CYNOPSIS Backstage at Advertising Week
09/28/15 Question: What did 95,000 media professionals have in common today?
Answer: They assembled in New York to attend the 12th annual Advertising Week, which draws from the brand, agency, technology, startup, media, and broader cultural communities to focus on key conversations designed to drive business forward. From today through Oct. 1st, attendees will have their pick of 290 events, including 245 seminars and workshops.
The Times Square scene was crowded, with long lines waiting to get into the panels at all the venues. But it was a great place to meet new people and catch up with old friends, as well as get the 30,000 foot view of what’s going on in the media landscape.
DECIPHERING PROGRAMMATIC
One of this year’s key buzzwords, “programmatic,” is becoming an integral part of the marketing and data mix. But what does the future hold, and how will it deliver on the promise of efficiency? We caught up with to Elizabeth Harz, President Media, Adara, who moderated Monday morning’s “Programmatic 3.0: The Data Awakens” panel.
Everyone’s talking about it, but can you provide a quick definition of “programmatic”?
Programmatic has become a catch phrase for many things, from data strategy to the tech stack that enables programmatic buying, but fundamentally, programmatic is the automation of the buying and selling of media.
Programmatic is expected to account for 63% of U.S. digital display ad spending by 2016, therefore marketers need to understand this trend and figure out how to leverage it.
What do you think is the biggest misconception about this topic?
That programmatic is a channel vs. the automation of all of the channels that make up the media business.
For fun: if you could have a superpower, what would it be?
PANEL POINTS
Asked what programmatic 3.0 entails, Mark Zagorski CEO, eXelate, said it’s about “connectivity,” working to make sure that messages get to every consumer across every device
PUT ‘ER THERE
What impression do you make when you shake hands? Visit HandshakeTester.com on your phone to find out. Created by Minneapolis agency Colle+McVoy as a special app for Advertising Week, it lets you shake a virtual hand, and analyzes your grip. Possible results include The Politician (“looks like someone is lobbying for a great impression”), The Clams Casino (“towel off and try again”), and The Heat Seeker (“target acquired, target greeted.”)
IN THE BEGINNING
Cynopsis spoke with Matt Scheckner, CEO, Advertising Week and Stillwell Partners, about the event’s backstory and what makes it unique among industry confabs.
How did Advertising Week start?
My history with it goes back to the summer of 2002 when I got a phone call from a the office of Ken Kaess, who was Chairman of the American Association of Advertising Agencies, and Global Chairman/CEO of DDB Worldwide. Ken was looking for a big idea to try to move the needle on a lot of big issues facing the industry.
We were on the precipice of a lot of technological and cultural change, and were looking for some sort of new platform that could bring together all the disparate parts of the industry to help pave the way forward from a thought leadership vantage point. A singular, galvanizing event that would lift the morale of the industry and that would unite young people and senior people.
How has the event evolved since the first Advertising Week in 2004?
One of the things that have really worked nicely for us is that there is no singular theme. That enables us to put together a program that’s a combination of finger-on-the-pulse issues, what’s hot at the time, [which this year includes] data, politics, local, social awareness, health and wellness, connecting to millenials, the future of video and cross-screen, mobile, and demystifying programmatic, to name just a few. As everyone is trying to figure out the way forward, Advertising Week, as much as anything else, helps pave the way.
What advice/tips would you give to someone who was attending Advertising Week for the first time?
I think you need to go in with a game plan. Advertising Week provides a real opportunity to become engaged, enlightened, educated, and entertained. It’s like getting to go to college for this industry, four years in four days.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“2016 will be the year of programmatic mobile.” – Jeremy Randol VP Programmatic Sales Strategy, Pandora
TOMORROW AT AW
A look at “Seizing the Mobile Moment,” “Content in the New Age of Distribution,” “The New World of Advertising: TV With Cultural C red,” and more!!!
By Rod Granger
Roberta Caploe: Associate Publisher @robertacaploe
Diane K Schwartz: Senior Vice President, Media Communications Group
Cynopsis Ad Sales: Mike Farina | VP, Sales | 203-218-6480
Cynopsis Job Listings Sales: Trish Pihonak | Director of Operations | 203-899-8459
Copyright Cynopsis 2015
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