ALSO AROUND TIMES SQUARE…
Tore Tellefsen, VP TV Solutions, DataXu, on “Total Video and OTT for Premium Brands”: “We as an industry need to find a way to measure these new environments. It creates friction and doesn’t allow for dollars and media budgets to move where they need to go to. And it’s not always going to be delivering into OTT; there’s a place for legacy [platforms and advertising]. Ultimately the future vision, the hope, is where it’s not about impressions or GRPs; it’s how many units [you] want to sell to.”
Chris Vollmer, Global Entertainment and Media Advisory Leader, PwC, on “The Power of the Fan: How to Win Them (and Their Friends)”: “Aligning your franchise with a core audience is critical. A lot of this is about turning a casual user into someone who comes back. If you don’t turn them from a low-calorie consumer into someone who has a lot of investment, it can get expensive. You have to be very strategic about where you are, where you’re present, and what you’re offering the fans to connect back to.”
NOW HEAR THIS
Advertising isn’t just about the visuals, as Pandora CRO John Trimble explained to Cynopsis ahead of his Thursday panel, “Masters of Monetizing Content.” As he noted, the future belongs as much to the ears as the eyes, and finessing audiences and demographics requires a particular skill set that doesn’t necessarily correspond to traditional screen-based methods.
Why is this Advertising Week an important event for Pandora to participate in?
From our connected home and in-car strategies to new capabilities around the way brands can tap into our massive data-set to reach their audiences, the red thread is: audio. For Pandora, audio is more than just a media format or distribution channel. Audio is for everyone. Audio is pervasive. Audio is powerful.
What are some of the key trends you see in today’s marketplace?
There are several:
* Voice Is the New Touch… and It’s Here to Stay
People are increasingly turning to voice-activated devices (like Amazon Echo or Google Home) in moments where they would have used a screen in the past. For marketers, this lends a degree of urgency to the greater awareness that must now be given to sonic identity. Simply put, the sound of your brand has become just as important as its appearance.
* There’s Never Been a Better Time to Know Audio
Audio is a prominent part of our lives… and that’s not changing any time soon. This is prompting more marketers to lend greater focus to audiences that are cutting cords, always connected to mobile, and rarely out of earshot from digital audio – the so-called “earbud generation.”
* Connected Cars Will Transform the Way We Communicate and Consume Media
Digital media is an indispensable source of information and entertainment, no matter where we are. It also helps explain why the car is Pandora’s fastest growing platform, with monthly unique visitors jumping 64% in the last year. Our user growth from Apple CarPlay and Android Audio in particular (both newer technologies that display a driver’s smartphone apps on the dashboard) are growing at an even faster rate.
* Ad Length: It’s Not as Simple as Short and Sweet
We recently began testing audio ads to evaluate the impact and effectiveness of ads that span a variety of lengths. What we’re seeing with shorter audio ads is that they are exceedingly popular in younger demographics. In older demos, higher ad recall is attributed to 30-second spots, illustrating their continued relevance and value in the face of what is quickly becoming an obsession with shorter-form ads.
This interview was conducted via email and condensed for space and clarity.
NEWS YOU CAN USE
The “American Brand” continued to be a subject of discussion, and on Wednesday it came up in the “Red. White. And Blue?” special two-hour panel featuring participants including Mike Paul, President of Reputation Doctor, LLC; Rob Reilly, Global Creative Chairman of McCann Worldgroup; Scott Farrell, President of Global Corporate Communication at Golin, and Richard Edelman, President and CEO of Edelman. Reilly noted that the issue wasn’t so much the American brand, but American product: US brands need to enhance infrastructure, innovation and immigration issues in order to give brand USA a positive influence.
The news first alluded to in Wednesday’s panel with Ketchum Sports and Entertainment and The Weinstein Co. was made official on Thursday, as Ketchum announced a “first look” production and distribution agreement between its films division and Weinstein. The agreement will allow Ketchum clients to work directly with Weinstein’s directors and producers.
AWARD WINNING BROTHERS
Harvey Weinstein (who with his brother launched Miramax, Dimension Films and now The Weinstein Company) have received 537 Oscar nominations and won 82 Academy Awards.
“Corporations, when they get large enough, become chickenshit. Where are their balls?” – Malcolm Gladwell, while recording a live podcast of The Bill Simmons Podcast at AW.
Tomorrow we’ll look back at the week’s highlights and biggest news, plus a chat with The Weather Channel‘s SVP Programming, Nora Zimmett. Hope you enjoyed yourselves and picked up at least one slice of that free pizza!
