Time for Online Video to Make Peace with TV

The world of video advertising is divided into two main camps: TV and online.

Each group has medium-specific domain expertise and perspectives, but their workflows, creative and objectives are nearly identical. Handling TV and online video separately results in a lot of redundancy and lost information. In order for video advertising to be as effective and streamlined as possible, we need to bring the two camps together.

Over time, online video has evolved into something that’s much more closely related to television. And conversely, TV has evolved to be more like online video. In this new Digiday article, I’ve outlined why now is the time for Online Video and TV to make peace.

Want to learn more? See all of the benefits and new efficiencies that emerge when TV and Web work together.

Robert Haskitt is the CMO of Extreme Reach.

Optimize Video Creative To Increase Your Campaign ROI

TV advertisers make up the vast majority of brands moving media dollars to in-stream video. And more than 90% of their online video creative is the same as, or a variation of, the ads they run on TV.

This multi-screen approach opens up a variety of new opportunities for optimizing ad creative across screens. New cross-media technology solutions are enabling advertisers to increase their campaign ROI and take greater advantage of the unique and combined benefits of both TV and online video.

In this new MediaPost article, I’ve called out how you can use these new solutions to achieve a number of goals in your next video ad campaign:

• Optimize the Viewer Experience
• Optimize Creative for Media and Audience
• Optimize Engagement
• Optimize Frequency and Rotation
• Optimize Compliance
• Optimize Across Screens

When you manage, deliver and measure TV and online video campaigns together, you can adopt cross-media metrics well beyond the GRP and, by acting on those insights while your campaigns are live, increase the return on your media investments. Want to see how it all comes together? Learn more.

Robert Haskitt is the CMO of Extreme Reach.

How the Digital Workflow Is Transforming the Ad Industry

There has been a huge transformation at the agency level in the application of technology that’s been introduced in the last 20 years. And experts say that over the next 10-15 years, we’ll see more innovation and invention than we saw over the last century.  But with each innovation comes a greater need to manage and learn how to harness the new solutions and technologies in the advertising industry. This process was the main theme behind the 4A’s Transformation conference this week.

With the additions of multi-screen campaigns, multi-platform buys and the growth of social media, agencies  have been over-loaded with the amount of campaigns they must traffic and manage. NBCUniversal Director of Commercial Operations Steve Hernandez noted that the steep increase in ad placements has resulted in hours of manual sorting and re-entering of data for agency media teams, leaving them with little or no time to perform the responsibilities they were hired to execute.

So what’s the solution? AdID Chief Growth Officer Harold Geller believes the future of the industry lies in workflows that look at sales metadata to match agency instructions. The Media Behavior Institute has been working over the past two years to create a universal identification process, which could conservatively save $2 billion per year for media agencies.

But what if you could easily and efficiently distribute your ads across every screen today?

When you deliver and manage your TV and online video ad campaigns together, you can bypass and eliminate the challenges that come with a fragmented workflow across multiple platforms. With Extreme Reach, you’ll get the ability to deploy campaigns and track performance across TV, Web and Mobile in near real-time. This means advertisers and agencies can now optimize their cross-media campaigns faster than ever before. Now that’s a transformation!

Julie Moses is a Regional Sales Manager for Online Video Advertising at Extreme Reach.

Introducing the New Cross-Media Reporting Suite

See how your TV and online advertising work together to drive campaign results.

In a multi-screen world, cross-media reporting is the only true measure of today’s video advertising. And up until now, cross-media measurements haven’t shown the full picture.

Online platforms typically provide Web-only data, or at best, just show basic TV ratings information. On the other hand, TV platforms usually don’t include Web or online performance data.

But now, with our new Cross-Media Reporting Suite, you can immediately see how your TV and online advertising work together to drive results in your live campaigns. Our new reporting suite provides insightful, actionable answers to help uncover:

• How to split media budgets between TV and online video advertising
• How the combination of TV and online video advertising may increase overall campaign results
• How numerous online campaign performance metrics can be measured against TV campaign activity
• How to optimize the reach, frequency, creative, media and mix of TV and online video campaigns

Plus, our platform provides all the integrated tools you need to respond to those insights, so you can make media and creative adjustments that will improve the results of your live campaigns.

Learn more about the insights provided in our Cross-Media Reporting Suite in our new press release.

Video Campaigns That Span TV and Web Produce Better Results

The question is, how can your advertising get there from here?

Peter Bednarski’s recent MediaPost article “Not Surprised: Mixing Online and TV Campaigns Helps Conversions,” cites new research from Videology showing that with the right mix and frequency, video campaigns that run on both TV and the Web are more effective than campaigns that only run on one screen.

Great question.
As the article’s title suggests, Mr. Bednarski points out that the main premise of the study is rather obvious, and asks the question, “Yes, and so…?”

The unanswered half of the story is the how.

How can advertisers track and optimize reach, frequency and conversions across all of their online and TV impressions together?

The research implies that advertisers should consider ramping up their online advertising to get broad reach and achieve significant frequency levels that are similar to TV. But buyers and planners involved with larger online campaigns typically don’t leave it to a single ad network or publisher to determine their ad strategy and placements. And they can’t rely on a small panel or sample to see how their TV and Web campaigns may be working together. They need a comprehensive across-the-board view of what’s really occurring with the campaign across all online and TV media together.

Here’s the answer:
We’re frequently reminded that combining TV and online video improves campaign results. In order to execute, track and optimize campaigns and get those results, you need a reporting solution that provides the complete picture as your campaign progresses, so you can see where you stand and make adjustments while your campaign is still live.

Comprehensive, cross-media reporting is the true measure of video advertising because it enables you to see what’s really happening across the board in near real-time. The best cross-media reporting solutions also include tools that enable you to immediately respond to those insights. See how.

Robert Haskitt is the CMO of Extreme Reach.

iMedia’s Video Summit: Measuring TV & Digital Media

Today was an outstanding day at the iMedia Video Summit. As thought leaders provided their perspective on where the industry is heading, a couple of themes clearly stood out:

• Measurement across TV & Digital mediums continues to challenge the industry, and solutions are coming — even if consensus is not
• Using TV & Digital media together and maximizing the capabilities of digital video drives the best results

These themes were all highlighted in a panel that focused on the evolution of ad buying models. During the session, ABC’s Adam Gerber pointed out there is a difference between value and transaction currency when it comes to video. Gross Rating Points (GRPs) allow the marketplace to transact even if a marketer or agency values media performance by utilizing different metrics that may range from behavioral or proprietary metrics. Adam contends that the great divide in the video world isn’t caused by the differences between viewing TV on a variety of devices, but more in how the marketplace measures, buys and sells long-form (full episode) vs. short-form content.

Jeanne Hanahan of Mattel offered a brand’s perspective, sharing that she relies on Gross Rating Points across TV and Digital video because they are the only benchmark she can use to understand how to transact across mediums. She uses a “universal GRP” not in lieu of, but in addition to, other measurements.

Marketers have to digest data from a multitude of sources as they try to define how to scale their TV and online video advertising:

• How much should I spend?
• How do I allocate my budget across TV and online?
• How do I optimize my campaigns for the best results across all screens?

But when you deliver your TV and online ad campaigns on a single platform, you’re able to measure all of your video ad campaigns — together. As you scale your video campaigns across TV and online, the Extreme Reach platform can help solve the challenges mentioned at today’s iMedia Video Summit.

Chip Scully is the Vice President of Online Video Advertising at Extreme Reach.

iMedia Brand Summit Recap: Choosing the Right Tech Partners & Platforms

How do you choose the right technology partner or emerging platform?

As I learned at a panel during last week’s iMedia Brand Summit, there’s a general consensus around three main items:

• Finding a partner/platform that fills the industry niche or theme you’re looking for.
• Choosing the right management and team to partner with.
• Choosing a product or platform that is scalable and meets your goals.

For example, say that you are a marketer who uses video advertising across TV and the Web, and you’re determining the long-term potential for a partner or platform. First, the platform or partner you choose should specifically address both TV and Web advertising. Choosing a partner that specializes in video advertising across multiple screens simplifies your workflow, and eliminates the hurdles and inefficiencies that come with using multiple vendors.

It’s also important to look at the management and team your technology partner has to offer. Ideally, you’ll find a wealth of industry expertise in both the executive board as well as your day-to-day contacts.

Finally, ask yourself if your current partnerships and workflow allow you to scale and measure your cross-media campaigns.

• Do your current vendors have the ability to cross the great divide between TV and the Web?
• Are you using interactive video to improve engagement in a meaningful and scalable way?
• Are you able to measure TV and online ad campaign performance — together?

If you don’t have access to these capabilities today, you will soon need them to follow consumers as they watch more and more content online. Here’s an example of how TV and online metrics can be measured together in cross-media campaigns.

Chip Scully is the Vice President of Online Video Advertising at Extreme Reach.

Super Bowl Commercials Go Cross-Media in Record Numbers

This year’s Super Bowl commercials sported a distinctly digital theme. For starters, nearly half of the network TV ads were delivered digitally via the Extreme Reach platform. Also, a record number of Super Bowl commercials were introduced both on TV and online. And, during the game, most TV ads aimed to drive viewers to the Web.

The ad industry’s biggest event is an insightful indicator of advertising trends. This Marketing Land article points out some interesting cross-media trends among this year’s crop of Super Bowl ads. More than 80% of ads that aired during the Super Bowl featured an online call to action, driving TV viewers to Twitter, Facebook, or branded webpages. Almost all of these digital destinations featured interactive video content, taking the opportunity to directly engage with TV viewers once they made the jump online.

TV and online video advertising can be interconnected in a variety of ways that leverage the unique advantages of each medium while gaining new benefits from tying them together. Here’s an example of how stunning HD TV ads can now be instantly transformed into interactive ads for online video campaigns.

Extreme Reach Network Hits New Milestone

You’ve come a long way, baby.

It seems it was only a very short time ago that TV stations began receiving their ad content via the internet.  In the early days, they said it couldn’t be done. But now, it is arguably the preferred transmission method.

In December 2012, Extreme Reach achieved an amazing milestone: 99.9% of broadcast TV stations in North America now receive their commercials electronically via Extreme Reach.

We’d like to extend a heartfelt THANK YOU to all of the broadcasters that have helped us achieve this milestone.  By doing so, they now receive their ad content in the most efficient manner possible. And according to WFFF/WVNY Operations Manager Ken Kasz, “Life is so much easier now. It’s clear that you guys have been doing this long enough to make it easy.”

It’s the cloud computing technology behind the Extreme Reach platform that enables advertisers and broadcasters such as WFFF/WVNY to work smarter, faster and much more efficiently.  This efficiency, speed and accessibility was paramount during our recent election year, and is an ongoing concern for broadcasters when they face inclement weather. Each year, severe storms bring standard shipping methods to a halt and adversely impact content delivered via satellite.

So, if you’ve been contemplating the move to file-based ad deliveries, it’s never too late.  Extreme Reach is here to make it easy.

Tom Falcone is the Vice President of Network Relations at Extreme Reach.

Digital Marketing Predictions for 2013

As 2012 comes to a close, many in the digital marketing industry are making their predictions on what’s in store for the new year.

CMO.com recently asked more than 80 industry insiders what they envisioned for 2013 – and the responses make for some thought-provoking perspectives on digital and video advertising.

Convergence in media, technology and analytics is a consistent theme, as well as the anticipation of more interactive content and greater targeting capabilities.

Extreme Reach CMO Robert Haskitt also chimes in with his new year’s prediction in this new article.