CANNES -- Even before digital media came along, it was a chore to reconcile buys across radio, print, television and other media while monitoring discrepancies and make-goods. Throw in the dizzying complexity of digital media transactions and it’s no wonder that marketers like Unilever are embracing blockchain technology. “What blockchain does is create a single ledger that everyone trusts,” says Vedant [...]

CANNES -- Why broadly advertise convertibles to everyone in Russia when you can now target potential buyers by vehicle segment? “The thing that’s really exciting me right now is actually being able to create more relevant one-to-one communications with consumers,” says Allyson Witherspoon, Nissan Motor Corp.’s GM, Global Brand Engagement. “We have so much available data in our hands now that [...]

CANNES – In the modern-day television business, you can’t have too many partners to meet the growing demands of both viewers and advertisers. This is particularly true in the attribution space. “We understand that brands are going to demand their own special measurement. It’s not our place to determine exactly who they should use,” says Denise Colella, SVP, Advanced Advertising Products [...]

CANNES -- The blockchain consortium solution recently unveiled by Mediaocean and IBM’s iX agency could reduce the margins of many adtech players, but they might realize big gains as a result of an improved system, says Mediaocean CEO Bill Wise. And while blockchain technology in the advertising world is typically associated with digital media, the Mediaocean/IBM offering also works with [...]

CANNES - Innovative video ad formats like Fox’s JAZ pods and NBC’s Prime Pods are a welcome change in the drive to improve viewing experiences, but to OMD’s John Osborn it’s all about experiences. “It think for us, we need to shift the conversation from formats to experiences. And I think that represents a really interesting intersection point for us [...]

CANNES - Even as the Association of National Advertisers exerts pressure on the digital media supply chain to clean up its act, the organization is taking matters into its own hands by testing an alternative digital supply chain. “If you look at the digital media supply chain, as an enterprise, the jury is still out because we still have a LUMAscape [...]

CANNES - WPP’s Mark Read says the advertising industry is in a time of “structural change, not structural decline,” but survival depends on people within the industry making the effort embrace that change. Interviewed by Beet.TV at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, Read points to the event itself as evidence of change, noting its “fresh start” with fewer days [...]

When some brands advertise, they place their money on a particular channel, believing it to be useful for a particular kind of goal - brand-building, or sales-generating. But Kristin Dolan would like advertisers to get out of that siloed mindset. The former Cablevision exec, who jointly set up 605 to bring better ad insight to TV buyers, says the new age [...]

CANNES - On the heels of its court victory and completion of its acquisition of Time Warner, AT&T is flying a victory flag of sorts at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. It bought advertising at the iconic Carlton Hotel that combines the traditional AT&T blue with bright coral that embodies “energy, passion, innovation,” says Kirk McDonald, CMO, AT&T [...]

CANNES - When IBM considers the concept of blockchain, it’s interested less in the technology itself than its capabilities to help people like chief marketing officers. “What we look to do is make sure we’re the convener of this new capability,” says Jason Kelley, who is the company’s General Manager of Blockchain Services. “Let’s start with the outcome. What’s the [...]

If there's a German word for the pleasure felt when all your detractors are finally thronging around you, then Joe Marchese is probably feeling it right now. The video ad-tech firm has spent the last few years trying to popularize technology that helps consumers see fewer ads in digital video when they engage with an initial interactive commercial - often met by [...]

CANNES - This week, we have already seen how blockchain infrastructure can help ensure the integrity of pork and mango supply chains. Now what could it do for advertising? A lot, according to ad-tech firm Mediaocean and IBM's iX agency. They have partnered to launch what they are calling "a blockchain consortium for the digital media supply chain". The group includes advertisers [...]

FreeWheel announced that it will expand its measurement capabilities to over-the-top and set-top box video on-demand inventory, after a partnership with Nielsen. In this video interview with Beet.TV, FreeWheel general manager David Clark says the deal will help ad buyers get better incremental reach, including to light TV viewers. The partnership will expand measurement to over-the-top inventory and addressable set-top box video on demand. "We [...]

The 2018 television Upfront “is a marketplace with more moving parts than ever,” says media agency veteran Chris Geraci. Still, the age-old dynamics between supply and demand for linear TV advertising inventory endure. Overall, this year’s Upfront is “not all that different from a marketplace that’s reflective of a relatively healthy economic backdrop,” Geraci, who is President of National Video Investment [...]

Ben Tatta recalls the early days of addressable television experiments at Cablevision as “really just 100,000 households in Brooklyn” New York. Now there’s more than 35 million homes nationwide capable of receiving addressable ads, but David Kline, who gave Tatta his start at Cablevision, says it’s not enough. “National advertisers don’t want 40 million. It’s a good start, but I think [...]

CANNES - Having recently made the move from the agency world to big-time consulting, Nikki Mendonca is directing Accenture’s worldwide efforts to help marketers gain more control over programmatic execution and counsel them on data-driven marketing. “With programmatic, we’re starting with a lot of client interest in terms of them wanting to in house and gain more control over the programmatic [...]

As the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity kicks off again for another year, this year looks slightly different. Amid changing times and budgets for mainstay agency attendees and the arrival of a new kind of delegate, the festival is changing its own shape. In this video interview with Beet.TV, festival chairman Philip Thomas highlights how Cannes Lions is getting both smaller and [...]

The melding and pruning of assets within AOL and Yahoo under Oath started a year ago this month. A key indicator of Oath’s priorities arose in March when it shut down ONE TV, the self-serve platform for programmatic linear television, to go all in on addressable TV. “The future of how TV is being delivered is changing. We believe all or [...]

Cloud-based media inventory yield management specialist Furious Corp.’s new president, Neil Schaffer, has helped execute business process reengineering to industries as varied as paper and optical products. When he views the television industry, he sees more “reacting more than pro-acting” in the face of platform proliferation. With more than a decade in the media industry, including interactive TV pioneer Canoe Ventures, [...]

Blockchain is still early in its life cycle of development - but could soon help advertisers and others track the provenance and history of what they buy. That is the new idea bubbling in some sections of ad-land, as technology companies look for ways to take the new infrastructure to new customer categories beside crypto-currency. For the uninitiated, a blockchain is a public, distributed, [...]