Steve Ellwanger

Bringing linear television into the cross-channel, people-centric marketing world requires not only the mining of a plethora of consumer data but an entirely different mindset when it comes to the role of TV in the media mix. This is one reason why former New York Times digital veteran Michael Zimbalist believes that the way TV […]

MIAMI – As it continues the global rollout of its digital advertising viewability standards, to combat bot fraud GroupM would like to add a new measurement metric to the mix: CPH (Cost Per Human). Adopting CPH requires recalculating digital audiences after stripping out bot and fraud exposures, says Phil Cowdell, CEO of GroupM media agency […]

The original concept of addressable television dating to the late 1970’s, that of a huge, siloed offering and accompanying multi-billion-dollar infrastructure, is far from the current working reality. “You don’t have to change the ad at every TV and every set-top box to deliver a massively improved and measureable ad,” says Dave Morgan, CEO and […]

MIAMI – With programmatic buying of outdoor and radio on the horizon—and addressable television in the not-too-distant future—media agencies like Maxus welcome a shift of emphasis from efficiency to efficacy. Such a transition puts creativity front and center in what until now has been largely a technological arms race to harness automation. “As an agency, […]

MIAMI – Anecdotal evidence of high turnover among younger workers at advertising and media agencies met the harsh reality of research conducted by LinkedIn and The American Association of Advertising Agencies, and the data paint a stark picture for the advertising world. During a session at the annual Transformation conference of the Four A’s, it […]

MIAMI – Screens are screens and platforms are platforms, but they are worthless without great creative ideas, according to the agency that gave the world Steven Tyler screeching for Skittles and the music-driven Jeep “4X4ever” spots during this year’s Super Bowl. Having run Internet advertising agency Tribal Worldwide back in the day, DDB Chicago CEO […]

MIAMI – As it prepares to roll out a new generation of cross-device consumer targeting data generated by smart televisions, data management platform Lotame sums up the world of data in two words: portability and real time. Amid the transition from cookie-centric targeting to the world of mobile devices, tablets, video, unique identifiers, offline purchases and […]

MIAMI – As a veteran of the print publishing industry—with legacy era stints at Fairchild Publications and Ziff Davis—Matt Sweeney of Xaxis sees the rise of more data-driven media buys raising ad prices for today’s digital publishers who create valuable content. Xaxis is currently doing “a lot” of upfront deals for premium publisher inventory, something […]

MIAMI – A recent study that Starcom Mediavest Group conducted with Twitter and Canvas shows a 48% lift in brand recall for ads appearing in television programming that viewers relate to emotionally and that prompts them to tweet while watching. It’s one of the most recent insights from Starcom’s three-year relationship with Twitter to learn […]

MIAMI – The increasing availability of data that help to more fully inform marketers about the consumer journey to purchase is helping agencies to better communicate their value to clients and could advance compensation industry schemes toward more pay for performance. Still, there remains the eternal juggling act between the expectations of client marketing teams […]

MIAMI – Short attention spans among people engaging with video ads on social media platforms requires more focus on developing short-form creative instead of repackaging traditional 30-second spots, says GroupM’s Chief Digital Officer, Rob Norman. He suggests it’s time to start thinking about 10-second commercials “made for their own integrity” as opposed to trimming traditional […]

MIAMI – Accuen, Omnicom’s programmatic agency, sees the future of programmatic media buying involving more direct relationships between advertisers/agencies and publishers—a trend that will be hastened by header bidding. As it turns out, the industry had to go forward before going backward, starting with manual buying, according to Megan Pagliuca, Accuen’s Global CEO. Then came […]

MIAMI – With more than 60% of video viewing now being done on various digital devices other than desktop and laptop computers, there’s an urgent need to unify cross-screen measurement to maximize the full potential of premium video. A recent report by FreeWheel highlights in particular the rapid growth of live video (simulcasts and live […]

MIAMI – Demand-side platform The Trade Desk believes it’s time for the advertising and media industries to hit rewind on the complicated subject of programmatic buying, so it’s launched an e-learning and certification program with an initial 15 hours of content. According to Meredith Hall, GM Learning and Development at The Trade Desk, it’s critical […]

MIAMI – Less than six months into his role as CEO of North America for GroupM, Brian Lesser offers this vision of the future of media: it all will be digital in nature and bought programmatically. “That doesn’t necessarily mean the programmatic that we know and understand today,” Lesser says during a break at the […]

The increased popularity of header bidding has spawned an outgrowth of header partners for publishers along with new container solutions, introducing complexity that can lead to heavy pages and slow loads—negatives for user experience. OpenX is hoping to tidy up the multiple header partner playing field with its Meta solution, according to Qasim Saifee, the […]

MIAMI – Demand-side platform The Trade Desk is gearing up to execute truly linear programmatic television buys in the coming months as the result of its partnership with WideOrbit. “Everything in programmatic to date has been just a dress rehearsal for TV,” Meredith Hall, GM of Learning & Development at The Trade Desk, said during […]

With somewhere between 20% and 30% of all television content now being delivered in an addressable manner, Viacom predicts some organic growth in the next several years but not rapid acceleration without big technology advances from newer players. This prognosis is offered by Kern Schireson, EVP, Data Strategy and Consumer Intelligence, Viacom Media Networks, which […]

Nielsen’s acquisition of strategic partner Pointlogic lays the groundwork for the ratings company’s global rollout of solutions for audience planning across all screens for reach, frequency and impact. “This will be a huge year for the execution and launch of our Total Audience measurement product suite, which will be unfurled between our Total Content ratings […]

Having rushed to the bottom of the funnel when the agency first executed addressable television ads, Publicis Groupe’s Starcom MediaVest Group has been mining the upper funnel of late and finding potential for marketers beyond autos and financial services. Experience at the bottom of the funnel proved that TV drives actual sales, according to Tracey […]