Robert Williams

CANNES – Consumers have a variety of ways to view video programming and listen to audio content, often at the same time as they keep their smartphones nearby while watching television. This behavior is challenging advertisers to measure not only if their advertising was seen or heard, but also if it captured the attention of […]

CANNES — People are dividing their time among more media channels and connected devices, pushing advertisers to demand better measurement of consumer behavior. The rapid growth in streaming, especially during the onset of the pandemic, heightened the need for a more universal media currency to help set the value of ad transactions. “There’s a number of […]

Millions of U.S. households are hooking up their televisions to the internet, opening up a chance to see a wider selection of programming from the growing number of connected TV apps. Those viewers expect to have a viewing experience that’s equal to or better than traditional television, though technical hiccups can still get in the […]

CANNES — Albertsons Cos. is the first grocer in the United States to collaborate with ad-tech company The Trade Desk on helping brands to better see the effect of digital advertising on customer sales. Albertsons Media Collective, the retail media arm of the grocery giant, will provide advertisers with insights and metrics to optimize their […]

CANNES — DIRECTV Advertising and Yahoo this month announced a strategic partnership that provides media buyers with an easier way to access addressable TV and streaming inventory. Their collaboration comes as spending on digital video advertising grows 26% to $49.2 billion this year, as estimated by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). “Yahoo is going to […]

CANNES  ̶  Omnicom Group announced collaborations with Walmart, Amazon, Kroger and Instacart as the agency seeks to help marketers with their advertising strategies in the growing field of retail media. “We are the first agency holding company that has a partnership with Walmart,” Megan Pagliuca, chief activation officer at Omnicom Media Group, said in this […]

CANNES – Consumers are gaining more tools to protect their privacy, challenging marketers to find other ways to improve the focus of their advertising campaigns. As tracking cookies and device identifiers lose their effectiveness, the context in which ads appear is regaining value as an indicator of audience characteristics. “We’re having to rethink targeting. I […]

CANNES — Media and marketing executives gathered this week at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity are discussing how advertising is changing as linear television, digital video and video games mingle on people’s electronic screens. “Finally, we’re seeing streaming and linear TV and gaming and other video coming together,” Dave Morgan, founder and chief […]

As ad-free streaming services like Netflix and Disney+ prepare to start selling advertising, they’ll have to balance the needs of advertisers who want to reach audiences and the needs of consumers who want a positive viewing experience. The growth in connected television (CTV) will hinge on its transformation into an ad-supported medium like traditional linear […]

GroupM launched an effort to create new standards for viewability and measurement of advertising that appears on connected television (CTV). The ad-buying giant, a unit of WPP, will have exclusive access to a new software tool that media-measurement firm iSpot.tv is developing to verify that commercials appear on streaming video. The test product, iSpot CTV […]

Consumers have more ways to watch video content as connected devices like smart TVs and mobile phones give them greater control over the viewing experience. This significant shift in their media consumption habits has challenged advertisers to improve their ability to manage cross-platform campaigns as traditional linear television and streaming video converge on people’s electronic […]

A growing variety of ecommerce sites are selling digital advertising, giving brands a chance to reach consumers as they research what they want to buy – and follow through with a purchase. “This really started in the retail media side of things … Amazon and other big players. They had tons of digital consumers coming […]

Connected television will provide the most significant video platform for advertisers with the growth of programmatic media buying. These automated transactions will depend on a variety of supporting technologies to help brands identify the households they want to reach while also respecting consumer privacy. For marketers to commit more of their media budgets to CTV, […]

A growing number of businesses are finding ways to monetize the visits to their websites by selling advertising. These companies include everything from major retail chains with millions of customers to smaller enterprises that serve niche markets. “We are continuously getting calls from retailers that are looking to advance their retail media offering,” Sherry Smith, […]

Advertising is becoming more transactional as a variety of technologies emerge to support a direct response from consumers as they watch television, use a social media app or scan a code with a smartphone camera. These media touchpoints are all opportunities for commerce. “Shoppable media is hot … that’s where a lot of the commerce […]

Radio throughout its history has provided a way for brands to reach a mass audience efficiently in their awareness campaigns. With the growth of streaming audio and on-demand programming like podcasts, marketers can engage listeners with ads that drive transactions. In that way, audio formats now reach all parts of the consumer purchase funnel. “Ad-supported […]

Online marketplaces like Amazon and retailers like Walmart are selling advertising space on their websites, parlaying their mass-market scope and deep troves of consumer data into targeted reach at scale. However, they’re not the only companies that can sell advertising. Travel sites, auto parts retailers, home-delivery services and smaller retailers also have an opportunity to […]

Millions of people are hooking up their TVs directly to the internet, giving advertisers a way to reach target audiences that’s similar to digital pinpointing. This delivery mechanism is significant in making the video ad marketplace more transparent to marketers and agencies. “Knowing what programs our audiences are really tuning into to allow us to […]

The dramatic shifts in people’s media consumption habits from linear television to streaming have led advertisers to demand more accurate viewership metrics. Comcast’s NBCUniversal has worked to provide marketers with that information, most recently in a “test-and-learn” project that included 66 advertisers. “For the first time, we’re able to actually get an understanding of true […]

More ecommerce sites are testing the value of their visitors to brands that are seeking to reach online consumers, especially at the lower parts of the purchase funnel. The commerce media market is growing and diversifying beyond retail media networks started by mass merchants like Amazon, Walmart and Target. “Across the board there’s a massive […]