A survey of over 400 marketers on their objectives, challenges and budgets for paid content distribution.
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/ An inside look at the business of digital content
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How Programmatic Can Help Publishers Unlock New Revenue
Effective advertising is based on reaching the right audience. This was true in the 1950s. This was true in 1990s. Today, it is true more than ever.
At the advent of digital publishing, publisher content helped advertisers reach a particular audience. For example, a cooking website would be an appropriate site for a kitchenware maker to buy advertising; inventory on a financial website would suit a luxury watch brand. From an advertiser’s perspective, buying inventory this way was a slow, painstaking process. Orders had to be placed one-by-one, and performance metrics and audience insights were limited.
In the last few years, technology has evolved, changing how ads are purchased and how audiences are targeted. Programmatic media buying, which broadly describes ad buying with a computer interface, when combined with data lets advertisers reach their intended audience anywhere online, on any device.
With data science, ad technology companies can transform information on individual web behavior into a massive pool of audience profiles. Predictive technology and audience modeling allow for extremely accurate inferences about what users want to buy, where they consume media, and even what they are most likely to watch on TV.
For publishers, does the shift away from reaching audiences via relevant content threaten ad revenue? Does it lessen the value of sites that appeal to specific audiences? The answer to both questions is an emphatic “no.”
Publishers now have more options for ad revenue. By combining programmatic technology with their unique audience data, publishers can now sell audience relevant advertising beyond the constraints of the websites they own and operate. Publishers can monetize their audience profiles anywhere on the Internet, even on TV. This new capability is commonly referred to as audience extension.
Audience extension not only provides a new revenue stream, it can help solve business problems such as insufficient or excess ad inventory. By allowing for increased ad reach, audience extension also helps publishers better cater to their advertisers.
For example, a website dedicated to fitness is perfect for a new age healthy beverage ad. However, advertisers find that full coverage of a target market can’t happen through one web buy. A publisher that uses audience extension can help advertisers reach that audience wherever they consume media. The advertiser’s mission is more effectively and easily completed and the publisher has a new revenue stream, at little cost or risk.
One of the most significant challenges for top publishers is inventory scarcity. To meet demand, publishers are pushing editorial teams—writers, videographers and designers—to rapidly create great content. Typical solutions include: more ads on a page and increased refreshes, which often compromise user experience. Publishers that offer audience extension can sell inventory beyond the limitations of their own sites, increasing ad revenue, without reducing the quality of content and design.
Demand for audiences can even help publishers divest excess inventory. Brands want to reach their target, wherever they are. Thus ad-tech firms will chase that premium inventory, and include it in their ad network.
Regional publishers, whose advantage is coverage over a geographic market, also benefit. Nowadays, regional news publishers often have less local coverage digitally than they did in the days of print dominance. Audience extension not only solves that problem, it offers a better alternative. For example, through an ad buy with a local publisher, an automobile brand can blanket a geographic zone while targeting users currently shopping for cars. The business goals of both publishers and advertisers are improved.
Economic growth is based on innovations that increase efficiency and open new markets. Programmatic audience extension is this type of advance. It streamlines ad buying, minimizes costs and generates new revenue. It can help publishers prosper, but most importantly, it allows them to better serve their advertising clients.
As SVP of Channel Sales, Joe Gallagher spearheads Collective’s indirect business with an emphasis on developing new channel partners for the company’s full suite of digital solutions. His audience includes digital publishers and media companies that desire to expand their digital offerings with Collective’s audience reach and multi-screen solutions. Gallagher brings 15 years of digital sales and management experience, with senior executive positions at Firefly Video, Exponential, BBE, The Wall Street Journal and Real Media, under his belt. He is also a founding member of 212, New York’s Interactive Advertising Association.
Creating a Successful Content Marketing Strategy
Ninety percent of B2C marketers are using some form of content
marketing. However, according to the Content Marketing Institute, less than half of those marketers have a documented content strategy—despite the fact the most effective content marketing is based upon one. That said, creating an effective content marketing strategy is no small undertaking. There are numerous challenges and things to think about and prepare for, even if you are well on your way on your content marketing. We plan to address many of these issues at our new Content All Stars Event (September 18th in New York City) as we bring together best-in-class marketers and our members from leading digital content companies to share what works and explore what’s next.
Creating Powerful Content
Without a doubt the most important—and most challenging—aspect of any content strategy is building a content engine that will drive success. Few do this better than Red Bull, which not only takes its marketing message to the extreme in terms of its action-sports content, but also in terms of content creation, having founded Red Bull Media House in 2007. The company’s content-based marketing is second to none, as Managing Director Werner Brell put it, “We have been creating media assets from the beginning.”
“The mindset for launching Red Bull Media House was a natural progression of the company…For all of the athlete projects and events Red Bull created, which subsequently built this brand, cameras have been there. Everything has more or less been put on film. We have been creating media assets from the beginning,” said Brell. While his approach is largely to create original content to which Red Bull has exclusive license, the company also partners with media companies, ultimately maintaining “a laser focus on creating the best in action sports programming, centered around storytelling, high production value and overall progression in all aspects of sports event broadcasting,” said Brell. At Content All Stars, he’ll offer insights into the company’s trademark approach to content creation. “At the end of the day,” Brell pointed out, “it’s entertainment. You have to play by the rules of the audience, and they want to watch something engaging on an emotional level.”
Engaging Audiences
Undoubtedly, content creation – great ideas that tie your brand to your target audience or consumers — is the foundation of content marketing. And while Brell’s company has taken the proverbial bull by the horns, not every brand finds itself in the position to create its own media house. However one thing that all marketers can (and must) do is understand their audiences in order to create content experiences that attract and engage them.
As the company’s VP of Content and Global Creative, Ann Rubin 
said, “We strive for everything we do in marketing to have some utility, some purpose…for the [audience] beyond the brand message.” In its “Made with IBM series”, the company set out to tell its customers’ stories of transformation to offer actionable insights for others. Beyond creating compelling and popular content, the project brought the company closer than ever to its customers as the process of storytelling became a collaboration. At Content All Stars, Rubin will speak candidly about how IBM focuses on customers and content to transform its marketing into more than a one-way message.
Driving Results
Attracting and engaging audiences through content will take marketers a long way as they seek to build brand awareness and customer relationships that engender trust and lasting affinity.
An important and challenging area of marketing measurement is social media. Yet Claire Tavernier, Managing Director of the UK’s Channel Flip Media and founder of StoryTechLife, believes that social can help demonstrate high levels of engagement and that “these engaged viewers do have more value in the long run.” She will offer concrete examples of how social increases engagement that builds value at Content All Stars.
Yet the most effective strategic marketing plans must leverage these laudable goals to achieve measureable results. Data offers not only a way to know your customers beyond general demographics, but the ability to make highly-granular correlations such as “when the dew point is X, the temperature is Y, and the rainfall is Z…Here are the 15 products you should be selling right now,” according to the Weather Company GM, Vikram Somaya. At Content All Stars, he’ll team up with fellow data guru Bog Ivins, CDO of Mindshare, to show how data can not only provide consumer insights, but actually demonstratively drive consumer behavior.
Are you a Content All Star? If so, request an invitation to attend this first-of-its-kind event, September 18th at NYC’s Conrad Hotel to develop a content strategy that delivers meaningful results.
Ooyala: The Global Online Video Index Report Q2 2014
This quarter’s index report focuses on the mobile video segment. Mobile phone and tablet consumption is compared to desktop and connected TV platforms.
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Q&A: Beth Lawrence, EVP Digital Sales, Scripps Networks Interactive, on Video Ad Innovation
Q: To drive success in video advertising, what are the most important things to consider?
A: A successful video business can be driven from two metrics: The first is that quality content matters. High quality production delivered in a well-lit environment is what marketers are looking for.
The second is scale. When clients look to extend TV reach, it’s important that enough users can engage with the message. It’s one of the reasons Scripps Networks Interactive launched a premium lifestyle video portal and distributed network last year called uLive. Comprised of both full-episode play and short-form programming from the Scripps Networks library along with original video, it’s a way to distribute our content—coupled with the ad message—so the viewer can “discover” vs. being sent to a particular destination only.
Q: Describe a video advertising campaign that you think is particularly innovative or effective:
A: I really like what we did with the video content we created for Buitoni for Food Network Star. This content included the on-air in-show integration of Buitoni and the custom on-air short form that ran as Buitoni’s TV commercial, as well as its digital pre-roll and VOD offering. Additionally, it contains an excerpt from the Star Salvation webisode series with Robert Irvine that ran on FoodNetwork.com, Food Network VOD and on Food Network’s YouTube channel. Star Salvation offers contestants the chance to “come back to life” after earlier elimination from Food Network Star on TV. I like this example because it is fun, it’s engaging and it provides a web-only solution for these previously eliminated contestants to jump back into the Food Network Star mix, integrated seamlessly with the sponsor’s brand.
Q: What is working in video advertising and what do we need more of in order to drive success in this area?
A: Consumers are demanding great quality video on any device at any time of day. So for Scripps Networks, that’s a beautiful thing and we love the audience wherever we find them. Come on, you can never get enough of HGTV’s Property Brothers! As an industry, we need to be able to answer reach and other needs that arise so that video buying can be seamless like it is in the television business.
Also, I think we’re ripe for ad product innovation in video. We shouldn’t just assume that standard TV ads must travel to digital video and that’s the end of the conversation. With social media tie-ins like Twitter Amplify and second screen solutions that drive the viewer deeper into the content online from TV, the sight, sound and motion experience only gets better.
Beth Lawrence serves as executive vice president of digital sales for Scripps Networks Interactive. In this role, she is responsible for growing revenue streams for Scripps’ portfolio of lifestyle media brands – HGTV, DIY Network, Food Network, Cooking Channel, Travel Channel and Great American Country – and their respective websites, as well as uLive, Scripps’ premium lifestyle video portal and distribution network. Lawrence also guides the company’s ad sales efforts relating to its mobile, broadband and video-on-demand offerings. In a stellar career with notable media companies including The Weather Channel, Yahoo! and DoubleClick, Beth has proven to be an outstanding leader with strong industry relationships.
Note: This interview is part of our “Three on Three” series in which we ask three executives the same three questions to uncover actionable insights.
Also in this series:
Q&A: Aaron Broder, CEO & Co-Founder Evolve Media, on Video Ad Innovation
SNS Telecom: mobile advertising forecast 2014-2020
Mobile advertising market is currently worth $21 billion in annual revenue globally, according to SNS Telecom. The outlet expects that by 2020 the tablet segment alone will generate $27 billion in revenue.
Click here to view the research item.
Content All Stars: Making the Most of the Media/Marketer Partnership
The most successful brands and media companies have one big thing in common: They know their customers and treasure the on-going relationship they have with them. They also both understand the power of content to connect with customers and offer them genuine value by engaging their passions, interests and concerns. Without doubt, the best content experiences arise when media and marketing teams work together to share knowledge about their audiences, insights about what’s worked and what hasn’t and are clear about goals and what’s achievable.
Recognizing the power of media and marketing teams is what we’re doing at our first ever Content All Stars event, which will be held in NYC’s Conrad Hotel September 18th. We are bringing together the best and the brightest from brands such as Red Bull, IBM and Goldman Sachs who will join media brands that include ESPN, Comedy Central, Vox Meda and The New York Times to explore this dynamic relationship by highlighting campaigns and partnerships that have pushed creativity and technologies, showcase novel perspectives from people outside our industry and tackle some current issues around trust and transparency that our industry is grappling with. Some of what we’ll cover:
The most successful brands and media companies have one big thing in common: They know their customers and treasure the on-going relationship they have with them. They also both understand the power of content to connect with customers and offer them genuine value by engaging their passions, interests and concerns. Without doubt, the best content experiences arise when media and marketing teams work together to share knowledge about their audiences, insights about what’s worked and what hasn’t and are clear about goals and what’s achievable.
Content and Customer Conversations
One-way messaging is so last-century. Today, content is a conversation with consumers and has the power to create meaningful and lasting connections. At Content All Stars, you’ll hear from Ann Rubin, VP of Branded Content and Global Creative, about how IBM transformed its ad campaigns into a collaboration with customers and truly transformed its marketing.
Data Drives Insights and Action
Data: Everybody’s doing it. But there are few who can elegantly illustrate how first-party data can actually move product off the shelves. Content All Stars features two of the smartest people in data—Vikram Somaya, GM of Weather FX and Bib Ivins, Chief Data officer of Mindshare—who will discuss their collaboration on turning customer insights into tangible marketing success.
Engaging Audiences: Essential, but not Easy
Attracting audiences is a challenge that media companies have faced since the Gutenberg press. Now that the digital media world is moving past a pure numbers game and wants not only audiences at scale, but truly-engaged audiences, it has never been more important. At Content All Stars, Bloomberg, ESPN and Refinery29 will reveal how they are not only attracting audiences, but interacting with them to create valuable audience-engagement.
Social Strategies that Deliver
Social Media has just got to be more than a mad scramble for friends and followers. At Content All Stars we’ll hear from Allison Kingsley, the VP of Digital Development at Comedy Central about how she takes a strategically social approach. And Channel Flip Media’s Managing Director Clare Tavernier will discuss how she factors social into her engagement strategy to drive quantifiable results.
… And we aren’t done lining up speakers yet. If you have a suggestion, email Michelle Manafy. Learn more about our keynotes or request an invitation. Check back for program updates.
We look forward to seeing you at Content All Stars!
TRUSTe 2014 US Consumer Confidence Privacy Report
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Q&A: Eric Korsh, SVP, Brand Social.Content, DigitasLBi on Content Marketing
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 Eric Korsh, SVP, Brand Social.Content, DigitasLBi on Content Marketing.
Q: How are you selecting partners to work with on content marketing? What is the ideal number of partners and way to purchase content marketing programs?
A: It’s nice to have a preferred set of partners, but of course most concepts require custom content, and you may not want comedy experts working on dramatic documentaries. So partners are developed broadly, but care is taken at the RFP stage to engage the right creators.
Because there are multiple ways to purchase content, including through media, brand marketing and public relations investment, there are multiple criteria depending on the objectives and measurement that may make one partner more interesting than another. Often, we find that niche partners can create the richest content – and we are able to achieve scale through other means. Other advantages to niche partnerships are the ability to deliver a more engaged, sometimes rabid audience, as well as willingness to create additional content that can amplify a program across multiple channels.
Q: What has been the most effective use case for content marketing and how did you prove success?
A: It’s hard to name single programs, but we have had a lot of success with millennial influencer programs that allow the right content creators to make things that they know will appeal to their organically-built audience. Brands that are comfortable with content coming from outside of the fortress have the most success with these kinds of efforts. We have run successful programs like this with Taco Bell’s “Feed the Beat” and Lenovo’s “Tough Season.”
In terms of success – we know what it will look like in advance because we align with the client. As noted earlier, there are media metrics, engagement and brand marketing metrics, so different tactics are used to drive the kinds of results that are meaningful in any individual case. Broadly speaking – we believe in authenticity. We ask ourselves, as consumers, why anyone would care about what it is we are creating, and why it would be shared.
Specifically, while content has proven to be effective at driving upper funnel awareness and consideration metrics, and lower level product or service use, we are seeing more cases of mid-funnel tactics. Bridges between pure entertainment and a hard sales pitch.
Q: What is the future of content marketing?
A: The future of content marketing is the future of marketing. Not forever, but the foreseeable future.
As Senior Vice President, Brand Social.Content for DigitasLBi, Eric leads the development of digital brand social, content strategy and execution for DigitasLBi clients. Clients include Harley-Davidson, Puma, Lenovo, Buick and GMC. Prior to DigitasLBi, Eric spent 25 years as a producer of episodic television, TV commercials, feature and documentary films, and music videos. He was formerly COO of Scout Productions.
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 gain perspective and uncover actionable insights.
Also in this series:
Q&A: Jason Deal, Managing Director Social Media Services Initiative US on Content Marketing.
Q&A: Daniele Kohen, Media Director Neo@Ogilvy West, on Content Marketing
Meet the OPA Content All Stars Keynotes: Soledad O’Brien, Jason Silva & Sarah Lewis
It is an exciting time here at the Online Publishers Association. Under the leadership of our new CEO, Jason Kint, we’re feeling renewed energy and enthusiasm for the digital media industry and the power of compelling content experiences. We are so happy to have an opportunity to celebrate the powerful collaboration between savvy marketers and trusted media brands at our new Content All Stars event September 18th at the Conrad Hotel in NYC.
We’ll deliver an all-star lineup of speakers to energize and engage attendees with their stories about the power of content to create trusted relationships with audiences, drive consumers to action and communicate what’s personal about brands. Read on to hear about three keynote speakers who are guaranteed to deliver insight and inspiration:
Soledad O’Brien was recently described as “a one-woman media storm,” O’Brien is an award-winning journalist, documentarian, news anchor, and producer. In June 2013 she launched Starfish Media Group, a multiplatform media production and distribution company dedicated to uncovering and producing empowering stories that take a challenging look at the often divisive issues of race, class, wealth, poverty and opportunity, through personal stories. O’Brien’s critically-acclaimed documentary series, Black in America and its follow-up, Latino in America, are among CNN’s most successful domestic and international franchises and she continues to produce Black in America for CNN. In addition, O’Brien is a correspondent for HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, and a Special Correspondent for Al Jazeera America Tonight. She is co-founder of the O’Brien Raymond Starfish Foundation, which focuses on providing disadvantaged women with a higher education.
Watch Soledad O’Brien on the Daily Show with John Stewart
Watch Jason Silva’s TEDGlobal talk on Radical Openness
Watch Sarah Lewis’ TED talk on Embracing the Near Win
If you’ve participated in an OPA event before, you know what to expect: A room filled with the brightest and most creative minds in digital media and marketing enjoying a day filled with conversations, presentations and debate about the tools and tactics that will drive the continued growth and success of the digital content industry. If this is your first opportunity to join an OPA event, request an invite now. Space is limited.