GroupM’s Gerber Is Turned Off By CTV’s ‘Continuous Play’ Problem

If a tree falls in a forest but no-one is around to hear it, did it make a sound? It is a classic philosophical poser that is now being applied to connected TV advertising. In this video interview with Beet.TV, Adam Gerber, executive director of U.S. investment strategy at GroupM, calls on publishers to stop […]

 
 

Dwindling Ad Supply Drives Need for Innovative Formats: GroupM’s Adam Gerber

LOS ANGELES – Marketers face numerous challenges in reaching the growing number of consumers who divide their time among media outlets that carry advertising and those that don’t. The demand for consumer attention calls for more innovation in ad formats among different kinds of programming, said Adam Gerber, executive director of investment strategy at WPP’s […]

 
 

Privacy, Diversity Underpin Responsible Media Investment: PubMatic’s Kyle Dozeman & Essence’s Adam Gerber

Advertisers are grappling with stricter regulations on data sharing and the loss of tracking technologies that help with audience targeting. These shifts have made first-party data collected directly from consumers more valuable for buyers and sellers of media. As a sell-side platform (SSP) that represents publishers, PubMatic is a key part of the advertising supply […]

 
 

Consumer Experience Reigns Amid TV’s Transformation: Execs from Essence, NBCUniversal, PubMatic, LiveRamp

Ad-supported television is undergoing a significant transformation amid the growth in streaming video services, advancements in programmatic buying and the development of a cross-screen currency. Several industry executives discussed the future of TV advertising when they gathered on June 23 for the Global Forum on Responsible Media,  This video is a summary of interviews with executive who spoke […]

 
 

TV Measurement Is Evolving As Viewing Habits Change: Execs From Nielsen, Forrester, Comcast, Wavemaker, Essence and GroupM

A healthy advertising ecosystem includes advancements in cross-screen measurement that help marketers to improve the efficiency of their media buying. Several industry executives discussed the status of measurement in a fragmented marketplace when they gathered on June 23 for the Global Forum on Responsible Media,  This video is a summary of interviews with executive who spoke […]

 
 

Ad-Supported TV Faces Major Threat Amid Shift in Viewing Habits: Essence’s Adam Gerber

Ad-supported television faces an existential threat as more consumers avoid commercials by subscribing to streaming video services that offer an ad-free experience. That ongoing shift will challenge marketers to adopt new ways of doing things. “There’s one over-arching thing we all need to recognize, which is that the old model doesn’t work,” Adam Gerber, global […]

 
 

Ad Fraud, Viewability Are Still Key Concerns for Advertisers: Essence’s Adam Gerber

WPP’s GroupM seeks to make advertising work better for everyone — marketers, consumers and media — with a media-buying framework it calls “Responsible Investment.” The effort aims to advance brand safety, data ethics, responsible journalism, sustainability and diversity, equity and inclusion. Improving the media ecosystem requires tackling ad fraud and enhancing measurement methods to help […]

 
 

‘We Need to Reimagine Ads for Streaming Media’: Essence’s Gerber

This year’s upfront sales season will include a stronger presence from streaming platforms that carry advertising and whose audiences have grown substantially in the past year. Those ad-based video-on-demand (AVOD) services present challenges and opportunities for marketers that aim to reach consumers who are more averse to traditional commercials. “We’re in a hypergrowth stage in […]

 
 

‘We Need the Upfront to Move From the 20th to the 21st Century’: Essence’s Gerber

The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the upfront market for TV networks whose fall programming is in flux, but that hasn’t stopped advertisers from ongoing talks about their media strategies. There’s still a role for an upfront market amid the uncertainty and advertiser demands for greater flexibility, Adam Gerber, global chief media officer at Essence, a […]

 
 

Addressable TV’s Growing Pains: Cadent, Dentsu, LiveRamp, Essence, Omnicom Discuss

SAN JUAN — It is the technology that can laser-target an ad at individual TV viewers or households, and then control how many more ads get seen across TV and other media. But what is the state of “addressable” television? A Beet Retreat panel convened by Beet.TV in Puerto Rico discussed that topic. Slow addressable […]

 
 

Essence’s Gerber, FreeWheel’s Clark View The Competitive TV Landscape

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico—Some of the most frank discussions at the annual Beet Retreat often happen in one-on-one sessions. Such was the case this year in various fireside chats titled Setting the Aperture for a Consumer-Centric TV, including a frank discussion about advanced television between Adam Gerber and Dave Clark. The short summary of their […]

 
 

Essence’s Gerber Outlines The Practical Realities Of Swift Advertising Change

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico—Anyone can sympathize with traditional television networks given the transformational challenges they face. But to empathize, one has to have been there, as has Adam Gerber. In this interview, the ABC and agency veteran details the responsibilities for change of each constituency—from media to measurement companies, marketers and agencies—as he assays the […]

 
 

Units Or Impressions, Ads Should Be Planned Holistically: Essence’s Gerber

Just because consumers have lots of video delivery choices—whether it’s VOD or one of several other acronyms—doesn’t mean advertisers should think of those platforms as silos to be filled with ads. They should think holistically when balancing unit-based ads with impression-based ads while working to improve the ad-viewing experience, says Adam Gerber. Everything starts with […]

 
 

Addressable Advertising Through The Lens Of GroupM’s Essence

As the market capabilities for addressable advertising continues to grow, it might best be considered a tactical balancing act whose ultimate utility resides in a perceived value exchange for individual brands. In the right situations, addressable can be “a fantastic tool,” says Adam Gerber of GroupM’s Essence agency. Whether to employ addressable depends on a given […]

 
 

Advanced TV A ‘Spectrum Of Capabilities’ Needing Uniformity: Essence’s Gerber

Defining the term “advanced TV” is complicated, but that’s just a reflection of reality right now. Because it’s going to be awhile before there’s uniformity in understand how people engage with video content and measuring the impact of that engagement, says Adam Gerber. As the President of Global Media for the Essence agency surveys the […]

 
 

Publishers In Balancing Act To Reduce Ad Load, Justify Pricing: Essence’s Gerber

Consumers may be driving the expansion of television viewing options, but publishers still face a balancing act between reducing ad loads and meeting financial goals. Ad buyers, meanwhile, are going to want to see demonstrable results for their investments in return for increased prices due to inventory reductions. “I think it’s a really complicated challenge […]

 
 

Speed Bumps On The Road To Advanced TV: A Beet Retreat Panel With Essence, FreeWheel, one2one Media And Medialink

MIAMI – Structural barriers. Organizational barriers. Silos. All of these play their part in retarding the progress of advanced television for all parties involved. While pursuing these topics can lead to circular conversations—everyone agrees on the need for change but no one thinks it won’t happen soon, if at all—such discussions actually help to clarify […]

 
 

Essence’s Gerber Says SVOD & Middle-Men Worse Than Duopoly

There is no shortage of horror, in digital media circles, that it is big platforms which are gobbling the lion’s share of ad spending. The latest Zenith figures estimate Google and Facebook took 96% of spending outside of China last year. But one of the world’s biggest media-buying agencies says there are bigger problems than […]