CANNES\u2014Comcast, Charter Communications and Cox Communications have launched an industry initiative called On Addressability with the goal of uniting television distributors behind addressable advertising. \u201cIt\u2019s a call to action,\u201d says Comcast Cable\u2019s President of Advertising, Marcien Jenckes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really about initiating a process this year that\u2019s going to scale addressability across television,\u201d Jenckes adds in this interview with Beet.TV at the Cannes Lions<\/a> International Festival of Creativity.<\/p>\n To achieve its goals, On Addressability must successfully bring together competitors across the majority of the TV landscape.<\/p>\n \u201cThe technology is in place and I think this is going to be the year for television to come into its own by delivering addressable solutions, in addition to the scale, quality and engagement that it has today,\u201d Jenckes<\/a> says.<\/p>\n By this time next year, \u201cwe aspire to have eighty percent of the television inventory as addressable capable.\u201d<\/p>\n The initiative will \u201chelp solve issues not just around ad insertion but around yield and inventory management and measurement and planning and kind of creative delivery. The industry needs a playbook, so we\u2019ve extended an open invitation to all of our partners to help us build that playbook and it needs standards and I think we are coming together around what those standards are.\u201d<\/p>\n Enlarging the supply of addressable TV ad inventory will give brands more options to drive business results. Jenckes notes that while television \u201cin its traditional sense is incredibly powerful and it\u2019s something that\u2019s always been part of their mix,\u201d the medium has lacked some of the data that digital platforms offer to find audiences, \u201cplus targeting capabilities to supplement reach or target creative and drive bottom-of-funnel transactions.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd it\u2019s missed that ROI measurement that you like to see to make sure that you\u2019re spending money in the right way or transparently seeing what\u2019s happening with your marketing budgets,\u201d Jenckes says.<\/p>\n Underlying On Addressability is an all-or-nothing supposition in terms of the future of television, with broad cooperation being key to success, according to Jenckes.<\/p>\n \u201cIf just one person does it over here or one person does it over there, that\u2019s not enough. Television has to work together as a platform to realize its potential,\u201d says Jenckes.<\/p>\n