CANNES — For many brands, premium video advertising occupies a specific role in the marketing mix, one focused on broad reach and the high art of storytelling.
But for a performance-focused brand born in the digital age, that traditional separation is becoming obsolete — even the most cinematic, top-of-funnel video creative must be held accountable for driving tangible business outcomes.
Now every channel, including premium video, must prove its worth. “We hold it to the same standards that we hold search to. It has to perform for us,” said Jasmine Taylor, VP, consumer marketing, Instacart, in this video interview with Beet.TV.
Measuring for growth
Video’s main function may be to reach as many customers as possible and tell a quality story, but its success is ultimately judged on its ability to move the needle on core business objectives.
“When we think about each and every channel, we want to understand how is that channel … driving new user growth, how is it driving sales, and we need to understand that about it,” Taylor explained.
The company recently rolled out new AI-powered advertising tools, such as Universal Campaigns, designed to optimize ad placements in real-time to maximize performance.
“We are measuring premium video value through a … sophisticated attribution tool that we’ve been building for several years,” Taylor said. She believes this investment “has gotten much easier, and it’s because of the measurement that we’ve invested in”.
A captive audience
But Instacart still likes video’s ability to grab attention. “Premium video is one of those places where you can still get that,” Taylor noted.
This belief underpinned the company’s decision to advertise during the Super Bowl, which she described as “very much a premium moment, but a moment in which you have a true captive, engaged audience.” Instacart is also working to make that captive audience more immediately actionable through partnerships, such as a recent initiative with YouTube to make CPG brand ads on the video platform shoppable.
This focus on proving the value of every ad dollar comes as the retail media space becomes more competitive.
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