Brands spend months — years, even — investing in brilliant creative ads that will go on to catch consumer attention and win awards at industry events like Cannes Lions.

That said, only some ads will win an award. Vital as it is to take this moment to celebrate the best and brightest ads in the industry, at the end of the day, it’s a single moment in the calendar year that feeds into a broader marketing plan. Brands can’t afford to ignore the other 99% of ads they create in favor of the heavy hitters.

Continue reading this article on digiday.com. Sign up for Digiday newsletters to get the latest on media, marketing and the future of TV.

In response, publishers are activating their first-party data as a durable, privacy-first and wholly-owned substrate to support ad targeting and personalization. For example, ranking highest among publishers in a recent survey, 47% believe activating their first-party signals is the most promising solution to cookie deprecation. This data includes audience events and behaviors at particular moments, indicating interests and affinities. 

“Every publisher we’ve talked to — whether a large broadcaster with a TV and digital ad business or one with a large web presence — is in a different stage of their journey in first-party data,” said Sharmilan Rayer, general manager at Amazon Publisher Cloud, built on AWS Clean Rooms. “For these publishers to be successful, they need to define and implement their first-party data strategy — even if they are starting from scratch — and engage with technology partners that can meet them where they are.”

Continue reading this article on digiday.com. Sign up for Digiday newsletters to get the latest on media, marketing and the future of TV.

In the competitive online world, it’s become clear just how powerful a solid email list can be; reaching readers’ inboxes boosts visibility and engagement. Additionally, advertisers prize active and engaged audiences.

However, the challenge for publishers is creating an effective yet user-friendly method for gaining subscribers while establishing multiple methods for continually engaging those subscribers in their inboxes. 

Continue reading this article on digiday.com. Sign up for Digiday newsletters to get the latest on media, marketing and the future of TV.

The adage that all publicity is good publicity doesn’t necessarily apply to advertising, especially on connected TV. As a non-skippable environment on the largest screen in the home, CTV offers brands a prime opportunity to meaningfully capture viewers’ attention through ads — while it can also pose a significant risk if not done right.

Attention has often been considered a way of measuring ads’ effectiveness on CTV, but not all attention is created equal. Positive attention on CTV means relevant audiences meaningfully interact with an ad, leading to mental availability, future engagement with the brand and, ultimately, return on investment. Negative attention, on the other hand, does just the opposite, turning viewers actively away from wanting to engage with a brand.

Continue reading this article on digiday.com. Sign up for Digiday newsletters to get the latest on media, marketing and the future of TV.

Despite attempts to change how media produces news content over the years, only some of these experiments have produced lasting outcomes. When publishers shifted from print to digital, they mostly retained the storytelling formats and content based on print constraints, shaping how digital journalism has been published online for the past 25 years. 

However, young people, particularly Gen Z and Gen Alpha, raised without print as a primary format and weaned on social and mobile platforms, are demanding new ways of consuming news content. Young audiences value journalism, and it is up to the media industry to evolve.

Continue reading this article on digiday.com. Sign up for Digiday newsletters to get the latest on media, marketing and the future of TV.

Agencies and brands face increasing pressure to quantify campaign performance and generate meaningful revenue. As a result, campaigns are often rapidly built and launched, rushed to completion before they can be fully optimized and then quickly forgotten in anticipation of the next campaign.

However, savvy marketers know they are more likely to hit their ambitious revenue and brand awareness KPI targets by investing in more thoughtful pre-launch analysis and post-launch observation.

Continue reading this article on digiday.com. Sign up for Digiday newsletters to get the latest on media, marketing and the future of TV.

Heading into the summer travel season, successful travel marketers are focusing on the role of personalization — as always, an essential element of the overall consumer experience. 

Like many people, travelers want to be recognized by the brands they engage with and expect deeper personalization throughout the customer journey, from booking to experience to check-out. If travel brands can meet these expectations, they are more likely to increase loyalty and drive customer acquisition.

Continue reading this article on digiday.com. Sign up for Digiday newsletters to get the latest on media, marketing and the future of TV.

Recent legislation across several states signals a significant shift in the marketing and data privacy landscapes. As of May 2024, 17 U.S. states have passed data privacy regulations, with more on the way.

The fragmented data privacy reality that’s long been foretold is finally here for marketers. And with California’s landmark CCPA legislation settling into its fourth year and many more states rolling out similar legislation, brands and data providers across the industry face a growing risk of fines in the coming years.

Continue reading this article on digiday.com. Sign up for Digiday newsletters to get the latest on media, marketing and the future of TV.

Brands are tapping creators to produce effective, authentic content that gives marketers access to new audiences, drives sales and unlocks long-term partnerships.

Traditionally, the marketing funnel was a linear journey covering awareness, consideration and purchase. However, digital media, including creator marketing, has changed how consumers engage with brands across multiple touchpoints and channels, introducing unanticipated shortcuts and on- and off-ramps in what used to be a straightforward path.

Continue reading this article on digiday.com. Sign up for Digiday newsletters to get the latest on media, marketing and the future of TV.

The prevailing sentiment in marketing is the shorter the content, the better. In an attention economy, capturing people’s eyes and ears is challenging, so advertisers tend to believe that keeping content brief — no matter the message — promises more views, streams and engagement.

However, one proven exception to this rule is compelling advertisers to think again: podcasts. Research shows that people spend over seven hours per week consuming podcast content and that Gen Zers, specifically, achieve an average completion rate of 80% on podcast episodes lasting over 50 minutes. Ad spend is catching up with this cultural behavior: In 2024, podcasts will surpass $2 billion in ad revenue for the first time, and by 2028, that number will top $3 billion. 

Continue reading this article on digiday.com. Sign up for Digiday newsletters to get the latest on media, marketing and the future of TV.

Aggregated attribution insights help drive decision-making

Brands need deterministic, multi-screen attribution at scale that matches aggregated and de-identified, first-party data collected from set-top-boxes and streaming devices with their website’s visitation data. Some multi-screen attribution services provide privacy-focused one-to-one matches of consumers exposed to an ad and who visited the website instead of a probabilistic match (which is more of a guess). This deterministic, multi-screen attribution data allows brands to adjust and modify campaigns to stay ahead of the curve. 

Advertisers understand the value of multi-screen attribution data in providing the insights they need to improve their campaigns. Partners like Spectrum Reach have analyzed hundreds of advertiser campaigns to gather insights that can increase the effectiveness of media campaigns using attribution. As brands look for this data or the right partner, there are a few key findings all brands can keep in mind.

How multi-screen attribution reveals what drives customer action

Daytime and early fringe viewing periods offer brands and agencies some of the biggest opportunities. Daytime generates 2x the response rate compared to primetime, and early fringe has 2.2x the response rate compared to primetime. 

Continue reading this article on digiday.com. Sign up for Digiday newsletters to get the latest on media, marketing and the future of TV.

Advertisers exploring, if not currently using, AI-powered solutions from their ad tech partners need to ask if those tools are truly solving their everyday challenges. 

These challenges span from the decline of third-party cookies (even if their end date has once again been pushed off) and new digital privacy laws to the seemingly unstoppable rise of connected TV and overall changes in media consumption habits.

Continue reading this article on digiday.com. Sign up for Digiday newsletters to get the latest on media, marketing and the future of TV.

In April, Google’s Chrome team announced the decision to delay — yet again — the deprecation of third-party cookies, this time to 2025. The reason cited was “ongoing challenges related to reconciling divergent feedback from the industry, regulators and developers.” 

For many, the delay was both expected and welcome. Brands and agencies alike have expressed anxiety over how they will handle the loss of third-party cookies, and another postponement might feel like an additional chance to come up with a solution. But even though teams now have until next year, not only should they not wait, but there’s also no need to.

Continue reading this article on digiday.com. Sign up for Digiday newsletters to get the latest on media, marketing and the future of TV.

CTV has been a driving force in the media and advertising industries for years, but the conversation has shifted as challenges and barriers have eased. Recently, CTV has become less of a gamble for both broadcasters and brands.

In the past, concerns about quality inventory, audience reach and content fragmentation across CTV platforms have made it challenging for advertisers to execute cohesive campaigns and effectively reach desired audiences. 

Continue reading this article on digiday.com. Sign up for Digiday newsletters to get the latest on media, marketing and the future of TV.

As the need for data accelerates with the fluctuating third-party cookie deprecation timeline, savvy brands and agencies are adopting a strategic approach to data acquisition and analysis to maximize their digital marketing. 

Data buying is essential for consumer-facing brands and agencies to enhance their existing data and develop more robust insights into consumer behavior, preferences and trends.

Continue reading this article on digiday.com. Sign up for Digiday newsletters to get the latest on media, marketing and the future of TV.