Robert Andrews

LONDON — Advertisers tempted to dodge advertising in coronavirus news during the pandemic should use technology to precisely spec-out which kinds of content they are comfortable with. That’s the view of a specialist programmatic ad adviser to the advertising community. Early in the pandemic, it became clear that a large number of advertisers were using […]

For Disney, subscription video may have been the headline-grabber over the last year. By April, Disney+ had passed 50 million subscribers. But, while SVoD grows, other parts of the Mouse’s empire are busy revolutionizing how they sell ads and deliver them to relevant audiences. The Disney Advertising Sales footprint, of course, includes ABC, ESPN, NatGeo, […]

What if the “new normal” were better than the old one? Whilst the COVID-19 pandemic has up-ended traditional business practices, a growing school of thought, amongst those that are successfully pivoting, posits that these changes were overdue and are, ultimately, beneficial. In this video interview with Beet.TV, Denise Colella, SVP, Advanced Advertising Products and Strategy […]

In TV today, it would be easy to have a glass half-full. Linear audiences were in continuing decline and consumers are tiring of excess ad load. That was before the pandemic forced broadcasters to lower ad rates. But those with a glass-half-full outlook see an opportunity – although linear numbers are declining, new opportunities to see, […]

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, many brands started running away from advertising in news publications, or using brand safety tools’ keyword blocking features to dodge coronavirus-related inventory. But one of the world’s largest ad agency groups is now the latest to say they don’t need to skirt news. In this video interview with […]

The fundamental dichotomy of the COVID-19 pandemic – booming traffic but declining ad revenue – threw publishers into a quandary. But, little by little, organizations seem to be making headway on getting advertisers to reduce one practice – bluntly side-stepping inventory in any news stories about the virus. Over the last couple of months, an […]

If there is one word that has defined how media companies and brands have had to respond to COVID-19 in 2020, it is “agility”. Across the industry, advertisers have had to quickly alter their messaging. But the need for agility also extends to publishers. In this video interview with Beet.TV, Alysia Borsa, chief business and […]

Comscore is seeking a “holistic view” of audience behavior because newly “thrifty” advertisers are demanding accurate data on the effectiveness of ad spend. In this video interview with Beet.TV, CEO Bill Livek says the COVID-19 pandemic is pushing more brands to seek even greater accountability. To that end, he hopes a recently-inked partnership with ad-tech […]

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, many brands may have run away from advertising in news outlets. But they should never have declared news fell outside of “brand safety” descriptions. That is what a growing number of industry executives, even those who represent the advertisers and agencies, are now coming out to say. Marla […]

The blockchain initiative set up by Comcast’s FreeWheel to help advertisers go around third-party tech platforms to develop insights is ready for prime-time. Blockgraph, which already included Comcast, ViacomCBS and Charter’s Spectrum Reach as partners, is now reconstituting as a joint venture, in which the three groups will take equal ownership. Jason Manningham, who was […]

Education, technology and facts may now be winning back some advertisers who fled news at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this video discussion with John Montgomery, GroupM’s Global EVP of Brand Safety, Integral Ad Science (IAS) CEO Lisa Utzschneider reveals new research showing advertisers’ keyword blocking of news stories containing “coronavirus” and “COVID-19” […]

In a world where viewers resent and recoil from advertising, how do broadcasters and publishers deliver results for advertisers anymore? By working with, not against, prevailing audience behavior. In this video interview with TransUnion’s head of media Matt Spiegel for Beet.TV, Hulu advertising VP Jeremy Helfand says more TV companies need to innovate in order to […]

Slowly but surely, publishers, broadcasters, agencies and industry bodies may be changing the minds of advertisers who, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, pulled spending from news. Back in March, many advertising buyers began using keyword blocking tools to swerve virus-related stories, or simply stopping advertising in news altogether, believing it to be too […]

The COVID-19 pandemic has been extremely difficult for publishers, with many advertising buyers using keyword blocking tools to swerve virus-related stories, or simply stopping advertising in news altogether. But publishers may be able to soften the blow and give advertisers what they want by using their own tools. In this video interview with Beet.TV, Chance […]

The ad industry should scrap retargeting and volunteer to be regulated in order to properly embrace the opportunities of audience personalization. That is according to Comcast’s strategy VP Claudio Marcus. In the marketing world, software is increasingly allowing consumers to tailor the kinds of content they want – and allowing marketers to build personal profiles […]

LONDON — UK broadcaster Channel 4 is seeing a 40% bump in views on All 4, its multi-platform on-demand player, during the coronavirus pandemic. Now all it has to do is reverse ad revenue that is declining even faster. Early in April, the broadcaster said “TV ad market (sales are) set to be down in […]

Finding the right audience for marketing messages was already becoming complex. But the COVID-19 pandemic has posed a whole new set of challenges. Audience targeting appears to be entering a third age. After initial buying of ads against content that delivers key demographics, marketers have been in thrall to laser-targeting audiences, no matter they content […]

An improving tone in news and current affairs around COVID-19 is prompting some brands to return to advertising in news, according to one ad agency leader. In March, many brands began using brand safety tools’ keyword blacklisting features to dodge ad inventory adjacent to coronavirus news, or simply pulled out of news altogether, fearing that […]

LAFAYETTE, CA — We all know the global COVID-19 pandemic is up-ending the rules of business and accelerating trend lines that were already unfurling beforehand. But exactly how do new media habits provoked by the pandemic change the game for marketers? In this video interview with Beet.TV, Oracle’s Michelle Hulst – GVP, Marketing & Strategic […]

Now we all realize it’s a crazy world where anything could suddenly up-end business fundamentally – but at least we can plan for the next major enforced change. Preparedness and resilience for large-scale resets are emerging onto the agendas of businesses around the world, and marketing is no exception. In the last couple of months, […]