Proving Multichannel's Power; Publishers Fighting Back

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Multichannel For The Win

ESPN is trumpeting the importance of multichannel advertising in anticipation of this year’s upfronts, according to The Wall Street Journal. As evidence, the ESPN Lab collected 15- and 30-second spots from eight advertisers and exposed the ads to sample audiences on TV, over-the-top devices, desktop and mobile video clips. As a result, purchase intent increased 160% when audiences saw a combination of TV spots, short-form video ads and app ads. Awareness spiked 36% and word of mouth jumped 67%. The article claims this study underscores how TV faces competition for viewers hopping across numerous screens and content delivery channels.

Publishers Partner

Publishers assemble! Speaking at the Guardian’s Changing Media Summit on Wednesday, AppNexus president Michael Rubenstein called the newly formed publisher alliance Pangaea a clear response to the continued aggregation of market power. “Facebook and Google are continuing to amass market power and I think that is tremendously concerning to the independent publishing community,” he said. He anticipates more alliances between publishers that typically compete with each other, simply because “It’s difficult to function and compete effectively at a scaled level.” The Guardian has more.

Programmatic Video Gets Emotional

On Wednesday, programmatic video platform provider Unruly unveiled a targeting tool that lets advertisers identify and connect with consumers most likely to emotionally engage with a particular video ad. In essence, the capability lets advertisers leverage content testing results to inform video ad buys. “Consumers who are more emotionally engaged with a branded video are more likely to share the video, more likely to remember the brand, and more likely to buy the product,” said Unruly CEO Scott Button. “For marketers, this means more engagement, more earned media and, ultimately, more sales. … We’re helping advertisers to bridge the gap between the content stack and the tech stack.” Marketing Land has more.

Privacy, Please!

A panel at the Programmatic Insider Summit in Arizona veered toward private vs, open marketplaces. Brian Nadres, director of programmatic media buying at The Media Kitchen, says buyers would be wise to inquire about private marketplaces if they notice a publisher repeatedly popping up on open exchanges. “Chances are that publisher’s waterfall isn’t flexible enough to handle an open exchange outbidding someone with a direct deal [or private marketplace deal],” Nadres said. Brian Brownie, director of ad operations at eBay, adds that private marketplaces could potentially give marketers greater visibility into programmatic’s proverbial “black box.” More via MediaPost.

BuzzFeed Searches For ROI Proof

BuzzFeed is on a mission to prove the value of its native content, Digiday reports. Zemanta CEO Todd Sawicki attributes the current lack of quantifiable ROI to native advertising’s relative youth. “Most multi-point attribution modeling is done well after the fact and even then only really works when there are large, significant campaigns that will show up in the market research,” he said. “Right now, most native advertising is small and experimental and doesn’t yet rise to the level where it shows up in those models.” So, BuzzFeed is doubling its research staff in a targeted effort to demonstrate ROI on the millions of views and shares of its native ads.

Data Tug Of War

RadioShack is auctioning off data on millions of its customers as part of the company’s bankruptcy proceedings, and regulators from Texas and Tennessee have been quick to protest. RadioShack’s privacy statement has long restricted the sale of consumer PII, expressly stating, “We will not sell or rent your personally identifiable information to anyone at any time.” AT&T objects to the sale as well, but on different grounds, claiming that the data belongs to them “through a mobile-phone selling arrangement.” The case brings to light two emerging issues for brick-and-mortar brands: the unset value of their customer data archives and the rights of those customers to decide who can access their PII. Ars Technica has more.

But Wait, There’s More!