MIAMI – Whether the subject is Nielsen ratings, video on demand or addressable television advertising, communications giant Comcast is all about the “macro experience” for consumers and advertisers. This holistic approach to the rapidly evolving entertainment landscape comes across loud and clear from Kevin Patrick Smith in a panel discussion at the recent Beet.TV Retreat 2016.
Prompted by panel moderator Ashley J. Swartz, CEO and Founder of Furious Corp., to reflect on the transformation of Comcast over the last several years, Smith, who is SVP of Comcast Media 360, invokes the fictional Philadelphia-based company Kabletown.
“When you look at the legacy cable company created by Ralph Roberts, which was parodied on a show called 30 Rock, which is on a network we owned, and you look at where it is today, the way we look at it is in the eyes of the customer and certainly the advertiser,” Smith says.
He goes on to cite the “radical evolution of measurement” from C3 and its innumerable permutations along with the many choices consumers have for viewing video content. “I think it’s constantly evolving, but the one thing that we really do focus on and we have to be cause it’s competitive is the consumer experience,” says Smith.
When he mentions addressable TV advertising, Smith puts it into a larger perspective. “I’m so glad you’re taking this beyond just addressable,” Smith says. “I think addressable is a tactic. It’s part of a plan. It’s evolving. We’re all learning.”
While specialist companies like GroupM’s Modi Media are “very advanced” in the addressable TV space, “others are getting up to par,” according to Smith.
He then acknowledges the benefits of addressable TV for providing more accountability for advertising spending, in the process offering a caveat that’s close to home at Comcast.
“And for us, we want to do that,” Smith says of addressable. “But we’re a big advertiser. We spend a significant amount of money. So we want to use it too. But it’s all in the context of our overall media plan and the tactics that we deploy.”
This interview was conducted at Beet Retreat 2016: The Transformation of Television Advertising, an executive retreat presented by Videology with AT&T AdWorks and the 605. Please find more videos from the event here.
