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A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM AMAZON FREEVEE
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Live from the NewFronts: Tuesday Edition
By Charlotte Dulany
Sharing the first Monday in May with the Met Gala across town, the NewFronts kicked off as advertising’s biggest night out, and continued today with big news from companies pushing the envelope with exciting ad innovations, measurement solutions and cutting-edge content.
NEW FOR NEWFRONTS 2023
“Last year’s upfront was heavy on multi-measurement usage but lighter on multi-currency usage,” noted VAB CEO Sean Cunningham. This year’s upfront will see multi-currency usage jump substantially, he predicted: “Building on what advertisers, agencies and publishers learned together about new and multiple cross-platform measurement options, many of those partners committed to the operational and strategic prep necessary to begin ‘normalizing’ multi-currency opinions – now.”
“If cash is king, flexibility is its queen,” said Samsung Ads’ Head of Sales and Brand in North America Michael Scott about what matters most in the current economic climate. Media buying can be transacted programmatically, offering up more flexibility on the buy side, and, in turn, buyers are asking for more flexibility in the planning stages. “Buyers will want to leverage first-party data in a consumer-first, privacy compliant execution,” Scott said. “Advertisers get the biggest impact when they focus on their audience by leveraging their first-party data to reach consumers accurately when and where they’re watching content.”
According to IRIS.TV, one thing’s for certain throughout the current season: agencies will be putting in parameters around utilizing video-level data in their deals with publishers. Sequentially, the sell-side will lean toward using video-level content datasets to determine the best possible contextual and brand-suitable environment for advertisers.
“I’d like you all to say hello to My AI,” said Snap President-Americas Rob Wilk during his NewFronts appearance. “From right inside the app, every single Snapchatter now has a new partner for curiosity, connection and endless utility.” Wilk demonstrated My AI’s capabilities, like generating a “heartfelt toast” and offering recommendations, and said the company has started testing sponsored links within conversations. “Our goal is simple, which is to connect with partners that can quickly solve a problem or just make their day a little easier.” Wilk assured the audience Snap will run safety checks across all sponsored links to detect any type of policy violations.
Technology company LoopMe has reached net zero for Scope 1-3 emissions, becoming a carbon-neutral advertising partner. The company reduced gross emissions per CPM delivered by 87% compared to 2021, and has done so seven years ahead of its initial target date. “We are extremely proud to announce that LoopMe is among the first wave of adtech companies to have dramatically reduced all gross emissions, thereby achieving our goal to become a carbon neutral company – and we accomplished this milestone years ahead of schedule,” said Stephen Upstone, CEO and founder of LoopMe.
At the SeeHer SheFront last week, executives discussed their commitment to increase the representation and accurate portrayal of women and girls across the media landscape. “You can’t write them correctly if you don’t have them in the room writing it,” said Claudia Chagui, SVP of marketing and creative at NBCUniversal Telemundo. It’s all about authenticity and visibility in storytelling, and “[building] things the right way instead of fixing them later,” according to Kartoon Weiss, TikTok head of global agency and accounts. Marc Pritchard, Chief Brand Officer of Procter & Gamble, said that stealing market share from competitors “is the dumbest way to grow. If you take market share, they’ll attack you. The best way to grow is to grow the entire market, make the market bigger.” And that can be achieved by more accurately reflecting women and minorities.
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A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM AMAZON FREEVEE
CTV
“CTV is on the cusp of becoming a performance medium,” said tvScientific Co-founder and CEO Jason Fairchild. With the evolution of TV buyers moving towards performance-based, Fairchild expects this year to be a game-changer. “Driven by thousands of net-new performance marketers moving from search and social into TV buying, competition for CTV supply will go up radically, resulting in higher CPMs,” he continued. “This change in liquidity and pricing will make it less attractive for major media companies to discount their media in upfronts.”
With connected TV, there is space for ads to serve as calls-to-action. Gijsbert Pols, director of CTV and new channels at Adjust, is excited about enabling clients to add products to their cart and kick off previews directly from an ad on a CTV device: “I believe we will be able to better engage inactive mobile app users through CTV advertising, given the stronger audio and visual appeal, and the natural potential for compelling storytelling.”
INTERACTIVE
NBCUniversal announced new ad innovations and premium content available on Peacock. With the new ad innovations, including Spotlight+, Marquee, Power Break and MustShopTV, the company plans to enable advertisers to better connect and interact with audiences. “We want our viewers to engage with brands that are valuable and relevant to them, which is exactly why our new ad innovations leverage our first-party data, shoppable capabilities and the scale of One Platform,” said Peter Blacker, EVP, Streaming & Data Products and Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Global Advertising and Partnerships, NBCUniversal. “Streaming started as a business that put consumers first, and we are committed to keeping it that way with content and experiences that audiences can only find on Peacock.”
Samsung has entered the digital-out-of-home space. Starting later this year, ads will appear within Samsung branded first-party DOOH inventory in premium high traffic locations in major US cities. “As the #1 global provider of digital signage solutions and a leader in CTV advertising, expanding into DOOH advertising is a natural next step for Samsung Ads,” said Cathy Oh, Vice President, Global Head of Marketing, Samsung Ads. “It allows Samsung to harness the power of the two mediums to empower connections between brands and consumers in an ever-evolving industry.” Samsung also teased opportunities for more interactivity with CTV ads, set to launch later this year.
NOTABLE QUOTES
“At the end of the day, Black women hold this country up.” Sheereen Russell, EVP, Ad Sales and Inclusive Content Monetization at WBD, at the SeeHer SheFront
“Digital out-of-home and retail media networks seem to be seeing incredible growth in the media landscape and being discussed alongside major media allocations like TV/video, social, etc.” – Darren Olive, President, Advertising Sales at Crackle Plus Redbox.
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A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM AMAZON FREEVEE
CONTENT
In a star-studded display, Amazon unveiled new capabilities across streaming, live sports and ad tech. Tracee Ellis Ross, James Marsden, Marcus Mumford, T-Pain, JJ Redick and more celebrity guests hosted the night dedicated to “advertising for advertising,” said Trevor Noah in a pre-recorded video. Reaching an average monthly US audience of 155 million across Amazon ad-supported streaming, including Amazon Freevee, Thursday Night Football, Twitch, Fire TV and third-party apps, the company announced further expansion in response to current content cravings. New originals such as “Mock the Week,” “The Goat” and “Justice on Trial” are scheduled to debut in 2024.
MECENAS Media has expanded its portfolio with the launch of two new platforms: STARPICKS and GAMERGY. The former is a personalized advertising-powered content streaming platform curated by personal preference. GAMERGY, a multicultural esports and gaming festival founded by Spain’s GGTECH Entertainment, already has a strong presence in Spain, Mexico and Argentina. “The addition of STARPICKS and GAMERGY to our portfolio not only expands our footprint across more mediums around untapped fertile territory; it also demonstrates our commitment to pushing the multicultural envelope further out than pretty much anyone out there,” said MECENAS Media CEO Emiliano Saccone.
Conan O’Brien scored his first 24/7 FAST channel, on Samsung TV Plus. The channel will feature the O’Brien’s most memorable interviews with celebrities, and fan fave segments like “Triumph the Insult Dog” and “Clueless Gamer.” “We are in a golden era of content creation and Samsung TV Plus is fiercely committed to staying at the cutting edge of the premium programming that consumers want,” said Salek Brodsky, SVP & GM of Samsung TV Plus. Plus, said O’Brien in a recorded message, “It’s free. That’s right, it’s free. And what’s free anymore?!”
DATA & MEASUREMENT
Samsung Ads announced TV and You, designed to provide advertisers, marketers and publishers with granular data about a consumer’s TV consumption. The system uses audio ACR technology to measure holistic TV content consumption of individual viewers within Samsung households.
Amazon has partnered with VideoAmp and iSpot as streaming TV measurement providers. Under the deal, advertisers will now be able to use these solutions to measure cross-screen impressions and reach, including out-of-home and local stations. Also at the company, Amazon Marketing Cloud, a secure clean room where advertisers can combine inputs with Amazon signals to paint a full picture of customer journeys across channels and buying stages, is launching worldwide. “Advertisers are navigating a myriad of challenges—media fragmentation, ad identifier loss, incomplete insights, measurement complexity. At Amazon, we’re inventing solutions rooted in our differentiated content, insights, and capabilities to help brands easily reach the right audiences and accurately measure outcomes—all within a single ad buy,” said Colleen Aubrey, SVP of Ad Products and Tech, Amazon Ads.
Here are a few high-level data points brought up at this week’s presentations so far:
* U.S. digital video ad spend grew twice as fast as overall digital media last year (+21% vs. 11% overall), and it’s projected to hit $55.2B in 2023.
* 85% of U.S. households now have at least one CTV device that is being used on a monthly basis—up from 80% in 2020.
* 64% of TV/video buyers say social video is a must-buy.
* 64% of TV/video buyers agree that creator-driven video can be premium.
* 81% of TV/video buyers say they want two or more unified currencies for impression measurement, and among those, 92% said that must happen in the next two years.
TV/video buyers are increasingly paying serious attention to attention metrics, with more than nine in ten (93%) using at least one method to gauge consumer attention.
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A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM AMAZON FREEVEE
SHOPPABLE TV
Amazon Live announced it will produce shoppable livestream content with publishers and media brands. Consumers will be able to shop live while watching exclusive content from Sean “Diddy” Combs’ REVOLT.
Samsung Ads’ recent partnership with Clinch enables QR code ad creative using a tag-based solution. At Tuesday morning’s presentation, Samsung also announced a new partnership with KERV to bring AI-powered shoppable creative experiences to its platform. Under the deal, shoppable CTV ads plan to encourage viewers to connect with brands via mobile devices in a leaned back environment. “With KERV’s real-time ad interactivity and shoppability, we are unlocking new possibilities, collapsing the funnel, and delivering real business outcomes for our publisher partners,” said Jay Wolff, CRO of KERV Interactive. “Our best-in-class, AI-driven video platform, combined with Samsung’s innovative approach to advertising, will enable brands to connect with their audiences in new and more meaningful ways.”
SEEN & OVERHEARD
Amazon offered themed drinks and bites related to their content platforms – think fried chicken and pretzel bites for TNF.
Actress, producer and Pattern CEO Tracee Ellis Ross said that traditional marketing is about making someone feel bad so that they buy something. “I think when people feel good, they really buy the thing, that’s the way I shop,” she said.
Following YouTube’s presentation about “AI and the Future of Creative Transformation” on Monday, two attendees agreed, “It’s all about shorts.”
Marcus Mumford closed out the Amazon NewFront with a solo acapella performance of “Look At Us Now (Honeycomb)” from Amazon Original series “Daisy Jones and the Six.”
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