“What we’re seeing now is a real, positive return to normalcy with vaccines and consumers being excited about being out of their homes,” Anna Bager, president and CEO of the Out of Home Advertising Association of America (OAAA), said in this interview with Beet.TV. “Our medium is truly booming.”
Spending on out-of-home media will jump more than 22% to $7.07 billion this year, media agency GroupM estimated in March. Cinema ads will see a bigger rebound, almost tripling to $415 million from 2020. That growth will partly offset the steep decline during the pandemic.
“When consumers are suffering from some digital fatigue and also are appreciative of being back in those places where they weren’t allowed to go, that’s been very positive for our platform,” Bager said.
Out-of-home advertising can capture the undivided attention of consumers, while video helps to add more emotional impact in places where advertisers can find a captive audience that wants to be entertained. The OAAA published a guide to showcase many of those benefits.
“Out-of-home is a format that’s very complementary to other forms of media,” Bager said. “It’s great for sharing, it’s great for connecting messages that a user might see at home or on TV or on their phone, and then when they’re out and about, you can connect with them again through the different out-of-home formats.”
Marketers also can buy more kinds of out-of-home advertising programmatically, as they do with digital platforms. That flexibility gives brands a way to make dynamic changes to their campaigns based on data signals, such as weather or current events.
“It’s one of the effects of the pandemic, that our medium had to reinvent itself and start thinking a little differently,” Bager said.
]]>So often trailed as “the next big thing” in media and marketing, the format remains challenged by measurement issues, but is growing in popularity and in corporate interest, according to Edison Research and Spotify’s recent acquisitions of Gimlet Media and Anchor.
A leader of the IAB, which organizes the annual event at which digital publishers pitch their new offerings to brands, says this spring’s upcoming event is likely to be different.
“I’m hoping that we’ll see a lot of great OTT content (at the Digital Content NewFronts),”says Anna Bager, IAB mobile and video SVP and GM, in this video interview with Beet.TV.
“I think we’ll see quite a bit of podcasting. It isn’t the ‘Digital Video NewFronts’, it’s the ‘Digital Content NewFronts‘. So, I think we’ll see other forms of content as well. Podcast was pretty big last year, and I think it’s going to be big this year again.”
Major publishers have been falling over themselves to launch podcasts over the last year. Much-replicated formats have been true crime documentary series and daily news analysis.
Advertisers are being beckoned by audience consumption that isn’t exploding but growing solidly.
And Bager hopes that a new kind of advertiser can fit this new medium, amongst others.
After a year in which the industry has been talking about the rise of so-called “direct-to-consumer” brands like Airbnb, now publishers are being urged to go after smaller direct-to-consumer brands which are nevertheless poised to be big spenders on advertising.
The IAB has been undertaking several activities around the prospect.
Last year, it worked with Dun & Bradstreet to produce research illustrating the trend. The pair’s IAB 250 Direct Brands To Watch showed the extent to which many new brands are foregoing intermediary retail going direct to consumers and the extent of competition within that set.
Now its new report, How to Build a 21st Century Brand: 2019, hopes to sign-post eager publishers to a new wave of upstart direct brands, like Allbirds, BaubleBar, Brooklinen, Dagne Dover, Dirty Lemon, Kopari, Madison Reed, Peloton, and Plated.
“That’s a list of … really a prospect list, potentially, for a lot of our members,” says Anna Bager, IAB mobile and video SVP and GM, in this video interview with Beet.TV.
“These are companies you can go after who have very healthy businesses and are very interested in advertising.”
To unite buyers and sellers, the IAB has decided to admit brands to its membership.
This segment is part of Beet.TV’s coverage of the IAB Annual Leadership Meeting 2019, Phoenix. This series is sponsored by Telaria. Please find additional videos from the series on this page.
]]>“Great presentations, the right amount of great content, sales, customer engagement. I really thought it was extraordinary,” Bager says in this interview with Beet.TV.
For the first time, the IAB will hold a second NewFronts event this year. Titled the Digital Content NewFronts West, it’s scheduled for Oct. 9 and 10 at NeueHouse in West Hollywood, a central location for all media presentations.
Of the New York event, Bager talks about common themes that were unique to 2018. “I think there was a clear tendency to talk about diversity, diverse content,” she says.
In her NewFronts speech, Bager told the audience that for brands these days, “It’s about creating movements, not just moments. And with digital video, you can really, truly do that. The platform is so impactful.”
Other highlights for Bager were themed events like Meredith Corporation’s Help Puerto Rico effort and Hulu’s Huluween programming, along with Hulu’s ability to dynamically insert ads into its live television service, as ADWEEK reports.
“You can kind of see that the industry through the lens of the NewFront is growing up and knows what it’s doing and really starting to think about the audience that’s out there,” says Bager.
In West Hollywood, the focus will be on branded and sponsored content and how brands and media companies can work together to “capture those moments that mean something to individuals that can help brands build more direct connections with their audience. So we’re really excited about that event.”
This video is part of Beet.TV’s coverage of the Digital Content NewFronts 2018. The series a co-presentation of Beet.TV and the IAB. Please see additional videos from the series on this page.
]]>The IAB’s latest research, released this week, shows just how complicated the video marketplace is. Its Video Landscape Report report covers programmatic video, addressable TV, connected TV/OTT, augmented reality, vertical video, live streaming video, eSports, original digital video, six-second ads plus interactive and branded video.
“We talked to the marketplace about what sort of ads they want to see that can improve user experience and better connectivity and also better reflect the platforms that we are now viewing content in,” Bager says in this interview with Beet.TV at the IAB Video Symposium.
The Video Landscape Report identifies the key challenges facing marketers and agencies as “audience fragmentation, content discovery, advertising experience, ad fraud and cross-platform measurement.” It’s the fourth iteration of a report that was first issued in October 2016.
“We have to start thinking differently about ads,” says Bager. “Consumers’ attention spans are much shorter and they’re on a number of different platforms at the same time.”
Each ad format carries its own complexities. “Six-second ads for example. There are a number of different contexts that they can run in. Interactive formats depends very differently on whether you’re on OTT or if you’re in a mobile environment. Shoppable formats, same thing.”
One of the IAB’s goals is to find “proof points” from its research and then help to create standardization around the various units.
The IAB views the research through the lens of how “21st century brands”—also called Direct Brands—can best engage with consumers.
“While traditional TV still dominates ad revenue, digital video, especially mobile video, is the fastest-growing video type by consumption,” states the Video Landscape Report. “All of these developments and touchpoints have provided more opportunities for 21st century brands and marketers to directly connect and engage with consumers.”
When taking into account audience receptivity to brand messaging, “everything probably shouldn’t be ad-based,” says Bager. “I also think that the definition of advertising will change and I think it’s going to become more and more about branded content and content marketing in combination with advertising.”
This video is part of Beet.TV’s coverage of the IAB Video Symposium 2018 presented by Tremor Video DSP. For more videos from the series, please visit this page.
]]>In advertising, buyers are getting excited about a world in which planning moves beyond the broad demographic audience targeting of yore, to a world of advanced TV, where granular characteristics and data can help target specific audiences viewing specific content.
But this emerging world is, itself, more granular than simply “advanced TV”. So, how do companies at the vanguard of the revolution make sense of the wealth of different tactics coming in to view?
A panel convened at Beet Retreat debated that question. Here is a flavor of what they said…
Simulmedia VP, Partner Relations, Marc Goldstein:
“There’s just so much out there, and there’s so much happening. What we’re able to do in the national TV space, to be able to find a custom audience to be able to guarantee that audience to be able to guarantee on a conversion to be able guarantee on ROAS (return on ad spend). These are things that we’ve been talking about for a long time and marketers have been talking about but we’re actually seeing them in action.
“The power of the traditional GRP still exists as the power of your television. I think in most cases we’re seeing marketers though realize that we can take portions of their budgets and put it towards these new opportunities.”
IAB mobile and video SVP and GM Anna Bager:
“(Advertisers) need proof points.”
“Where we as the IAB really are going to double down and do research and try and understand better… there’s a lot of questions around six second ads… ‘What does that mean for ad load, and what and in the long run does that mean for us and our profitability, and how are we going to make money here?’
DISH Advanced TV & Digital director Adam Lowy:
“The digital tech stack is opening up a whole new ballgame. You’re just finding an audience and I don’t care if it’s on iOS, Android, PC, Mac, Roku… you know, the DISH set top box doesn’t matter anymore.
“We’re going cross platform pretty soon… (There are) tremendous opportunities within live TV back to the big screen. We see a lot of sessions on mobile devices and we’re seeing a lot of people watching content like this.
“Six-second ads, we will see that. Will we see a collapse of ads and, you know, shorter pods? Yes, I think that works. In live TV, we probably won’t see that.”
Videology GM, Strategic Commercial/Business Development Tony Yi
“There’s certainly service providers that have capabilities technologically to do some of it right now. I think from a mass national level, though, you really need to have respondent level matching with your dataset to truly understand who you’re reaching if you can get device level even better.”
Google Strategic Partner Lead Peter Dolchin:
“Publishers just want optionality at this point. There’s still a very distinct way and legacy way of selling this inventory through upfront and so forth. But there are specific advertisers who are looking for new experiences.
“If you analyzed all your first party data in one place, and Google Cloud can help you do that, it starts to take down all of these silos that exist that have been really difficult for the entire industry. Once you have the ability to have all of your data in one place, you’re able to analyze it in a much faster way.”
The panel was moderated by MediaLink managing director Matt Spiegel.
This video was produced at the Beet Retreat Miami, 2017 presented by Videology along with Alphonso and 605. For more videos from the event, please visit this page.
]]>According to an executive from publishers’ advertising trade body, OTT TV ads should be higher-priced than those on TV.
Asked how the over-the-top rates should compare with traditional TV, IAB sales and marketing SVP Anna Bager said: “What we can say about OTT is, there should be a higher value in my opinion, because it’s a deliberate consumer.
“It’s somebody who … went through a number of different steps to get to the content. He has his own personal prime time that he decides to connect with that content. And he does it and he knows that there may be ads. It’s a deliberate consumer. It’s not someone who’s just kind of putting the TV on and walking around his house.”
Bager was speaking in this video interview with Beet.TV during Beet Retreat, after launching IAB’s report on The OTT Co-Viewing Experience.
According to the report:
But, with so many gadgets, dongles, boxes and sticks now offering ways to view, defining “OTT” is never easy.
“We’re in the business of setting definitions and that one took us like a year, maybe more. I’m not sure exactly how to define it,” Bager concedes.
This video was produced at the Beet Retreat Miami, 2017 presented by Videology along with Alphonso and 605. For more videos from the event, please visit this page.
]]>Eight out of 10 marketers surveyed for the IAB “said they increased their spending on original digital video because of the NewFronts in 2016,” says Anna Bager, SVP and General Manager, Mobile and Video. The new research underscores a “pivotal change in the expand around video.”
While over-the-top and mobile device viewing are big drivers of the expanded investments, “It’s really the whole ecosystem. Marketers are getting that,” Bager says in this interview with Beet.TV.
Original digital video is gaining a greater share of total digital video budgets—its slice of the pie reaching 47% from 45% in 2016, according to the IAB research. Native advertising is increasingly a key part in these original digital video buys, accounting for 42% of investment, up from 32% the previous year.
What remains a “tricky” part of the digital video experience is discoverability, or how consumers find desirable content when there is so much out there, according to a separate study by the IAB.
“There’s so much great content out there, but how do you find it and how do you search between the different platforms” will be the subject of additional research, Bager says.
She believes the solution for consumers might turn out to be mobile. “I think that the phone is potentially going to transform into our set-top box and through that we can search and find the content that we need.”
Video discoverability “is something we need to improve,” she says.
This video is part of Beet.TV’s coverage of the IAB’s Digital Content NewFronts 2017. The series is sponsored by the IAB. For more videos from the #NewFronts, please visit this page.
]]>According to Anna Bager, “lots of deals” have taken place since the NewFronts kickoff on May 1. “The NewFronts is definitely a marketplace. Brands are here to consume content, to evaluate it, to talk about it and essentially in the end to buy it.”
The SVP & GM, Mobile & Video, for the Internet Advertising Bureau says the marketplace theme has been evident in this year’s proceedings as “the presenters are geared up to really sell. It’s not as much of a conference anymore.”
Bager notes a “huge focus on OTT, mobile video and brand safety,” as trusted, safe content “has really been a theme that we’ve seen throughout” all of the NewFronts. There’s also been a bigger emphasis on live events, a big focus on women’s issues and Gen Z, which is this year’s Millennials of last year.
“Another interesting thing that started last year but that we’ve really seen big this year is the talk around distribution. How is your content going to be distributed how are you going to reach an audience,” she says.
Bager advises people to move beyond thinking about mobile devices as merely conduits for short-form, snackable content. “It’s a long-form video device where you may not consume content in the same way as you do” on any other screen.
“As we’ve expected we’ve seen record attendance” in an environment where marketers can pursue “true, impactful branded content so that brands can be more involved of the actual process of the content production,” says Bager.
This video is part of Beet.TV’s coverage of the IAB’s Digital Content NewFronts 2017. The series is sponsored by the IAB. For more videos from the #NewFronts, please visit this page.
]]>“We decided that there’s a lot of interest and hype around VR so we wanted to see if there’s a there there,” Anna Bager, SVP and GM for Mobile and Video at the IAB, says in an interview with Beet.TV at the organization’s annual MIXX conference in Manhattan.
The report explores virtual reality’s promise and pitfalls as “the next big thing” in digital advertising. According to Bager, it shows the need to create some basic definitions—for example, delineating the differences between 360° video, virtual reality and augmented reality. “And potentially for the IAB creating guidelines, background and information that can be helpful to the industry,” Bager says. “There are a number of different layers here.”
According to the report, virtual reality’s major strengths include the opportunity for immersive storytelling, shopping and product demos, and the medium’s power to stir emotions in a new way.
Among the caveats: the VR production process is hardly straightforward, and consumers have the ability to interact with content and change their field of view and perspective—something traditional media doesn’t present. Moreover, VR’s limited audience presents a monetization challenge, and consumer expectations are high.
“Where the opportunities are is in creating high-quality content as well as advertising,” Bager says.
She cites certain verticals where VR and AR are a good fit, like games, travel, automotive and certain shopping experiences in which consumers would like to immerse themselves. “All you need is creative thinking and the will to do something different,” says Bager.
The IAB will convene a VR Summit in the fourth quarter of 2016 to address key issues around publishing, monetization, and user experience, as well as to discuss potential consumer research and guidance for buyers and sellers.
This video is part of Beet.TV’s coverage of the IAB MIXX Conference, 2016, presented by The TradeDesk. Please find additional videos from the Conference here.
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