CTV

Is investing in the power of CTV the future? “We’re using CTV to find those hard-to-reach audiences, people who are moving now outside of broadcast, or bouncing around between broadcast cable and CTV,” said Walt Horstman, SVP of advanced media and advertising at TiVo.

“We have meaningfully arrived,” said Ryan Spicer, chief revenue officer at Atmosphere, an alternative to cable TV that has experienced rapid growth over recent years. While the CTV ecosystem was previously limited to the walled living room, Atmosphere is working to expand its capabilities and reach, and to bring CTV to new locations. At over 44,000 venues currently, Spicer predicts that in a few months that number will grow to over 50,000 with more variety, optionality and choices for marketers to reach consumers.

PRIVACY

One-to-one marketing without creeping out consumers continues to evolve. And as customer expectations grow, tech companies are in the market for stronger ways to activate data to power personalization for a custom digitized experience. The challenge is how to maintain transparency with privacy protection. Martin Kihn, SVP of product strategy at Salesforce, called this the “privacy paradox,” occurring when consumers are bad at opting in, there’s an overestimate of the amount of data, and an underestimate of the value of opting in. He credited addressability and accountability as the foundation of brand trust to counteract the paradox. Ads should, ideally, blend organically into the experience, according to Kihn. Without targeting, Kihn joked that the ad experience is like “sitting in your pajamas late at night, surfing through channels and not finding anything of remote interest.”

Want proof of the effectiveness of personalization? Tubi had a line of people wrapped around the venue waiting for customized, monogrammed keychains and notebooks. In fact, customization has become part of the product: This past spring, the ad-supported platform announced its “Content Clusters,” which can match audience and context with the power of digital.

WHAT IS THE METAVERSE?

A new, virtual landscape on marketers’ minds has been met with many questions. Bianca Bradford, director and head of agency of North America at Meta, is an expert on the technology that is transforming the media canvas: “This is allowing for even more creativity in many more fashions that the mind can’t even imagine at this point,” she said. Luke Hurd, mixed reality experience designer, speaker and consultant at VMLY&R, called the technology “your next superpower.”

Plans for the tech expansion have invaded the culture. Supermodel Coco Rocha said at a Meta creator panel, “For those in the fashion space this is our world. The metaverse will be amazing… Think of haute couture, which is one-of-a-kind pieces in fashion, traditional fashion. That is an NFT. That will be my avatar, wearing a one-of-a-kind piece that I can actually buy and maybe even create.”

THE COOKIE

In the cookiepocolypse, marketers are suffering through an ‘identity crisis.’ For browsers like Chrome, Salesforce’s Martin Kihn called this “the longest death scene in history,” with other platforms like Safari in the grave. The deprecation of the default proxy for identity is under construction, soon to be replaced by the traditional form of connection: humans IRL. It’s all contingent on how the right technology can enable the best customer experience with authentication, value awareness and consent.

Rich Sobel, co-founder of Clean Room Primer Group, and founder and CEO of Marcato Solutions, said, “Despite all the technology, all the data, all of the algorithms and data science, advertising is still a communications industry.” On the value of in-person connection, he observed this sometimes “allows for creative, ad hoc ideation that leads to better work.”

STORYTELLING

Who holds the control? The one with the best story, according to bestselling author Deepak Chopra. “People don’t buy products or services, they buy stories,” said Chopra, who put the spotlight on the visionaries who “take us beyond the ordinary.” To reach what Chopra called a “critical mass of consciousness,” Chopra brought up representation and stories that can resonate with everyone. Understanding an audience and a company’s position in the ecosystem are key components of the current Age of Impact that the industry has been marinating in.

It matters who sees themselves in the stories told, too. The ones that stick are a combination of both “moving and memorable,” according to Ty Heath, director of market engagement with The B2B Institute at LinkedIn. This is something that advertisers should think of as a compass and not as an afterthought, according to BBDO’s Chief DEI Officer Jason Rosario. He said, “It starts with intentionality.” On the flip side, when representation is forced, it’s obvious to viewers and there is danger in diluting the story. “Marketers are in the memory business,” said Heath, and consumers process stories rather than logic. In 2022, the door is wide open for comprehensive conversations around inclusion.

MOVING FORWARD

How can marketers move forward in a world of constant disruption? For Nicolle Pangis, most of her time as CEO of Ampersand has withstood turbulence from the pandemic and national economic instability. “Particularly in times of instability, as a leader you have to have a steady hand on the wheel,” she said. “The goals of the company, even during difficult times, do not change.” It’s about adapting with intentionality to unexpected moving parts, and matching constant change with constant communication.

Pangis differentiated between the importance of evolution versus revolution. Ampersand’s focus is on the small steps to take with clients to progress and drive seamless integrations between the buy- and sell-sides. “Brands and agencies need their dollars and their people to work harder and more efficiently,” she said. Moving the industry forward is not always a “sexy headline,” but getting boots on the ground to make money flow into the TV ecosystem easier.

A FEMALE-LED FUTURE

In a so-called “sea of sameness,” it takes connecting the dots between brands, creativity and strategy to break through. Companies constantly have to push the envelope to avoid going stale, and challenging the status quo is reliant on message, channel, goal and timing, according to Laura Troy, director of social media in the US and Canada at Marriott International.

Darla Price, president of DDB New York, called empathetic leadership “the new inclusion.”

“Marketing is culture, now more than ever.” In a discussion on leveraging emotional intelligence to drive brand growth, Microsoft Chief Brand Officer Kathleen Hall said that emotion is universal, and is essential for cultural connection. Seth Matlins, managing director at Forbes CMO Network, said, “If you can make them feel, feel, feel, you will help to sell, sell, sell…”

TECH BITES

YouTube is embracing audio ads as it expands into podcast territory. The platform first introduced the feature two years ago on Google Ads and Display & Video 260 for users who stream podcasts and music on their platform. Advertisers will now be able to target listeners based on genre – including news, society and culture, comedy and sports.

Claravine launched new integrations with Google Ads, Snapchat Ads and Pinterest Ads Manager to improve naming compliance, metadata capture and enrichment. In response to the demand for measurement solutions, the data company will expand its ad integration library to ensure compatibility with other platforms. Claravine Chief Product Officer Chris Comstock said, “One of our main objectives is to help marketing and advertising teams understand there is a better way to collaborate on data than the old and current way of using excel.” He added that this industry-wide change will require “much more collaboration and understanding of metadata.”

OVERSEEN & OVERHEARD

Audacy live-painted a mural as AW NY attendees walked through The Market Line… Bags overflowed with complimentary drinks, candy and edible cookie dough… Sweaters came on and off… Impromptu conversations started on the stairs… and everyone seemed to be carrying a branded water bottle. Here are some lines we overheard:

“It’s so refreshing to see people who are in power that understand the next generation of consumers and what’s happening right now. People that get it,” said Josh Glodoveza, VP of talent at Fanjoy, on his first experience at Advertising Week.

Jim Lanzone, CEO of Yahoo, called Advertising Week “business coachella.”

“We were all stuck behind our Zoom screens for so long, and getting to have conversations with colleagues will accelerate innovation,” said Katina Papas-Wachter, head of ad strategy at The Roku Channel.

“If an ad is showing a mom supporting kids on the sideline but she’s not shown being a Little League coach, what is that saying about their involvement in sports? Representation in ads matters,” said Traci Siegelman, VP of global media at Mastercard.