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Monthly Archives: June 2014

comScore Looks at Multi-Channel Media Consumption to Reveal Real Value

June 12, 2014 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director—DCN

While the proliferation of digital media devices and its effect on consumption patterns presents challenges for media and marketers, it also creates opportunities for increased reach, according to a new comScore White Paper, “From TV to Total Video: How Integrated Video Planning Can Transition Advertising from Upfronts to Allfronts.” While comScore finds that “rampant digital media proliferation is a value-creating event” the research also shows that there is “considerable value currently being left on the table.”

“We’re all very familiar with the way the consumer is transitioning to more and more platforms,” says comScore Vice President of Marketing & Insights Andrew Lipsman. “Fortunately, much of this activity has been incremental so far; one platform is not taking away from each other.” However he also points out that in younger demographics, new habits are developing that may indicate bigger shifts to come. “Particularly among millennials, there is a shift away from TV to online, set top boxes and mobile. Sooner or later, it will hit a point of no return, where video is not just the domain of what is happening on TV.”

The good news is that there’s time to prepare for the shift so that everyone within the media ecosystem can maximize the full range of content delivery channels. “Right now we’re at a point of transition and we have a period of time here where everyone can manage this transition before we have to worry about any possible cannibalization crisis.”

In the meantime, Lipsman says that it is important to continue to develop cross-platform measurement so that media companies “get credit for the full audience they reach” but also so that marketers can more effectively address those audiences. Currently, much advertising buying and selling remains channel focused—desktop, mobile, television, print. However many believe that the most effective initiatives are user-centric, finding the right audience wherever they are with the appropriate message.

“One of the most important, critical points in this whole debate is that, to optimize GRPs, you need to be able to look at all of the channels together to optimize for reach and frequency goals,” says Lipsman.

comScore’s study examined the incremental reach by channel for the duration of a given campaign. In a frozen vegetable brand example, the campaign’s cumulative reach via TV hit a plateau halfway through the campaign, providing no significant additional reach despite continued spend. However, the incremental reach provided by digital platforms (in this case, web and online video) continued to increase even after TV reach had flattened, resulting in a 12.2% increase over the course of the 14-week campaign. As Lipsman points out, this level of multichannel awareness will provide a way for marketers to address audiences more efficiently and to spend more effectively given limited budgets.

Large shifts such as these take time, though. And while comScore has already invested five years of R&D into the issue of cross-platform measurement (with new Video Metrics 3.0 and a Total Media Planning System offerings rolling out this Fall), Lipsman foresees a period of transition akin to the shift from click-through to view-through metrics. “Maybe I’m a bit biased being part of a measurement company, but one of the things we’ve seen is that the big paradigm shifts have happened when there’s been measurement to support the changes. We need to be able to provide the data and insights to help make these decisions more effectively so that media can do better monetizing and marketers can work more efficiently. If we can bring buy and sell side along at the same time, that will change the industry.”

Perspectives

Q&A: Mike Kisseberth, Chief Revenue Officer of Purch, on Creating Native Advertising Content

June 9, 2014 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director—DCN

This Q&A is part of OPA’s “Three on Three” series where we ask three industry executives the same three questions on a topic to uncover actionable insights… If you want to learn more, keep an eye out on our site for more interviews. Today’s Three on Three interview is with Mike Kisseberth, Chief Revenue Officer of Purch, on Creating a Native Advertising Content.

Q: Describe the importance of quality content in the Native Advertising value proposition:

A: Quality is of the utmost importance when it comes to native. Consumers are smart and discerning. They will quickly disregard content if it isn’t providing value or enhancing their overall experience. Quality content, regardless of the source, also ensures publication integrity long-term. Without that, you’re not a credible venue for any type of promotion.

That’s why our editorial leadership is deeply involved with decisions regarding programs that could be considered native. When content creation is a part of the project, they will provide high-level direction to assure the approach will resonate with the audience. Since page design plays a huge factor in whether that content achieves the engagement the marketer is striving for, our editors will also work with our design and analytics teams to make sure the data says we got the experience right.

Finally, of course, is our passionate community of over 78 million readers worldwide. They keep us honest and let us know what they like or don’t like. They’re our best assets for quality control.

Q: Describe the way in which your organization handles the creation of Native Advertising content:

A: We’ve been hosting native campaigns, advertorials, and other forms of custom content, for years.

We have a very rich tool set to achieve a wide variety of objectives – from the beginning of the sales cycle to the final design. As a publisher that works in both programmatic and highly-customized campaigns, our direct sales team plays a tremendous role in providing potential buyers and clients with the deep contextual grounding and insight that is needed to develop and execute a standout, impactful campaign right from the start. They are backed by a product marketing team that has built out a proprietary content discovery platform that works across all of our sites and our partner sites. That team also project manages the programs from start to finish to assure flawless execution.

If content creation is part of the project, we call upon our editorial leadership for direction and thought leadership. We develop the content with a team of subject matter experts outside of the editorial team. All content requires the approval of our editorial leadership.

Recently we have become most excited by the mix of Brand Impact and Direct Response Performance that we have been able to achieve by optimizing page design of our own in-market content. In some cases, this can include wiping all the ads off the page to focus the audience’s attention on the action the marketer is striving for, even if that is just deeper consideration of the content. We have seen performance for many of these pages out stripe that of any marketing tactic our customers engage.

Q: What types of marketing initiatives lend themselves best to leveraging Native Advertising and how can they be designed to better deliver on their objectives?

A: It really depends upon the marketer and the media property that will host the content. Brand themes, thought leadership, even demand generation can be accomplished by a Native Advertising effort. The most important thing to consider is how you can serve the target audience first with the content you are delivering. If you can deliver value to the audience and your marketing objectives, then you can achieve performance that is hard to match through most any other marketing effort. Marketers and publishers who are considering sponsored content as part of their overall marketing mix need to get the order right though, serve the audience first with content that will be of genuine interest.

As Chief Revenue Officer, Mike oversees Purch’s (formerly called TechMedia Network) multiple advertising revenue streams. Most recently, Mike was the President and CEO of International Data Groups (IDG) Consumer & SMB division, where he led the growth of PC World and Macworld, evolving both to digital media and more than doubling the audience size. He also launched a new brand, TechHive, built a marketing services business “Content Works” and dramatically expanded IDG’s mobile and paid product offerings. Prior to IDG, Mike held high level positions at CNET Networks, Inc serving as SVP/Corporate Sales and Operations, where he led sales efforts and played an active role in implementing business strategies for every brand under the CNET Networks umbrella.

Note: This Q&A is part of OPA’s “Three on Three” series where we ask three industry executives the same three questions on a topic to uncover actionable insights.

Also in this series:

Q&A: Edward Menicheschi, VP & publisher of Vanity Fair, on Creating Native Advertising Content

Innovation

Condé Nast Traveler’s New Gold List App Focuses on Social Life and Good Taste

June 6, 2014 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director—DCN

This week, Condé Nast Traveler launched its new Gold List app, available for iOS and Android, to leverage the usefulness and popularity of its listings of hotels, resorts, restaurants and hotel bars as well as to maximize the social influence of this type of content. According to Creative Services Director Dana Devito, “social is a very big part of our editorial play online and off.”
The app, says Devito, “is a true extension of our brand, not just a guide.” In particular, she cites Condé Nast Traveler’s Tastemakers—something the publication recently introduced as it shifts from its focus on travel to a broader lifestyle perspective. Tastemakers are those the publication deems influential in a wide range of areas, who offer up their distinct view on the most interesting places, things to do, and much more. The app specifically leverages the social footprint of these tastemakers because, as Devito puts it, “the biggest form of ad delivery is word of mouth.” Within the app, each Very Important Tastemaker (including stylist Ann Caruso, gallery owner Blair Voltz Clark, and hotelier Jeff Klien) has their own “VIT” page which highlights their picks (look for more emphasis on these tastemakers in the publication’s website relaunch, coming in August).

The emphasis on social can be seen everywhere in the app but the social strategy is not solely focused on external channels such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr and Pinterest. They’ve included their own Pinterest-like virtual bookmarking tool which allows users to cut and paste photos and videos to populate their own public or private social stream, which Devito calls “our own Condé Nast Traveler inspiration board. ”Social integration was a key element of The Gold List app, says Devito, “because it creates a two-way platform. We’re not just pushing out information; we want to hear from our users too.”

At launch, the Gold List app includes more than 600 hotels and resorts and 300-plus restaurants and hotel bars, searchable by country, region and city. The top-ranked hotels and resorts were reader-selected in Condé Nast Traveler’s annual Reader’s Choice Survey. The app emphasizes Devito, “delivers on our twin promises of inspiration and service” with its “Stream” function, which provides a running visual archive of anything that users have shared or saved in the app. “The beautiful part of this app,” says Devito, “is that, sure, it is a resource to plan your next trip. But it is also a great tool to find a restaurant or bar at home or whatever city you find yourself in.”

Perspectives

Q&A: Wade Rifkin, VP, Programmatic, DigitasLBi on Programmatic & Private Marketplaces

June 4, 2014 Danielle Block, Director, Agency & Advertiser Relations - DCN

This Q&A is part of OPA’s “Three on Three” series where we ask three industry executives the same three questions on a topic to uncover actionable insights… If you want to learn more, keep an eye out on our site for more interviews. Today’s Three on Three interview is with Wade Rifkin, VP, Programmatic, DigitasLBi on Programmatic & Private Marketplaces.

Q: Are you shifting budget to programmatic?

A: There’s still a good amount of variance in programmatic investment based on client, category and objective. The first wave of brands to embrace the programmatic transactional means and toolkit fell more in the direct response space, and some of those clients are now spending up to 50% of their budgets in programmatic. Following in line, brand advertisers have started to embrace it and are spending more around 20-25%, with ambitions to grow that to a good degree over the next 6-12 months.

By shifting more money into programmatic transactions, we’ll be able to establish more control of our buys – frequency management, media decisioning – through the demand side platform, and centralize knowledge in our data management platform. With these tools, every impression is now an opportunity for us to extract greater media value for our clients and to derive intelligence in a new way about individuals.

Q: Do you use programmatic for upper funnel programs? Do you think you could/would in a private marketplace?

A: Yes, the misconception that programmatic is only for DR is just that, a misconception. As the world goes programmatic, there are clear places for brand advertisers to play there, even in the biddable environment – video, social, mobile, out of home and eventually TV. Dynamic creative will become a huge transformative capability for brand advertisers, tailoring messaging to audiences in an incredibly specific and powerful way, made possible by programmatic technology.

Private Deals do, however, represent the singularly largest opportunity to shift share into programmatic for brand advertisers, but it requires a reimagining – and more due diligence – around negotiations, supply chain management and ad tech infrastructure.

Q: Who sets up private marketplace relationships? What are important considerations when selecting partners for private marketplaces and what have you learned through the process?

A: There are three levels at which you can set up a private marketplace: at an account level, at an agency level and at a holding company level. As you move from the first to last, clout increases, but site diversification, terms and targeting can get a little more diluted. There are pros and cons at each level, but in the long term, I think there’ll be many agency-level private marketplaces that each account can take and customize, with master rates / volume discounts that can apply at a holding company level.

As you go to set up a private marketplace, you need to evaluate two levels of partner relationships:

The marketplace enabler, or gateway: this generally sits within a DSP or supply side platform (or, in some cases, both)
The end publisher set you’re actually procuring inventory from

The biggest potential pitfall is from not scrutinizing the deal structure enough. You need to evaluate which flavor of private marketplaces / deals you’re looking at: automated guaranteed (in many cases, not truly programmatic media decisioning), unreserved fixed rate or private auctions, then decide on the right tech partners that can execute against these with the right placement in your target publishers’ inventory queues. Not thinking this through and vetting upfront with the right lens will result in watered down inventory and a net result that’s only marginally better than ad network and open exchange inventory. If that happens, it’s a huge missed opportunity.

Wade Rifkin is VP, Programmatic at DigitasLBi, a leading full service advertising agency with digital at its core. Wade works across the agency’s client base to help them understand and embrace the growing real time programmatic marketing space. With a background in cross-platform media planning & buying, Wade is specialized in emerging channels like mobile, social media and data-driven audience buying. Prior to joining DigitasLBi, he worked across clients in the CPG, telecom, auto and entertainment spaces at other Publicis agencies, as well as Wieden+Kennedy.

Note: This Q&A is part of OPA’s “Three on Three” series where we ask three industry executives the same three questions on a topic to uncover actionable insights.

Also in this series:

Q&A: Bruce Kiernan Partner, Senior Director Digital, MEC on Programmatic & Private Marketplaces

Q&A: Christopher Murphy, VP Media Investment, Accuen on Programmatic & Private Marketplaces

Industry-Research

Advertising to Outpace Consumer Spending in the Migration to Digital…

June 3, 2014 Research Team

Click here to view the research item.

Innovation

Discovery Digital Networks Partners with Magisto to Become Part of People’s Video Memories

June 2, 2014 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director—DCN

Everyone wants to be in the video business these days—and for good reason. The audience for digital video is expected to climb from 190.6 million this year to 204.6 million in 2017, with almost 117 million watching on mobile devices. For Discovery Digital Networks, its 30-year legacy of creating compelling video gives it a solid lead. The trick, of course, is to maximize those assets.

According to Jim Louderback, GM of Discovery Digital Networks, the company is always exploring new ways to leverage its digital video. The latest example can be seen in its partnership with cloud-based mobile platform Magisto, which allows users to mash-up Discovery Digital Networks’ video content with their own.

Magisto employs Artificial Intelligence-driven technology that analyzes and automatically edits and produces raw video and photos to recreate life experiences and personal memories for their network of 35 million users. This collaboration lets consumers tell their own stories mashed up with Discovery Digital Networks’ content, enhancing their storytelling and inserting the brand into consumers’ personal stories.

As Louderback sees it, “video is a natural communication medium for anyone under the age of 25. I don’t think it will ever replace text, but it is taking on an important role for many media consumers.” Unfortunately, many who get into the game view it through the traditional broadcast lens. “Which is exactly the wrong thing to do. You have to think about it being more of a conversational medium.” And when he says conversation, he means an interaction, not an “old media megaphone” model.

Discovery Digital Networks began its relationship with Magisto earlier this year with a single travel theme that proved wildly popular: In two months, users created 800,000 Discovery Digital branded travel movies which received more than 5 million views. Now the two have launched the “Wild Nature” custom Magisto theme, which will incorporate footage of 3D life-like dinosaurs and sloths from Discovery Digital Network’s upcoming Sloth Week. Louderback is looking forward to “the summer of sloth,” when Magisto users mash-up of videos of lazy summer days and Sloth Week footage.

Beyond entertainment and engagement, the opportunity, says Lauderback, is to become integrated into the most intimate and important pieces of people’s lives. “Think about it: They are creating the story of a graduation, a child’s birthday, or the biggest fish they caught and now they can layer in our video to tell these stories in an even more meaningful, dramatic way. You have these incredible moments in your lives and Discovery is woven into them.”

Having joined the company through its acquisition of Revision 3, where he was CEO, Lauderback describes Discovery Digital Networks as “very forward-thinking…we try things and sometimes we fail, but we always learn.” With the Magisto partnership, he sees the possibility of new monetization opportunities for the company’s valuable video assets. “These experiments are important.”