This year at Mediaweek, a three-day hybrid conference in NYC, marketers gathered to discuss how to use emerging channels and formats, ways to solve for the audience identity conundrum, and ideas for safeguarding consumer privacy. But the conference was about much more than talk. We were able to hear from leaders who shared real-world applications of new technologies and strategies. Some of the most interesting subjects were:
Activating Web 3.0
Innovative data strategies
Solving for currency
The path of programmatic and linear addressable
Balancing DEI with automation
Activating Web 3.0
Our view: While opinions vary on the timeline of Web 3.0 and what form it will take, now is a good time for brands to start testing and learning. It’s unlikely that a metaverse or NFT activation will drive brand objectives on its own right now, but there is big potential PR value and the opportunity to find out what connects with your audience while the cost to do so is still relatively low. For more information, contact: danielz@quigleysimpson.com
Macy’s SVP of Media & Site Merchandising, Anne Dunn O’Connell, walked us through how a 100-year-old brand could take a relevant role in the world of NFTs. The company minted a selection of NFTs that corresponded to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. All of the 9,500 free NFTs were claimed within an hour. Over 4,500 were sold on secondary marketplaces, generating revenue for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The activation also generated over a half-billion earned media impressions.
For brands looking to move into the NFT space, Anne recommended bringing together all the teams involved early—including people outside the marketing department. One of the big challenges she faced was finding a way for the legal team to manage smart contracts that would regulate a perpetual giving arrangement for Make-A-Wish. Anne said it’s also important for brands to lean in where they have credibility, rather than trying to force themselves into the NFT community. Macy’s was able to capitalize on the fact their Thanksgiving Day Parade has always reflected new ideas in pop culture.
Samsung Electronics America Chief Marketing Officer, Michelle Crossan-Matos, and National Football League’s Senior Vice President, Consumer Products, Joe Ruggiero, both discussed recent metaverse activations. Though Samsung and the NFL are two very different brands, the goals for joining the metaverse were the same: PR buzz, connecting with younger audiences, and being established in the space early.
For Michelle, the metaverse meant taking a departure from a traditional marketing mindset. “The metaverse opens up opportunities to move beyond storytelling. It invites a brand audience to live within the story and co-create virtual environments, avatars, and experiences.”
Joe focused on the importance of putting the audience above technology. “Doing something for the sake of doing something is not going to deliver long-term value for your audience or fans. Lead with what will drive value for your fans.” For Joe, this meant using the metaverse to build on existing events. As the technology becomes more mainstream, he believes the focus will be using it to enhance experiences that already exist in the physical world.
When it comes to getting started with an activation, both Michelle and Joe emphasized the importance of first personally spending time in the metaverse to truly understand the technology. Audience research was also key—taking time to understand what your audience really wants to do in the metaverse and their level of understanding. Michelle and Joe recommended testing and learning as much as possible. But they cautioned not to overthink and wait too long to activate. Joe said, “The value of sitting on the sidelines is not that high. There’s a value in getting started…You can’t go away for a year, come up with the perfect pitch, and know it’s going to work.”
Innovative data strategies
Our view: As cookies and other third-party identifiers go away, marketers need to become smarter about how they collect and use data. Data should really be thought of as a part of the creative process, with strategists and analysts taking part in campaign development at every step. For more information, contact: danielz@quigleysimpson.com
Liz DeAngelis, VP, Growth & Managed Platforms, Ad Council, discussed how the organization used attitudinal versus demographic targeting to reach vaccine-hesitant Americans in a recent public service campaign. The goal was not to target people who had already been vaccinated, or were never going to get vaccinated, but to reach those who were holding back for various reasons. At first, her team used historical data but soon discovered, “What we think we know about people and what is actually true are often two very different things.”
The solution was layering on attitudinal segments from Engine. This allowed large audiences to be broken down into smaller, related groups that could be reached with specific messages using CTV. “There is unleveraged power in self-reported data, especially when it comes to attitudes and beliefs,” Liz said.
Because opinions about vaccines were constantly changing, the campaign included robust social listening and continual optimization. In the end, the Ad Council’s “It’s Up to You” campaign became their most successful effort to date.
Pepsi has also been moving past broad-based demographic data models and focusing on more contextual, psychographic marketing. Mark Risis, VP Strategy & Global Data Ecosystem, said the brand is now looking at data as an appreciating asset versus a cost center across the organization. “It’s an enterprise commitment, not just a media or marketing commitment,” he said.
Like many companies, Pepsi has been focused on accelerating the volume and quality of its first-party data. Senior Vice President, Global Media and Commercial Capabilities, Shyam Venugopal, said the key to convincing customers to share data is providing a strong value exchange with transparency about how their information is being used. One of the cases he pointed out was Mountain Dew Cake Smash, which allowed customers the possibility of getting a “do over” of an important event they missed in 2020 in exchange for joining the program.
Both Mark and Shyam emphasized the importance of focusing on talent as well as technology—having innovative people who can make sense of the data and come up with new ways to use it to drive brand objectives.
Solving for currency
Our view: As we move away from one or two dominant measurement solutions, we have an opportunity to become better marketers—embracing solutions that put the consumer at the center and help rebuild trust. For more information, contact: JaredV@QuigleySimpson.com
While there is no clear, universally agreed-upon solution for measurement, many leaders are starting to agree on a framework of what’s needed. Most would like to see more collaboration and a range of options, versus a single, leading source and walled gardens.
Kelly Abcarian, Executive Vice President of Measurement and Impact at NBCUniversal Advertising and Partnerships, believes “measurement is a team sport.” Andrea Zapata, Executive Vice President of Research, Data, and Insights at WarnerMedia, echoed this sentiment and called for a marketplace-unified effort versus a competitive environment.
Both leaders also agree that real-time measurement reflects the true viewing of the audience. Kelly believes this is especially important for live events and sports programming. “Because you can measure second by second…it allows you to connect the advertising to the emotion.” In three years’ time, Andrea sees real-time data informing ethicacy. “The end goal is to get to the KPIs that are at the heart of our advertisers versus just reaching people,” she said.
Many panelists at Mediaweek see a future with multiple measurement solutions, versus one or two dominant leaders. Andrea believes that as the marketplace moves toward more data-driven methods, choice and diversification of measurement models will be key. Jo Kinsella, President of TVSquared by Innovid, said, “Being dependent on a single currency is not the most transparent way to go.” She is focused on a solution that’s “broader than currency” with measurement and outcomes delivered by “currency-grade analytics.” Zvika Netter, CEO & Co-Founder of Innovid, believes any solution needs to provide a holistic view. “Digital-only, or linear-only, solutions won’t work,” he said.
The path of programmatic and linear addressable
Our view: Programmatic advertising can be a smarter way to buy versus traditional methods. Rather than buying directly from publishers, programmatic advertising replaces human negotiations with machine learning and AI optimization. For more information, contact: ArtB@QuigleySimpson.com
With the growth of both programmatic and linear addressable, brands have more opportunities than ever to reach their audiences. The key will be giving advertisers easier access to content.
Lisa Valentino, EVP, Client Solutions & Addressable Enablement, Disney Advertising Sales, said that the company is aiming to have programmatic account for 50% of addressable linear sales in two years. For that reason, Disney is moving toward more automation with a self-service platform. “There are not enough people you can continue to throw at a business that’s scaling so quickly,” she said. To give buyers better access to premium content, especially live event moments, Lisa said that Disney will be focusing on private marketplaces.
Andrew Goode, EVP, Managing Director, Havas Media Group, and Mike Venables, Managing Director, Head of Media, US Brand Advertising & Experiential Marketing at Citi, both expressed that lack of access to premium content and concerns about brand safety were their two biggest issues when thinking about programmatic buying. “The benefits of programmatic CTV can quickly be outweighed by the risks of not having the rigor in place for managing brand safety and content quality,” Andrew said.
Julian Zilberbrand, Executive Vice President, Advanced Media, Paramount, believes that as the market moves to be more data-driven across platforms, there are more opportunities for linear. “Linear addressable and CTV are not mutually exclusive, they work well together,” he said. But he cautioned that it’s important to have creative flexibility so that brands can make full use of the 1:1 nature of linear addressable.
Balancing DEI with automation
Our view: Avoiding bias means DEI initiatives that influence every part of a campaign, not just the final creative. That includes staffing, executive management, data collection, and data analysis. For more information, contact: danielz@quigleysimpson.com
AI is increasingly useful to marketers who need to make sense of large amounts of data. However, many leaders at Mediaweek cautioned that machine learning algorithms can often pick up human bias. As Joshua Bareño, Director of Multicultural at Essence, said, “When data is not truly representative of society, it can reinforce biases that exist.”
Wendi Dunlap, SVP, Global Client Solutions at Kinesso, recommends that marketers “Consider who is working with the data in the same way as you think about who’s developing the creative.” Brands should make the effort to bring in more audience designers and strategists who are culturally aware of diverse audiences. Joshua feels that much of the issue might be an unawareness of cultures versus intentional bias—with diverse voices making up only 20% of the C-Suite.
Issues with brand safety and blocklists were also discussed. Marketers are creating longer blocklists than ever as public conversations become more heated. Michael L. Clark, Head of Multicultural Sales & Business Development at G/O Media, pointed out that these lists can disproportionately exclude some cultures. For example, the word “slay” could mean “well dressed” in the LGBTQ community but could mistakenly be flagged for violent content. To avoid controversy, some brands are also blocking phrases like Black Lives Matter and COVID, which has the effect of defunding publications of color and limiting vital information to some communities. Several panelists advised marketers to take a closer look at blocklist and weigh the potential risk of including some words and phrases against the risk of excluding diverse segments of their audience.
