being ad supported and premium video,” within a hybrid model of video on demand subscription services and FAST channel growth. “This is becoming more of a trend,” she explained, “Evolution has always been the nature of the industry. Think about traditional television and commercial breaks. We're just seeing more and more of that happen across the board. The other piece of this is the importance of viewer experience, especially as the market becomes more saturated for consumers.”

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com

Bringing Synergy to the Media Marketplace An Interview with KINESSO’s Jarrod Martin

2023-11-22T12:58:00.001-05:00

The media industry’s increasing complexity demands solutions that more fully drive results. In some cases it is strictly tactical solution but in the case of IPG’s KINESSO, it’s a strategic combination of advanced technology and agency acumen. KINESSO’s Global CEO, Jarrod Martin, explained that his is a, “tech driven performance agency that gives clients the clarity and confidence to make decisions to drive results.”

Essentially that means that advanced tech, using AI, works seamlessly with three agency divisions, crossing human expertise with data. “That's what we're trying to achieve; a simpler organization that is a combination of media and data and technology that helps to drive results for our clients. Think of us as an intel ship,” he affirmed.

According to Martin, “There's always a compromise between specialism and integration. We've created an agency that is more sustainable and future focused to have complexity where it's needed and simplicity where it's not.” KINESSO is an integration of three separate units that were operating in a coordinated but not in an integrated fashion. “We were building technology that wasn't necessarily being adopted at the scale needed to be to have the maximum impact. By bringing these groups together, there's less distance between the users of the technology and the people who develop the technology, between the people who have hands on keyboards and are running programmatic search and social campaigns and the client,” he added.

KINESSO, he explained, “offers a specific capability that exists within the agency arsenal like a collection of specialists.” This approach can serves clients of all types from a scaled in-house model to an embedded contractor to a traditional approach, depending on how the client’s business is structured. In this way the agency can either build the infrastructure for a client that has their own systems and protocols in-house, or embed as a contractor with certification access to function in a variety of services, or perform as a traditional agency working as a team on behalf of the client. It is in the flexibility and the expansive range of service offerings that gives KINESSO its competitive edge.

When implementing data solutions, privacy is paramount. “Just to be clear on this, we leverage first party data but Axiom handles all of that first party data on our behalf. Axiom has the credentials, the processes to ensure that we don't make mistakes and do things incorrectly,” Martin asserted. From there, “Axiom might merge that with other data to turn that into audiences where we can then access.” At this point it is anonymized and can be used in a variety of ways whether merging with other data sets or directly applying to processes like segmentations to better identify audiences. “And then,” he explained, “we activate those audiences in media. Axiom and Live Ramp get involved to convert that data into something that connects to partners. So we're really playing in a sand box that's privacy compliant to build those audiences to activate for our clients. We use our technologies to create better data that surrounds the client's first party data and give them a full view of what that consumer looks like using multiple onboarding providers.”

KINESSO has organized itself against four key product pillars – audiences, planning and optimization activation and finally, measurement. “The group or product family is used to build the audiences. Then the audience data flows into the planning and optimization module and then into the planning tool. That planning tool is able to calculate cross channel reach and frequency based on the optimized channel mix to deliver an outcome. At that point we go to the partner level where we figure out which partner will deliver on that channel mix and then we activate,” he stated and then admitted, “At the point of activation, things get a bit messy, because you've got all these walled gardens that won't allow you to combine data. But we have a sense during the planning phase of what our expected outcome will be, whether reach, consideration or some other performance outcome. Once it gets to the platforms, we optimize it within those platforms to get the best possible result.” KINESSO also experiments along the way to, “figure out how the results that occur within a platform reflect reality to find out what's the true impact of each platform in generating a sale.”

When it comes to the use of AI and how it will impact jobs in the future, Martin is introspective. “AI can take a lot of the drudgery out of what we do so that we can focus on value, add tasks and build better relationships with clients. What has happened in the last few years with the rise of digital is that we get obsessed with the plumbing, getting the plumbing right and making sure that we don't make mistakes. That's taken the focus away from bigger and better ideas and bigger and better client relationships. That's where the future is for humans inside this ecosystem with AI.”

It is clear that KINESSO has created a synergistic and open approach to today’s media world. “We've created a new positioning, mission, values, manifesto, visual identity, etc., etc., etc. Some people in our organization don't distinguish between the name and the brand. I would say the name is the same but the brand is very different. Where we're looking to move is in a different direction with more simplicity, better integration and being more agile in how we work,” he concluded.

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com

Artwork by Charlene Weisler

Coaches vs Cancer; A Media Initiative to Help Fight Cancer

2023-11-21T17:13:00.001-05:00

The media industry is known for its expansive participation in a range of good causes. One is Coaches vs. Cancer which is, according to Chloe Lipman, Vice President of Community Development, American Cancer Society, “A nationwide collaboration between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches that empowers coaches, teams, and the sports marketing and media industry to increase cancer awareness efforts, organize fundraising activities, and support advocacy programs.” This collaboration, active since 1993, has raised more than $140 million to support the American Cancer Society’s mission to save lives from cancer.

For John Muszynski, Chairman of PMX, the invitation to chair the recent American Cancer Society”s annual Coaches vs. Cancer Dinner Benefit in New York was a great opportunity to honor his wife Gail, a cancer survivor.

“Frankly,” he began, “I really wasn't aware of Coaches vs. Cancer but I knew it had been around for 30 years. The benefit raises money for cancer research through the sale of sponsorships and tables for people attending the event.” The event itself brings together sports figures for an evening that includes panel discussions and personal narratives on their fight against cancer. This year, Gail was selected to be the honoree by John Bogusz, Executive Vice President Sports Sales for Paramount CBS. Despite a fear of public speaking, especially on such a personal and sensitive subject, she is a media professional with over 20 years at agencies such as Starcom and Leo Burnett. “She was absolutely spectacular,” as honoree, Muszynski remarked.

Previous Coaches vs. Cancer benefits have concentrated on College Basketball. “They talk about how it relates to the media world and entertainment but this year was a little different,” Muszynski explained, “When I was chatting with the Executive Committee they kept asking, ‘What's Gail's favorite school for basketball?’ And I said, guys, I have to be honest with you, she's not a big basketball fan. She's a huge hockey and NFL fan.”

As the discussion continued about which coaches could be included in the benefit for the panel, “the fact that Eddie Olcyzk, a former NHL player, former Olympian just went through a battle with cancer,” led the committee to expand beyond College Basketball for the event. “The folks from American Cancer Society had a contact who knew Eddie and they reached out. The net result was that the evening was less about basketball.” Olcyzk’s keynote talked about, “his experience with cancer, and how difficult it was and talking about the caregiver, and the need to continue to battle this into research and raise funds.

It was very, very well received,” Muszynski noted, “And then my wife came up and she shared her entire story. She's been battling cancer for almost 13 years and she talked about how yoga became a very important part of her treatment plan. It was very inspiring. I can't tell you the number of people that came up to me afterwards, talking about how moved they were by her story and how they can relate because they've got somebody in their family with cancer or they went through cancer and talked about the caregiver situation.”

Gail’s yoga regime began after her first treatments for her cancer in the hospital. It proved to be so therapeutic for her that it led to years of practice including opening her own yoga studio. More recently, she continues her yoga assisting at a studio close to her home.

Asking people for money is usually challenging, but not for this event, according to Muszynski. “I found this to be easier than you would expect. So many have a personal connection to a loved one or themselves being hit by cancer. That was a motivating factor. Also because of my wife and her personality - she knows a lot of these folks from going to events with me - everybody wanted to hear her story and support her. Everybody was very quick to sign up. I don't think I sent a single follow up after I set my first email. It made me feel really good about how our media industry surrounded this event and really got involved.”

For Lipman, the real challenge is Cancer itself. “Cancer is a complex problem,” she admitted, “so it takes a comprehensive approach to make progress. We believe all people should have a fair and just opportunity to live a longer, healthier life free from cancer regardless of how much money they make, the color of their skin, their sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status, or where they live.” Health equity for her organization means that everyone has a fair and just opportunity to prevent, find, treat, and survive cancer. “It requires us to eliminate barriers and address needs. People have different circumstances, and because of this, the tools and resources will be different from one person to the next in order to achieve health equity,” she added.

In addition to in-person attendance, Muszynski included a video from friends and family in the Midwest. “We live in the Midwest a lot of our family and a number of our friends couldn't attend. So I had a surprise video put together for Gail with well wishes,” he explained. As it turned out, that was the biggest challenged he faced in preparing for the event. “It's amazing how so many of our friends and family do not want to get in front of a camera and don't know what to say. But we ended up having an 9 min video that was wonderful.”

This year’s benefit set records for attendance and fundraising. “This year we had 32 different companies represented, 340 plus people and raised over $375,000,” he noted. Last year there were 21 tables. This year there were 33. “One of the things that the American Cancer Society organizers shared with me was that, with 80 different events for the charity, this was the first time ever that they’ve experienced a situation where they had to extend the venue for an additional hour because nobody was leaving. And you know, in most of these functions, they serve the rubber chicken and you turn around and everybody's gone. Nobody sticks around. But we got out of there close to 11pm. So all in all, very successful,” he added.

For Lipman, her organization is on the front lines. “For 110 years, the American Cancer Society has been a leader in the fight against cancer. More people are surviving cancer than ever before, but there is still work to be done to fulfill our vision of ending cancer as we know it, for everyone,” she concluded.

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com

Artwork by Charlene Weisler

The Intersection of Viewing, Buying and Selling With Comcast’s Advertising Report

2023-09-30T10:43:00.001-04:00

The media landscape is not unlike a big jigsaw puzzle where disparate data needs to be interlocked and then interpreted in order to see the full picture of behaviors and results. Comcast has in its arsenal two long standing but separate studies on viewership and on advertising and has merged the results from these studies into the Comcast Advertising Report, now in its second year. This report enables a better understanding of the dynamics of viewership in tandem with advertising results. “We have access to a lot of data, whether it's viewership data or ad exposure data and we want to be able to share so everybody wins,” noted Travis Flood, Senior Director of Research for Comcast Advertising.

According to Flood, the merged data focuses on three industry tent poles – viewers, buyers and sellers. “We go through our data and see what have has repeatedly shown up that we think is interesting,” he explained. One big takeaway is that, “TV is still the foundation still drives the majority of reach. Streaming is an audience extension that we expect to grow over time. But the two of them are going to be very separate for a while. We're here to help leverage the advantages of both for our advertisers and for the marketplace.” However to the viewer, TV and streaming are both viewed on the same screen and are therefore considered somewhat the same.

One big takeaway was the viewers’ continued preference for the big screen. “We think that has benefit because that allows you to maximize the connection. Eighty-two percent of our streaming impressions are happening on the big screen. Last year it was 77%,” noted Flood.

Further, the study found that traditional TV continues to drive reach, with a caveat. “We still drive the majority of our reach with traditional television but maximizing incremental reach is a challenge in today's marketplace. How are you driving it? How much TV should I have? How much streaming? Should I buy addressable? Should addressable be the focus of my campaign or should it be a tactic on top of that? Then, because we work in a premium video environment, we look at types of customers and type of content. We want to maximize that connection,” he stated.

One of the big misconceptions among advertisers is that traditional TV is diminishing in impact. This is a mistake according to Flood because, “They're giving up on where they can maximize their reach. What we've seen is when people invest more in streaming, they get more to begin with, but after a point, as they invest even more in streaming, they start talking to the same people over and over again. There's a diminishing return at some point as you sacrifice linear reach for streaming frequency in a lot of cases.”

Finally, the growth of FAST services has accelerated. “Last year in this report, FAST was really an introduction. This year nearly half of all OTT impressions were served through FAST. That's a really important stat because it has significant volume to it,” he stated and added, “FAST services have been a way for viewers to engage in content in different ways.”

In last year’s study, “Share of reach for traditional TV was 82%. Nine percent came from streaming-only and 9% were reached by both,” he noted, “This year those same numbers, instead of 82, 9 and 9, are 78, 10 and 12. So you'd say, wow, it's still relatively strong for television but the streaming is up a third from what it was last year. We're seeing movement, but it's not drastic.”

When it comes to programmatic, “The space is growing every year but we see hesitance for a couple of reasons,” Flood said. ”Sellers may be wary about selling programmatically. They think it will degrade their content and downgrade the potential to maximize revenue. Buyers may not be set up to be programmatic in the same way that they find television today. How can you buy streaming or connected TV and programmatic? That's a different world. So we tend to talk about programmatic just being a way to buy in an automated way.”

Looking ahead, Flood sees a convergence between traditional TV and streaming but it will happen slowly over time. “You'll continue to see convergence of the two,” he posited. ”TV will become more like digital or streaming in the way it's bought with more targeting capabilities through things like addressable. Hopefully, you'll have a unified approach to measurement across both television and streaming especially as there is more first party data.” He added that, “Hopefully, industry collaboration will continue because in a world where you want TV to be more like digital, it requires a lot of groups to collaborate with one another. But it won’t happen on its own. The industry has to be behind it and help guide it through the process.”

Ultimately for advertisers who want to maximize their impact, “There is not a magic bullet or a one size fits all approach. You can't just do streaming or linear television. I wouldn't tell someone to just buy data driven linear - broad appeal versus very addressable. It's combination of all of those,” he noted. “It's important to be talking to your customers who buy from you today as well as those who will buy from you tomorrow. For your current customers, have a message that's more addressable. For those in the future, concentrate on broader reach.” But since advertisers need to reach both current and future customers, “You essentially need both strategies together and once you implement those two strategies, you have that data driven techniques and you can split it up between TV and streaming,” he concluded.

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com

Artwork by Charlene Weisler

A New MAGNA Study Proves that Repetition Breeds More Than Annoyance

2023-09-23T12:55:00.000-04:00

Brands beware. Some amount of ad frequency can be helpful in getting your message out. However, a recent study by MAGNA Media Trials with video advertising platform, Nexxen, revealed that ad repetition, especially within a short viewing window, is not only a bad experience for the viewer, it is also detrimental to the brand.

This study is the first of its kind and offers a warning to both brands and platforms to consider frequency windowing and a mix of creative throughout the campaign. “We know how important the ad experience is. We often focus on the right message, right person and right time and those things are important. But the ad experience can really make or break an impression,” noted Kara Manatt, Executive Vice President Intelligence Solutions at MAGNA.

She explained that the viewer experience of overly repeated ads, especially within connected TV, is familiar. “We were really interested in what the impact was for our brands, the user experience and the platform. Number one for us is how effective our ads are and we knew that ad frequency played a role,” she added. Karim Rayes, chief product officer at Nexxen, noted that, “We knew this would have an effect, but quantifying it was important. This is for us the first time we're able to do that.”

The research was conducted in-house using experimental design with about 1250 online respondents. They were asked to view in their own homes and choose any content, thus replicating as typical a viewing experience as possible with MAGNA ads inserted and a questionnaire to follow. The results are sobering.

Manatt shared that, “87% said that they usually experience this so it's happening all over and people remember it.” Also, many believe that this high degree of ad frequency is intentional. “Even though we know in the industry that it is occurring, brands aren't intending to deliver the same ad over and over in the same TV show. But 68% think that brands specifically intend to do it.” Notably this level of dissatisfaction was consistent across demographic groups and ages.

Another warning to advertisers and platforms is the impact of ad frequency on branding metrics. “Our clients and our agency are working to achieve greater impact on branding metrics like purchase intent, connection to and excitement about our brands. To see that we are actually creating declines and having the opposite of the intended effect is pretty startling. We see a decline in purchasing intent of 14%,” she explained.

Rayes noted that, “Customer experience is critical for the platform as well. There is negative impact when the repeating ads were shown against the same content. Viewers want controls to properly manage that and often seek their content on another platform. CTV offers a lot more options than there used to be a few years ago. It's critical for platforms to take this seriously as well.”

Perhaps not surprisingly, linear TV advertising is not as repetitive as other platforms. Rayes explained that, “Linear TV booking is done in advance and is very static. So you're carefully managing the amount of repetition you have against each show. When it comes to CTV and digital, you have a global budget, daily caps, etc. but overall, the distribution is not as polished. So you can add on unless there are the right controls. You can end up in a situation where you're going to repeat the same advertisement multiple times.”

When you add in user targeting and other factors on digital and start filtering down the number of available campaigns to a specific consumer, “you tend to narrow it down to the extent that you repeat the ads on the same consumer multiple times,” he added. For Rayes, digital has its advantages but ad frequency is one of the major disadvantages that need to be addressed.

For Manatt, “The research findings validate the importance of going the extra mile to ensure that ad over-frequency doesn't happen. We're already working with publishers, one on one, and with a short list of trusted partners like Nexxen who have the technology to manage frequency. So we are already taking action. But these are important findings for us to share more broadly to make sure every team is taking advantage of that because it's counter to what our ads are intending.”

She stressed that it is vital that the industry to work together on this issue. “We don't want people changing their media behaviors and moving to something else because we're not doing a good job of delivering our ads. It's not just an individual brand problem. It's an industry wide problem and we all have a stake in it. Consumers can change the channel and switch platforms and spend their media time other places. So we all need to work together on the right technology to make sure it doesn't happen.”

Looking ahead, there are some interesting and viable solutions. One, according to Manatt is, “Storytelling and using it to be more thoughtful. If we're going to deliver multiple ads, hopefully not six in a TV show, we can use technology to tell a story from touch point to touch point.”

“It’s beyond the technology. It's also working to establish industry standards. The ad serving platform hosting the creative might have the same creative but two different creative ids for platform A to platform B. The broadcasters and platforms don't know it's the same ad. So even if you have the tools to say, ‘Okay, don't show that id more than three times’ consumers may still see the same ad multiple times if there's 2 ids with the same ad. It's important that we have a universal language. There are lots of standards in our space but there is still a lack of standards when it comes to creative management. It's a work in progress,” Rayes concluded.

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com

Artwork by Charlene Weisler

AMC Audience+ Offers Advertisers Addressable Targetability for the Best of AMC Programming

2023-08-16T10:46:00.001-04:00

As television addressable advertising incorporates more data and technology, media companies are stepping up with better delivery and measurement tools. For AMC’s Evan Adlman, Executive Vice President Commercial Sales and Revenue Operations, his company’s solution, Audience+, “is a data targeting and insights platform that is the culmination of all of our addressable development that we've been doing over the last 3 years.”

As Adlman explained, Audience +, “allows an advertiser, as well as our internal media planning teams to understand who is watching, what are they watching, when are they watching and where are they watching.” This platform brings together all of AMC Networks’ addressable capabilities across all of their platforms, where, he noted, “The advertiser can take those insights, build a segment and target that audience across linear, VOD, all we are streaming and, soon on October first, our ad supported AMC+.”

The ability of an advertiser to message across all available platforms through segmentations that are de-duplicated is currently offered to advertisers at three spots per hour but will soon expand to twelve spots. “We believe in 100% addressability across all of our inventory,” he asserted. This is important because this offering expands to, “all networks, all programming and all platforms so it doesn't matter what the viewers are watching. We enable this capability. We also fully integrate it into all of our trafficking systems so there is no managed service behind it.” Essentially the system can, “traffic a single campaign in the delivery system and it optimizes and delivers the advertisement across all available inventory based on where the audience is as well as the standard flight information all within 24 hours for every campaign that runs in real time,” he noted. The ease at which reporting can be done seamlessly is one big competitive advantage for Audience+ over competitors.

As far as data is concerned, Audience+ can accommodate AMC’s first party data, a range of third party data including advertiser proprietary datasets. With AMC first party data, “We have all of our viewership data which is unique to AMC. We understand what shows are being watched, when they're being watched, on what platforms and so on. We have the ability for an advertiser to bring their data to create a segment and ingest it using LiveRamp, for example, and we work with our MVPDs, our distributor partnerships to match against their footprint. Once it matches, we curate the inventory in FreeWheel (a Comcast-based platform that integrates media) and away we go. We also have the ability to create a segment for them.” This, according to Adlman, enables the system to, “build something that is the closest to, or that exact audience profile of, what the advertiser is looking to reach.”

In order to get the most value out of the system, Adlman advises advertisers to, “let Audience+ do what it's supposed to do,” and follow the segment that is targeted even if that means going against an advertiser’s gut feelings or previous buy compositions. It all goes back to whatever consumer target is more important. “You may think you need more prime but in reality 70% of your delivery may be during daytime, and that's because that's where they are,” he explained.

In terms of the future, the next steps for Audience+ on an internal basis are, “expanding the types of creatives that we can run through the platform and continuing to refine the delivery and capabilities.” Externally, for advertiers, the next steps are, “Education for the market. We want to be bold with advertisers and show them that they can really buy media this way and make linear more efficient.”

Adlman understands that the viewer holds all of the control. “Today it's the viewer that is more and more setting the appointments of where they're going to watch, when they're going to watch, what they're going to watch,” he asserted. Everyone has their own premiere viewing depending on when and where they decide to tune in. With viewership so fragmented today, the ability to seamlessly integrate all platforms with de-duplicated data to more efficiently match the desired target segmentation is, “even more important to make sure you're getting the most reach that you want. Viewers are in a lot of different places than just one,” he concluded.

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com

Artwork by Charlene Weisler

Preparing the Media Industry’s Next Generation. An Interview with FUTURE NOW’s Founder Margaret Kim

2023-08-10T09:41:00.001-04:00

Margaret Kim, Founder of FUTURE NOW set up her organization to facilitate mentorship with media’s next generation. Similar to her experiences 20 years ago when she struggled to find resources and people to advise her in her career, she expressed surprise that these issues remain an obstacle. “Shouldn’t things be different by now? There is lack of knowledge; lack of access and opportunity; lack of mentorship and sponsorship; lack of training; lack of recognition, promotion and advancement; inequity in pay; and lack of diversity and inclusion. It’s been going on too long, and it is time to change this,” she asserted.

To that end, she has launched FUTURE NOW which recently held its Media & Entertainment Conference in New York. The conference began in 2017 in-person shifting to online during the pandemic. “Everything was live, nothing was pre-recorded. We had incredibly growth during the pandemic, because we remained committed to the students and the sponsors believed in us,” she explained and added, “2023 marks the 7th year of the conference and we were back in-person for the first time since the pandemic.”

So far, FUTURE NOW has, according to Kim, 800+ alumni who have attended the conference and a mentoring program that is entering its 5th year. “In the past 4 years, we have had 64 mentees matched with 64 mentors from the industry for one-on-one mentorship over a 9-month period,” she noted. In addition, alumni established the FUTURE NOW Media Podcast, syndicated on 9 platforms including on Apple and Spotify and established and contribute to The NOW monthly newsletter.

For those starting out, the opportunities for advancement, “is everywhere,” she stated. “There are the ones that are created for you by someone else and then there are the ones you create for yourself and others. It’s about seeing the possible and having the vision, courage, and determination to make things happen.” She advises students, “to engage with FUTURE NOW’s programming throughout the year, learn about the industry, connect with leaders as well as your peers, nurture those relationships, and volunteer with FUTURE NOW or other trade organizations to gain experience, hone skills, and gain mentors along the way.”

Yet, “There are the challenges of the current state of the industry which has been going through massive changes and stresses over the past few years,” she explained. “There have been major budget cuts, layoffs, reorgs, and just when you think the dust is settling, something else comes along to disrupt things again. Students need to be patient and use the time to hone their skills and build professional networks, so that when the opportunity finally comes their way, they are ready.”

As far as AI is concerned, Kim believes that, “AI will be both a challenge and opportunity for future media leaders. My hope is that leaders will be proactive, intentional, and rigorous in thinking through the applications and consequences of AI. The ethics, morals, and accountability regarding the use of AI are extremely important to consider. Future generations will be profoundly affected by the decisions we make today, and we cannot take this responsibility lightly.”

When asked what advice she would give to someone starting out today, she said, “Consider your WHY (your purpose) and pursue the truth in all things. I think of Socrates, who famously said, ‘The unexamined life is not worth living.’ ”

For companies, recruiting the best talent is pivotal. Kim stated that a true commitment is required for companies. “Most people can tell when a company is paying lip service or being genuine about something. When we see diversity and inclusion throughout the ranks of a company, including in the C-suite and on boards, that is a powerful statement of walking the talk and is extremely attractive to future leaders,” she explained.

Kim remains optimistic about the future. “I believe nothing is impossible and that where there is a will, there is a way. It takes vision, a strong work ethic, time, sacrifice, investment, determination, and grit. And, it takes community. One cannot do this alone. I imagine a new and bright future for the industry by building future leaders, gathering them, preparing them, connecting them with the industry, and helping them launch and soar…to go farther faster…and change the world…everyone winning,” she concluded.

This article first appeared in Mediapost.

Artwork by Charlene Weisler

MAGNA Global Ad Forecast Recommends Continued Innovation and Spending Going Forward

2023-07-25T10:54:00.000-04:00

While forecasting has always been a mixture of art and science, predicting global ad spend following the pandemic has been particularly tricky. Has behavior reverted back to the old pre-pandemic normal or are we evolving into a new normal? How does traditional media compare with digital spend? Which countries are poised for growth?

These questions and more are answered in the latest Global Ad Forecast Study authored by MAGNA’s Vincent Letang, Executive Vice President, Global Market Intelligence. Fielded four times a year in the U.S. and twice a year globally, the study forecasts global ad spend across 84 markets using historical ad revenue from media owners’ financial reports or local media trade organizations such as the OAAA and TVB. These forecasts of ad spend projections are based on a macro-economic outlook and the competitiveness of each media format.

According to Letang, media owners advertising revenue is predicted to reach $842 billion, representing +4.6% growth compared to $805 billion in 2022 which had a very weak second half. “2022 started strong but the second half was very weak. The first half of 2023 was flat year to year generally speaking (+1.4%) but improved globally due to China (+6%), Spain and Italy (both +3%). The U.S. was essentially flat at +1%, while Germany and the U.K. were -0.5%,” he explained. In terms of industry verticals and media types, “Retail and Social helped drive 2023 growth.”

For the U.S. specifically, 2022 was an unusual year with greater Midterms political spending and the Olympics adding incremental spending. If you take those two factors out of the equation, the U.S. is projected to grow +4.2% in 2023 compared to +2.5% with those special events included in the totals, according to Letang.

Globally, “the largest growth market is India for the third consecutive year at +12%. India is consistently the fastest growing economy and the fastest growing advertising market globally ahead of China which slowed down considerably last year because of Zero Covid public policy. The moment Zero Covid was removed in November December 2022 the economy instantly re-accelerated. We expect China to grow +8%,” he asserted.

Letang shared that digital remains the fastest growing media format, spurred by Search Commerce (+10%) and strong growth from the Retailers. Amazon accounts for much of this growth but other retailers such as Walmart are improving their digital offerings as well. Yet, for traditional media, global ad revenue is projected to shrink by -3% with traditional television off -5% and publishing off -4%. The bright spots are Out-of-Home, up +5% and Cinema +23% which are benefitting from a consumer surge post-Covid.

For Publishers that are lagging in growth, Letang recommended that, “they continue to innovate … and they do, to be fair. For Television, for example, a portion of their revenue comes from traditional 30 second spots and a portion comes from AVOD and Addressable. We find that, depending on the market, the average growth is about +10% for Television for these new and alternative ad formats served on CTV, for example. But currently this growth is not enough to offset the traditional ad formats as linear TV continues to decline.”

For Letang, “there is not much that media owners can do in the short term when the economy is tough. They must, however, continue to innovate because in the long term it will pay off.” A great example of the positive impact of innovation is Out-Of-Home, “which has been and still is the most dynamic media format,” as they continue to develop their digital capabilities, dynamic insertions and improvement in data collection. “About 30% of Out-Of-Home revenue is generated by digital units – digital billboards in airports or train stations and subways, up from 10% maybe ten years ago,” he posited. In addition both Out-Of-Home and Cinema are benefitting from a return to pre-Covid behaviors as more people are on the street exposed to billboards and returning to movie theaters. “It’s not back to pre-Covid levels but, depending on the country, it is back 50-70%,” he noted regarding Cinema.

What can advertisers do to spur growth at a time when future budgets might be constrained? “Sometimes there is a tendency for marketers with flat or lower budgets to invest in low funnel because that is where you can best measure campaigns. It feels safer. But it is very risky to de-prioritize upper funnel channels like television or radio because you lose share of voice to competitors and ultimately you lose market share. In the long term, it costs you more to rebuild your share of voice. Don’t be silent. Continue communicating to customers,” he concluded.

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com

Artwork by Charlene Weisler

The Serious Takeaways of Play. An Interview with Starcom’s Steve Bonner

2023-06-29T15:36:00.001-04:00

The concept of “Play’ in this digitized world can take on many meanings. To Steve Bonner, Starcom’s Executive Vice President and Head of Cultural Intelligence, Play simply refers to activities that bring pleasure. His recently released study Live2Play examines, according to Bonner, “How people choose to spend their time and attention in ways that are fulfilling, enriching, sometimes educational, but often just really for pleasure.”

While video gaming fits into this definition, it is only one component. There are many other ways for people to spend their time at play. Live2Play deconstructs Play -a seemingly simple concept – in a highly nuanced way, leading us to compelling and evocative insights not only of consumer behavior but of society itself.

Bonner’s study used a hybrid methodology with a self-service platform to conduct quantitative surveys and two focus groups – one of families with children and another of Gen X men. For families the goal was to see how their children’s play evolved over time compared to their own play. “We asked what play meant to them. How do you define play for yourself and for your children? Do you think your children play enough or too much compared to when you were a child? How has play changed? What do you think the implications of the way play has changed for your children will be as they get older?” he noted.

The Gen X men group, “uncovered an interesting dynamic in their need for play and the way they play,” Bonner explained. “With men we asked, how do guys think about playing? How do they play in the context of friendships? That was, probably for me, the most interesting thing that we learned in this.”

Overall, what Bonner and his team realized was the essential benefits of play for a happier life. Using an 85 year old longitudinal study about human happiness as a lodestar, Bonner saw that, “one of the strongest, most highly correlated things to happiness is long term, deep friendships. Men tend to have a hard time fostering and maintaining long term, deep friendships with other men.” This is underscored through their play.

Play for men means competition and bragging rights adding an adversarial component to the way they play. “That diminishes the value of play because you're making it a competition as opposed to exploring the world around you,” he stated and added, “Einstein said that play is research. Kids play to learn about the world around them. Men want to have a winner and a loser most of the time when they play with each other and that can fray the friendships between them, perpetuating this problem.”

For men, this dynamic in play and happiness led to an insight explaining the rise in Gen X men's suicide rates and, possibly, lone wolf attacks. “That was a surprise,” Bonner admitted, “But we thought it was interesting because as a media agency, as a marketing company, we help inspire our clients to think about new brand behaviors for themselves. We think there's an enormous hero role for marketers to play in helping men play more helpfully and champion active play and curiosity-driven play.”

Another insight included how the definition of play for adults has changed over time. “We had people saying that as an adult, playing is like watching a show on Netflix or browsing the Internet or scrolling Tiktok. What that does is stretch the definition of play to include passive consumption of content,” Bonner noted. Admittedly, “there are a lot of organizations that are happy about that because they say, yes, play is important. Human beings need to play and if we can say that play equals consuming content passively then we all sleep better at night because we fundamentally sell the passive consumption of content.”

But for Bonner, “Our position was that we want to resist that creeping definition of play because it's becoming something passive. Play has to have an active element of decision making or of exploring different scenarios. If you remove curiosity and self- determination from play, you lose a bit of the benefit of play.”

The study also found that, “People define themselves by how they play. They will say, I'm a gamer or I like to dance or I'm a singer. I like to make music with my friends, collect things, build with Legos,” indicating a changing definition of play as one ages and a different concept of play for their children. “When you talk to people in their late 20s to 40s, they will say when I was a kid, playing was going outside. We'd run around, play with the neighbors and have fun. Now it has become a digital thing which creates dissonance in parents who say that their kids spend most of their play time on screens. It makes life easier for me but I don't know if it's good,” he explained. For brands, “I think brands can take action against this. How do you make screen time feel healthier when parents feel they're outsourcing babysitting to a screen.”

Understanding the role of play in individuals and in society through this type of quantitative ethnography is a much more expansive way to better define the true essence of brands. Bonner’s role in this effort is clear. “I am fundamentally concerned with looking at the world through people's eyes as opposed to looking at the world through a brand. It's very easy in our business to look at things through the lens of a category. But what we really care about is what people really care about. We are incessantly curious about what it is that drives people and makes them unique and special. That fundamentally takes you to a place of play.”

This approach is also vital for brands seeking cultural relevancy. “You have to understand what people care about outside of your brand. That's at the root of everything we do. Job number one should always be to make the experience something a consumer is going to care about and then figure out how to make sure that it provides the biggest or best return,” he concluded.

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com

Artwork by Charlene Weisler

Revealing the Value of Social Commerce for Brands and Marketers A Groundbreaking Global Study Advances New Technology

2023-06-26T15:33:00.001-04:00

How can retailers better understand and harness the power of social commerce to better track the consumer journey? A recent study by MAGNA, Reprise and SNAP offers great insights and some advice.

Social commerce refers to those online activities that facilitate transactions. According to Glen Conybeare, Global President, Reprise Commerce, a “post-pandemic new normal” has fueled greater participation in social commerce, so much so that it can now account for as much as 20% of sales. He noted that, “Brands are realizing that a significant double digit percentage of their sales are likely to be through e-commerce channels. That makes their life more complicated because most brands are very adept at selling through physical retail that has been structured for many years to optimize sales.” This poses a challenge to some retailers who are still grappling with how to best structure their online offerings to maximize profitability.

For Kara Manatt, EVP Intelligence Solutions at MAGNA, the study addresses what retailers must do to meet the needs of consumers. “What do consumers really want and need and what is their experience like on social media? We wanted to tap into what is currently happening with consumers on social media and the technologies they are using,” she explained.

This global study of 8,000 respondents spanned four countries - U.S., UK, Germany and Saudi Arabia – and is the first of its kind for MAGNA. It revealed the following insights:

Social media is vitally important to consumers in making purchasing decisions. Manatt noted that she was surprised at, “how many people use social media to make purchases and use it as a tool to discover products. There's a really strong foundation of people using social media in that way across all the markets, especially Saudi Arabia.”

AR and VR are emerging as one of the important centerpieces in social commerce. For Conybeare, it enables consumers to better curate their purchases and reduce returns that increase costs to retailers. He explained that, “Consumers don't want twelve items and send ten back. It’s a hassle. They want to order something that works for them and not have to send anything back. AR and VR technology help with that.”

There is an enthusiasm for these new technologies. Manatt explained that, “People are really excited and leaning in to try new technologies. They use AR to try on clothes (for example). Brands need to make sure that we're meeting consumers where they are and taking advantage of those observations and behaviors that already exist.”

There is a great deal of disconnect in the current consumer journey to purchase. “It's about reducing the friction in the journey. We think is e-commerce is easy but actually from a consumer's point of view it's full of friction. It's a lot easier to walk into a physical store, try on a pair of jeans, buy the pair of jeans and it is unlikely to take those jeans back,” Conybeare explained. Conversely, he noted, “When you buy a pair of jeans online, you’ll probably buy two. Maybe one fits. Maybe none fits. It’s the same with style. Technology reduces friction in the online consumer journey. That's why we've seen such a positive reaction to AR and VR in the study.”

Consumer appetite for new technology spans all age groups. “It's not a generational thing,” noted Manatt, “It's not just younger people who realize that doing things through social media is going to help alleviate some of that friction. It's all ages.”

Profitability drives retailer decisions and new technology helps. “e-commerce is not as profitable as physical retail for the vast majority of retailers,” Conybeare stated. Generous return policies eat into profitability. “If implementing AR or VR technology on your site means your returns go from 30% to 20%, that pays off very quickly. Increasingly, retailers are realizing that they can’t continue to offer amazing customer service with free returns free delivery for long because shareholders will not stand for it,” he added.

For brands and advertisers, the road to profitability lies in AR and VR. “This study shows the consumers really want it. If brands and marketers were thinking, ‘It's not going to move the needle. It's not required. We're selling our stuff today without it.’ That's true. But you have to ask yourself what are you potentially missing out on? Changing your onsite conversion rate from 3 to 3.5% is the equivalent of spending millions on media. It's huge. And it's just one way of reducing friction for online customers,” Conybeare replied.

All of this emphasis on social commerce begs the question – What happens to brick and mortar? “There's got to be a place for physical retail. We'd be in a very sad, lonely world if there weren't. Physical retail just needs to reinvent itself and part of that is bringing back more entertainment to shopping that makes it fun,” he concluded.

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com

Artwork by Charlene Weisler

Building Global CTV Apps. An Interview with Ajey Anand, CEO Norigin

2023-06-26T15:32:00.000-04:00

The world of CTV apps is global and the ability of companies to facilitate accessibility for both consumers and brands across providers is paramount.

I spoke to Ajey Anand, CEO of Norigin Media, about the world of CTV apps and how companies can maneuver in the expansive marketplace. Norigin Media is a Scandinavian Connected TV Specialist company that designs, engineers and validates apps and features on a range of CTV devices.

Charlene Weisler: What are the opportunities for advertisers and marketers and brands in the CTV app market?

Ajey Anand: Increasing the times spent on Apps alongside good content is the goal. Making sure consumers find it easy to search and navigate with clunky remote-controls would be our goal. For advertisers, the first opportunity is to understand the consumer. Where reports and analytics are available, consumer retention is monitored and managed and finally churn is reduced. For marketers and brands, direct interactivity and monetization possibilities duplicated from what was seen on the Mobile, is now possible.

Weisler: Considering all of the data collected, what are the opportunities for researchers?

Anand: A strong suite of analytics integrations help understand consumer and app behaviors. Whether it is reviews, rating, quality of service and experience or consumption patterns - all analytics can be now collated in a synchronous manner, which serves any research or study.

Weisler: What are some of the marketplace and technology challenges?

Anand: Certain devices like Apple and Roku may need unique attention, which are challenges that are manageable with engineers trained to think of streaming apps as a single goal rather than different technologies across different devices. Slow and changing App Store guidelines and the very mixed messaging from Device manufacturers are challenges for the industry but also an opportunity for Norigin Media, to be leaders in the space.

Weisler: What type of data can be collected?

Anand: We don’t collect any data but we facilitate the streaming service owner to collect any data possible. This blog should give you an idea about the Analytics space for streaming TV: https://noriginmedia.com/2020/09/29/the-guide-to-tracking-and-analysing-ott-streaming-services/

Weisler: Can this replace recommendation engines?

Anand: We currently integrate the best of breed analytic providers and recommendation engines. We feel that recommendation engines will be replaced by AI technologies anyway and such a space is the right place to be now to engage with app makers and device manufacturers.

Charlene Weisler: Tell me about Norigin's ability to streamline audience involvement via CTV apps.

Ajey Anand: Norigin builds CTV Apps and UI/UX with a single codebase. Our TV Framework helps us create one frontend which is reused with “functional changes” to relevant devices. When we build an experience on a Samsung Tizen device, we can port the exact effort onto an LG WebOS Device without changing the UI but making sure the LG remote-controls are integrated with native instincts.

Weisler: Where do you see CTV apps going in the next 3-5 years?

Anand: As seen with Mobile, Apps and Markets will become easier to use and filled to the brim with all things digital. CTV devices will increase penetration across the world in the near future. As we have seen, as CTVs replace the need for second-screen support while consuming interactive content, it will become a central entertainment and media hub within all households.

This article first appeared in Mediapost.

TVOT 2023 with Tracy Swedlow

2023-05-22T09:01:00.000-04:00

May 24-25 marks the next TV of Tomorrow conference in San Fransisco and a time of vast changes in the media landscape. Tracy Swedlow, CEO TMRW Corp. and Co-Executive Producer of TV of Tomorrow (TVOT) among other notable achievements, gives us an overview of what has been happening, where we are going and what to expect at the San Francisco conference.

Charlene Weisler: Can you give me a short recap of the media landscape for the past three years and any impact good or bad from the pandemic?

Tracy Swedlow: Subscription-based streaming services grew rapidly during the pandemic, but there’s been quite a slowdown in subscription growth rates in recent months (in part, because people are no longer sitting around the house with nothing to do, as they were during the lockdown; and in part simply because subscriptions are increasingly expensive) and churn rates, which have always been an issue for SVOD, are increasing significantly (40% according to a new Deloitte study). FAST/AVOD has also been growing rapidly, partly as a result of subscription-inflation. The fact that it’s accessed primarily on CTV platforms presents significant opportunities for gathering granular audience data and for enabling FAST’s monetization through increasingly personalized, targeted and interactive advertising—so, for example, one thing we’ve been seeing recently is a swell of interest in new, interactive advertising formats.

In addition to fueling the growth of streaming, it’s arguable that the pandemic also accelerated the rise of shoppable TV by increasing consumer usage of/familiarity with ecommerce: again, the wide distribution of CTV platforms has also been a catalyst here.

Another significant development over the past three years—even though it’s one whose full potential hasn’t yet been realized—is the ongoing roll-out of broadcast TV’s ATSC 3.0 standard (which has the consumer-facing brand, NEXTGEN TV) and the increasing availability of TV sets that support it. This will allow major improvements in audience measurement, advanced advertising and interactive services and promises a renaissance for local broadcasting.

Last but not least, the past three years have seen significant attempts to improve audience-measurement and the data-driven advertising it enables, not only through competition and the innovation that competition encourages, but through major industry coalitions and collaborations.

Weisler: What is this year’s TVOT about? And why?

Swedlow: We don't really impose an overarching theme on each event since we cover multiple, often quite disparate areas of and developments in the TV industry (everything from JICs to Web3, from AI to local CTV), and trying to fit everything into a unified concept would probably come across as somewhat forced. However, one thing I think I can say that TVOT is about this year—and every year—is community; a chance for leaders who’ve been working in this industry (and attending the show) for many years and who’ve built up a huge store of knowledge and experience not only to connect with one another but to meet and exchange ideas with emerging talent and new entrants into the TV business. The event is a little like a salon, where disparate ideas, strategies and industry sectors cross-pollinate.

Weisler: What are the top issues for media companies coming up?

Swedlow: Improving how viewership is measured in an increasingly multiplatform environment; improving how the data thus generated is interpreted and made use of while, and this is an issue that seems to be increasingly on everyone’s mind, maintaining privacy and promoting transparency; and in general, figuring out how to survive and thrive as some areas of the industry undergo rapid disruption (for example, by AI) while other areas (such as SVOD) that saw disruption just a few years ago reach maturity and possibly even start to retrench.

Weisler: What will the impact of AI be?

Swedlow: Honestly, I think the question is really, “What will the impact of AI not be?” I’m convinced it will affect most if not all areas of our industry—and, for that matter, of our daily life. Content creation, distribution and discovery, creative versioning for addressable advertising and data collaboration are just a few areas that immediately spring to mind.

Weisler: Give me three predictions for the next 3 years.

Swedlow: First, NEXTGEN TV will lead to a renaissance in local broadcasting, enabling improvements in audience measurement/data and advanced advertising, as well as more interactivity and multiple new consumer-facing services. Second, every press release announcing a new product will have “AI” in the headline, but (joking aside) this won’t be the usual marketing hype; AI will have huge consequences for television, advertising and pretty much every other area of human endeavor. And third, TV advertisers will know a lot more about audiences than they ever imagined they could, and those audiences will find advertising way less intrusive—in fact they might actually enjoy watching it, because it will be finely tailored to their interests and needs.

This article first appeared in Mediapost.

Using AI to Translate Human Language into Data. An Interview with Data Scientist Dr. Melodie Du

2023-04-24T10:21:00.007-04:00

The rush to develop AI is leading to some fascinating applications. Take, for example, Natural Language Processing (NLP) which is a subfield of AI that according to Inuvo’s Data Scientist, Dr. Melodie Du, deals with the interaction between computers and human language to enable computers to interpret human language and then generate data from that interpretation.

Her company is expanding on the concept of NLP by the creation of a language-model-based, generative AI capable of identifying the words associated with the audience for any product, service, or brand. “The result is the ability to reach those audiences utilizing our AI systems without requiring any client or third-party data,” she explained.

Charlene Weisler: How does Inuvos’s NLP facilitate consumer intent measurement?

Dr. Melodie Du: We convert the entire open web into an interconnected language model of what we call intent signals. Then we assign categories, sentiment, and deduced demographic info to these signals based on a series of interconnected AI systems. This means our AI breaks down, in real time, any piece of information to its core signals and then aggregates them to determine if it matches against the custom intent models our AI builds for each client’s product, service or brand. This approach allows for a meaningful analysis on all ad impressions even when there isn’t a cookie or an ID-based profile available, including impressions from Safari.

Weisler: You speak of vectorization. What is that?

Du: In NLP, vectorization refers to the process of converting text data into numerical vectors or arrays that can be processed by machine-learning algorithms. Vectorization is a critical step in many NLP tasks, such as text classification, sentiment analysis, and language modeling.

Vectorization is essential in NLP because it enables machine-learning algorithms to process and analyze textual data typically unstructured and difficult for computers to understand. By converting text data into numerical vectors, machine-learning algorithms can more readily identify data patterns and relationships and make predictions or classifications based on that.

Weisler: How does it meet or improve measurement in a privacy-compliant manner?

Du: Without cookies, attribution on a per-source basis is difficult for anyone, especially in channels like display and CTV where the majority of conversions are not associated with clicks, and thus cannot append click IDs. We’ve approached this using different machine learning with an approach we call our Inuvo Media Mix Models. By analyzing the constant variations in spend between traffic and spend sources, our AI is able to probabilistically determine what channels / tactics are driving conversions – totally agnostic of cookies and identifiers.

Weisler: Can you give me an example of how this all works?

Du: When conducting a contextual analysis of a web page, hundreds or thousands of signals may be returned, but most of them are usually not related to the main topic. We use a combination of methods—including frequency-based probabilities, concept-graph weights, taxonomy and vectorization of the concepts—to filter out irrelevant signals and suggest relevant ones that may not be explicitly mentioned in the text. This approach can be especially valuable in a consumer-privacy-first world devoid of cookies, where inferring user intent with a single page visit is crucial. By using these methods and our language model, our AI can more accurately infer user intent and suggest relevant content, even if it is not explicitly mentioned on the page.

Weisler: What are the challenges with these methods (NLP and vectorization)?

Du: One of the main challenges of NLP is the ambiguity and complexity of natural language. Natural language is full of nuances, idioms, expressions, and sarcasm, which are difficult for machines to understand. The meaning of a sentence can vary depending on the context, and sometimes even subtle changes in wording can alter its meaning. The challenge of vectorization is to represent complex data in a way that can be efficiently processed by algorithms. The challenge here is scale. When you’re dealing with high-dimensional data, such as text, the number of features can be in the millions or billions. Based on Inuvo's domain expertise, we devolved our own model to make this procedure less time-consuming while maintaining compactness and precision.

Weisler: How can these methods be best implemented?

Du: Our team has implemented custom pipelines for scaling our AI algorithms to handle big data, using technologies like Spark, Hadoop, and MapReduce, as well as implementing our models in both Java and Python—and we hold several key patents for these components.

Weisler: Is anyone else doing this?

Du: No. We are not aware of any company that has created a similar AI system. Inuvo has an end-to-end advertising solution that leverages AI language models at its core to generate audience insights, deliver media and determine attribution across channels. Others might have pieces or parts, but no one is able to generate audience models purely from an AI.

Weisler: How can this be rolled out in scale?

Du: Inuvo has invested a significant number of resources and capital to build out a world-class infrastructure that allows us to process the entire daily open web traffic signals in North America—and have our AI process all that data to regenerate its learning at a back-breaking speed of every 5 minutes. Our AI is then able to create custom client intent models in real time to ensure the client’s message reaches its intended audience at the right time and before others.

This article first appeared in Mediapost.