SANTA MONICA, CA – Google last week moved ahead with its long-running plan to get rid of user-tracking cookies from its popular Chrome web browser. The limited test to restrict cookies for 1% of Chrome users is another reminder that advertisers need accurate audience identifiers to improve their targeting – especially as television becomes more digitized. “Identity has long been one [...]

LAS VEGAS – Omnicom Media Group named Joanna O’Connell to the newly created role of chief intelligence officer, North America, where she will oversee the media agency’s team that provides actionable insights to advertisers. “With her two decades of experience in helping brands understand, manage and monetize the next new thing, Joanna is singularly qualified to the task of uncovering and [...]

LONDON, UK — In discussions about how digitally-infused connected TV ads should feel and function, many have settled on the idea that they should mimic the traditional TV experience, with back-to-back 15- or 30-second ads. Michael Bologna doesn't think that's going to cut it. Bologna is Chief Accelerator, Brightline, a company offering interactive, dynamic and shoppable ad formats that realize the 90s' [...]

LONDON, UK — At the recent The Future of TV Advertising Global conference, executives discussed how international markets were lagging the US when it comes to actually uncovering the effectiveness of connected TV advertising. With some forecasts for TV ad spend showing lower growth, that topic may grow in importance. On the main stage, Nicola Lewis, Global Chief Solutions Officer, GroupM Nexus, [...]

SANTA MONICA, CA – Google this year is moving ahead with a significant change to how advertisers track users online, again showcasing how ill-prepared marketers are for the disappearance of a key identifier: browser cookies. The change also underscores the need for a method to improve ad targeting with quality data sources that are transparent, but also protect consumer privacy. “Typically [...]

The coming tide of regulatory changes and privacy concerns in data-driven marketing will leave only the most valuable and consented data sets standing. That is according to one executive whose company captures consumer data from the sharp end - actual purchases. Damian Garbaccio, Chief Business & Marketing Officer at Affinity Solutions, believes that traditional marketing tools, like proxy metrics and various data [...]

LONDON, UK -- It's not every day you can chalk up a "win-win". But ad buyers' quest for shorter programmatic supply chains may do the climate a favor. "The advertising industry's quest for transparency and cost efficiency in the programmatic world has inadvertently unlocked a path towards sustainability," Julie Selman, SVP, Head of EMEA, Magnite says. Speaking with me at Looking Ahead: TV [...]

SANTA MONICA, CA – Privacy regulations in many regions have pushed marketers to be more mindful of how they collect and share consumer data. Some of the rules are an additional hurdle when they seek to use data about their own customers to improve their advertising campaigns. “When you're looking at the way that third-party data is collected specifically for audiences, [...]

LONDON, UK — For a practice that once drew suspicion in TV land, programmatic ad trading's arrival in the channel is now clear. And, since everyone agrees programmatic still has work-ons when it comes to connected TV, the growth curve could get even higher. Speaking to me at The Future of TV Advertising Global 2023, presented by Index Exchange, Paul Gubbins, VP, CTV [...]

SANTA MONICA, CA – Advertising agencies must continually disrupt their operations amid changes in technology, the media marketplace and consumer habits. For Mike Solomon, who in June 2023 became chief executive of Omnicom Media Group’s PHD USA, agency transformation is key to helping clients with their brand objectives. “I can reach into all the amazing parts of Omnicom for any client [...]

LONDON, UK — In 2024, hype about bleeding-edge creative AI in the ad industry is likely to blossom into real-world application. Speaking to me at The Future of TV Advertising Global 2023, presented by Index Exchange, Jean-Paul Edwards, Managing Director, Product, OMD Worldwide, got excited about use of machine learning in ad planning and generative AI for innovative content creation. OMD AI [...]

LONDON, UK — As we head in to 2024, some ad spend forecasts are showing flatter growth and increased challenges for TV, with the key challenge being the extent to which new streaming ads can offset declines from linear ad spend. In the UK, ITV's CEO has warned of a challenging ad revenue outlook, albeit with a boost from its rebooted [...]

SANTA MONICA, CA – The recent launch of Yahoo Backstage, the internet portal’s service for its demand-side platform advertisers, is part of an effort to provide transparency and what’s known as supply path optimization to brands. Premium video publishers such as A+E Networks, Dotdash Meredith, Newsweek, Raptive, The Arena Group and Vizio are on the Backstage platform. “What we can do is [...]

For many marketers, the fragmented landscape of streaming and the audience identifiers lost from privacy changes pose significant hurdles to overcome. But Chance Johnson sees a positive future emerging out of those travails. In this video interview with Beet.TV, Johnson, Chief Commercial Officer, Nexxen, explains the future. Tough Times "Wow, it's actually a really hard time to be a marketer right now," Johnson says. "Ad [...]

LONDON, UK — A year after it launched an ad-supported tier for Disney+, Disney Advertising will use CES to showcase new ad formats including gamification, shoppability and social integration. The appearance at January’s tech show in Las Vegas will essentially fire the starting gun on the narrative Disney+ will use to tell its advertising story at the May TV ad sales [...]

LONDON, UK — A quarter of a century after TiVo launched the Digital Video Recorder (DVR), the company, now owned by Xperi, is developing new consumer touchpoints to gather valuable audience data. Speaking with me at The Future of TV Advertising Global 2023, presented by Index Exchange, Fariba Zamaniyan, VP, Advanced Media & Advertising, TiVo, explained how TiVo is fuelling new TV [...]

SANTA MONICA, CA – The American Cancer Society has data indicating that the death rates from breast cancer fell 40% between 1989 and 2016, a decline that’s partly attributed to early detection. While the trend is encouraging, it’s not necessarily comforting for anyone who has been diagnosed with breast cancer. For media professionals Denise Colella and Katie Kulik, who were both [...]

LONDON, UK -- In 2023, the US TV and advertising industries may have come together to form a Joint Industry Committee (JIC) to agree video currency standards for TV measurement companies. But that doesn't necessarily mean the JIC will work on the same model as the European JICs that long preceded it. In fact, Laura Chaibi, Director of International Ad Marketing & [...]

LONDON, UK — Ad agency Dentsu will trial collaboration with UK broadcasters to leverage its own audience insight panel in 2024. CCS is Dentsu’s worldwide survey with more than 400,000 respondents in over 70 markets, comprising 10,500 attributes, giving Dentsu insight into areas such as consumer interests, passions, values, trust drivers, motivations, and needs. Speaking to me at The Future of TV [...]

LONDON, UK — YouTube had already graduated from its "skateboarding dog" phase. But can it cross the chasm from digital devices to the TV? Well, "nearly half (45%) of all YouTube viewership takes place on TVs" and "time spent watching YouTube on TVs now exceeds any other individual network or streaming service", according to this eMarketer grab bag of stats. Speaking with [...]