LAFAYETTE, CA - Could a partnership with a consumer data agency help a fast-moving OTT TV service capitalize on an unexpected boom in viewing? Today, Tubi announced it has done a deal with consumer credit profiling and data provider TransUnion which lets it add offline purchase and profiling data to the existing first-party data Tubi holds about its own audiences. Such data [...]

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 some and a refresher for others. So, [...]

Streaming is top of mind for Catherine Sullivan, chief investment officer for Omnicom Media Group North America. Major deals are happening as legacy media companies scoop up streaming platforms – Disney’s acquisition of Hulu, Fox’s acquisition of Tubi, ViacomCBS’s acquisition of Pluto – and new streaming services are launching. In May, HBO Max will debut; on Wednesday, April 15, NBC’s [...]

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 and communities, the ANA and many [...]

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 closely.  She says this period offers [...]

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.  News as a category is up [...]

The coronavirus pandemic crisis will accelerate the trend in which brands want to speak directly to their customers. That is according to one ad executive who says companies need to be able to find their own audience amongst the newly-inflated base of stay-at-home media consumers. Get personal amid virus "The need for personalization on direct-to-consumer relationships from brands will just heighten," says Jason [...]

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 on store locations and other personal messaging [...]

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 blocking.  As an alternative, it is [...]

VIA BEETCAM– Good information is hard to come by, and in the midst of a global crisis, companies across the media landscape are coming together to ensure that viewers are being presented facts. In a BeetCam chat, Ryanne Laredo, chief customer officer at Amobee, explains an initiative that has mobilized agencies, advertisers and other members of the media to collaborate [...]

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 cancelled for this year, part of [...]

VIA BEETCAM -- The coronavirus pandemic looks like wreaking havoc for all sites of the media and marketing industries. But there is one class of player that could actually emerge from COVID-19 even more healthy. In this video interview with Beet.TV, Justin Fromm, EVP of business intelligence at Advertiser Perceptions, says "walled garden" platforms like Google and Facebook, which have historically [...]

LONDON via BEETCAM -- What happens when the law of supply and demand gets unhinged? A good deal for new advertisers. The coronavirus pandemic has spawned two contradictory business patterns: Supply: TV viewers are booming as consumers are forced to stay at home. Demand: But advertisers are pulling back, fearful of reduced consumer spending or because they have products which can [...]

LONDON via BEETCAM -- For a media industry that has long been used to enduring disruption, the coronavirus pandemic has hit like the most disruptive wave yet. Many brands, especially in hardest-hit verticals like travel, are pulling back ad budgets or blacklisting inventory adjacent to virus news, placing media companies under pressure. But there are also opportunities for brands that can navigate [...]

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 the crisis, not superficial ones, he [...]

VIA BEETCAM -- Time was, understanding the effectiveness of your ad campaign was all about using the available data. But now advertisers are demanding more. In this video interview with Beet.TV, Josh Chasin, who recently left as Comscore's chief research officer to become VideoAmp's chief measurability officer, explains how brands are getting more demanding about measuring effectiveness. "I've thought about this as a [...]

VIA BEETCAM -- The pandemic could be good for already-powerful tech platforms with ambitions on further solidifying their power in advertising sales. That is the view of one of the world's leading ad agency leaders, who has long wrestled against the influence exerted by tech giants. In this interview with Beet.TV, Sir Martin Sorrell says Google, Facebook, Amazon, Tencent, Alibaba and Tik [...]

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, generosity, patience and hope. We will [...]

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 on reach, says Christine Grammier, Head of [...]

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 is being shown on several NBCU [...]