Andy Plesser

Dealing with the immediate impact of  the COVID-19, with the agency’s 125 clients, was a sort of “massive triage,” says Bill Koenigsberg, CEO and Founder of Horizon Media, the largest privately-owned media buying agency, in this interview with Beet.TV It’s been difficult, but he sees the agency coming out of the crisis stronger, as it […]

TORONTO  –  During the pandemic, many advertisers are slashing spending.  One principal reason is a lack of appropriate advertising.   Responding quickly, agencies are creating new executions. As a result, buying should come back in several categories in May and June, predicts Andrew Casale, President & CEO of Index Exchange, one of the largest independent programmatic […]

LOS ANGELES — With the TV Upfront shelved, and an increasing amount of transactions happening in the scatter market, outcome-based guarantees need to be central to the new scenario, says Jay Prasad, Chief Strategy Officer of LiveRamp TV, in this interview with Beet.TV In his recent article published in AdExchanger, he advises: “To balance portfolios, […]

While advertising around age and demo for certain programming categories has been the legacy of television advertising, the business is moving inexorably to “audience first” with rich data directing decisioning and understanding attribution, says Andrew Ward, president of Ampersand, in this Beet.TV interview. Audience first solutions are not just for addressable TV but across all […]

For Cannes Lions, the notion of replicating the event online, or making it “virtual” is not possible, says Philip Thomas, Chairman of Cannes Lions and president of events Ascential, the London based operator of the Festival, in this interview with Beet.TV He advises other event organizers that the lack of human interaction can’t be the […]

Ad placements on news sites should be made by understanding the value of the publisher,  not always programmatically, by using key word blocking, says Steven Brill, co CEO of NewsGuard, in this interview with Beet.TV. He says that brand advertising are appearing increasingly on “hoax” sites which have been proliferating during the pandemic.    NewsGuard […]

Comcast’s FreeWheel is releasing a capability that unifies the way it handles decision making for TV commercials bought both directly through traditional media sales channels and via programmatic technology. NBCUniversal, also owned by Comcast, and The Trade Desk, a large demand-side buying platform, have both signed up to use FreeWheel’s new unified decisioning. In a statement from […]

Welcome to #BeetU – our weekly educational series for advertising and media during the COVID-19 crisis, hosted by Ashley Swartz, CEO of Furious Corp, longtime Beet contributor and the Dean of #BeetU. Using Furious’s comprehensive and interactive dictionary, TV101, as our guide, these sessions will unpack the terminology of advanced TV, serving as an introduction for […]

In response to the pandemic, marketers need to shift from “story telling” to “story doing,” says Bob Liodice CEO of the ANA, the trade group of the the nation’s top marketers.  Not a time to sell product but to “embrace people,” he said in this interview with Beet.TV In addition to brands serving their customers […]

While the current crisis is taking a heavy toll on travel and retails companies, other brands can come through as they listen to consumers, retool their roadmap and invest, says Laura Desmond, former global CEO of media agency giant Starcom. She says that consumers are in control and smart marketers need to follow consumer trends […]

With millions staying a home during the pandemic, many are trying to stay in shape and workout videos are the fastest growing segments in Video on Demand (VOD) and other OTT devices, according to the Comscore. While streaming consumption is up overall 30 percent year-over-year for March, the fitness category is up nearly 150 percent.  […]

Interactive advertising units on OTT have been part of the landscape for several years. The form factor is getting a big boost from brand marketers during the pandemic, says Alison Levin of Roku, VP of Ads & Strategy at Roku in this interview with Beet.TV She explains that brands are seeking to provide direct feedback […]

While traffic has soared at many news sites during the pandemic, digital advertising has declined as marketers have pulled back on budgets and many are using  keyword blocking to keep their marketing messages away from words mentioning coronavirus or COVID-19. MediaMath, one of the industry’s leading DSP’s, is urging marketers not to use “blunt” keyword […]

Nothing can replace the “magic” Cannes Lions, from its focus on creativity in the Palais to the shoulder-to-shoulder encounters along La Croisette, but it will be come back in force in 2021, says Michael Kassan, CEO of of MediaLink, a unit of Ascential, the London-based owner of Cannes Lions. Having the festival in France completely […]

While the current crisis may provide opportunities to sell, marketers need to be very careful warns  Raja Rajamannar, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer and President, Healthcare Business, Mastercard, in this interview with Beet.TV “It’s not the time to sell, it’s a time to serve,” he cautions the industry.  Marketers have to make real commitments to […]

We’re currently experiencing an abrupt extraction from our lives, which comes with an entirely new set of fears. This often feels like a very singular, isolating event, but it’s through collaboration, patience and connection with one another that we’ll thrive again. In times of uncertainty, a leader’s most important job is to provide stability, guidance, […]

LiveRamp, which acquired the performance measurement company Data + Math last year, expects performance around advertising to be a top consideration after the COVID-19 crisis has passed. Effective ad planning is essential now as media consumption spikes, but direct business outcomes like store traffic not as important. For the current period, most marketers are focused […]

The team of NBCU’s award-winning, 30-year old public service unit  The More You Know, has galvanize the network’s executives and talent for a highly visible public service announcement around the COVID-19 crisis. The campaign is a collaboration with the Ad Council, The White House, the CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services. It […]

Rafat Ali, who founded paidContent and went on to create Skift in 2012, a highly regarded travel industry trade publication and events business, is reeling from the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the sector. With the industry in crisis, traffic to Skift has spiked as its events business has been put on hold and advertisers […]

Just as the financial crisis of 2008 lead to the rise of programmatic advertising, the current disruption of the television marketplace will likely become a watershed moment for advanced TV, says Mark Zagorski, who holds the titles of CEO of Telaria and President of Rubicon Project. With the cancellation of most of the TV UpFronts, […]