“It’s a hope,” he says. “I’ve always been surprised that the advertisers have not forced Facebook to be more collaborative. It’s really different to play in a planning space versus retain the necessary data to drive yield on an individual deal.
“I think it’s really important that every publisher realise you’ve got to play for planning, but … it’s not going to diminish your ability to actually use data to drive yield.”
Previously chief research officer at Turner, Shimmel left in 2018 to form his own consultancy.
He has previously published work showing how consumers are willing to give up more of their data than is commonly assumed.
But now Shimmel sees a problem.
“We, (in the industry), have is a big willingness to pay for currency transaction data, but no willingness to pay for great planning data sets,” he says. “If we’re ever going to get convergence right, there’s going to be this massive data set that is used just for planning.
“It links into Hulu’s inventory, it links into Roku’s inventory, it’s able to see what Ampersand has from cable addressable, and then it has linear on top of it, so it could actually then be used to plan effectively.”
This video was produced at the Beet Retreat leadership event hosted Publicis Media in New York. The event and video series is sponsored by FreeWheel and LiveRamp. For more videos from the event, please visit this page.
]]>The ability of marketers to target individual viewing households with specific messaging seems revolutionary. But, though it has existed for several years now and though consumer technology deployment is wider than ever, discussions from successive Beet Retreats suggest some advertisers are still getting up to speed, and are still yet to be convinced.
eMarketer recently revised down its 2019 forecast for US addressable TV ad spending, from the earlier $2.54bn to $2bn. The earlier forecast had pegged addressable spending at just 3.7% of total US TV ad spend in 2019.
As connected TV ad spending continues to grow — addressable TV ad spending is slowing down. Check out eMarketer's revised forecast. #DigitalMarketing #ProgrammaticMarketing pic.twitter.com/ZJwfn7rd1V
— IXS Performs (@ixsperforms) June 28, 2019
Whilst that was attributed to connected TV platforms gaining a faster share of spend than traditional MVPD platforms will, we continue to hear brand views at both ends of the spectrum… from skepticism that addressable presents any brand benefits, to brands needlessly hoping to fine-target audiences.
At Beet Retreat in the City, “We’re Going Local!”, an executive from a company which has been a canary in the mineshaft for addressable TV said he sees varied willingness on the part of brands.
Marc Cestaro, MODI Media addressable lead, was interviewed by Howard Shimmel, president of Janus Strategy & Insights.
“Whether clients are willing to abandon or learn something new is kind of where (growth) lies.
“I think it’s just (about needing) a unified march to understand and push and accept that it is fragmented, but it’s really not that hard.”
“People tried this (technique) three or four years ago and say it didn’t work or it was too complicated, (but) it’s totally different now. We’re not reinventing the wheel, but it’s just, with repetition, comes ease.”
“Another misconception is, (when marketers say), ‘My brand is not fit for addressable because my target is very broad’. And, I’m not going to say that’s not true, but it’s all about how you look at it…
“If I own a tissue company … would it make sense to target that (precision) way? (No), everybody’s using tissues. But, within that, you can have a subset:
“I think we’ve kind of moved beyond the challenges that were just six months away.”
Asked to rate advertisers’ acceptance of the tactic, Cestaro rated it four out of five on average.
This video is part of a series from the Beet Retreat in the City, “We’re Going Local!” hosted by GroupM Worldwide and sponsored by Amobee, Comcast Spotlight, TVSquared and WideOrbit. Please visit this page for additional segments.
]]>That is the view of a company that has long offered the infrastructure for local TV networks’ ad management around the US. But now WideOrbit wants to service ad buyers, too.
In this video interview with Beet.TV, Mike Zinsmeister, WideOrbit chief revenue officer, says the “spot” TV ad market in the US is “haemorrhaging” money, down from $18 billion to $16 billion [source unknown], “because it’s not super-accessible”.
San Francisco-based WideOrbit offers a software platform that handles scheduling, billing, content management and invoicing for mostly local TV ads.
Now WideOrbit is bringing workflow automation to spot TV advertising. It wants to speed up the old manual system in which an ad buyer passes campaign requirements to a buying representative, on to stations and back to the buyer.
WideOrbit’s Zinsmeister spoke with Janus Strategy & Insights president Howard Shimmel at Beet Retreat in the City, “We’re Going Local!”.
“If you really kind of look beneath the covers, when (ad buyers) say, ‘I don’t buy local (TV ads)’, it’s because it wasn’t accessible. Now I think we’re going to change that.
“We’ve spent 20 years putting everybody on a similar platform, now we’re really doing cool stuff to be able to leverage that. We’re working directly with Hudson MX and Mediaocean, the big buying systems that the buyers are utilizing.”
“The problem with local, at least in spot (ads) and to some degree local cable as well, is an agency is working at a 2% or less profit margin. It works really well, the brands want it. It’s a fantastic medium, but it costs so much to transact it.
“Data providers, buy-side systems, sell-side systems, we’re now working together to communicate information that reduces discrepancies, and more importantly, the time that it takes to transact. ”
“They don’t see the performance until way after the campaign, so you don’t get that level of attribution.
“By putting everybody on a similar footprint, by now working with the buy-side systems instead of competing with them, we’re providing really fast access, both for traditional buyers and also for folks like Google.”
This video is part of a series from the Beet Retreat in the City, “We’re Going Local!” hosted by GroupM Worldwide and sponsored by Amobee, Comcast Spotlight, TVSquared and WideOrbit. Please visit this page for additional segments.
]]>TV networks give cable and satellite platforms the ability to sell just two minutes per hour of advertising in their live feeds of network programming.
What is it going to take for the addressable opportunity to be realized at greater scale, across the country?
At Beet Retreat in the City, “We’re Going Local!”, a panel of executives was asked by Janus Strategy & Insights president Howard Shimmel how to make national addressable sing…
“There is not a scale problem with addressability,” Bologna said. “There are 60 plus, 70 million households where you can dynamically insert an ad to a household. It is with the local two minutes per hour. It is system by system. That’s not a longterm scalable model in order for it to really scale.
“National networks have to create some type of arrangement, relationship or deal with a MVPD or a smart TV because for the foreseeable future, ads that are dynamically inserted into live linear programming are going to happen through either the set top box or through the smart TV.”
“We are working with one of the largest chip set manufacturers globally, media tech and which to embed our technology directly into smart TV chip sets,” Abcarian said. “We are working alongside directly the OEMs in which to better our tech directly into their software layer.
“All of this enables you to unlock all 16 minutes in real-time.”
“We believe has been holding back linear addressable … is a lack of technology and tool sets that really fit within the seller’s workflow,”said Amobee’s Daft.
“It’s not enough to just have a linear addressable insertion technology or have data technology. It has to be linked together with the sales process, which has to do with making them confident to be able to sell that inventory.”
“If they all work in a different way, if 50 different networks are treating at addressable or a dynamic ad insertion differently, then it’s just going to be the same mess we have right now with seven different MVPDs – just four times worse,” said one2one’s Bologna. “And that’s not going to make it any easier for buyers and agencies and advertisers.”
Bologna said addressable ads could end up commanding much greater returns overall.
“In an addressable world, you could take that unit and you could sell 20, 30, 40% of that unit at three or four times that CPM to multiple different advertisers,” he said.
“Then, of, course you have what’s left over that you would then ultimately sell at perhaps a 10, 15, 20% discount. The net-net in a perfect world would turn into a 10, 15, 20 perhaps 50, 60% increase in the overall value of the unit. So. instead of the network collecting $2,000 for the unit, they end up collecting $3,200 for a unit.”
This video is part of a series from the Beet Retreat in the City, “We’re Going Local!” hosted by GroupM Worldwide and sponsored by Amobee, Comcast Spotlight, TVSquared and WideOrbit. Please visit this page for additional segments.
]]>But that’s what the modern AT&T – incorporating WarnerMedia’s Turner and CNN – now looks like.
For the corporation – like Verizon alongside it – it is part of an ambitious move to tie telco and content in to a broad offering that leverages data on subscribers and consumers across a range of devices and content types.
And, for advertisers, the gateway to the kingdom is Xandr, the platform which gains access to each platform.
Beet.TV’s Identity in Focus forum heard from two executives now at the cusp opportunities at the unified entity:
In conversation with former Turner revenue chief Howard Shimmel, the two Dans opined on the challenges and opportunities in delivering multi-screen ads.
“What’s incredible about the TV viewership data is you’ve got an almost infinite, library of signals in terms of content, behaviours, interests that are indicators simply from a proclivity to tune into certain types of content,” Rosenfeld said.
“And that can really tell us about the passions and the interests of consumers in and for an advertiser to align their brand with a specific passion or try to connect to a consumer through that insight is very powerful.”
Aversano agreed, adding that using data on telco subscribers available through AT&T is a particular added boost.
“Mobility data – things like geolocation, app usage, mobile web usage – is a vast treasure trove,” Aversano said.
It’s not just “mobile”, however. AT&T has made a big commitment to 5G roll-out. And, whilst its rebadging of some advanced existing 4G spectrum as “5ge” has ruffled feathers, the operator will soon operate 5G spectrum proper – leaving the two Dans licking their lips.
“5G is a game changer for many different reasons for AT&T but particularly in the data world, we see there being some great opportunities as that begins to roll out,” Aversano said.
“The ability to have zero-latency video streaming virtually on any device … cis a whole new ball game. And when you talk about it and things like an identity graph, there’s a lot of opportunity, we think.”
Rosenfeld agreed: “One beautiful opportunity with 5G is the idea that there’s one pipe controlling all of your video ad experiences.”
This video was produced in New York City at Identity in Focus: Understanding the Cross-Screen Consumer in a Fragmented World, a Beet.TV Leadership Forum, presented by 4INFO and hosted by Viacom. For more videos from the series, please visit this page.
]]>A Beet Retreat panel convened by Beet.TV in Puerto Rico discussed that topic.
The debate kicked off with some data points quantifying the size of spend in US addressable TV advertising today…
Howard Shimmel, President, Janus Strategy and Insights, LLC:
“Two percent of all national media (is) being spent via addressable. Forester issued some research last summer that said about 15% of advertisers are using advanced TV, (but) 50% are sitting on the sidelines. Are you happy with the level of adoption? Are we behind?”
Mike Bologna, President, one-2-one media, Cadent:
“For the advertisers where the return outweighs the work and the pain, they’re involved. For the advertisers and the brands where it doesn’t, they’re not there.
Whilst media buyers are certainly spending in addressable TV, executives bemoaned that the budget was still experimental or occasional…
Michael Law, EVP, US Media Investment, Dentsu Aegis Network:
“Our (clients’) spend is actually about flattened down a little. But the number of brands interacting is growing because we’ve had some brands who went in just way too high early on. What is worrisome is the amount of (spending that) is still considered ‘test and learn’ – it’s just a little bit of money and then it goes away.”
Mike Bologna, President, one-2-one media, Cadent:
“That’s very true. That is the single biggest issue with scaling the dollars in addressable television today. Many advertisers want to do it for the wrong reasons. They want to check off the ‘innovation’ box.”
Panelists discussed how limiting the availability of inventory with the right audiences against it could actually work against addressable…
Mike Bologna, President, one-2-one media, Cadent:
“Historically, television has always been (about) supply and demand. When the supply decreases, the knee jerk reaction is to raise the price. As we all know, in television, at least in recent times, the advertisers still stand in line with the checkbook.
“That’s not going to work with addressable television. If we run out of inventory, or we get to a point where there’s a finite supply of inventory, it’s going to drive up the price.”
Craig Berkley, Head of Revenue, TV, LiveRamp:
“You’re going to have ownership of programmers by MVPDs or at least a fusion of the two. That inventory will open up and I think OTT is also growing rapidly.”
The debate heard one view that addressability should not be about targeting audiences at all – especially for certain brands…
Adam Gerber, President, Global Media Investment, Essence (GroupM):
“We’re thinking about addressability wrong … The math is not going to work, right? I would question, are we thinking about addressability the right way as being about audiences? Or should we be thinking about it a different way, in that it can solve frequency distribution? The better option for us is, how do we use addressability to manage frequency, not target audiences.”
Michael Law, EVP, US Media Investment, Dentsu Aegis Network:
“Right now, there’s a lot of categories saying, “How do I (target) toilet paper (which everyone needs)?”
But the panel also heard how addressable or some alternative to conventional linear TV advertising is essential…
Jonathan Steuer, Chief Research Officer, Omnicom Media Group:
“Part of the problem now, with the way viewership behavior is shifting, is that there are a lot of people who you’re just never gonna get on linear TV because they don’t do that anymore. Whether it’s linear or addressable, or anything that looks like broadcast, to try to reach people who don’t have an antenna or cable subscription ain’t going to work.”
This video was produced in San Juan, Puerto Rico at the Beet.TV executive retreat. Please find more videos from the series on this page.
The Beet Retreat was presented by NCC along with Amobee, Dish Media, Oath and Google.
]]>For Disney, the acquisition a year ago added to an already-broad portfolio of assets, and came right as the company was figuring out a direct-to-consumer SVOD strategy and learning to get to grips with a whole new world of advertising capabilities.
In this Beet Retreat interview with Janus Strategy & Insights president Howard Shimmel for Beet.TV, Disney’s SVP, Audience Solutions at Disney Advertising Sales, Laura Nelson, opens up on a big year for the Mouse.
“Disney, as a whole, is going through a huge transformation right now,” she said. “We have a ton of operational challenges because we are effectively still in the middle of reorganizing our whole company.
“We have multiple systems and multiple process, and we potentially may be inheriting new ones. So just trying to streamline and create a technology stack and a data stack that is unified across our company is going to take us some time. We’re behind some of the other larger publishers … who have already gone through that.”
Those changes are coming about including through combining ESPN and ABC ad sales efforts in a single division, led by Disney’s chairman of direct-to-consumer and international efforts Kevin Mayer. Nelson said: “We’ve actually changed the way the whole company is set up now so that there will be one group and on infrastructure that’s going to do that across sales and marketing.”
Nelson said a big part of the transformation involves growing a desire to be more transactional and automated in a data-driven way. She wants to eliminate friction in the ad sales process and believes automation can bring benefits for both buyer and seller.
But, despite fragmentation in how the industry is approaching that opportunity, Nelson is sceptical that a single industry platform can be achievable.
Nelson concedes Disney is arriving late to the idea of selling ads based on advanced audience data segments across different TV networks, in a way that makes it seamless for buyers.
For instance, Disney’s ABC is not a member of OpenAP, the joint Turner/Fox/ Viacom initiative to normalize consumer identity attribute descriptions, which was also joined by NBCU, though of course 21st Century Fox’s Fox Networks Group is plugged in.
But she also questioned whether such an opportunity can work when who is paying for it isn’t necessarily clear.
Nelson says she aims to unify consumer data sets including ESPN sports affinities, Disney lookalike models, theme parks, Disney gamers and, later, digital viewing.
“A lot of different divisions – from the film studio to ABC Television – have been doing it their own way,” she says.
“I think really bringing all the processes together, being uniform, and not having people create their own ideas is going to be more beneficial.”
This video was produced in San Juan, Puerto Rico at the Beet.TV executive retreat. Please find more videos from the series on this page.
The Beet Retreat was presented by NCC along with Amobee, Dish Media, Oath and Google.
]]>But what if the presuppositions they made with that data could be improved on in yet another step-change?
One leading TV company researcher thinks viewers may soon elect to give broadcasters and their advertisers far more specific information about their buying intents.
In this fireside discussion with Prohaska Consulting CEO Matt Prohaska for Beet.TV, Janus Strategy & Insights president Howard Shimmel – previously chief research officer at Turner – opens up on how Turner’s research has convinced him the change is coming.
“We did some research at Turner that we call the Consumer Data Value Exchange,” says Shimmel. “We were trying to get an understanding of what consumers are willing to give up in terms of data to get a better ad experience so they’re not getting ads for categories they don’t care about.
“The reality was consumers said they’re willing to give up a lot more than we think they’ll give up. They just need control and they need to be paid for it.”
That realization could have profound consequences for marketers and the publishers or broadcasters they go through.
For one, it could mean a change in emphasis – from second-guessing consumers’ position in the purchase funnel for various products and services, to actually knowing.
“I think eventually we’re going to have to get to a world where there’s more consumer control and they’re giving us signals a little bit more directly than (simply) ‘I’m in the market for a car because I happen to go to a BMW site yesterday’,” adds Shimmel.
This kind of approach may see new power brokers emerge. Shimmel, who joined Janus last year, says comScore and Nielsen evolved to measure media consumption because buyers didn’t have access to first-party data with full accuracy. But now connected TV sets can give off exact data signals about who is watching.
That, he says, should prompt the measurement agencies to change the nature of their service, and – for anyone hoping for a career in media measurement – it will place a premium on getting skills in data science.
This video was produced in San Juan, Puerto Rico at the Beet.TV executive retreat. Please find more videos from the series on this page.
The Beet Retreat was presented by NCC along with Amobee, Dish Media, Oath and Google.
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