FreeWheel

As the U.S. addressable linear television footprint continues to grow, OTT is “here and now and scaled, and we are definitely seeing dollars flow in that direction,” says Magna Global’s David Cohen. “Whether it’s Roku or whether it’s Amazon, it’s a very, very big growth engine for us.” Amid the TV Upfront negotiating season, consumers […]

When David Cohen first attended the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity about a dozen years ago, it was as a “digital media guy and I was so honored to go to an environment where was all these creatives and the best creativity in the business.” Fast forward to the present and Cohen, like other […]

What started at Advertising Week last year—a movement called Creative Spirit that helps people with intellectual or developmental disabilities enter the advertising and marketing workforce—moves to the main stage at this year’s Cannes International Festival of Creativity. As Creative Spirit’s Co-Founder and President, OMD CMO Laurel Rossi sees the move to Cannes as a sign […]

FreeWheel is “very happy to be heavily investing in Cannes again this year” as it looks to broaden its footprint on the buy side and find more strategic partners to tackle industry issues like attribution and measurement in television. As is the case in the ongoing TV Upfront season, there will be lots of discussion […]

At last year’s Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, Omnicom Group’s Tiffany R. Warren participated in a “beachside conversation” about the importance of diversity in hiring. Reflecting on that panel discussion, “I thought this is a topic that needs to be in the Palais,” the main building at the international event, Warren recalls. This year at […]

Having crafted more than 10,000 of its interactive, consumer-engagement ads, true[X] is going all in on the “connected living room” to offer advertisers the best options to leverage things like co-viewing, 4K screens and surround sound. “We’re standing up an entire CT innovation lab around that concept,” says Pooja Midha, who recently became President of […]

People who are closest to the day-to-day nexus of data and technology are usually the first to discern meaningful turning points. For Evan Hanlon, that insight emerges as he considers years of industry talk, hopes and dreams. “I feel like we’re turning the corner beyond the sort of aspirational and the dream and all the […]

The television industry is increasingly operating more as a platform than as individual providers, but there’s still work to be done to reinforce TV’s incredible power in an often changing and competitive media ecosystem. What’s not lacking is a global, common vision on the future of TV. “What’s very clear to me is there is an […]

While the role of media agencies in telling advertiser’ stories continues to evolve, storytelling alone is not enough to move the needle. OMD uses both homemade and acquired technology and platform partners “to actually build stories, not just tell stories,” says Chief Digital & Innovation Officer Doug Rozen. “The creative agencies are fantastic at telling […]

With broadcasters like Turner experimenting with shorter ad loads in order to improve premium video ad experiences, what is the commercial break anymore – and what is the optimum length of an ad? Suddenly, all bets are off – and answers to those questions are becoming necessary. That’s why the FreeWheel Council for Premium Video, […]

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 […]

MIAMI – As the advertising industry seeks to unify premium video and traditional television, there is a need for speed and there are speed bumps. Given these dynamics, it’s fair to ask whether consolidation on the adtech side will drive the most change or will it be the increasing demands of advertisers for greater outcomes […]

MIAMI – Viewing of premium video continues to shift from desktop to the big television screen. Underlying the transition are big increases not only in video views and full-episode player content consumption, but also a surge in watching live sports in over-the-top environments. Citing the FreeWheel Video Monetization Report for the second quarter of 2017, […]

MIAMI – Viewers are way ahead of the television and video ecosystem, which remains siloed in some quarters. But there’s an inevitable shift happening that will culminate in both a unified currency and inventory pool. With over-the-top and set-top box viewing at about 50%, the big TV screen still accounts for four out of five […]

Fox Networks Group has a new addressable advertising trial offering for targeting households that watch video-on-demand content using Comcast Cable’s set-top boxes, as well as in streaming content on Hulu. And while the 10 million households involved represent a small portion of overall cable TV addressability, combining that incremental reach with Fox’s linear properties tells […]

ORLANDO – Marriott hotels knows a lot about what people talk about on social media and it’s become “a content machine” fueled by data and technology. “In our work for Marriott, we talk about customer centricity all the time,” says Tej Desai, Managing Partner at agency MEC. A year ago, Marriott itself comprised 19 different […]

ORLANDO – While there’s been no shortage of issues—from transparency to artificial intelligence to brand purpose—at the Masters of Marketing gathering, there’s also a galvanizing effect. “Today I think was a renewed call to action for the community,” says Art Zambianchi, Managing Director of WPP’s MediaCom agency in Chicago. “One of the refreshing parts of […]

ORLANDO – Some customer journeys are longer than others. Consider the plight of Chicago Cubs fans who “stayed with us for 100 years without a title,” says the team’s President of Business Operations, Crane Kenney. That ended with the World Series in 2016, triggering a change in communications strategies for the venerable Midwest sports franchise. […]

ORLANDO – When it comes to selling beer, there is no “linear funnel” as has been standard marketing textbook fare for decades. MillerCoors has a three-pronged approach to understanding to whom, where and when to distribute its messages. “I think a lot of marketers today start with a creative brief and the idea, ‘Here’s my […]

ORLANDO – It should come as no big shock that millennials cite Facebook and Netflix as the top brands in positive word-of-mouth sentiment among their peers. That specialty size apparel retailer Lane Bryant would rank as the most improved brand in 2017 is a testament to the company’s efforts to improve the way that the […]