Vizio Clinched $100M In Upfront Deals; Programmatic Used To Convince Vaccine Skeptics

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Vizionary

Vizio Ads made big gains during the recent upfronts negotiations, where Roku has been the CTV champion in recent years. Vizio announced in a press release that it locked in more than $100 million for 2022, quadrupling its total from last year (which is to say, this year). Vizio, which went public in March, is clearly benefiting from the momentum behind CTV advertising and the mass adoption of smart TVs. Vizio’s ad biz consists of the SmartCast TV operating system and Inscape, the data and automatic content recognition (ACR) subsidiary. Vizio is touting its ability to frequency cap campaigns across TV and streaming channels using its ACR data, as well as a new offering called Household Connect that targets mobile and desktop devices in a household based on what played on their Vizio TV. Vizio also has a deal with Verizon Media, making the Verizon DSP the exclusive third-party provider of Inscape ACR data.

No Shot In The Dark

Governments can get behind programmatic advertising when they need to convince COVID-19 vaccine skeptics. Seventy percent of adult Americans have at least one dose of the vaccine, The Washington Post reports. But it’s fairly easy to target groups with lower rates. Facebook users interested in the Catholic Church were served ads that show Pope Francis calling vaccinations the “moral choice.” Public health groups targeted conservative sites like Breitbart with ads framing the vaccine as a “shot to restore our freedoms.” And it could be diced further with messages of patriotism (“Trusted by the military”) or to Facebook fans of beer and country music. (“It’s okay to question. Now get the facts on coronavirus vaccines.”) One-size-fits-all media plans don’t change vaccination rates, according to Tina Hoff, SVP of media and communications at the Kaiser Family Foundation nonprofit health group. “We’re in this unique moment for public health messaging where we can see what people are really looking for … and meet them where they are,” she said.

The DMA Still Matters

Old-school TV ratings are under fire. But there’s still evidence that traditional TV markets drive numbers. In 2014, the Big Ten college sports conference surprised observers when it added Rutgers and the University of Maryland. Setting aside that the Big Ten now boasts 14 members, the two universities weren’t a good fit by size or athletic level to join the conference – but the new schools provided a foothold in the New York City and Washington, D.C. markets, where they could find more viewers for Michigan, Wisconsin and Penn State. The SEC is the dominant on-field conference in college football, but the Big Ten Network, its streaming and linear TV channel, is the big gainer, writes College Football News. To compete, conferences are targeting key TV markets over on-field talent. “The percentage of people in (those cities) who live and die for college sports like they do in SEC markets might not be great, but the raw numbers will be there.”

But Wait, There’s More!

LinkedIn is on track to earn $4B this year, crediting buyer-intent data that powers advertising. [Adweek]

A breakdown of China’s new Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL). [GRC World Forums]

Afterpay launched Afterpay Ads, a new suite of ad products. [release]