Robert Andrews

CANNES — DirecTV is transforming beyond its satellite TV roots, now offering premium streaming services and leveraging data analytics to support advertisers. The company is seeing strong growth in its streaming product, DirecTV Stream, while maintaining its satellite business. In this fireside at Cannes Lions, attendees learned how DirecTV emphasizes customer-centric approaches and data collaboration with […]

CANNES — Celtra, Annalect and PXP (Fallon) executives highlighted AI’s growing role in streamlining creative workflows, from background removal to predictive asset generation. While AI tools are accelerating ideation and client approvals, panelists emphasized the continued importance of human creativity and craftsmanship. Challenges remain around image quality, talent protection, and IP ownership. Though AI adoption […]

CANNES — At a Beet.TV panel during Cannes Lions 2024, Snap executives emphasized the platform’s ability to recreate intimate shopping experiences with friends, leveraging AR capabilities and close social networks. They positioned Snapchat as a “third place” for users to connect authentically, creating opportunities for brands to become part of Gen Z’s social rituals and purchasing […]

Live TV events like sports and breaking news drive huge concurrent viewership spikes, representing great opportunities for advertisers to achieve broad reach. Now the programmatic advertising systems bidding for those ad slots in real-time are working to keep pace with that opportunity,. That is according to Alex Groysman, VP of advertising product development at Spectrum […]

AMENIA, NY — Cadent is hoping its proprietary Aperture Platform can help agencies solve the fragmentation between linear TV and digital advertising landscapes by threading together data with its viewer graph. The platform allows customers to look at different types of exposure and outcome data based on their specific business needs. “We’ve thread together the data […]

CANNES — CVS Media Exchange (CMX) is launching a new self-service offering in partnership with The Trade Desk, as it looks to solve key challenges for clients and push the industry forward through collaborative innovation. As the industry gathered in Cannes in June, the pair announced the pharmacy chain’s first-party data and loyalty program would power […]

CANNES — In a panel at the Global Leadership Summit, industry leaders discussed how AI is reshaping brand safety concerns, particularly around misinformation. While AI-powered tools can rapidly spread false content, they’re also being leveraged to detect and flag problematic material in real-time across social platforms. Lisa Utzschneider highlighted the importance of human oversight in […]

In an election year that is seeing two former presidents vying for the White House again, political advertising is still massive – but not growing at quite the same pace as before. Political polarization in American society is limiting the number of persuadable voters. And, although fundraising has grown, it is not expanding at the […]

CANNES — Charter’s Spectrum Reach is challenging perceptions about cable’s decline, leveraging a massive streaming inventory and local market dominance. The company’s EVP David Kline said that Spectrum Reach trails only Hulu in streaming impressions nationally, despite limited market coverage. With AI-powered creative solutions and granular targeting capabilities, Spectrum Reach says it is attracting both […]

CANNES — T-Mobile is aiming to capture a slice of retail media spending by  leveraging its own mobile network and customer base. The company has acquired a business that places screens in the back of rideshare vehicles and is also installing screens in its own 12,000 stores across the US. By connecting these screens to […]

CANNES — Connected TV advertising is maturing but still faces hurdles in scaling innovations across platforms. Panelists highlighted the need for more standardization to enable advertisers to deploy new ad formats broadly. While CTV offers improved targeting and engagement compared to linear TV, fragmentation remains an obstacle. Brands are pushing for faster development of capabilities that […]

The decade-long journey of programmatic advertising is being upended by the rise of connected TV (CTV), as the channel redefines the meaning of automation. That is according to Soo Jin Oh, Chief Strategy Officer of Comcast’s FreeWheel ad-tech unit, in this video interview with Beet.TV. “It’s definitely been a journey because programmatic has been around […]

CANNES — AI is enhancing video media buying through contextual targeting, creative generation, and brand safety controls, though challenges around transparency and testing remain. Panelists at Global Leadership Summit: All Things AI noted AI’s potential to predict audience intent, deliver real-time consumer insights, and tailor creative to brand guidelines. However, human oversight is still crucial as the […]

CANNES — Alternative ID solutions can deliver scale, accuracy and privacy compliance. While first-party data remains valuable, agencies are testing third-party identity providers to fill gaps and reach audiences across fragmented environments. The key is finding solutions that work for both advertisers and publishers while enabling performance measurement, as panelists at Beet.TV’s Global Leadership Summit: […]

CANNES — In a morning panel at the Global Leadership Summit: All Things AI, industry leaders discussed how AI is transforming creative automation in advertising. The conversation highlighted AI’s potential to personalize content, bridge gaps between creative and media teams, and optimize campaign performance. Topics included the importance of human input and control in AI-driven processes, […]

Connected TV (CTV) advertising is poised to have a breakout year in the 2024 U.S. political election cycle, with campaigns increasingly turning to the medium for its ability to provide targeted reach at scale. While the first half of the year saw most CTV ad buys coming through direct deals, programmatic buying is now surging […]

CANNES — The retail media space is heating up, with the topic taking center stage at this year’s Cannes Lions festival. Until recently, the category was mainly the focus of commerce-specific agency teams. But now executives from across the industry are leaning in to the opportunity, as they look to take advantage of its unique […]

CANNES — Marketers should focus on identity resolution as a foundational input for effective personalized campaigns, according to TransUnion’s Matt Spiegel. Speaking at an afternoon panel, he emphasized the importance of understanding audiences across fragmented channels to drive growth. While privacy concerns persist, Spiegel believes enhanced identity capabilities can coexist with responsible data practices, enabling […]

CANNES — Panelists discussed how streaming TV providers are adapting to changing viewer habits and advertiser needs. With cookie deprecation looming, TV companies are leveraging first-party data and developing attribution capabilities to offer more sophisticated targeting and measurement. The shift is transforming traditional distributors into data-driven solutions providers for marketers seeking performance across fragmented video landscapes. […]

CANNES — As the mobile advertising industry grapples with signal loss, the two dominant ecosystems are taking markedly different approaches, says Jon Hudson, SVP of Global Sales at Digital Turbine, in this video interview with Beet.TV. While Apple’s iOS operates as a closed system, Google’s Android is more open and flexible for partners. This has led […]