Robert Andrews

If data is really the new oil, are media operators letting enough of the stuff run to advertisers who are craving it? A new Forrester report, “Solving Digital Video Advertising’s Premium Dilemma“, commissioned by outstream video ad vendor Teads from Forrester, spotlights a disconnect between the two camps. “Media companies talk about the user experience,” Forrester principal analyst […]

If you remember the mid-90s futuristic hype about “interactive TV”, you will know the concept goes back a long way. Maria Mandel Dunsche remembers. The VP of AT&T’s AdWorks division has been working with such platforms since 1999, helping brands try to exploit the emerging channel. But it’s only lately the reality has come to pass. “I’ve been in this […]

The recent decision of Publicis’ VivaKi to spread its Audience On Demand across the unit shows how “programmatic” methods of automating the trading of ads are becoming more embedded across ad agencies, says Rubicon Project marketplace development SVP Jay Sears. “A lot of the headlines have gotten it incorrect,’ he tells Beet.TV in this video interview. “The headlines […]

LONDON — When new screens arrive on the scene, many marketers instinctively get excited about new opportunities to deliver messages to consumers. But, whilst the new smartwatch category may whet appetites with the prospect of advertising to audiences’ wrists, the reality will have to be more sensitive, more nuanced, and may be more about input than output. […]

Just because analog media are disconnected, that doesn’t mean they can’t benefit from digital efficiencies. Case in point – programmatic, automated sales of display advertising are now gobbling up a large portion of the digital industry. Now ad tech house MediaMath is working to bring programmatic even to offline media. MediaMath‘s OPEN global media partnerships […]

LONDON — Back in January, media agency SMG announced NextTECHnow, a program to get closer to UK tech startups that can help bring innovations to brand campaigns. Since then, the programme has been kept somewhat under the radar. But the man who runs it now opens up on the rationale and its early progress. “In the […]

LONDON — Ad tech platforms need to do a better job of telling ad buyers exactly what kind of video placements they are bidding for, says an exec from one such company. “Standards like the RTB spec and the exchanges need to wake up start adding more metadata to these requests to enrich that buy for the brand,” according […]

When Martin Sorrell bought in to WPP in 1985, it was the start of a journey that would end up making the world’s largest advertising holding group. What most people probably don’t know, however, is that, along the way, Sorrell nearly made a very costly mistake. Asked by Beet.TV in this video interview to regale his biggest career setback, […]

LONDON — Thanks to the rise of advertising technology, the “Mad Men” of ad agencies have been joined by the so-called “Maths Men” of tech vendors. But these two camps need not be perceived as coming from different disciplines, says one agency boss. Pippa Glucklish, UK co-CEO of SMG, tells Beet.TV the “tension between data […]

LONDON — Like most technologies, so-called “programmatic” sales of online video ad inventory first took hold in the US. Now it is gathering pace across the pond. “We’ve seen … 40% more demand in the UK from Q1 to Q4,” according to video ad tech outfit TubeMogul’s UK MD Nick Reid. “We’ve also seen a 20% increase in CPM […]

LONDON — By the time Steve Parker gets to Cannes, he will have earned a glass or wine or two on a yacht. The UK joint CEO of media agency Starcom MediaVest will have completed a 500km, multi-day bicycle ride from the center of France, across a series of mountains and down to the Cote D’Azur. It’s a […]

LONDON — Digital ad systems referred to as “programmatic” have revolutionized the targeting and trading of online inventory. Next up, they are going to need to get creative. “Technology has really focused on the area of targeting and direct response and unfortunately has left the creative industry behind,” Marco Bertozzi, global clients president at Publicis’ VivaKi […]

LONDON — In the pantheon of first-party data competitors, ISPs surely wield the biggest sword. After all, they automatically know exactly which of their many services their broadband customers are subscribed to. Marketing the missing services using video is something video ad tech firm Videology is helping one UK telco do, according to UK MD Rich Astley, who would not […]

Looked at the ad tech lumascape lately? It’s not pretty; it’s confusing. But it may not be that way forever. The boom in advertising technology is just a natural, cyclical response to a world of complexity, says one of the sector’s top execs. At times, it’s pushed to the background as an enabler. And at […]

LONDON — So far, The Guardian division that produces branded content for marketers has published that content only on The Guardian’s own properties. But that could change soon, MD Anna Watkins tells Beet.TV in this video interview. “At the moment, we are looking to confirm one of our first global deals, which will mean Guardian Labs […]

If you had tracked two trillion video views since 2006, you would probably know quite a lot about how people respond to video ads. Sarah Wood has, and her video ad tech firm, Unruly, is helping brands understand. “What are the drivers of shareability?,” she says. “Some people think it’s cats, some people think it’s […]

LONDON — So far, the discussion of so-called “programmatic”, automated digital advertising trading has centered on online display and video advertising. But what about advertising in content that no-one can see? Last month, GroupM’s Xaxis programmatic unit announced Xaxis Audio, a program to let advertisers buy at-scale ads in digital audio platforms, including both big mainstream UK radio stations and […]

If a tree falls in a forest and no-one was around to hear it, did it really make a sound? Many advertisers have asked themselves that question in years gone by, unable to know whether their analog media spend really made a difference. But digital ads that lead to digital actions mean attribution can delight marketers, says eXelate CEO […]

LONDON — Back in March, The Guardian and four other UK publishers with global ambitions announced they were forming the Pangea Alliance, a shared scheme to pool first-party ad data for ad buyers to target their combined 110 million users in a “programmatic”, or automated fashion. In beta testing since, now the alliance – which numbersThe Guardian, CNN International, the […]

Do technology and creativity mix? They do if you are attending this year’s Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. “Cannes has evolved over the last couple of years to be this nexus of creativity,” Universal McCann chief investment officer David Cohen tells Beet.TV in this video interview. “Now we’re seeing an influx of technology and […]