https://www.mediapost.com/en-usThu, 25 May 2017 17:47:43 -0400https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/301880/time-to-do-more-digital-but-rationally-not.htmlYou read and hear it everywhere in the ad and marketing world: Do more digital. I've been in digital advertising since the early 1990s, so I'm happy that the market has finally gotten the religion. However, we're seeing a lot of unintended consequences from those calls for digital being followed too blindly, too literally. Problems with viewability, fraud and bots have been just a few of the unintended consequences of doing more digital without really understanding what might happen if budgets for "programmatic" were increased tenfold without understanding where the inventory could come from - particularly CPMs that seemed too cheap to believe (and were).Thu, 25 May 2017 17:47:43 -0400https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/301880/time-to-do-more-digital-but-rationally-not.htmlhttps://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/301785/the-new-ad-trifecta-data-agency-tv.htmlThe three most overused words in the advertising biz this year are "data," "agency" and "TV." All three are core to the current status and future direction of the entire industry. Being a writer at heart, I think it's important to analyze these three words and possibly offer some better ones to consider.Wed, 24 May 2017 14:06:31 -0400https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/301785/the-new-ad-trifecta-data-agency-tv.htmlhttps://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/301694/flow-and-the-machine.htmlFlow, the highly engaged mental state when we're completely absorbed with the work at hand, may be the one thing that machines can't replicate -- yet.Tue, 23 May 2017 13:11:41 -0400https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/301694/flow-and-the-machine.htmlhttps://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/301586/the-reinvention-of-tv.htmlWe are just coming out of the annual ritual that is the TV upfronts. The news seems to be that ratings are down, prices are up and commitments to buy airtime have been brisk. This continues to baffle many who observe the TV ad sales market. How can something that delivers less cost more and sell out?Mon, 22 May 2017 11:59:08 -0400https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/301586/the-reinvention-of-tv.htmlhttps://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/301524/radical-transparency-in-politics-and-media.htmlIn medieval Latin, the word "transparency" means "shining through," and in most modern contexts the word has a positive connotation, even in negative situations. The wafer-thin intellect of a President, for example, by letting the light shine right through, reveals neither the madcap stratagems of a next-gen Richard Nixon, nor the hard outlines of a consistently pro-business ideology, but a vast and vacillating willfulness. Transparency is topical not only in the political sphere, but also within the media business. As in politics, for media agencies, transparency is connected to alignment, to the responsibility of an appointed party (the agency) to always act in the best interests of the party it represents (the client).Fri, 19 May 2017 17:54:34 -0400https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/301524/radical-transparency-in-politics-and-media.htmlhttps://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/301404/jeff-bezos-secret-message-for-marketers.htmlMarketers channeling their inner Maverick (Tom Cruise's character in "Top Gun") often find themselves thinking "I feel the need, the need for speed" - but are plagued by internal speed bumps and stop signs. Little do they know that buried in Jeff Bezos' annual Amazon shareholder letter is an approach for helping them accelerate marketing efforts and navigate past internal road blocks.Thu, 18 May 2017 12:03:20 -0400https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/301404/jeff-bezos-secret-message-for-marketers.htmlhttps://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/301277/why-tvs-upfront-may-not-be-doomed.htmlWhat's the role of the television upfronts? I know the old answer was to convince advertisers where they should spend their money over the coming year, by teasing them with first-look views of the new programs that will garner the attention of the masses. In today's world, this seems far less necessary.Tue, 16 May 2017 18:14:15 -0400https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/301277/why-tvs-upfront-may-not-be-doomed.htmlhttps://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/301230/how-i-cleared-a-room-full-of-marketing-techies.htmlWhenever we start talking about B2B marketing, people start heading for the door. If there is a B2B track at a general marketing show, you can bet your authentic Adam West Batman action figure (not that I would have any such thing) it will take place in some far-off corner of the conference center, down three flights of escalators, where you turn right and head toward the parking garage.Tue, 16 May 2017 11:47:21 -0400https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/301230/how-i-cleared-a-room-full-of-marketing-techies.htmlhttps://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/301133/back-to-the-future-what-marketers-want.htmlI spent last week at The Festival of Media Global in Rome. There were on-stage discussions with global leaders from P&G, VW, Burberry, Lastminute.com and many others. It was an excellent event, and it gave me the opportunity to talk to almost a dozen senior marketing and media leaders. Here's what I heard:Mon, 15 May 2017 15:08:45 -0400https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/301133/back-to-the-future-what-marketers-want.htmlhttps://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/301002/trump-news-medias-worthy-competitor.htmlThey say competition makes you stronger. When you're on your own, there's a tendency to slack off. When you compete, you have to be better than your opponent, who has to be better than you, and the two of you push each other further and further until ultimately you are delivering the absolute best performance you are capable of. This is not to say competition always produces better outcomes. In the quest to win, people will often go too far, in sports as well as business. But in general, in a competitive environment, all participants will perform at a higher level than they otherwise would. Which brings us to the mainstream news media and the current administration.Fri, 12 May 2017 06:41:35 -0400https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/301002/trump-news-medias-worthy-competitor.htmlhttps://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/300976/unpacking-omar-sheikhs-100b-call-on-future-of-da.htmlTwo weeks ago, Credit Suisse's Omar Sheikh, one of the top media analysts on Wall Street, made a BIG call on the future of TV advertising. He believes that the introduction of data-driven targeting into conventional linear TV advertising -- where spots are bought and sold on the basis of the specific people viewing them and the measured business outcomes -- will generate an incremental $100 billion in annual TV advertising sales in the U.S. by the year 2030.Thu, 11 May 2017 17:27:04 -0400https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/300976/unpacking-omar-sheikhs-100b-call-on-future-of-da.htmlhttps://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/300867/facebook-tv-confirms-data-and-content-are-like-pea.htmlSome say content is king. Some say data is king. I think it's a duopoly, not a monarchy, and recent moves from Facebook and other Web giants just may be proving me right. There are rumors Facebook TV is going to be launching as early as mid-June. This strategy is consistent with what's been seen of late across the rest of the digital media ecosystem. Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Snapchat and now Facebook -- everyone is getting into original video programming.Wed, 10 May 2017 12:05:50 -0400https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/300867/facebook-tv-confirms-data-and-content-are-like-pea.htmlhttps://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/300781/disruption-in-the-rear-view-mirror.htmlTwo companies that didn't exist 20 years ago -- Google and Facebook -- now account for 20% of all global advertising expenditure. And the speed with which they're gobbling advertising budgets is accelerating. If you're a dilettante student of disruption, as I am, those are pretty amazing numbers.Tue, 09 May 2017 13:30:59 -0400https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/300781/disruption-in-the-rear-view-mirror.htmlhttps://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/300696/blurred-lines.htmlMarketers are questioning the wisdom of sharing their confidential data, be it media, agency pricing or other proprietary content, with consultancies who are now themselves at the same time (digital) media management companies, data companies or creative agencies (or all of the above). While in the past the auditor or agency adviser was valued for its independence, for some these lines have become blurred, with their impartiality now in question.Mon, 08 May 2017 13:08:55 -0400https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/300696/blurred-lines.htmlhttps://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/300606/exploding-old-contexts-with-ai.htmlAccording to IBM, we produce 2.5 exabytes of data each day. This is equivalent to 250,000 Libraries of Congress or 90 years of HD video - each day. This data exhaust results from our continual digital interactions, whether explicit - such as typing a search into Google - or implicit, like the location signals we give off as we move through the world with our smartphones.Fri, 05 May 2017 16:50:43 -0400https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/300606/exploding-old-contexts-with-ai.htmlhttps://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/300519/data-diversity-training.htmlIn the past month, I've heard lots of complaining about data. I've been guilty of it myself, and (gulp) will be now. I recently saw something that said that if you don't have first-party data, you are nowhere, a loser in the great data race. That is simply not true. Second- and third-party data can be great, and first- party data can be garbage.Thu, 04 May 2017 16:32:17 -0400https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/300519/data-diversity-training.htmlhttps://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/300414/consumer-privacy-is-tech-not-ad-issue.htmlMany of you know the FCC recently rolled back its rules around ISPs gathering and utilizing data for advertising purposes. This move, while praised by many people in the industry, is actually not ideal because it means privacy is now a state-driven issue. Which means there could be 50 different sets of rules rather than one. What concerns me most is that the core of the media industry, the places where at least 80%-90% of ad dollars are spent, already over-index in favor of consumer privacy and are very aboveboard on what they are doing - but these state issues will be driven by fear of what the scary minority are doing with data.Wed, 03 May 2017 14:25:09 -0400https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/300414/consumer-privacy-is-tech-not-ad-issue.htmlhttps://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/300328/shopping-is-dead-long-live-shopping.htmlLast week, a delivery truck pulled up in my driveway. As the rear door rolled up, I saw the truck was full of Amazon parcels, including one for me. Between the four of us that live in our house, we have at least one online purchase delivered each week. When compared to the total retail spending we do, perhaps that's not all that significant, but it's a heck of a lot more than we used to spend.Tue, 02 May 2017 13:32:47 -0400https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/300328/shopping-is-dead-long-live-shopping.htmlhttps://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/300219/coke-pg-two-very-different-ways-to-handle-crisi.htmlLast week we saw quarterly results for various blue-chip companies. Pepsi, McDonald's, Domino's, Amazon, American Airlines, Chipotle, T-Mobile and even Twitter managed to delight shareholders with positive results, or at least results that were deemed a break from negativity in prior quarters (Twitter!). Sadly (if you're one of their shareholders), that was not the case for the Coca-Cola Company and Procter & Gamble. These two pillars of the S&P 500 were punished for less-than-stellar results. The interesting thing was that both announced significant marketing news in response to their poor Wall Street showing.Mon, 01 May 2017 12:11:04 -0400https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/300219/coke-pg-two-very-different-ways-to-handle-crisi.htmlhttps://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/300136/humanity-not-technology-the-idea-worth-spreading.htmlOnce a year, the good and the great converge on Vancouver, Canada for the TED conference: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Nearly 2,000 people gathered for a week to consider our past, present and future. There was something interesting about the talks this week. While there were a few technological marvels -- swarms of tiny, self-organizing robots, for example, or a personal cargo-carrying robot that follows you around with your shopping -- many of the talks dealt not with technology, but humanity.Fri, 28 Apr 2017 12:05:55 -0400https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/300136/humanity-not-technology-the-idea-worth-spreading.htmlhttps://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/300035/endpoint-computing-brings-new-marketing-challenges.htmlWhere does the signal to pull your hand away from heat originate? If your answer is the brain, you've already been burned. Instinctively, we pull our hand back without conscious thought, because the response to the stimulus takes a short cut and originates in the spinal cord because of the need for quick action. According to venture capitalist Peter Levine, computing may soon need this type of shortcut.Thu, 27 Apr 2017 09:34:38 -0400https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/300035/endpoint-computing-brings-new-marketing-challenges.htmlhttps://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/299894/the-golden-age-of-retargeting.htmlAre we entering into the Golden Age of Retargeting? There are a number of companies that do retargeting, but how many are really doing it well? You can probably guess from the fact that I'm posing the question that I think we still have a long way to go, but things are far better than they used to be.Wed, 26 Apr 2017 11:50:32 -0400https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/299894/the-golden-age-of-retargeting.htmlhttps://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/299848/every-b2b-vendor-must-understand-the-status-quo-bi.htmlIt's probably the biggest hurdle any B2B vendor has to get over. It's called the Status Quo Bias, and it's deadly in any high-risk purchase scenario.Tue, 25 Apr 2017 13:37:34 -0400https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/299848/every-b2b-vendor-must-understand-the-status-quo-bi.htmlhttps://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/299707/working-vs-non-working-budgets-outdated-metric.htmlA long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, there was a simple marketing world. Creative agencies created advertising, the media department and the media agency devised a media plan (read: TV plan with some ornamental other media), consumers saw said TV campaign and flocked to brick-and-mortar stores and bought the brand or service. If they weren't buying, then at the very least the consumers' perception of the brand or service was improving, as driven by those witty TV ads.Mon, 24 Apr 2017 10:11:12 -0400https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/299707/working-vs-non-working-budgets-outdated-metric.htmlhttps://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/299565/performance-is-new-programmatic-in-tv-advertising.htmlTV ads are about to undergo a huge shift in how they are bought and sold. This change isn't just about the big announcements of late about audience-based TV ads - the OpenAP consortia from Fox, Turner and Viacom, as well as NBCU's announcement that it would reserve $1 billion of its inventory this year for audience-based sales.Nope, something even more fundamental is happening in media, and it's going to have its biggest impact on TV. The future of TV will be about performance.Thu, 20 Apr 2017 17:39:00 -0400https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/299565/performance-is-new-programmatic-in-tv-advertising.htmlhttps://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/299435/internal-marketing-can-solve-for-distraction-prin.htmlThe best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry. This proverbial statement is especially true for marketers in a corporate setting when disparate groups who rely on one another (at least to some extent) are unable to communicate in the proper fashion. For marketing success to happen, everyone has to be aligned - and in many cases they are simply too distracted to be aligned.Wed, 19 Apr 2017 11:36:18 -0400https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/299435/internal-marketing-can-solve-for-distraction-prin.htmlhttps://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/299346/dont-be-evil-revisited.htmlI have to confess, I was actually a fan of Google's "Don't be evil" philosophy. Predictably, once the company went public with it, the cynics were quick to tear it apart. Was it naive? Of course it was. And yet, these days, maybe we need more of that particular type of naivete.Tue, 18 Apr 2017 12:07:51 -0400https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/299346/dont-be-evil-revisited.htmlhttps://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/299295/storytelling-and-research-fumbling-around-in-the.htmlI think it's fair to say that consumers have embraced the new "stories" platforms to express themselves to their friends, family members or hundreds of thousands of followers. I'm just not sure consumers appreciate or watch those same platforms with the same level of interest when the story comes from Gatorade, Mastercard or Ford. And why am I not sure? Because we have no standardized, publicly available data.Mon, 17 Apr 2017 13:35:04 -0400https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/299295/storytelling-and-research-fumbling-around-in-the.htmlhttps://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/299192/can-technology-make-the-world-great-again.htmlWe've all heard the promises: Technology is going to give us a better world. It will allow us to feed the masses, democratize education, enjoy unfettered free speech. Healthcare, energy and transport will all be revolutionized and demonetized. We're heading for a brave new world. In many ways things are indeed looking up. Some of these changes are due to technological advances, some to increased levels of education, and some to long-term cultural shifts. But every statistic has multiple interpretations, and every simplistic narrative conceals important nuance.Fri, 14 Apr 2017 09:52:26 -0400https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/299192/can-technology-make-the-world-great-again.htmlhttps://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/299110/if-content-remains-king-of-tv-advertising-will-au.htmlThe television ad industry knows that big change is afoot. Ratings are declining, audiences are fragmenting, digital competition is fierce, and agencies and advertisers are pushing back hard on their CPM increases. Fortunately, however, TV companies have recognized that the future of their ad business will look a lot like digital's, which is why many are working hard to develop digital-like, premium-priced, data-optimized ad products. It's the right move, yet it may not be enough.Thu, 13 Apr 2017 10:50:34 -0400https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/299110/if-content-remains-king-of-tv-advertising-will-au.html