Robert Andrews

CHICAGO — Fast food brand McDonald’s says it has an opportunity to produce marketing video that both educates and entertains consumers, as its online video ambitions evolve from modest origins. “About a year ago, we hired a chief digital officer with intent to build and staff a team,” says the group’s digital brand engagement global […]

CHICAGO — So-called “addressability” promises to make every individual TV set as targetable to advertisers as internet-connected devices are today. But that’s not going to happen at scale without a big shift, says an investment advisor and consultant. “Buying audiences in a more targeted fashion is antithetical to the way television sellers package and sell […]

CHICAGO — Retailer Target reckons its crown has been stolen in conventional TV marketing – but it sees a chance to reclaim it in digital. “We are a very large TV advertiser,” Target digital media VP Brent Rosso tells Beet.TV. “A lot of our approach has been copied in the marketplace. You hear a jingle (in the ad) […]

CHICAGO — AOL sees video as spurring the next web age, but eventual manifestations of that will depend very much on consumption context, says an exec from the company. “The third wave of quantum innovation in the web is going to be driven by sight, sound and motion,” AOL video sales head Marta Martinez tells […]

CHICAGO — In 2014, TV began learning the targeting tricks that digital media have deployed for years. In 2015, those techniques will kick in to high gear, says one ad agency exec. “(In) 2014, I see a marketplace that has essentially gone from zero to $300 million of spend,” according to Starcom MediaVest Group’s precision video […]

CHICAGO — After being named by advertising peers the most creative marketer at this year’s Cannes Lions, McDonald’s is ready to bolster the part video plays in its digital efforts. “We’ve been the definition of  a mass marketer,” the group’s digital brand engagement global director Sosti Ropaitis says in this video interview with Global Online Video Association […]

CHICAGO — The collection of new-wave automated ad targeting and trading techniques known as “programmatic” may have initially been seen as helping advertisers drive down inventory costs – but that is no longer the sole way ad buyers see it. “This is not a CPM crunch where we’re racing to the bottom, but a way […]

Big media companies are increasingly keen on locking in long-term native advertising commitments, if the latest of two big announcements this week is anything to go by. Tribune Media’s broadcast subsidiary Tribune Broadcasting, whose TV stations include KTLA of Los Angeles and WGN-TV of Chicago, is about to announce an exclusive partnership to feature sponsored […]

Mediaocean, which currently helps ad buyers plan, execute and analyze advertising on TV using software, is about to get greater traction in the online video world, through a partnership with Videology. The integration will make online video ad inventory amassed by Videology buyable by Mediaocean‘s customers within their existing dashboard of Mediaocean’s Spectra product. In […]

NAPA, CA — As much as it poses challenges, the ongoing explosion in digital media is also opening up a wealth of new opportunities for marketers to reach consumers, says DigitasLBi North America’s chief investment officer Adam Shlachter. “The numbers are there now – if you look at platforms like YouTube… the content creators are generating a […]

Comcast-owned video management outfit thePlatform is launching a new product with aims of helping content owners encode broadcast material for VOD quicker. So-called mpxReplay can be used to help viewers watch recently-aired shows as catch-up VOD or to start over watching currently-airing shows. “We can keep the same ads and include the Nielsen watermarking so […]

NAPA, CA — Comcast-owned video ad server FreeWheel cut its recent partnership with TubeMogul to protect but empower both sides of the advertising chain, says FreeWheel business solutions GM James Rooke. The partnership sees advertisers use their own audience data to buy video ads via TubeMogul, whilst TubeMogul lets publishers do deals using that data – but sensitivities […]

Lifestyle digital publisher Say Media is gung-ho about producing branded content for advertising partners on its content sites – but that doesn’t mean it thinks it should have exclusivity over the ensuing material. “We give the partners rights and permissions to use that video content on their own (channels) – it needs to have a […]

NAPA, CA — It’s one of the hottest media buzzwords of 2014 – but everyone seems to have a different definition for the set of new-wave ad-trading techniques collectively referred to as “programmatic”. At programmatic’s core, says Nielsen digital MD Andrew Feigenson, is moving dollars that, once, were transacted manually in to some automated process. […]

NAPA, CA — The TV industry may move from selling in-stream ads upfront to inserting them in real-time, if Chris Hock gets his way. Hock’s Black Arrow helps cable companies dynamically insert ads in to streamed programming. “Through the third quarter of this year, we’ve seen a 250% growth over impressions from last year,” says […]

NAPA, CA — TV ad billing and management software platform WideOrbit is moving in to the “programmatic” advertising space after observing “huge” industry demand for the new methods of trading ads. “We’re focused on building programmatic in to all of our television to make it a lot easier to transact, particularly with local broadcasters,” the company’s […]

NAPA, CA – The promise of targeting individual TV viewers with ads just like advertisers can on the web is certainly appealing to many in the business. But, so far, it’s mostly just an idea, says MediaVest advertising and technology platforms SVP Oleg Korenfeld. “It’s not scaleable enough (today),” Korenfeld tells BeetTV in this video interview. We’re […]

TouchCast, the interactive video platform co-founded by former TechCrunch editor Erick Schonfeld, has been gaining traction in use by the BBC. Now it is announcing The Wall Street Journal will also use the innovative new service. TouchCast lets video producers embed interactive web elements including images, maps, web pages and other videos inside digital video, […]

SAN FRANCISCO — Earlier this year, UK satellite TV and telco giant BSkyB set up an outpost in Silicon Valley, hoping to invest in technology companies that might give it an edge in digital media. Having already invested in video aggregator Pluto.TV, mobile native ad tech’s Sharethrough and VR video upstart Jaunt, business development VP Hilary Perchard says he […]

CHICAGO — From clients who will take on the role of their own agencies to the need to reach out to YouTube stars – media agencies know they need to adapt, but how? In a panel convened by Beet.TV, several agency reps chewed over their tactics and visions. Havas Media Worldwide social marketing director Len […]