Posts for 'Advertising'

More evidence of the boom in online video advertising as SpotXchange has reported that its Q1 '14 revenues increased 145% vs. Q1 '13. The company pointed to a slew of new premium content provider customers including Hearst Digital, Meredith Video Solutions, Zynga, The Atlantic and Billboard as helping fuel its growth. Over the past few quarters SpotXchange said it has added 80+ supply side platform partners and integrated with 30+ demand side platforms.

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Video ad manager Vindico has unveiled MatchPoint, a customer relationship management tool that enables advertisers to more efficiently target existing customers with online video advertising campaigns.

With MatchPoint, the advertiser uploads specific customer data (e.g. email address, phone #, etc.) which Vindico then matches against 1 billion profiles in real-time to provide demographic and psychographic information about the advertisers' customers. The results can then be used to zero in on particular audiences to target for customized campaigns across numerous inventory sources.

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I recently had the pleasure being interviewed by my former colleague Howard Homonoff for his weekly "Media Reporter" show at the Columbia Institute for Tele-Information which he produces in addition to his consulting practice. In the interview we touch on a broad range of topics including how technology is helping traditional TV, the impact of online video on pay-TV operators and networks, online originals, NewFronts, rise of devices and mobile viewing, net neutrality, industry deals and much more.

The interview runs about 28 minutes.

Watch the interview

I'm pleased to present the 227th edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

This week we dig into the Turner-Comcast deal from earlier this week, under which Turner is providing past seasons' and full current season's episodes to some of its most popular programs to Comcast for viewing on VOD and TV Everywhere.  As I wrote earlier this week, a key enabler of the deal is Turner's ability to dynamically insert ads in the on-demand streams.

Colin and I agree that, to the extent the deal becomes a template for others, it could have a wide-ranging impact on the ecosystem. To date, Netflix and other OTT providers have been able to aggregate huge libraries of past seasons' episodes, which have fueled binge-viewing.

But as advertising in VOD/TVE grows and improves, it could become the financial foundation for operators to gain far greater content rights. That in turn could change the negotiating balance for content and perceptions of pay-TV operators. Colin and I explain what could be ahead.

Listen in to learn more!

(Note also Colin is hosting a free webinar next Tuesday on Fox Sports Go TVE app. Sign up here.)

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Still on the fence about attending the June 25th VideoNuze Online Video Ad Summit? Well, keep in mind that if you sign up by May 30th, you'll save $100 and you'll be entered to win a $1,000 50-inch Samsung LED Smart TV and a Roku Streaming Stick, generously provided by Innovid. Pretty sweet!

(Note, if you're at an agency or brand, you may qualify for complimentary tickets - contact me to find out)

This will be the 4th annual VideoNuze Ad Summit and once again we have a dynamite group of speakers from companies such as Allstate, Comcast, Conde Nast, Digitas, eMarketer, Forrester, Google, Hulu, Jaguar Land Rover, News Corp., Nielsen, Quiznos, Sporting News Media, StyleHaul, Starcom MediaVest, Weather Company, Xaxis participating, plus many others.

The Ad Summit is a premier day of learning and industry networking. We typically have around 300-350 attendees from around the ecosystem. We'll be taking full advantage of the beautiful outdoor space at our venue, the Midtown Loft & Terrace, featuring spectacular Manhattan views (see pics below).

The Ad Summit is generously supported by 14  industry companies including Title Partners Tremor Video and ILoveVideo.tv/Castaclip; Premier Partner AOL, Headline Partners ActiveVideo, Brightcove, Eyeview, FreeWheel, LiveRail, TubeMogul, Turn and Videology plus Branding Partners Innovid, Mixpo and Optimatic.

Register now and save!

(Note: The Ad Summit is being held during CEWeek, so all registrants get free cross registration to CEWeek's exhibits and free conferences.)

The holy grail for marketers these days is having a video ad go viral. Not only does it provide the brand an enormous amount of free exposure, it also gives the team behind the ad major resume points for having "cracked the code" on making an ad a viral hit. However, the odds of an ad actually going viral are extremely long.

That's why a presentation I attended during IAB's NewFronts Insight Lunch last week, by Richard Kosinski, president of Unruly, really caught my attention. Unruly is a platform for social video marketing that helps agencies and advertisers get their videos watched and shared. Richard shared highlights of a new white paper, "The Science of Sharing 2014," which looked at the social performance of 14 different ads from Super Bowl XLVIII.

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Programmatic video advertising took a small step into the TV world today as Geri Wang, president of ABC Sales, announced a trial this summer involving online video from ABC and ABC Family. The trial is being conducted with FreeWheel's FourFronts Programmatic solution, which will connect a limited number of media buyers with select demand side platforms (DSPs) using buyers' first-party and other data.

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Turner Broadcasting will provide Comcast with VOD and TV Everywhere access for some of its most popular programs across all of its cable networks, under a deal announced this morning. A significant aspect of the deal is that it gives Comcast rights not only to past seasons' episodes, but also to all current season episodes - what's known as "stacking rights." The deal is a big win for Comcast and also underscores the emergence of dynamic ad insertion in VOD/TVE streams as an important new revenue driver.

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I'm pleased to present the 226th edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia. This week we focus on Maker Studios and the broader trend around short-form online video and its appeal to millennials.

The Maker NewFront earlier this week in NYC, which I attended, underscored for me how well the company is differentiating itself from traditional TV. Rather than trying to emulate HBO (as Netflix is doing) or chase Netflix itself (as Microsoft, Yahoo and others pursuing TV projects seem to be doing), Maker is carving its own path, focused on delivering breakthrough short-form content that resonates with millennials.

A key success factor is the creative freedom Maker talent has, allowing authenticity which appeals to millennials. Unvarnished and sometimes wacky, Maker's programming exemplifies how unconstrained the web is for the next generation of talent. Of course a key question is if or how things will change under Disney (whose CEO Bob Iger offered his first public comments on the deal this week).

(Note there's an approximately 5-second dropout in my audio about mid-way through. We're still wrestling with Skype's quality.)

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Maker Studios' NewFronts presentation last night illustrated two of online video's biggest trends - the rise of short-form as a bona fide programming format and the intensifying battle for attention of millennial audiences. Maker is already a juggernaut, with 6 billion views per month, but last night's ambitious programming agenda - combined with its new access to Disney's treasure chest of iconic characters/brands - underscore Maker's potential to keep remaking the video landscape.

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Extreme Reach, which provides video ad solutions across TV and online video, has acquired BrandAds, a startup that has developed a measurement solution for online video ads. Back in Sept. '13, I covered the launch of BrandAds Bridge product, which uses direct audience measurement to report on 30 difference performance metrics.

John Roland, CEO of Extreme Reach, told me that whereas the company's clients already have access to robust insights for TV ads, the BrandAds acquisition will enhance measurement of online video ads, something its clients are seeking. Doing so will provide a more accurate picture of video ads' effectiveness and the ability to reduce waste and inefficiency.

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One of the key takeaways so far from this year's NewFronts is that traditional print publishers are doubling down on online video. Last week, four big print publishers - the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Time, Inc and Conde Nast each shared ambitious plans (here, here, here and here) to expand upon existing video initiatives.

While the specific plans vary from company to company, the common underlying thread is that online video is a once-in-a-generation game-changer, that could ultimately redefine every aspect of these businesses, including how they will engage their audiences, what their competitive advantages will be and how they will make their money.

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I'm pleased to present the 225th edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia. This week the NewFronts got underway in NYC while the Cable Show was happening in LA. We discuss some of the highlights from both.

Starting with the NewFronts, per new IAB research, we were both impressed with the rising esteem of online video advertising in the eyes of ad buyers. These are the people being courted at the NewFronts, and they now see TV and video as being essentially at parity importance for major product/service campaigns.

Moreover, 2/3 of respondents see their online video spending increasing in the next 12 months, with 67% citing TV budgets as the top source of funding for online video. All of this is certainly good news for the content providers unveiling new programs at the NewFronts this week.

Colin then discusses his observations from the Cable Show where executives cited concerns about creators being drawn to the YouTube ecosystem instead of traditional TV. Meanwhile these classic distinctions are getting blurrier, as evidenced by last week's integration of Netflix with 3 cable operators. It's not just Netflix though - clearly Hulu has aspirations to be integrated as well, and surely YouTube and others are right behind.



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According to new data from Vindico's Adtricity rankings, just 34% of online video ad impressions received a grade of "A or B," equating to TV quality. The definition of "A-B" is a high-quality video ad environment, imitating a TV-like experience, with ads front and center, in a large player and frequently user-initiated.

Another 22% of video ad impressions received a "C," which is typically an in-banner placement that is viewable on the page. Finally, 44% received a "D-F" which includes video ads that are below the fold, are near inappropriate content and/or suffer from fraudulent practices. The data is part of Vindico's newly-released 2013 annual report.

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As the Digital Content NewFronts gear up this week, IAB has released a study of agency and brand buyers, which, among other things, finds that interest in TV and online video advertising is now basically at parity. When asked how they would allocate their ad spending for their most important product/service, respondents' preference was 51% for TV and 49% for video. As shown in the below chart that compares with 58%-42% in 2012.

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BrightRoll announced a number of new and expanded partnerships this morning at its BrightRoll Video Summit, all intended to accelerate programmatic video advertising. They include:

comScore and Nielsen - Integration of comScore's Validated Campaign Essentials (VCE) and Nielsen's Online Campaign Ratings (OCR) so buyers can tap into this measurement data in planning, targeting, optimizing and reporting on their campaigns. Access to the data is being provided free to buyers.

Google - A programmatic integration with DoubleClick so that video ad buyers using BrightRoll will be able to gain real-time access to high-quality inventory in the DoubleClick Ad Exchange, which includes YouTube.

BlueKai - Last, BrightRoll announced that mobile audience targeting is available, with BlueKai as the first 3rd-party mobile data provider that has been integrated. Others are expected this year. The mobile capability means buyers using the BrightRoll platform will be able target audiences beyond desktops, on smartphones and tablets. BlueKai includes 20,000 data categories in a marketplace of 70 million unique iOS and Android users.

(Note: I'm attending the BrightRoll Video Summit this morning and will be continuously tweeting highlights at #BRVS.)

Pay-TV operators are in a race to stay competitive and improve their services, rolling out advanced advertising, content recommendations, improved video-on-demand services, TV Everywhere, etc. While data is the foundation for all these types of services, because pay-TV operators have had so many different silos of data, they have been unable to fully tap into them.

To address this problem, BlackArrow has announced that its BlackArrow Audience 2.0 data management platform (DMP) is now available. The platform includes Profile Manager, which enables pay-TV operators to consolidate their first-party subscriber data and third-party data in one place.

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TiVo Research has released data indicating that time-shifting by viewers of 10 broadcast TV primetime programs to between 4-7 days following their initial airing resulted in approximately $88 million in total lost ad revenue by their respective networks (see chart below).

For these 10 programs, TiVo found that the 4-7 day period increased ratings between 4.1% ("American Idol") to 10.9% ("Modern Family"). Because "American Idol" had the highest average number of ads per episode (61), it had the highest level of lost ad revenue in the 4-7 day period for the full season ($14.4 million). Conversely, "The Good Wife," which had an average of 29 ads per episode, but had the second-lowest 4-7 day ratings increase, had the  lowest level of lost ad revenue ($3.6 million).

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I'm pleased to present the 223rd edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia. This week we dig into the strong performance of Comcast's recently concluded 2nd annual "Watchathon" on-demand week and more broadly, how viewing behaviors on linear, on-demand and OTT are becoming intertwined.

Comcast revealed that Watchathon week drove 61 million views and 50 million hours watched, with "Game of Thrones," "The Walking Dead" and "The Good Wife" topping the list of most popular shows. Of note was the increase in live ratings for shows that were available on Watchathon. For example, Game of Thrones' season 4 premiere was up 17% in Comcast homes, "The Mindy Project" was up 83%, "Archer" was up 78%, "Parks and Recreation" was up 49%, etc.

Colin and I discuss how this appears to support the idea that allowing easy catching-up via on-demand can be an effective tactic for networks (and pay-TV operators) to drive audience to live viewing. In fact, in a prior survey Comcast did, it found that 82% of U.S. adults are binge-viewing now, with 55% saying they preferred to do so with current season programs. By enabling both, Comcast seems to be finding a sweet spot.

One other related data point we found interesting was from Rentrak, which said fully 66% of viewing of broadcast primetime programs on demand occurred after the C3 window. By Colin's calculations, that could mean for certain shows, 20% or more of total audience isn't being counted for advertisers today.

Click here to listen to the podcast (18 minutes, 27 seconds)

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