• Turner and BofA Executives Share Key 2016 Video Advertising Themes [SHIFT VIDEO]

    Happy New Year and welcome to 2016. Changes in video advertising will continue to accelerate this year. To help understand the big themes and some of the particulars, I’m pleased to share videos of both keynote conversations from last month’s SHIFT // 2015 Programmatic Video & TV Ad Summit. The morning keynote guest was Donna Speciale, president of Turner Ad Sales (interviewed by Matt Prohaska) and the afternoon keynote guest was Lou Paskalis, SVP, Enterprise Media Executive, Bank of America (interviewed by Michael Kassan).

    Each session is approximately 30 minutes, and I promise that watching them both is well worth an hour of your time, providing insights from both the buy and sell sides of video advertising. The big unifying themes are 1) Video/TV advertising is shifting to an audience-based approach, 2) Data and programmatic are enabling far more precise targeting, in turn driving up the value of viewer attention and ad inventory and 3) The viewer experience is poised to improve with fewer interruptions and more well-developed brand stories.

    More specifically, Donna discusses, among other things, the extensive data investments that Turner is making, how advertisers and agencies are evolving to converge linear TV and digital buying, Turner’s plan to cut ad loads in half on truTV by Q4 ’16 and how to capitalize on mobile. Lou discussed, among other things, why mass advertising and the reach/frequency model is being replaced, the 3 biggest challenges facing marketers, how BofA is integrating data from across its business segments and why he believes GE is the most effective content marketer today.

    Together, Donna’s and Lou’s insights provide an excellent strategic roadmap for where the industry is heading and what key challenges lie ahead. As you’re thinking about your 2016 priorities, I highly encourage you to watch their videos and learn from them.