Posts for 'Advertising'

  • Inside the Stream: 5 Key Takeaways from the VideoNuze’s Fourth Annual CTV Advertising Summit virtual

    Yesterday was VideoNuze’s fourth annual Connected TV Advertising Summit virtual, featuring 27 senior executives on 6 sessions across the afternoon. Hundreds of industry colleagues attended, hearing insights, data and forecasts from participating speakers. I will post all of the session videos on VideoNuze early next week.

    There were a lot of really interesting observations, which Colin and I have tried to distill to 5 key takeaways in today’s podcast. In no particular order, these include

    1) There is strong conviction that CTV is ultimately going to become full-funnel, offering advertisers strong ROIs across all desired KPIs.

    2) While CTV devices are heavily penetrated in U.S. households, less than half of these households use them to stream on a daily basis, creating enormous opportunity ahead.

    3) The key to choosing an appropriate CTV/streaming business model ultimately boils down to understanding audience preferences and serving them.

    4) Priorities in CTV innovation span from “what’s-old-is-new-again” optimization of electronic program guides (EPGs) to capitalizing on generative AI.

    5) Measurement and attribution of CTV ad campaigns is complex and won’t be resolved anytime soon given the tug-and-pull of traditional TV measurement priorities and the realities of digital’s “outcomes-centric” precedents.

    Listen to the podcast to learn more (41 minutes, 51 seconds)


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  • Inside the Stream: Q1 ’23 Earnings Review: Who’s Up? Who’s Down? Who’s Pick ‘Em?

    Most media and technology companies have now reported Q1 ’23 results. We dig into who’s up, who’s down and who’s pick ‘em, and where they all might be headed. We share all this with the caveat that one quarter’s results are not the final word on a company’s ability to survive and thrive going forward. We hope we’re not in any way contributing to the short-term, quarterly performance myopia so common on Wall Street.

    Rather, we’re looking at these companies’ results in the context of prior results, the competitive landscape and their particular products’/services’ positioning. All while trying to do some basic “pattern recognition” - what have we seen before and how is this likely to play out in TV and video. Our discussion is primarily focused on Netflix, Roku, Amazon, AMC, Disney, Comcast, Vizio, YouTube, The Trade Desk, Paramount, Diamond Sports Group, Tegna, Dish and how they’re sorting themselves in the up, down and pick ‘em categories.

    Listen to the podcast to learn more (38 minutes,  50 seconds)



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  • Inside the Stream: 5 Key Takeaways from the 2023 IAB NewFronts

    I attended the 2023 IAB NewFronts earlier this week and today on Inside the Stream we discuss my 5 key takeaways. These include 1) connected TV as the dominant throughline in all the presentations, 2) an early shift in messaging around how CTV campaigns should move to more full/lower-funnel KPIs, 3) whether the overwhelming volume and pure free, ad-supported nature of FASTs should be concerning, 4) how CTV platform/glass ownership will be a critical competitive differentiator going forward, and 5) why, of the 14 presentations that I attended, three companies’ presentations stood out in particular.  

    Listen to the podcast to learn more (44 minutes, 51 seconds)




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  • Inside the Stream: YouTube Ads in Q1 ’23, Pluto TV's Tony Play, Exploring AI Drake

    First up this week on Inside the Stream we discuss YouTube’s advertising revenue for Q1 ’23, which was $6.7B, down 2.6% from Q1 ’22 of $6.9B. Obviously growth, not contraction, is the goal, but given the huge headwinds blowing through the ad business, in my view, a slight dip can rightly be considered a clear win. And the quarters that YouTube is now lapping were extremely strong to begin with, so comps will be tough by definition.

    We also spend a few minutes discussing YouTube’s four priorities outlined in the earnings call. I’m looking forward to attending YouTube’s NewFront presentations on Monday morning, especially “AI and the Future of Creative Transformation.”

    Next up, we both like how Paramount is leveraging Pluto TV by having it stream “THE TONY AWARD: ACT ONE,” preceding the main Tonys broadcast on CBS and Paramount+ on June 11th. ACT ONE is a perfect example of how “shoulder content” that can drive free streaming viewership (helping build Pluto’s brand) while acting as lead gen for Paramount+ and maybe even a little incremental retention for pay-TV.

    We expect to see a lot more of this “shoulder content on FAST” playbook run in the future elsewhere too. It’s a solid, synergistic play.

    Last, we make a maiden foray into the intersection of AI, video and music, prompted by a well-reported - though maybe slightly over-dramatic - article in The Verge about “AI Drake.” It’s a bit of a head-spinner to keep track of the machinations, but the net of it is that - no surprise to anyone - generative AI is already kicking up some dust related to copyright and Fair Use.

    Big players like Google and Microsoft will have to sort out what positions they ultimately want to stake out given their varied business interests. We do our best to decipher things and discuss implications. No easy answers here, but expect a lot more about AI on Inside the Stream in the future.

    Listen to the podcast to learn more (31 minutes, 59 seconds)

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  • Inside the Stream Podcast: Netflix’s Q1 ’23 Suggests Ad Tier Launch and Account-Sharing Curbs Will Boost Revenue

    Back in our Oct. 21, 2022 podcast, “Netflix is Poised for 2023 Revenue Growth,” Colin and I articulated all the reasons we were optimistic about Netflix’s upside in the new year. Primarily we were focused on its newly launched $7/month “Basic with ads” tier and its plans to eliminate password sharing throughout the world.

    Flash forward 7 months, and Netflix provided its first tangible results and commentary from the initiatives, as well as optimistic signs of where things go from here. In today’s podcast, Colin and I dig into these signs, including most prominently Netflix’s disclosure that $7/month "Basic with ads" subscribers already produce a higher average monthly revenue than do its $15.50/month "Standard" plan (ad-free) subscribers. Some basic math reveals that "Basic with ads" subscribers drive at least $8.50/month in ad revenue for Netflix, which in turn means that aproximately 55% ($8.50 / $15.50) of "Basic with ads" subscribers’ total revenue is already derived from ads, not subscriber payments.

    That Netflix accomplished all of this despite 1) it still being very early days for the ad offering, 2) a massive headwind in the ad business due to recession/etc. worries, 3) all of its ad revenue being “linear TV replacement” or upper-funnel reach and frequency inventory, with nothing yet from more valuable full/lower funnel offerings, suggests the ad business is already a big win for Netflix and has huge potential.

    (At this point I can’t resist noting that I have been badgering Netflix for years to launch a lower-priced ad-supported tier because of the upside…see “Why Netflix Will Launch an Ad-Supported Tier in 2020” from Dec. ’19, “6 Reasons Why Netflix Should Launch an Ad-Supported Tier Now” from Mar. ’20, and “Revisiting Why Netflix Should Launch an Ad-Supported Tier” from Mar. ’21 for a sample of my haranguing. So, in the category of “better late than never,” hallelujah, Netflix finally, finally put aside its religious objections to advertising and saw the light.)

    Listen to the podcast

     
  • Beachfront’s Head of Strategy and Operations Laura Wu on CTV Advertising Innovation

    Beachfront’s head of strategy and operations Laura Wu discusses connected TV advertising innovations in a 10-minute interview below. Laura dives into how publishers are better controlling/monetizing ad pods, using first-party data and converting CTV into a lower-funnel channel. Laura also explains how consumers crave simplicity, which will likely lead to more bundling going forward.

    If you want to hear more from Laura, then after the jump, check out her recent session at VideoNuze’s Connected TV Advertising PREVIEW: 2023, “The Big Picture: Trends and Opportunities in CTV in 2023.” Laura is joined by Aaron Goldman (Chief Marketing Officer, Mediaocean), Paul Josephsen (Chief Strategy Officer, WMX Content & Media Division @Warner Music Group) and Brian Wieser (Principal, Madison and Wall), with Danielle DeLauro (EVP, VAB) moderating.

    Watch Laura’s interview now.

     
  • Inside the Stream Podcast: Key Takeaways from CTV Advertising PREVIEW: 2023

    At this past Tuesday’s VideoNuze Connected TV Advertising PREVIEW: 2023 virtual, 22 speakers on 5 sessions provided critical insights about the industry and its future direction. We discuss our key takeaways on today’s podcast.

    All of the videos are posted here.

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  • All the Session Videos from Yesterday’s CTV Advertising PREVIEW: 2023 Virtual

    Yesterday was VideoNuze’s third annual Connected TV Advertising PREVIEW: 2023, which featured 22 senior executives on 5 sessions.

    Below are links to each of the session recordings along with descriptions of each session and speakers. There are many great insights about CTV advertising and what’s ahead as it evolves to full-funnel capabilities, FASTs continue to expand, the UX for both advertisers and viewers is reinvented and publishers invest heavily in delivering innovative experiences for viewers.

    Thanks again to all the 22 speakers, and especially to CTV PREVIEW’s four amazing partners, Beachfront, PadSquad, Roku and Wurl.

    Enjoy!

    [VIDEO] Welcome to Connected TV Advertising PREVIEW 2023

    [VIDEO] The Big Picture: Trends and Opportunities in CTV in 2023

    [VIDEO] Is CTV’s Future at the Bottom of the Funnel?

    [VIDEO] Interview With TMB’s President and CEO Bonnie Kintzer

    [VIDEO] CTV UX Innovation – The 2023 Roadmap

    [VIDEO] FASTs – Road to Gold or Road to “SLOW?”

     
  • [VIDEO] Welcome to Connected TV Advertising PREVIEW 2023 virtual

    The following video was recorded at VideoNuze’s third annual Connected TV Advertising PREVIEW: 2023 virtual on February 28, 2023.

    Welcome to Connected TV Advertising PREVIEW 2023 virtual
    Connected TVs and streaming are transforming the TV and advertising industries. CTV has become the hottest corner of the advertising business, forecast by eMarketer to grow another 27% in 2023 to $27 billion, in the U.S. alone. All in the face of significant economic headwinds. Yet, we are still in the very early innings of the CTV era.  

    This afternoon’s program will explore topics including:

    - Key macro trends and opportunities in CTV in 2023

    - How/when CTV advertising will be optimized for the bottom of the “purchase funnel,” which will in turn attract huge buckets of ad spending

    - If the proliferation of FASTs might lead to “SLOW” (SVOD Losses On the Way)

    - How CTV UX innovation (in both content and ad formats) is driving new value for viewers and advertisers.

    - How Trusted Media Brands (TMB), as a traditional publisher that includes a portfolio of digital-first brands, is successfully capitalizing on CTV and streaming

    Will Richmond – Editor and Publisher, VideoNuze

     
  • [VIDEO] The Big Picture: Trends and Opportunities in CTV in 2023

    The following video was recorded at VideoNuze’s third annual Connected TV Advertising PREVIEW: 2023 virtual on February 28, 2023.

    The Big Picture: Trends and Opportunities in CTV in 2023
    Connected TV is the hottest sector of the advertising industry, forecast by eMarketer to grow 27% in 2023 to $27 billion in the U.S. alone. Despite significant economic headwinds, CTV continues to enjoy significant advantages by combining the best of TV advertising’s site, sound and motion, with the best of digital advertising’s targetability, interactivity and optimization. Still, many challenges remain. This session will explore all the most significant factors influencing CTV’s evolution in 2023.

    Aaron Goldman - Chief Marketing Officer, Mediaocean
    Paul Josephsen – Chief Strategy Officer, WMX Content & Media Division @Warner Music Group
    Brian Wieser – Principal, Madison and Wall
    Laura Wu – Head of Strategy and Operations, Beachfront
    Danielle DeLauro – EVP, VAB (moderator)

     
  • [VIDEO] Is CTV’s Future at the Bottom of the Funnel?

    The following video was recorded at VideoNuze’s third annual Connected TV Advertising PREVIEW: 2023 virtual on February 28, 2023.

    Is CTV’s Future at the Bottom of the Funnel?
    With linear TV’s decline, CTV ad spending has surged as advertisers “follow the eyeballs” in order to achieve their reach and frequency objectives. But rather than CTV being viewed solely as a “top of funnel” branding channel, its biggest opportunity may be as a “full funnel” or even “lower funnel” opportunity. This would unlock performance-oriented advertising budgets that are based on high impact targeting and measurement, much the same as the successful playbook Google has run in search and Facebook has run in social. Learn how and when CTV may evolve into full funnel and what this means for all market participants.

    Sean Doherty, Jr. – Co-Founder and COO, Wurl
    Eric Smith – US Head of Verticals, Auto, Tech, Gaming & Entertainment, Roku
    Jen Soch – Executive Director, Channel Solutions, GroupM
    Olga Weinraub – Senior Director, Enterprise Marketing Partnerships, Cox Automotive
    Colin Dixon – Chief Analyst and Founder, nScreenMedia (moderator)

     
  • [VIDEO] Interview With TMB’s President and CEO Bonnie Kintzer

    The following video was recorded at VideoNuze’s third annual Connected TV Advertising PREVIEW: 2023 virtual on February 28, 2023.

    Interview With TMB’s President and CEO Bonnie Kintzer
    How a Traditional Publisher is Succeeding with CTV and Streaming
    The venerable magazines “Reader’s Digest,” “Family Handyman” and “Taste of Home” may not be first to mind when thinking of CTV and streaming. But their owner, TMB (formerly Trusted Media Brands), has an expansive vision of how its strong brands and their super-fans can be leveraged for success in the modern era. Turbocharging TMB’s growth are its 2021 acquisition of Jukin Media and a portfolio of digital-first brands. In this interview, TMB’s president and CEO Bonnie Kintzer explains how TMB is evolving and fully capitalizing on all of the opportunities of CTV and streaming.

    Bonnie Kintzer – President and CEO, TMB (Trusted Media Brands)
    Will Richmond – Editor and Publisher, VideoNuze (interviewer)

     
  • [VIDEO] CTV UX Innovation – The 2023 Roadmap

    The following video was recorded at VideoNuze’s third annual Connected TV Advertising PREVIEW: 2023 virtual on February 28, 2023.

    CTV UX Innovation – The 2023 Roadmap
    CTV viewing experiences benefit from dynamic, constant innovation, which in turn bolsters the value of advertising inventory as brands look to execute more interactive campaigns that achieve ever-better returns on spending. With so much happening so fast, what are the key programming and advertising changes primed to enhance the CTV viewer experience, and how will they improve engagement and boost the performance of the market in 2023 and beyond? Join us for an insightful discussion of CTV’s innovation roadmap in 2023.

    Ashley Arena – Head of Advanced Video Activation, PHD
    Krista Panoff – SVP, Global Enterprise Development, Innovid
    David Pudjunis – VP, Revenue Operations and Digital Partnerships, AMC Networks
    Lance Wolder – Head of Strategy and Marketing, PadSquad
    Mary Ann Halford – Partner, Altman Solon (moderator)

     
  • [VIDEO] FASTs – Road to Gold or Road to “SLOW?”

    The following video was recorded at VideoNuze’s third annual Connected TV Advertising PREVIEW: 2023 virtual on February 28, 2023.

    FASTs – Road to Gold or Road to “SLOW?”
    Free ad-supported TV or “FAST” has become one of the buzziest terms in the streaming and CTV industries. Content providers are eagerly launching FAST channels to capitalize on two key trends: advertisers’ insatiable demand for premium CTV ad inventory and viewers’ SVOD fatigue as economic uncertainty escalates. All of this makes FASTs a “road to gold” in the short-term. But in the longer-term, is flooding the market with a lot of free premium programming going to precipitate "SLOW" – “SVOD Losses On the Way?” as viewers are further conditioned to consume free premium video via FASTs and expect ever-better shows to be accessible without payment required?

    Beth Anderson – GM, FAST Channels, BBC Studios
    Tejas Shah – SVP, Commercial Strategy and Analytics, FilmRise
    Josh Sharma – VP of Advertising Partnerships, Allen Media Group
    Aneessa Steilen – VP, Media and Distribution Marketing, Vevo
    Eric John – VP, Media Center, IAB (moderator)

     
  • PERSPECTIVE: 5 Mile Markers on the CTV Road Ahead

    CTV is garnering industry headlines and M&A attention right now, with many industry observers happy to declare that “the year of CTV” has already come and gone. But the reality is that we still have a long way to go to achieve the full potential of CTV for advertisers.
     
    For brands and agencies, the need to calibrate expectations, while still positioning themselves to unlock the tremendous potential of the CTV space, should be a top priority over the next 12 months. Here are five key areas where we still have a lot of work to do to integrate and elevate CTV to its proper place within the marketing mix.

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  • Performance in CTV Advertising is Complex; That Should Excite Us

    In 2022 we saw the biggest shift yet in what marketers want  (by which I mean “need”) from Connected TV (CTV). It should be no surprise that this shift happened. In addition to the ongoing decline of traditional TV, prevailing economic concerns and a stronger understanding by agencies and brands of CTV’s capabilities, the spotlight has been been forced to broaden from focusing on “checking the brand awareness box” to including measurable outcomes that make a more noticeable (and attributable) difference to a brand’s bottom line. In other words: performance.

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  • CTV Needs Real Measurement - and Ratings Are Just a Tiny Piece of It

    While not all that surprising in hindsight, a recent study uncovered a minor bombshell in CTV advertising: brands are throwing away more than $1 billion a year in advertising spend due to the fact that their commercials are playing on streaming platforms even while TVs are off.
     
    How is this possible? Viewers don’t always exit or pause the streaming app they’re using before hitting the power button on their TV; the shows (and the ads) are still running in the background. About 17% of ads on TVs connected through streaming devices are playing while the TV is off, and being delivered to no one at all.
     
    What makes this revelation all the more astonishing is the fact that today’s CTVs are digital and connected to the Internet, which is home to the most trackable, measurable media in our world’s history.
     
    Yet, while CTV brings a lot of promise to targeting a growing number of consumers, measuring what and when those individuals are watching is still too hard. For CTV to realize its full potential – and justify ad spend from brands – we need to treat it like a true Internet-connected medium. Let’s look at three steps the industry can take to move in the right direction.

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  • Save the Date for CTV Advertising PREVIEW: 2023 (virtual) on February 28th

    Please save the date for VideoNuze’s third annual Connected TV Advertising PREVIEW: 2023 (virtual) on Tuesday afternoon, February 28th.
     
    Connected TV is the hottest sector of the advertising industry, forecast by eMarketer to grow 27% in 2023 to $27 billion in the U.S. alone, despite significant economic headwinds.

    VideoNuze’s Connected TV Advertising PREVIEW: 2023 (virtual) will feature senior industry executives sharing their thought leadership perspectives and insights on the year ahead for CTV advertising. PREVIEW is a one-of-a-kind virtual event, exclusively focused on CTV advertising.
     
    The program will include a mix of cutting-edge research, keynote interviews, high-impact panel discussions and case studies (lots more news on the program and speakers soon). For attendees, CTV PREVIEW will be a must-attend afternoon of high-impact learning about what’s ahead for CTV in 2023.

    Many thanks to our partners Beachfront, PadSquad, Roku and Wurl (with others to come).

    If you’re interested in sponsorship information, please contact me.

    Sign-up is complimentary!

     
  • PadSquad Partners With Innovid for Access to Tools That Accelerate Interactive CTV Ads

    PadSquad, which specializes in creating high-impact advertising experiences, has partnered with CTV leader Innovid to gain in-house access to Innovid’s full suite of interactive CTV tools. The goal of the joint advanced CTV offering is to streamline and accelerate brands’ ability to create interactive and shoppable CTV ads.

    According to PadSquad’s head of marketing Lance Wolder, it is the first time Innovid’s interactive CTV tools can be fully utilized by a third-party instead of through Innovid’s managed service. Lance said that with PadSquad’s team of over 20 designers and developers, being able to directly use Innovid’s tools will enable faster turnaround times for clients’ campaigns and also unlock new creative potential.

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  • Inside the Stream Podcast: How Do Sunday Ticket Economics Work for YouTube?

    Happy new year and welcome to the first edition of Inside the Stream for 2023. Just after recording our Top 10 streaming stories of 2022 podcast a couple of weeks ago YouTube announced its deal with the NFL for Sunday Ticket.

    In this week’s podcast we dig into how we think the economics of the deal might work. Colin modeled many of the variables, which I then tinkered with. The clear caveat is that no external person, including us, really knows all the pieces of the deal, nor the terms. So we’re taking our best guesses, based on how Sunday Ticket has performed for DirecTV and the new value we believe YouTube brings to the package.

    Based on all of this Colin is skeptical about YouTube’s ability to turn a profit on Sunday Ticket, while I’m more optimistic. In addition I highlight a number of valuable strategic aspects of the deal to YouTube and Google, especially gaining direct experience with the NFL for the next 6-7 years. These insights will be extremely valuable as YouTube contemplates potentially bidding for some or all of the NFL broadcast package when it’s up for renewal in 2033.

    Ultimately the value of Sunday Ticket to YouTube hinges on its ability to monetize the package much better than DirecTV did - more subscribers and more advertising revenue.

    Listen to the podcast to learn more (30 minutes, 36 seconds)


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