For many marketers, the fragmented landscape of streaming and the audience identifiers lost from privacy changes pose significant hurdles to overcome.

But Chance Johnson sees a positive future emerging out of those travails.

In this video interview with Beet.TV, Johnson, Chief Commercial Officer, Nexxen, explains the future.

Tough Times

“Wow, it’s actually a really hard time to be a marketer right now,” Johnson says.

“Ad recall is super low. Viewability isn’t where it should be. We want people to focus on the full customer journey.”

While acknowledging the explosive growth of Connected TV (CTV), Johnson cautions marketers against focusing solely on format.

Even so, for TV ad buyers, the tools available now are similar to those they’ve been using in linear broadcast. “So for a lot of those buyers, it’s consistency,” he says.

Of Art & Context

However, Johnson sees the shift towards universal identifiers in response as positive. “It’s bringing a lot more of the art back to advertising. It’s not just data. It’s not just science anymore,” he says.

Johnson sees contextual targeting emerging in web videos and CTV.

“When somebody is in a mode where they’re doing some research and you show them an ad that’s very relevant to what they’re thinking about in that moment, it’s a powerful opportunity to form a connection,” he says.

Nexxen‘s answer to these challenges is an independent end-to-end advertising platform that integrates digital and linear planning, DSP, SSP and ad serving across a consistent data layer.

The company is a unified brand built from Amobee, Tremor Video and Unruly. They were rolled into one in mid-2023 following M&A.

Supply Path Optimization & Transparency

Johnson also sees supply path optimization as a significant development for the industry. “We’ve always believed in more transparency as an end-to-end platform,” he says. He believes this shift has brought back more integrity to the industry, enabling marketers to see exactly where their money is going.

While acknowledging the existence of bad actors in the industry, Johnson is optimistic about the future.

“We’re making really big strides to just create a much cleaner, more well-lit ecosystem that everybody can sort of rise based on their merit and their impact to their advertisers,” he says.

You are watching “Data and Identity-Driven Marketing in a Post-Signal World,” a Beet.TV Leadership Series presented by Experian. Please visit this page for more videos from this series.

By Robert Andrews on @robertandrews