How Roku Plans to Generate More Ad Revenue

How Roku Plans to Generate More Ad Revenue

by Tim Colucci Advertising

Roku screensavers are becoming fertile ground for advertising.

Roku makes streaming devices that allow users to watch TV shows, movies, and other content from the internet on their TVs. Roku also offers a variety of content, including channels from Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, and many more. As of 2023, Roku has over 60 million active accounts. Its competitors include Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV.

When people watch content via their Roku devices, they invariably see a screensaver, which appears when a user has been inactive on their device (this is true for users of other streaming TV devices). Roku has been using that digital real estate to generate advertising revenue.

Roku’s screensaver consists of “Roku City,” a playful urban landscape first introduced in 2017. Roku is experimenting with different ways to turn Roku City into a playground for brands. For instance, at the 2023 SxSW festival, Roku created a real-life Roku City via an interactive, multi-level attraction with Best Buy. The pop-up Roku City featured a Best Buy Home Theater Experience, a rooftop diner destination, a style shop, and hidden Hollywood references throughout the Roku cityscape.

Now, Roku is turning the screensaver into a place to buy ad inventory. At the annual IAB NewFronts, Roku unveiled a number of advertising initiatives, including plans to give ad space on billboards within the screensaver, which Roku says reaches 40 million homes. McDonald’s this summer will be the first brand to appear within the Roku City skyline. The fast food giant will have an animated restaurant with its Golden Arches inserted straight into the screensaver.

And that’s not all. Roku is also relying on AI to incorporate brand messages into an “iconic plot moment” in its content library. Head of Roku U.S. Brand Sales Julian Mintz explained that AI will search for “iconic plot moments” within shows and match them up with a brand’s message. For example, an apparel ad could appear when Tim Gunn makes a critique during “Project Runway.”

As streaming giants such as Netflix embrace ad-supported content tiers, Roku also stressed at NewFronts that the company complements but does not compete with streaming businesses.

“Netflix, Hulu and Disney+—50% of all Super Bowl streaming took place on Roku this year,” said Charlie Collier, president of Roku Media.

Roku is not the first business to turn interstitials into ad opportunities. For instance, Peacock’s Pause Ad is something of a “younger brother” to Roku’s interactive screensaver. Pause Ad offers an ad initiated by the viewer when they pause what they’re watching. A static brand advertisement takes over the screen after a video has been paused for more than five seconds, typically with messaging that is contextually relevant and calls attention to the pause.

Why the News Matters

This news matters because Roku is a major player in the fast-growing connected TV industry. For the first time, streaming viewership topped cable in 2022, and this trend is not going to reverse course as cord cutting continues. As reported in Axios recently, traditional television companies and major media firms are bracing for further declines in the ad market and yet another increase in cord-cutting this year. At True Interactive, we believe it’s important that businesses understand the growth of advertising on streaming platforms in context of the rise of connected TV. If you’ve not done so already, take a closer look at why connected TV is growing and how it could expand your audience. (True Interactive can help you with that.) Connected TV is enjoying 60-percent growth, driven by a public’s appetite for streaming that continues unabated.

Connected advertising is similar to linear TV advertising because both formats rely obviously on video. But connected TV is different in many important ways. For one thing, advertisers need to understand how to create video content that will reach viewers across a variety of viewing devices in addition to TV screens, and connected TV ads are competing with multiple content streams.

Contact True Interactive

True Interactive can help you navigate the connected TV landscape. Our services range from media strategy and planning to automated performance reporting. Learn more about our services here, and contact us to learn more.

2023 Advertising and Marketing Predictions

2023 Advertising and Marketing Predictions

by Kurt Anagnostopoulos Advertising

Gather around advertisers, pull up a comfortable chair, and take a look at our advertising and marketing predictions for 2023! We take on some big topics, ranging from the rise of AI to the impact of the economic downturn. Oh, and TikTok and Twitter, too. Check out our predictions, and let us know yours!

The Economic Downturn Will Present an Opportunity

— Kurt Anagnostopoulos, co-founder

This is a time for companies to make smart decisions about their marketing spend. We’re clearly in an economic downturn. Over the next six months, the downturn will intensify although not to the extent of the Great Recession of 2008. When downturns occur and uncertainty happens, inevitably some businesses scale back on their marketing spend. History has demonstrated time and again that during lean times, the cost cutters lose out to the businesses that continue to invest in their brands. Companies that stay the course will come out the other side of the recession ahead. If you are smart about how you market and price yourself, you can leave your competitors behind when times are tough. It’s not necessarily about doubling down on marketing, and it’s not about cutting at the other end of the extreme. It’s about spending wisely.

A mentality of spending wisely could hurt the major ad platforms such as Google and Meta. They’ve become more expensive. With advertisers seeking to spend more wisely in 2023, Google and Meta might price themselves out of the running in favor of platforms that deliver better CPCs and performance for the money. An agency such as True Interactive can help businesses navigate the landscape by leveraging platforms in a more cost-effective manner.

The water is too murky to see too far out beyond the next six months. We need to see how things are going to play out for the second half.

Artificial Intelligence Will Need People More Than Ever

— Mark Smith, co-founder

You cannot spend a minute on LinkedIn these days without seeing someone talking about ChatGPT, the generative AI tool that makes it easy to do everything from write content to code. It’s understandable that ChatGPT has gained so much attention. OpenAI released the tool publicly in November 2022 and made it easy for anyone to use it. The public responded. But ChatGPT is just one in a growing number of AI tools being used to do everything from manage customer queries to create royalty-free music. Right now, a number of executives are experimenting with these tools to do the heavy lifting for them – the writing, image generation, and so on. But soon, the novelty will wear off. And everyone will realize what we know already: AI cannot do your work for you. People need to be involved managing AI like any other technology. If you use Google’s myriad advertising tools as we do, you likely understand. Our experience has consistently shown that automated ads powered by AI underperform without people involved to monitor and modulate them when necessary. The same is true of generative AI. These tools are slick, but they make mistakes, and they are notoriously biased. They are nowhere near the point of being self-sufficient. In 2023, some businesses will learn the hard way that AI alone is not the answer to making smart investments in digital marketing. They’ll realize that people matter more than ever.

Google Ads Will Get Costlier

— Beth Bauch, director

2023 could prove to be challenging for businesses highly invested in Google Ads. I anticipate more automation by Google, resulting in less control for marketers.

One of the most common suggestions in the “Recommendations” tab in the Google Ads platform is to convert keywords to “broad match,” away from the more traditional “exact and phrase match.” Exact and phrase match keywords are meant to only match to searches that contain your keyword, making search queries highly relevant. Broad match keywords allow your ad to show on searches that are related to the meaning of your keyword and can include searches that do not contain the keyword terms.

While we have seen some success when testing broad match keywords with Googles automated bidding strategies, we have also seen some significant failures resulting in high spend and poor conversion rates. So, you need to proceed with caution when using broad match. One of the ways we improve the quality of search queries is by adding negative keywords to prevent our ads from showing on searches that are irrelevant.

However, whereas in the past we had access to view all search queries matching our keywords, Google now limits that visibility, only showing the top search matches. This makes it more difficult to block irrelevant traffic resulting in more spend on searches with low conversion rates.

And poor-quality traffic is very costly, especially as we have seen significant increases in the cost-per-click (CPC) of both brand and non-brand keywords in 2022 – as high as 50 percent increases for brand terms alone year over year. For some clients, we saw rising CPCs even though we were not seeing an increase in competition on brand keyword bidding when reviewing the Google Auction Insights report. This is an indication that Google has raised the base price for participating in a specific auction, regardless of competition.

As Google looks to rebound and increase its profits, I expect to see even higher advertising costs for Google Ads in 2023.

TikTok Will Extend Its Influence

— Bella Schneider, senior digital marketing manager

With the increasing popularity of TikTok, I predict that the brand will expand and improve its ads manager to be more comparable to Facebook Business Manager. Currently the platform is lacking in a few areas, and if TikTok is to compete with some of the larger social channels, then it will need to make adjustments to allow for easier advertising on the platform.

Meanwhile, thanks to TikTok, I predict the world of video will dominate the advertising space. More and more video content is starting to look and feel similar to the videos displayed on the TikTok native platform. Whether it’s dances, trends, or challenges, I predict that advertising will shift towards this style of video content.

Does Twitter Have a Future?

— Max Petrungaro, account manager

I have a difficult time seeing advertisers return to Twitter as long as Elon Musk is at the helm. When Musk bought the company, things immediately started poorly with most of Twitter’s top advertisers putting their ads on pause or stopping outright. In December 2022, the situation for Twitter deteriorated, with advertising spend being slashed by more than 70 percent. Twitter tried to combat this by offering incentives to the companies that would keep advertising, but I do not believe that this will be enough to overcome the polarization that Elon brings to the table.

With most of its revenue coming from advertising, and top spending advertisers not showing ads and/or slashing budgets, there may not be a Twitter by the time 2023 is over. As long as Elon is associated with Twitter, I believe that more advertisers will start to focus their advertisements on other popular platforms, like TikTok.

Customer Data Platforms Will Have a Big Year

— Héctor Ariza, senior manager

As the push for tighter data privacy in the digital world gains momentum, I expect 2023 to be a big year for customer data platforms (CDPs). With stricter data privacy regulations being imposed by governments around the world, and the imminent cookie-less era looming, companies and advertisers are already exploring privacy-enhancing technologies in their search of a more secure, yet accurate way of tracking user activity online.

Still, whatever the alternative to cookies and existing tracking methods may be, it will likely rely heavily on data aggregation/modeling. Thus, first-party data will become ever so more important in the digital advertising world. CDPs allow companies to manage what data is used, where it is used and how it is used more easily. These systems also help with data consistency across marketing/advertising platforms and reduce the risk of mishandling customer data.

Retail Ad Networks Will Lean into Mobile Even More

— Tim Colucci, vice president

One of the biggest stories in advertising in recent years is the rise of advertising networks managed by retailers ranging from Amazon to Macy’s to Walmart. Amazon’s own ad business has become so big that it is challenging the Google/Meta duopoly. These networks have succeeded because they tap into first-party data shared by people searching and shopping on their sites. The next phase of growth will happen when they more effectively integrate consumer shopping data from physical stores into the first-party data they use to sell targeted ads. This is why retailers that operate physical stores and ad networks will invest more into their mobile apps. With self-service mobile apps, in-store shoppers give retailers data about their interests in real time in a faster and more efficient way than they do by having their purchases shared via point-of-sale technology. Look for retailers to make it easier for consumers to search and purchase on their apps – and for advertisers to run ads via self-service such as sponsored listings. Walmart has an edge on most retailers in that regard. Given Walmart’s influence and resources, I expect the company will lean into its competitive advantage while Target tries to play catch-up.

Contact True Interactive

To succeed in the ever-changing world of online advertising, contact True Interactive. Read about some of our client work here.

Holiday Ads 2022: Whimsy and Imagination

Holiday Ads 2022: Whimsy and Imagination

by Bella Schneider Advertising

In 2022, concerns about a looming recession prompted some brands to lean into sales and savings in their holiday ad campaigns. But, perhaps emboldened by the National Retail Federation’s forecast for holiday sales growth somewhere in the six to eight percent range over the 2021 season (lower than last year’s record leap, admittedly, but growth nonetheless), other advertisers have chosen a different path. For some brands at least, whimsy, humor, and imagination have emerged front and center in holiday campaigns. Let’s take a closer look at a few examples:

Speaking Your Pet’s Language

A fun spot from pet care brand Chewy underscores the humorous ways in which animals and humans try to communicate across the language barrier. The premise: just as we don’t always understand what that meow or bark might mean, our animal friends may be in a similar pickle as they try to make sense of the goofy matching pajamas and ugly sweaters we humans crack out at the holidays. But as the ad, accessible via social and the Chewy’s website/mobile app, points out, Chewy pet products help us speak a common language, one that our pets absolutely appreciate!

 

Kids’ Imaginations Power the Magic

Kids were the creative force behind a Lego ad featuring Katy Perry and a fantastical present-delivery vehicle made of Lego bricks. The film, which casts children from around the world, airs in a three-minute version on Lego.com, as well as on Perry’s social channels (shorter versions appear on TV and OLV channels). Before shooting the main film, the brand gave the kids boxes of Lego bricks and encouraged them to come up with their version of a perfect present delivery machine. Based on the kids’ ideas, Lego then built the vehicle and surprised the children with it; the kids’ reactions when they see the colorful, magical mashup (a fairytale castle is incorporated into the vehicle, as is a space shuttle, even a slide!) are completely genuine. Lego’s holiday ad campaign also incorporates videos of children interviewing Perry, and an online Lego Gift Finder helps consumers find the products that inspired the kids in the film.

 

Less Spend, More Tacos

When Taco Bell made its first TV ad for the U.K. market, it took an innovative approach. The brand paired up with YouTube creator AnOnymooose, who put together a 30-second ad that aired on television . . . exactly once. The spot also ran on social media, but the money Taco Bell saved with its streamlined run was then diverted into a taco giveaway on December 13: while supplies lasted, anyone in the U.K. could claim their own free Crunchy Taco at any U.K. Taco Bell. The humorous animated spot, in which restaurant reviewer Santa becomes nonplussed by a persistent, taco-loving swan, represents a fresh way to reward customers and have some fun working with an animator. (Fun fact: AnOnymooose enjoys 1.12 million subscribers and no one has seen them in real life!)

 

A New Kind of Yule Log

Resisting the idea of cranberry sauce as being a Thanksgiving-only treat, Ocean Spray has come up with its own take on the popular looping yule log video. In Ocean Spray’s version, three jiggling Ocean Spray Jellied Cranberry Sauce logs enjoy a crackling fire while whimsically vocalizing. What does a cranberry sauce log say, you ask? Why, “jiggle” and “wiggle,” of course! The 10-hour-long feel-good video runs on Ocean Spray’s YouTube channel and as paid pre-roll placements.

 

Contact True Interactive

Looking to make your mark using digital? We can help you navigate holiday campaigns, and we can help all year long! Contact us.

How First-Party Data Helps Advertisers

How First-Party Data Helps Advertisers

by Mark Smith Advertising

First-party data is more important to marketers than ever, according to a newly published survey by Acquia and Vanson Bourne.

The two companies surveyed U.S. and U.K. marketing executives about their growth strategies going into 2023. The study found that:

  • Marketers are creating first-party data strategies to generate insights for personalized content as web browsers prepare to phase out third-party cookies.
  • 88 percent of those surveyed say gathering first-party data is more important to organizations than two years ago.
  • But only 35 percent “strongly agree” that their organization is “fully prepared for the cookie-less future.”

The above suggests that marketers understand that first-party data is important. But they need help tapping into the value of first-party data.

First-party data is information that your business collects from customers. Examples:

  • Data tracked from visits to your website.
  • Customer feedback
  • Surveys
  • CRM data
  • Social media accounts
  • Subscription-based emails or products

By contrast, third-party data is data that your business collects from potential customers based on their browsing habits across the web. Third-party data, which is typically bought from another company, is based on third-party cookies that track consumer behavior. But privacy controls from Apple and Google are making it increasingly difficult for businesses to use third-party cookies. Apple eliminated third-party cookie tracking on its Safari browser, and Google will do the same on its Chrome browser (the most popular browser in the world) in 2024. In addition, a privacy control enacted by Apple in 2021 makes it easier for people to opt out of cookie tracking on Apple devices.

In a more privacy centric world, advertising that uses third-party data is going to be less targeted. It won’t become useless, just less effective. How can first-party data help a business, though? Here are a few ways:

  • Retarget customers. In addition to retargeting customers with ads, a marketer can use first-party data collection to send out personalized emails, for example like cart abandonment reminders.
  • Target new customers based on data you collect about your current customers. Based on data collected from your site visitors, social media following, and email subscribers, you can pinpoint other demographics and geographical locations likely to be interested in purchasing your products. You can use this \ information to build out campaigns that target fresh audiences.
  • Understand you customer’s journey. First-party data can give you insight into all the ways a customer interacts with your brand, assuming you combine web analytics with other forms of first-party data such as customer surveys and email outreach.
  • Improve the buying experience. You can identify how smoothly or problematic the conversion and purchase process is after your advertising takes a customer to your site or app. Are they clicking through? Are they completing a transaction after that? Why, or why not? For instance, are customers abandoning your site at the shopping cart?
  • Develop new products and categories. Using first-party data from surveys and questionnaires, you can identify gaps in your offering and create new products and categories to match customer demand.

First-party data does not get collected and used in isolation. Businesses can make their online advertising more effective by building campaigns based on their own first-party data and:

  • Someone else’s first-party data. For instance, Amazon, Walmart, and other retailers have been building online advertising businesses based on their own first-party data. Meta’s broad targeting ad program consists of an automated targeting approach that reportedly produces better results for Facebook and Instagram ads than more refined, more niche audience approaches  do.
  • Workarounds to third-party data such as Google’s own Sandbox, which is Google’s own effort to develop alternatives to third-party cookies. However, the Sandbox is very much a work in progress. Learn more about third-party workarounds here.

Businesses can also continue to rely on third-party data and accept less effective results. But the clock is ticking. When Google phases out third-party cookies in 2024, everyone will be entering a new world.

At True Interactive, we can help businesses improve their advertising as they transition to the use of first-party data. For instance, we know how to work with all the major platforms that rely on their own first-party data, such as Amazon and Walmart. And we can work with businesses to create more targeted campaigns based on first-party data collected from analytics tools such as Google Analytics. Contact us to learn how we can help you.

How Retailers Can Succeed on Amazon during the Holiday Season

How Retailers Can Succeed on Amazon during the Holiday Season

by Morgan Reilly Advertising

By Tim Colucci and Morgan Reilly

It’s a challenging time to be a merchant selling products on Amazon. In October, Amazon’s vaunted Prime Day II sale underperformed according to analysts’ analysis. And then Amazon forecast its Q4 retail sales to be $140 billion to $148 billion in the fourth quarter, far short of analysts’ average estimate of $156 billion. Meanwhile, Adobe Inc. forecast that US e-commerce sales in November and December will rise just 2.5% from the prior year.

All of this is because consumers are more price conscious amid inflation and fears of a pending recession, so they will likely spend less.

Independent sellers on Amazon’s website, who account for a majority of unit sales, are bracing for a challenging holiday season in the run-up to Cyber Week. Many of them advertise their products on Amazon via Amazon Ads. How should they adapt their approach if at all?

Here are some tips:

1 Don’t Let Prime Day Results Spook You

Klover, a company that analyzes real-time commerce and financial data, found that households spent around 40 percent less during the October event compared with the July Prime Day. But merchants were constrained by Amazon’s ground rules for selling on Prime Day II, which prohibited vendors from featuring top discounts on both October Prime Day and Cyber Week. So, many merchants likely were hesitant to feature their top discounts/promotions because they needed to save them for Cyber Week. Also, many retailers might not have been prepared to have inventory ready for two Prime Days (July and October) and Cyber Week — and in those cases, they are likely holding out for Cyber Week.

2 Focus on Value, Not Price

As a partner to advertisers this holiday season, our own experience indicates that the lowest cost item isn’t necessarily the most popular. So far we’re seeing traditionally popular sellers are doing well. Consumers are willing to pay for what they really want. They’re willing to trade down for a lower-cost alternative, but that doesn’t mean they’re going for the cheapest items on the menu. Beware inventory dumping, which burned many businesses on Prime Day. During the inflationary times we’re living in, price-conscious shoppers are less likely to buy something extra just because it’s on sale.

3 Consider Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Display in Addition to Sponsored Products

For many merchants, Amazon’s Sponsored Products ad unit is the bread-and-butter of their ad spend. Sponsored products are used to promote a single product and take the consumer directly to the product page. Additional creative such as images and text are not needed, making sponsored products the simplest ad to set up. Merchants use keyword targeting to match products to a consumer’s search and show ads on the search results page or product detail page. 

Amazon Sponsored Products

Sponsored Brands allow for multiple products or titles to be promoted together using a custom headline and logo. Consumers are taken to a product page if they click on a product, or to a designated landing page if they click on the image or ad text. Sponsored Brands are good for driving awareness, in addition to sales. For example, advertisers can pair new or seasonal items with a related top seller in an ad to increase visibility in other product offerings. Or if a seller has multiple versions of the same product, using Sponsored Brand ads showcases the variety available within a single ad.

Amazon Sponsored Brands

Sponsored Display, on the other hand, makes it possible to engage with shoppers on and off Amazon with self-service display ads. Advertisers can engage audiences browsing specific detail pages, on the Amazon home page, on Twitch (owned by Amazon), and across third-party apps and websites. Amazon says that on average companies that use Sponsored Display see up to 82 percent of their sales driven by new-to-brand customers.

 

So, why do Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Display matter? Because the 2022 holiday season is more competitive. As Amazon noted in its earnings forecast, shoppers are spending less. They’re choosier. So, advertisers have to work harder at the awareness and consideration phases, which is where Sponsored Brands (for consideration) and Sponsored Display (for awareness) can be especially useful by showcasing more of a product’s features on and off Amazon.

4 Know Your Cyber Week Strategy

Today merchants everywhere (whether on Amazon or not) need to manage their holiday advertising spend against an increasingly complex set of choices: Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and now Cyber Week (Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Super Sunday, and Cyber Monday).

You do want to fund your advertising for all of Cyber Week, but some days are more appealing than others depending on what you sell. Cyber Monday remains huge, especially the peak shopping evening hours. Cyber Monday will likely loom very large in 2022 as shoppers hold out for the best possible deal.

Each day a retailer gets closer to Christmas, sales will inevitably taper off, off, but retailers should keep placeholder budget in place up until the last day free shipping is possible.

Contact True Interactive

True Interactive has deep experience helping clients plan and implement holiday shopping campaigns online, and this includes the use of Amazon Ads. We can help you, too. We understand how to create nimble search campaigns and multi-channel ad outreach to target consumers with the right message at the right time. Contact us to learn more.

Why Black Friday Is Alive and Well

Why Black Friday Is Alive and Well

by Kurt Anagnostopoulos Advertising

Over the past few years, there’s been considerable speculation that Black Friday is mattering less. That’s because major retailers such as Amazon and Walmart moved up Black Friday-style sales throughout the fall. Pre-empting Black Friday was especially apparent in 2020, when retailers needed to be resourceful with the COVID-19 pandemic discouraging in-store shopping. But in 2022, the hallowed shopping day is showing signs of life although it’s no longer an exclusively offline event. To wit:

  • Amazon’s Fall Prime Day Sale, while popular, did not rake in the cash that it was expected to generate. According to consumer data firm Numerator, the average order size during the Prime Early Access sale in October was $46.68, down nearly 23 percent from Prime Day in July. Numerator said the most popular categories sold were in order, household essentials, health and beauty, apparel and shoes, toys and video games, and electronics. Interestingly, only 29 percent of Fall Prime Day shoppers said they used the sale to buy holiday gifts, and 95 percent said they’re likely to shop Amazon for more gifts as the season continues. This suggests that shoppers are holding out for more shopping down the road, which bodes well for Black Friday.
  • According to the National Retail Federation, holiday shoppers will spend at a healthy pace albeit at a slower one than previous years. The NRF says that holiday retail sales during November and December will grow between 6 percent and 8 percent over 2021 to between $942.6 billion and $960.4 billion. Last year’s holiday sales grew 13.5 percent over 2020 and totaled $889.3 billion – but of course in 2022, shoppers are up against chronic inflation and economic uncertainty. The NRF expects that online and other non-store sales, which are included in the total, to increase between 10 percent and 12 percent to between $262.8 billion and $267.6 billion. This figure is up from $238.9 billion last year, which saw incredible growth in digital channels as consumers turned to online shopping to meet their holiday needs during the pandemic.
  • One in five consumers planning to shop for the holidays say they’ll spend less because their economic situation has changed, according to an NPD survey. More than a third of U.S. consumers can’t afford gifts this year due to inflation and higher costs of living, and nearly half plan to spend less this season, according to research from Credit Karma. But that may mean that they’re waiting to shop, as 40 percent told Credit Karma that they are waiting for annual sales, including Black Friday.
  • On the other hand, retailers such as Target and Walmart are pumping up Black Friday, but they’re once again extending the day throughout November. Walmart is running three Black Friday style deals throughout November, including Cyber Monday. This of course suggests that retailers are hedging their bets as Amazon has done with its October Prime Day sale. Based on Amazon’s experience, retailers should expect more hold-outs for Black Friday weekend November 25-28 (counting Cyber Monday). One reason: retailer are carrying a lot of inventory in 2022. Consumers are in a stronger position. They know it. And they’ll expect more deals as 2022 comes to a close during the biggest shopping day of the year.

Advice for Brands

  • Accept the reality that deals will drive sales more than ever. Discounted products and lower-priced alternatives to name-brand products are going to win the day, as reported in The Wall Street Journal. House brands are going to have a strong year.
  • Complement your online advertising approach with strong organic content that amplifies your holiday deals. Google just released a number of features to do that. For instance, Google added new ways to find deals across the web using Google Search through new coupons and promotions, side-by-side deal views, and a new price insights navigator. Clearly, Google wants more retailers to manage their product listings on Google!

Contact True Interactive

True Interactive has deep experience helping clients plan and implement holiday shopping campaigns online. We can help you, too. We understand how to create nimble search campaigns and multi-channel ad outreach to target consumers with the right message at the right time. Contact us to learn more.

Image source: https://unsplash.com/photos/pwxESDWRwDE

Netflix Chooses Microsoft As Its Ad Tech Partner

Netflix Chooses Microsoft As Its Ad Tech Partner

by Tim Colucci Advertising Microsoft

Netflix continues to roll out its previously announced plan to provide an ad-supported subscription tier. The streaming company has chosen Microsoft to be its global advertising technology and sales partner. This means Microsoft will supply technology to facilitate the placement of video ads on Netflix. All ads served on Netflix will be available exclusively through Microsoft’s platforms.

In a statement, Netflix Chief Operating Officer and Chief Product Officer Greg Peters said:

In April we announced that we will introduce a new lower priced ad-supported subscription plan for consumers, in addition to our existing ads-free basic, standard and premium plans. Today we are pleased to announce that we have selected Microsoft as our global advertising technology and sales partner.

Microsoft has the proven ability to support all our advertising needs as we work together to build a new ad-supported offering. More importantly, Microsoft offered the flexibility to innovate over time on both the technology and sales side, as well as strong privacy protections for our members.

It’s very early days and we have much to work through. But our long term goal is clear. More choice for consumers and a premium, better-than-linear TV brand experience for advertisers. We’re excited to work with Microsoft as we bring this new service to life.

The news comes weeks after Microsoft completed its acquisition of the Xandr ad-tech unit from AT&T, which had been involved in programmatic advertising. Xandr provides a data-enabled technology platform with tools that help power a diverse ecosystem connecting marketers and media owners through first-party, data-led advertising solutions across its network. The Wall Street Journal reported that the acquisition gave Microsoft the technology necessary to become a contender for the Netflix deal. The Wall Street Journal also noted that in pitching itself as a contender against rivals suchas Google, Microsoft “stressed one word: agnostic. Microsoft emphasized that it won’t compete in streaming with Netflix, the person said. Comcast’s NBCUniversal operates the Peacock streaming service while Google owns YouTube.”

It was widely known that Netflix would seek an ad tech partner to support its nascent ad-supported tier. The company, facing declining membership and sagging stock price, is under pressure to compensate for lost revenue by adopting ads. Rivals such as Disney+ are set to launch an ad-supported option, too.

But Microsoft is a surprising choice as a partner. Microsoft has not, historically, been known for video ads. Having said that, going with Microsoft likely means that Netflix will launch its ad-based platform as a reservation buy when it goes into beta, but that would be short-term. Long-term, I think this means that Netflix, as well as Microsoft, is looking to open up Netflix advertising in the same way that Google does on YouTube/YouTube TV.

That would mean that after Microsoft works out the kinks through reservation buys, the company would open up placements for all advertisers, regardless of budget, to run video ads on Netflix. Reservation buys would continue for any advertiser, but anytime those placements are not bought, they would go up for auction. I foresee, though, that big series like Stranger Things, The Crown, and The Witcher will require large reservation busy since demand will be high. The same goes for movies.

Disney+ recently announced that the cheaper D+ offering would have ads as well, but those would be done through The Trade Desk. TTD is a popular DSP (demand side platform), but typically they require a reasonably sized budget in order to run campaigns.

With the Netflix/Microsoft deal, it opens up “TV commercials” for the everyday advertiser.

Contact True Interactive

True Interactive can help you navigate the connected TV landscape. Our services range from media strategy and planning to automated performance reporting. Learn more about our services here, and contact us to learn more.