Category results for "Perspectives"

This Q&A is part of OPA’s “Three on Three” series where we ask three industry executives the same three questions on a topic to uncover actionable insights… If you want to learn more, keep an eye out on our site for more interviews. Today’s Three on Three interview is with Wade Rifkin, VP, Programmatic, DigitasLBi on Programmatic & Private Marketplaces.

Q: Are you shifting budget to programmatic?

A: There’s still a good amount of variance in programmatic investment based on client, category and objective. The first wave of brands to embrace the programmatic transactional means and toolkit fell more in the direct response space, and some of those clients are now spending up to 50% of their budgets in programmatic. Following in line, brand advertisers have started to embrace it and are spending more around 20-25%, with ambitions to grow that to a good degree over the next 6-12 months.

By shifting more money into programmatic transactions, we’ll be able to establish more control of our buys – frequency management, media decisioning – through the demand side platform, and centralize knowledge in our data management platform. With these tools, every impression is now an opportunity for us to extract greater media value for our clients and to derive intelligence in a new way about individuals.

Q: Do you use programmatic for upper funnel programs? Do you think you could/would in a private marketplace?

A: Yes, the misconception that programmatic is only for DR is just that, a misconception. As the world goes programmatic, there are clear places for brand advertisers to play there, even in the biddable environment – video, social, mobile, out of home and eventually TV. Dynamic creative will become a huge transformative capability for brand advertisers, tailoring messaging to audiences in an incredibly specific and powerful way, made possible by programmatic technology.

Private Deals do, however, represent the singularly largest opportunity to shift share into programmatic for brand advertisers, but it requires a reimagining – and more due diligence – around negotiations, supply chain management and ad tech infrastructure.

Q: Who sets up private marketplace relationships? What are important considerations when selecting partners for private marketplaces and what have you learned through the process?

A: There are three levels at which you can set up a private marketplace: at an account level, at an agency level and at a holding company level. As you move from the first to last, clout increases, but site diversification, terms and targeting can get a little more diluted. There are pros and cons at each level, but in the long term, I think there’ll be many agency-level private marketplaces that each account can take and customize, with master rates / volume discounts that can apply at a holding company level.

As you go to set up a private marketplace, you need to evaluate two levels of partner relationships:

The marketplace enabler, or gateway: this generally sits within a DSP or supply side platform (or, in some cases, both)
The end publisher set you’re actually procuring inventory from

The biggest potential pitfall is from not scrutinizing the deal structure enough. You need to evaluate which flavor of private marketplaces / deals you’re looking at: automated guaranteed (in many cases, not truly programmatic media decisioning), unreserved fixed rate or private auctions, then decide on the right tech partners that can execute against these with the right placement in your target publishers’ inventory queues. Not thinking this through and vetting upfront with the right lens will result in watered down inventory and a net result that’s only marginally better than ad network and open exchange inventory. If that happens, it’s a huge missed opportunity.

Wade Rifkin is VP, Programmatic at DigitasLBi, a leading full service advertising agency with digital at its core. Wade works across the agency’s client base to help them understand and embrace the growing real time programmatic marketing space. With a background in cross-platform media planning & buying, Wade is specialized in emerging channels like mobile, social media and data-driven audience buying. Prior to joining DigitasLBi, he worked across clients in the CPG, telecom, auto and entertainment spaces at other Publicis agencies, as well as Wieden+Kennedy.

Note: This Q&A is part of OPA’s “Three on Three” series where we ask three industry executives the same three questions on a topic to uncover actionable insights.

Also in this series:

Q&A: Bruce Kiernan Partner, Senior Director Digital, MEC on Programmatic & Private Marketplaces

Q&A: Christopher Murphy, VP Media Investment, Accuen on Programmatic & Private Marketplaces

Perspectives

Q&A: Christopher Murphy, VP Media Investment, Accuen on Programmatic & Private Marketplaces

May 27, 2014 Danielle Block, Director, Agency & Advertiser Relations - DCN

This Q&A is part of OPA’s “Three on Three” series where we ask three industry executives the same three questions on a topic to uncover actionable insights… If you want to learn more, keep an eye out on our site for more interviews. Today’s Three on Three interview is with Christopher Murphy, VP Media Investment at Accuen, on Premium Programmatic.

Q: Are you shifting budget to programmatic?

A: Clients shift budgets to programmatic when there is a clear opportunity for media efficiency, efficacy and savings. Bigger shifts come from clients leaning in to audience data and analytics on both direct and programmatic campaigns, identifying key differences between partners and tactics. Ultimately, we see programmatic adoption as the path to drive results for clients and to limit the amount of guessing in media buying.

Q: Do you use programmatic for upper funnel programs? Do you think you could/would in a private marketplace?

A: Programmatic is simply a path, not a strategy in itself. It’s only limited by the creativity and strategy of those using it. All successful upper funnel programs, whether programmatic or not, are driven by great planning and execution based on core marketing fundamentals. Our clients definitely use programmatic for upper funnel programs, and sometimes it’s through private marketplaces. Early adopters to private marketplaces included retail and CPG brands had broad audience requirements and were open to testing around their KPIs. They were interested in leveraging efficiencies of programmatic, but wanted to guarantee certain contexts. Now seeing interest from clients in a broad range of verticals, including financial services, B2B and travel and hospitality brands.

Q: Who sets up private marketplace relationships? What are important considerations when selecting partners for private marketplaces and what have you learned through the process?

A: OMD and PHD media teams negotiate private marketplace relationships, often in conjunction with Accuen team members to help facilitate the technical aspects of the deal. In general, private marketplaces aren’t viewed as a separate tactic or channel, but are seen as a way to integrate more deeply with publishers and deliver greater results from those programs. For publishers without an Omnicom Media Group contact, we recommend going through an ad exchange or SSP for an introduction.

When we partner with publishers, there are a couple of key standards we look for: first, excellent customer service is table stakes; second, publishers need to ensure that what’s promised is delivered as expected; and last, flexibility across sales channel management, deal economics, and inventory packaging. We want to partner with publishers who offer up ideas rather than a standard sales deck or an ad package in a UI. Highlight site engagement, audience composition, and their unique assets using a mix of qualitative and quantitative factors. For instance, don’t just repeat traditional volume and scale rankings.

Christopher is the VP of Marketing & Media Investment for Accuen, overseeing brand positioning, product marketing, PR and communications as well as exploring programmatic partnerships with leading ad technology, data, and media companies. Prior to Accuen, Christopher was Sr. Director of Platform Products at Glam Media and spent 5 years at Right Media/Yahoo! At Glam Media, he led the marketplace channel, working with advertisers and partners to pioneer RTB and private exchange relationships. While at Right Media/Yahoo!, Christopher covered numerous roles including publisher business development, professional services, and network operations.

Note: This Q&A is part of OPA’s “Three on Three” series where we ask three industry executives the same three questions on a topic to uncover actionable insights.

Also in this series:

Q&A: Bruce Kiernan Partner, Senior Director Digital, MEC on Programmatic & Private Marketplaces

Q&A: Wade Rifkin, VP, Programmatic, DigitasLBi on Programmatic & Private Marketplaces

Perspectives

New OPA CEO’s Introductory Letter to the Board

May 27, 2014 Jason Kint, CEO – DCN

Here at the OPA, we are excited to begin a new phase in our evolution, as we continue to support the trusted brands that publish the content people love. We welcome a new leader, CEO Jason Kint, who kicked off his tenure with a note to the OPA Board, setting the tone for his tenure and providing a bit of insight into where the organization is headed:

Board Members –

Thank you for the kind introduction at our meeting two weeks ago. I’m thrilled to officially begin my new role. I’ll be working aggressively to sit down with each and every one of you over the next sixty days. Your perspective on our digital world holds unique value as each of you has a role in the impact and importance of its future.

I have recently been on a journey through the research and application of trust in the digital ecosystem. I find myself fascinated by the evolving relationship between consumers, marketers and digital media. The opportunity I now have to strengthen these relationships is one I don’t take lightly.

It’s critical to understand that the Online Publishers Association is the only organization that exclusively represents the unique and diverse needs of high-quality digital publishers who manage trusted, direct relationships with consumers and marketers. We have the lofty responsibility of representing the future for the most respected brands in the professional content industry.

Consumers come to our brands because they trust what will be delivered. Whether it’s comedy entertainment, live action, financial analysis or investigative reporting, consumers know we’ll honor their many choices in how they spend their time and relentlessly advocate for their respect.

Marketers also have more and more choices across a growing multitude of platforms. Their world gets more complex with each day. It’s on all of us to shine a light on falsehoods and misconceptions. Marketers choose to invest dollars in our content and brands to associate with the high-quality, trusted experiences that we deliver.

I assure you that we will be aggressive in having a seat at the table whether it be with the press, policy makers, marketers, academia or the many informal discussions across social media. We’ll be transparent in the way that we operate and the positions we take. Additionally, our members and staff will be a trusted source of information and thought leadership as you make decisions.

It’s on all of us to pave the future for high-quality digital media. I will look to each of you to help make the valuable connections and engage directly in our conversations about digital innovation and the future. If we do this right, we’ll create opportunities not only for many of our members but, just as importantly, for consumers, marketers and the high-quality digital media companies of the future.

Warm Regards,

Jason
Jason Kint
CEO

Follow Jason @Jason_Kint

Follow the OPA @OPA_Org

Perspectives

Q&A: Bruce Kiernan Partner, Senior Director Digital, MEC on Programmatic & Private Marketplaces

May 21, 2014 Danielle Block, Director, Agency & Advertiser Relations - DCN

This Q&A is part of OPA’s “Three on Three” series where we ask three industry executives the same three questions on a topic to uncover actionable insights… If you want to learn more, keep an eye out on our site for more interviews. Today’s Three on Three interview is with Bruce Kiernan Partner, Senior Director Digital, MEC on Programmatic & Private Marketplaces.

Q: Are you shifting budget to programmatic, what percentage of budget is being spent in programmatic?

A: Programmatic is a crucial component of our digital strategy for AT&T. We have seen positive growth in both investment and learnings YOY since programmatic became part of our digital planning architecture. With projections indicating continued growth in programmatic we expect further insights and enhancements on the value we are able to capture for our client. We also anticipate the introduction of programmatic capabilities to a broader view of our planning objectives. Leveraging programmatic to drive brand, direct response and retention across all our key KPI’s is a priority to fulfill our primary objective in growing AT&T’s ROI.

Q: Do you use programmatic for upper funnel programs? Do you think you could/would in a private marketplace?

A: While we actively pursue and evaluate the full funnel capabilities of our programmatic partners, the largest portion of AT&T’s programmatic budget remains grounded in driving lower funnel response. The most common roadblocks we have experienced in pushing programmatic up the planning funnel are inventory quality, lack of real-time brand measurement capabilities and customization. Although we have seen tremendous improvement in the inventory quality of key exchanges there is still a sense of the unknown when investing in this model.

Private Marketplaces offer a solution to many of these unknown elements. Many of the private marketplace packages we have evaluated include more customized and measureable media opportunities. We expect these opportunities will lead to a wider adoption of private marketplace activity and, thus more focus on brand metrics and solutions within the programmatic space.

Q: Who sets up private marketplace relationships? What are important considerations when selecting partners for private marketplaces and what have you learned through the process?

A: Our agency planning team meets directly with publishers to evaluate private marketplace opportunities for AT&T. We find that many of the components discussed in this type of dialogue are closely aligned with some of our direct publisher relationships. Having a more strategic, holistic conversation that could potentially tie in ways to leverage private marketplaces as a complement to our media strategy with each individual publisher is a productive way to craft an integrated relationship that works for both parties.

One of the key objectives we task ourselves and media partners with is identifying tangible value from building a private programmatic channel. Our open market programmatic buying strategy has yielded positive results and is made up, in part, of the many publishers who are currently promoting private marketplaces as part of their product offering. To justify potential fragmentation of this open model we need to secure considerable benefits in a private marketplace package.

In some cases value is pitched solely as the premium nature of publisher content. However, with growing usage of pre-bid technology filters we are able to identify open market display opportunities in-view and aligned with relevant brand safe content. With these verification capabilities the gap between premium digital publishers and long tail remnant properties appears to be closing.

Additionally, as these pre bid technologies are relatively new we have yet to see the impact it will have on the market value of some of our premium publishers who operate in any open exchange. Should pre-bid verification filters used in the open market begin to form a divide between premium digital publishers and long tail remnant properties the idea of a private marketplace to concentrate programmatic impressions in a more premium environment becomes less valid. As an advertiser it may be more effective for me to use the best pre-bid technology available and let the open market determine where the most efficient brand experiences will be.

When a publisher is able to go beyond or better define the “premium” label by offering unique inventory, data or creative not available in the open market we begin to really see the value in investing within private marketplaces.

Bruce Kiernan is a Senior Director at MEC leading all programmatic strategy for AT&T, focusing on the growth of ROI through the use of data and real-time buying. In keeping abreast of the evolving media landscape, Bruce’s work has become concentrated on providing guidance and helping clients navigate the complexities of the data and programmatic space. In Bruce’s ten years within the digital media community he has worked across a wide range of well-known brands including IBM, Intel, Sprint Nextel, Reckitt Benckiser, and Farmers Insurance. Before coming to MEC, he spent five years helping to build digital media strategy for Sprint Nextel as a buyer/strategist for Mindshare’s New York office.

Note: This Q&A is part of OPA’s “Three on Three” series where we ask three industry executives the same three questions on a topic to uncover actionable insights.

Also in this series:

Q&A: Christopher Murphy, VP Media Investment, Accuen on Programmatic & Private Marketplaces

Perspectives

AOL Aims to Improve Programmatic Performance with Convertro Acquisition

May 8, 2014 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

Yesterday, in its Q1 earnings call, AOL CEO Tim Armstrong was “pleased to report another quarter of growth at AOL.” Along with growth in AOL’s platform area, video and global expansion Armstrong specifically pointed to growth in programmatic advertising as a factor in the company’s performance. His statements followed just a day after AOL purchased Convertro, a maker of attribution modeling technology, to power its Adap.tv, AdLearn Open Platform and ONE by AOL.

Seth Demsey, CTO of AOL Platforms, says that programmatic addresses many of the digital advertising industry’s inefficiencies by helping to automate buying and selling. “It is also a great revealer of waste.” According to Demsey—and AOL’s proprietary data—as much as 70% of an advertiser’s digital investment (or publisher’s revenue) “gets lost in the digital ad ecosystem to niche ad tech features masked as media. We call this the ‘Technology Tax’ and by our estimates, it’s one of the biggest factors affecting the growth of digital investment.”

AOL’s programmatic strategy involves not only efficiency, says Demsey, but also “modeling go-forward insights. This may sound neat and tidy, but it’s actually an extremely complex problem to solve on just one screen, much less multiple screens including TV.” With the Convertro acquisition, AOL adds a new intelligence layer to its existing “proprietary optimization ‘brain’ in AdLearn to measure, attribute and optimize media across all screens programmatically.”

Starting immediately, all of AOL’s programmatic offerings will be able to leverage Convertro, so that customers “will have a 360-degree view of marketing performance across online and offline channels—with engagement, CPA and ROI of every ad unit automatically calculated.” It will also provide them with the ability to manage budgets between channels and within channels. Converto, says Demsey, “will help us make our advertiser customers smarter about how they allocate their budget, and our publisher partners smarter about what their advertiser customers deem most valuable.”

AOL agreed to acquire Convertro for a closing purchase price of approximately $101 million. This investment is certainly evidence that, as Demsey says, AOL has “doubled down on the platforms side of our business and we are not turning back. We expect to be a long-term leading player here.”

Perspectives | Research

Research Reveals that Women Want Inspiring, Authentic and Useful Videos — From Media and Marketers

April 30, 2014 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

Women seek out and value lifestyle videos for two main reasons—to be entertained and to be inspired— according to new research undertaken by Scripps Networks Interactive’s ulive video network and POPSUGAR (conducted by conducted by Ipsos OTX.) Among the key findings of the study, which focused on U.S. women ages 18-49, was that a large majority of women prefer to view lifestyle video that entertains them (74%),helps them learn (71%), and inspires them to try something new (60%).

Underscoring the value of such research, Lisa Choi Owens, chief operating officer of ulive said, “Understanding what our audience emotionally connects to helps us know what to create for them and how and where to program that content to maximize relevance.” And, not surprisingly, the research revealed that women have clearly defined views of what they’d like to see in the lifestyle video they consume. The study shows that 49% of women want to see more videos that provide “how-to instructions” on how to accomplish the task, cook the meal, get the look or learn the exercise. Women also want more personalization, including content that is based on their interests (46%), that is short and of high quality (30%).

“We’re learning how our current audience segments feel about our existing content categories, as well as the new ones we’re expanding into,” said Choi Owens. “That emotional connection is even further deepened by the quality and authenticity of our content.”

Authenticity is, in fact, among the qualities that female video consumers specifically value. Women strongly prefer high-quality video that is authentic, concise and positive in tone. Significantly, the most avid lifestyle video consumers seek video content that is fun to watch (59%), authentic and real (48%), and features hosts that are passionate about the topic (38%).

Rob McLoughlin, vice president of POPSUGAR Insights found respondents’ desire for positive content among the most interesting findings of the research. “With the large amount of negative and salacious commentary found on the web, women increasingly seek funny, profound and inspirational videos that are compelling and entertaining,” said McLoughlin.

The good news for media and other brands alike is that women are open to hearing from brands and take action when relevant brands are appropriately presented in their favorite lifestyle video content. In fact, 54% of women watch lifestyle videos to learn more about products and brands, and 50% of avid lifestyle video consumers (women who stream 240+ minutes of lifestyle content a month) have visited a site or brick and mortar store to purchase the product they saw advertised in a lifestyle video.

Innovation | Perspectives

Q&A: Avi Steinlauf, CEO Edmunds Inc., on Putting Data to Work

April 22, 2014 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

This Q&A interview is part of OPA’s “Three on Three” series where we ask three industry executives the same three questions on a topic to uncover actionable insights… If you want to learn more, keep an eye out on our site for more interviews. This Three on Three interview is with Avi Steinlauf. CEO Edmunds Inc., on Putting Data to Work.

Q: Please describe the value of data to your editorial and advertising efforts:

A: Data is the backbone of Edmunds.com. Consumers who visit our site use our automotive data to shop for a car. And, with a deep regard for individual privacy, we collect clickstream, lead and transaction data that illustrates aggregate car shopper behavior in order to present our automaker and dealer partners with tangible insights that they can apply to their business.

We also analyze traffic to specific dealership inventory listings and carefully monitor consumer reviews of dealerships to ensure legitimacy and to help dealer partners pinpoint issues that may be hampering sales. I’m pretty sure that our attention to our consumer reviews is likely one of the reasons that Edmunds.com was named — along with TripAdvisor, Zagat and OpenTable — one of the most trusted prominent online review sites in Maritz Research’s 2013 Online Customer Review Study. That study examined 13 high-profile ratings sites; Edmunds.com was the only automotive site listed in the top ten and it ranked fourth overall, outperforming Yelp, Google+, Hotels.com, City Search and others.

Of course, we also collect data that allows us to make improvements to our own website user experience.

Q: Please describe a recent advertising initiative that leveraged data, how it did so, and how that generated a better end result:

A: Well, I think the way that we approach the use of data for advertising in general might be a better answer here. We have an innovative “dashboard” through which our account managers can help our business partners understand all sorts of performance data. For example, we can show how many Edmunds.com visitors spent time shopping online for particular vehicles—slicing the data by make, model and/or segment—to help our partners market their vehicles.

Our sales team can also help an Edmunds “Promise Partner” dealership review its performance relative to other dealerships. For example (see picture below), data might show that a dealer is providing Edmunds.com visitors only with exterior colors of its inventory 60% of the time. This means that in nearly half of the searches in which car shoppers are specifying a desired color, this dealer’s vehicles will not be included in search results.

Additionally, this dashboard illustrates that the dealer is below average in its designated market areas, both in terms of number of consumer ratings and reviews, and in terms of the score, for sales and service. So, when this dealer’s inventory appears on the Edmunds site, its listings will show no stars to 2 stars based on 1 review, which does not make them very competitive. These dashboards make our clients aware of opportunities to make positive changes that will affect their bottom line. We find that the real-time analysis is tremendously valued by our clients, and is a huge differentiator from our competition.

Q: The notion of “data” raises concerns with some. Please describe your take on the issues around publishers’ use of data and how you address some of the common concerns/issues:

A: Privacy is extremely important to us here at Edmunds.com. We have been told by our site visitors that they trust us, and we intend to always be as helpful and reliable as a friend. We use non-PII [personally identifiable information] data to help build better products for our website visitors and clients. By entering a ZIP code, car shoppers can gain access to locally relevant information such as nearby dealership inventory, regional True Market Value® prices, and average vehicle ownership costs specified by year, make and model.

Many of our site visitors choose to also give us PII data in order for us to help make their car shopping experience easier. For example, to receive a Price Promise certificate (which guarantees a locked-in, upfront price from a dealership), a car shopper will opt in to provide to Edmunds.com his or her name, phone number and email address. We make it crystal clear that this information will be used by Edmunds.com to facilitate a useful connection to the dealerships selected by the car shopper. Our site visitors know what we will do with the data, and we don’t do anything more. From a process perspective, that data is segmented and has strict access control so that we can maintain the privacy of our site visitors as we deliver a service that they requested from us.

Avi Steinlauf is the CEO for Edmunds Inc. He is responsible for managing Edmunds’ operations, including its 550 employees headquartered in Santa Monica, CA, its satellite office in Detroit, MI, and its field sales force located across the US. Avi also serves as a Director on Edmunds’ Board of Directors. Since joining the company in 1998, he has been responsible for developing and cultivating relationships with a number of Edmunds’ key partners. Positions Avi has held at Edmunds include President, Chief Operating Officer, Executive Vice President of Strategy & Development, Vice President of Revenue Management, and Vice President of Marketing. Before joining Edmunds, Avi was a Senior Industry Analyst for Coopers & Lybrand’s Knowledge Strategies Group in New York.

Since 2006, Avi has been a Board Member for the Online Publishers’ Association, a not-for-profit trade organization dedicated to representing high-quality online content providers before the advertising community, the press, the government and the public. Avi is also a member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO), Golden West Chapter and serves as the Communications Chairman for YPO’s Automotive Network.

Note: This Q&A is part of OPA’s “Three on Three” series where we ask three industry executives the same three questions on a topic to uncover actionable insights. Also in this series:

Q&A: Vikram Somaya, GM Weather FX, The Weather Company on Putting Data to Work

Q&A: Colin Decker, Group Operating Officer, Discovery Digital Networks on Putting Data to Work

Perspectives | Research

Infographic: From Chaos to Credibility

April 10, 2014 DCN

AAM’s “Digital Insights” white paper series shares our findings from recent AAM research to shed some light on the challenges and opportunities media companies are facing in today’s digital landscape. The third paper, “From Chaos to Credibility,” addresses the issues with media measurement and focuses on some potential solutions. Here’s a preview of what we found:

The methods used to track users’ media engagement and activities are just as varied and fragmented as the devices themselves. A quarter of publishers use two or more solutions to evaluate user interactions with their content. The multiple options, solutions and methodologies for tracking user engagement contribute to the fragmentation challenges of digital measurement and lead to lack of standardized metrics in mobile.

In our research we also heard a clear desire for industry-wide collaboration for definitions and standards that all digital media could use to create a level playing field. The number of associations and vendors working toward solutions is just as fragmented as other areas of the digital arena. As an independent third party, AAM is able to maintain a neutral presence with numerous groups. There is a lot of collaboration happening in our industry and AAM is proud to share our members’ voices and gain feedback during these discussions.

Setting those guidelines and standards is the first step to bring order and comparability to digital media. The next critical phase is independent, third-party verification and timely reporting of data. Audits help ensure everyone is on the same page when buying and selling digital media. For buyers, it takes the guesswork out of the equation and provides confidence in the product. It ensures reliability because even if the data is sourced from different vendors, it still has to pass the rigorous inspection of an audit. And it ensures accountability among all participants in the process — vendors, publishers and buyers. As we come together as an industry to set standards across each channel and then agree to audits of those channels to provide confidence and comparability for buyers and sellers alike.

See how we can move as an industry from chaos to credibility in our infographic:

Perspectives | Revenue

Q&A: Colin Decker, Group Operating Officer Discovery Digital Networks, on Putting Data to Work

April 8, 2014 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

This Q&A interview is part of OPA’s “Three on Three” series where we ask three industry executives the same three questions on a topic to uncover actionable insights… If you want to learn more, keep an eye out on our site for more interviews. Today’s Three on Three is with Colin Decker, Group Operating Officer of Discovery Digital Networks, on Putting Data to Work.

Q: Please describe the value of data to your editorial or sales efforts:

A: Having a solid foundation of data-driven decision-making is really mandatory at this point. You simply must have a well-defined methodology for the “why” of using data as well as talent and staffing to handle the “how”. And it’s not just a matter of generating reports. To really use data means that every member of your team must feel confident asking questions and be enabled to proactively seek the answers without depending on a separate research group. At Discovery Digital Networks, we use a combination of publicly available data sources as well as a series of proprietary purpose-built systems to inform what we do day-in and day-out. On both the Editorial and Sales sides of our businesses, the ability to react in real-time to audience demand is a critical capability as we define the digital video marketplace.

Q: Please describe a recent content or advertising initiative that leveraged data, how it did so, and how that generated a better end result:

A: We spend a lot of time mining data for signals and trends. At Discovery Digital Networks, we have many shows that publish multiple times per day so a typical exercise is to look at topic and category performance throughout the week. DNews is our twice-daily science and curiosity show that covers all types of weird, geeky cool facts. As we mined audience, engagement and sharing data over the course of several months, we noticed a small signal that seemed to indicate that space-themed programming performed better on Fridays. To test the signal, we created “Space Fridays” and saw a near 4x increase in all our audience metrics. The next natural question is “why space and why Friday?” but for now, we’re content to have better served the DNews audience with what they are wanting to see from us.

Q: The notion of “data” raises concerns with some. Please describe your take on the issues around publishers’ use of data and how you address some of the common concerns/issues:

A: It’s a reasonable concern when you think of user retargeting or leveraging transactional data to inform programming selection. While it’s great when Netflix makes a relevant movie suggestion based on your prior consumption, I don’t think I want my Kindle to suggest “Mr. Mom” because I just ordered diapers online! On a more serious level, the Edward Snowden NSA affair has opened everyone’s eyes to the fact that you don’t need to break the law to invade privacy. Data “triangulation” threatens to open too much information up to bad guys and marketers alike. I think we’ll see an inflection point in the coming 2 years where the average consumer grows to understand this and we’ll see more meaningful push-back to the harvesting and misuse of personal data.

Colin Decker is a media leader who has played a guiding role in the confluence of Television, web, video and social media. He has held programming, strategy and executive management roles at Current TV, Yahoo! and Virgin Investments. Colin is a frequent speaker on emerging media and has held teaching appointments at Boston University and Harvard University.

Note: This Q&A is part of OPA’s “Three on Three” series where we ask three industry executives the same three questions on a topic to uncover actionable insights.

Also in this series:

Q&A: Vikram Somaya, GM Weather FX, The Weather Company on Putting Data to Work

Perspectives | Research

Digital Future in Focus 2014: The upside of mobile disruption

April 3, 2014 Adam Lella, Senior Marketing Insights Analyst—comScore

Although smartphones have been in the hands of consumers for a long time, these devices, now along with tablets, have probably never had a more drastic impact on consumer behavior as they did in 2013. What started out as a niche, high-end market has quickly exploded into the mainstream, with Americans now spending more time – approximately 137 BILLION more minutes per month – on mobile platforms than on desktop.

In comScore’s new whitepaper, the 2014 U.S. Digital Future in Focus, we tackle of variety of themes influencing the current digital landscape, including social media, video, search, and e-commerce. But the prevailing theme that ties all these issues together is how our rapid increase in mobile usage is causing major shifts in all of these areas.

Social Media companies have already embraced the transition to mobile, perhaps more successfully than any other digital vertical. Many major social networks are now seeing far more traffic and time spent coming from mobile devices than from desktops, as the mobile/desktop divide continues to grow. Among the largest social networks, only Linkedin and Tumblr maintain a majority share on desktop, while newer social networks such as Instagram, Snapchat and Vine are almost exclusively mobile in their usage.

On the other end of the spectrum, e-commerce is still largely dominated by spending via desktop – yet signs indicate that mobile may disrupt this arena sooner than later. Mobile commerce now accounts for a meaningful percentage (10.5% in 2013) of total digital commerce and is growing at a significantly faster rate (23% year-over-year vs. 13% for desktop). And while m-commerce is only in the low double-digits as a percentage of total digital commerce, more than half of digital media time spent in the Retail category now comes from smartphones and tablets.

It tends to be true, as is the case with digital advertising, that dollars eventually follow eyeballs. In the case of retail shopping on mobile, the eyeballs are already there. It seems inevitable that, as technology and consumer behavior evolves, m-commerce will play an increasingly prevalent role in retail buying as it stands to become more disruptive to desktop-based e-commerce. And that’s not even to mention how mobile is currently disrupting the shopping and buying process for brick-and-mortar retailers as consumers take to showrooming.

So while disruption from mobile is inevitable, it’s important to remember that it isn’t necessarily a bad thing. On balance, it is a value-creating innovation that delivers benefit to consumers, media companies and marketers alike. It’s beneficial for consumers, whose lives are becoming more convenient, more fun, more informed, and ultimately more connected due to their mobile devices. It’s beneficial for media companies because mobile usage is largely incremental to desktop, rather than cannibalistic. As consumers spend more time overall with screens, they engage with more content, conduct more searches, and do more online shopping. And it’s beneficial to marketers who have more channels and different creative palettes to use in developing strategies to reach, influence and convert consumers into brand buyers. While there are certainly challenges ahead, the benefits of mobile’s disruption greatly outweigh any disadvantages.

To learn more about this platform shift, along with other digital trends we can expect in the year ahead, check out the 2014 U.S. Digital Future in Focus report

Innovation | Perspectives

Q&A: Vikram Somaya, GM Weather FX, The Weather Company on Putting Data to Work

April 1, 2014 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

This Q&A is part of OPA’s “Three on Three” series where we ask three industry executives the same three questions on a topic to uncover actionable insights… If you want to learn more, keep an eye out on our site for more interviews. Today’s Three on Three is with Vikram Somaya, GM Weather FX, The Weather Company on Putting Data to Work.

Q: Please describe the value of data to your editorial and sales efforts:
A: I think we’ve been in a unique position given that the weather itself is such a unique data set. Weather is real. It isn’t household income, it isn’t level of education or other standard demographic information. It exists as a tangible thing. That helped us envision how data can work for us, as a publisher.

At The Weather Company, data has two particular areas of impact:

For marketers, we combine weather and messaging with our data engine, which is integrated with our media delivery platform. In the retail world, for example, a company with 4,000 stores might let us know when a product is selling well—or not—and other information. We take this data and line it up against varying weather conditions for two to three years and effectively create predictive sales models. We can tell them that, in Miami, on a January morning, this is what people are likely to buy.

On the content side, which is well-run by Neil Katz, our VP/editor-in-chief, what has been interesting is not only the weather itself, but other information around it, which we are integrating into the experience. Certainly, people interested in weather are interested in other types of content as well, such as science and nature. We’ve begun to look at what content people look at based upon weather in their area.

An interesting piece here has been that their actions are based not only on what the weather is, but also on how it makes them feel. Weather has not only a direct impact on sales, but also on sentiment. If, after many days of bad weather, there are a few days of sunshine, it affects how people feel, which in turn affects what they are interested in.

Q: Please describe a recent content or advertising initiative that leveraged data, how it did so, and how that generated a better end result:

A: Okay, I have an example that combines both data and weather information that underlays, from a project we did with Pantene, a P&G hair care brand. Behind the weather information for any city there is a canvas that might show raindrops or bright sun and have a special type of ad format for our mobile application that can replace that canvas with weather-specific brand creative for our clients. We can match the ad to the specific weather condition.

So, for Pantene, we created an index that mapped a range of hair conditions to weather conditions—which we called “the fizziness index” internally. Depending on which city you checked, we would analyze the weather for that location, then pull up the corresponding ad with the appropriate Pantene product.

The results were measureable in actual sales. In towns where the ad appeared, retailers saw spikes in product sales. This is an ad unit that actually worked in the real world for sales—not just engagement and other click-through metrics. Our goal is to actually move sales. We can’t think of a more compelling argument for our marketers.

Q: The notion of “data” raises concerns with some. Please describe your take on the issues around publishers’ use of data and how you address some of the common concerns/issues:

A: So I have something I frequently do at conferences where I speak that illustrates the data position we are in at The Weather Company:

I ask everyone at the conference to stand up, introduce themselves to the person next to them, and then ask that person five questions. That person does not need to answer. Instead, they should think about how uneasy each question makes them. The questions are:

Social: How old are you?
Third party data: How much money do you make?
Search: What are the last three things you searched online while alone?
Purchase: What are the last three things you purchased online while alone?
What is the weather today?

For that fifth one: No privacy concerns.

The Weather Channel is in a different position than many content companies. We have been, for 30 years, the brand people come to know how to behave around weather. We don’t ask your name or personal information. We collect business data around weather data. And weather information is 100 percent opt in—you have to ask for it.

I think we’re in a strange and unusual time where it is not clear who owns the information. Though I’d say that every time a publisher or marketer has cause to question “Am I doing the right thing?” the answer is probably no. With data, erring on the side of caution is the way to go. The right, fair thing to do is to protect the consumer.

Another thing to keep in mind is that what we are doing with data is natural and organic to the brand itself. There are certainly other publishers for which this is true. Some are trying to put a square peg in a round hole with data. We should use data to bring value to the experience, not to shoehorn data because it is the hot thing. If there is a fundamentally organic way to build value for the user, it is worth doing.

As general manager of The Weather Company’s WeatherFX division, Vikram Somaya leads the team that creates localized ad targeting solutions using Weather’s access to location data and the best, most comprehensive weather data in the world. Vikram joined The Weather Company from Thomson Reuters, where he served as vice president of global operations and audience. Previously, Vikram helped build out data-driven marketing company Bluekai as managing director of business development and channel sales. He served as executive vice president of sales and marketing at Milabra, consulting an early-stage company in machine-learning-derived technologies. He also served as vice president of strategic alliances at Phorm, an online behavioral targeting technology company, and as vice president of strategy management at Operative Media, an advertising business management company.

Note: This Q&A is part of OPA’s “Three on Three” series where we ask three industry executives the same three questions on a topic to uncover actionable insights.

Also in this series:

Q&A: Colin Decker, Group Operating Officer, Discovery Digital Networks on Putting Data to Work

Perspectives | Research

The State of News Media: It is Springtime and We Can Grow the Business

March 27, 2014 DCN

After a tough “winter” in the news business, the latest Pew report on the state of journalism predicts an energizing spring ahead, based on a key trend that may have sneaked up on you while you were busy shoveling: The big disruption in the journalism business is now coming from within the profession, not from the old tech bugaboos of the last decade or so.

Part of Pew’s report highlights the proliferation of digitally-centric news organizations and the migration of “traditional journalists” to new media ventures, but the reality is that traditional ventures are not so traditional anymore. And even Pew recognizes that the hiring trend that receives so much hype is not a one-way street noting the New York Times hire of Slate veteran, Farhad Manjoo and The Washington Post’s addition of Jason Millman, who hails from Politico.

The fact is there is reason for optimism in the digital news business, and it is based on the business itself, not (just) tech. So, let’s move past search, social and even mobile as discussion points and embrace the new conversation about real innovation inside the business. It took some time to materialize, and now it’s coming, from both new and old places.

Before Pew cited the trend, a conversation about the big changes underway in digital news, in particular growing audiences of news readers, had already started. Marc Andreessen’s recent blog post took it a step further, looking at the business opportunities arising from this audience explosion. It was also clearly the context for Justin Smith’s recent public memo about the new direction for Bloomberg Media, in which he talks about the ways in which Bloomberg will innovate and experiment to address its growing audiences.

It’s clear that a new inflection point is upon us in the news business, and without diminishing concerns about lost jobs, lost audiences and lost influence resulting from the disruption of traditional media, it’s important to start exploring the new territory that’s being opened. At the Associated Press – the big mainstream news agency I work at – that means continuing to innovate on the content front for the benefit of our customers. Spring is here and there is more news consumption going on, and more journalism blooming. Ultimately, that’s a good thing for established as well as native digital players.