“This is the story of the little New York TV Media Buying Corporation that could - and did - not only land on a list that included national and global household names, but also managed to keep their clients happy and profitable in the middle of a tumultuous year in a market that was initially the epicenter of the pandemic,” explained Renicker. “This was all happening while placing #1 in categories like Proactive Impact, Innovation, and Communicate Value.”
MediaVillage sat down with Renicker, to find out exactly what NYI does to pull ahead of the pack and its future plans to insure they stay there.
New York Interconnect’s Audience One
“New York Interconnect (NYI) has been an industry leader for over three decades,” he began. In fact, the company is a joint venture between three impressive media firms - Altice USA, Charter Communications and Comcast. For Renicker, “NYI continues to pave the way for the future of TV media buying across all screens in the nation’s largest, most diverse, and most affluent market.”
It is a time of great transformation in the media space with more platforms and quality content than ever before. “In this revolutionary ecosystem, NYI continues to navigate the ever-evolving TV landscape through its ground-breaking Audience One platform,” Renicker explained and added, “Audience One is a multiscreen approach that integrates TV content into one holistic marketing platform that incorporates TV, digital, video on demand, live streaming, OTT, and exclusive network sponsorships, for an end-to-end media plan that connects advertisers to the right consumers.”
NYI Sales Organization Kudos
NYI was recently named #3 Overall Sales Organization in the Myers Report alongside corporations that include Google and Amazon. For Renicker, that success is no surprise. “NYI has that rare advantage of being a corporation that operates like a small business, as far as our ability to maintain close personal relationships with all our clients and first-hand knowledge of the brands they represent, yet NYI has the power, influence and reach of a large, powerful organization,” he shared.
“We’ve been at this for thirty years and NYI is always on the cutting edge of the next technology and at the forefront of the TV media evolution. So that combination has allowed us to be in the unique position of ranking up there with household names like Google and Amazon,” he added.
NYI also was the recognized leader in such attributes as Proactive Impact, Innovation, and Communicate Value. “Being proactive and innovative has always been part of the fabric with NYI,” he explained, “Whether finding the next great opportunity for our clients or recognizing an industry trend that we think our clients need to be aware of, the sales team at NYI never stops looking for the next great move for our clients.”
NYI makes it a point to communicate value across a range of messaging from trade publications and industry events. “We also pride ourselves for always moving the conversation forward when it comes to our industry. We’re always eager to share our latest research and findings with not only clients, but with colleagues because we believe that anything that advances our industry is good for everyone,” he noted.
Marketing During the Pandemic
The Myers Study client satisfaction study was fielded during the pandemic in 2020. In such an unusual and difficult year, the question is, how did NYI manage to steer their clients’ strategies to success, especially when New York, in particular, was initially the epicenter of the pandemic in the US?
Renicker and his team met the challenge. “When the pandemic hit New York, our teams were forced to chart a new course for each of our existing clients (as well as some new ones), all without ever even being able to step foot back in the office. Our sales and support teams all quickly recalibrated, reallocated, and rebounded from this setback in a way that not only left the company reaching its 2020 sales goals, but also helped to ensure the continued success of its clients, their brands, and their verticals.”
NYI’s Multi-Pronged Approach During the Pandemic
Renicker was quick to take the necessary actions during the pandemic to insure success for both his clients and his team. The areas of concentration were:
Messaging: The NYI sales team saw that the environment had changed and advised their clients of the new tonality. In fact, he noted, “Many business verticals had to pull their current creative to revise messaging to be more mindful of the current climate. In addition to pulling creative to protect their clients’ brands with acceptable tonality and re-allocating dollars because of pulled and revised programming, the team reconfigured schedules for the betterment of their clients and to accommodate the changes in programming.”
Following the Data: Data became especially important to guide the decision making process. “Our teams followed the data to find the desired audience of their clients now that so many cancellations were coming into play, especially when it came to live sports,” he said and added, “Audiences were migrating to news and entertainment programming; our data allowed brands to actually follow and continue to connect to their target consumers wherever and whenever they were watching.”
Business Verticals: During the pandemic there was a notable and not unexpected shift in advertiser categories. And NYI was ready. “For every vertical that pulled back on their TV media schedules in 2020, there were more that came to the forefront,” Renicker explained, “All matters of healthcare and hospitals found themselves wanting to get important information out. New verticals like online gaming and food delivery services found themselves in great demand. The sales team of NYI fought to keep their struggling verticals visible so they would be strongly positioned when the market rebounded. They also sought the right opportunities for the verticals that were now in high demand by creating effective media plans to maximize their exposure and profitability.”
News, Sponsorships and Political: Programming and advertising categories shifted in importance. He explained that, “All eyes were on the news in 2020. Daytime viewership skyrocketed and prime-time was now around-the-clock. Local cable news networks including News 12 and Spectrum NY1 found loyal viewers tuning in for hours at a time daily as their coverage spanned everything from updates on the pandemic, new healthcare protocols and news on protests taking place around their local neighborhoods. We placed important healthcare ads during peak viewership hours and created sponsorship opportunities that would align with the new programming being implemented by the cable networks.” He added that, “Political was also huge in 2020. A holistic advertising approach was the key to getting the word out in 2020 which is just want our teams did. The campaigns benefited from a more-targeted, audience-based approach in addition to their standard linear buys.”
Digital & Multiscreen: Through all of this, a multi-platform approach was pivotal to establish one-on-one connections with customers. “Brands need to reach them across devices at-home and beyond,” he shared, “Digital targeted advertising acts as a primary touchpoint for smaller brands and a bolster to video advertising across platforms for larger ones. The digital arm of a holistic marketing strategy is particularly crucial to attribution. Brands can see the conversion rate of households exposed to its commercial on multiple platforms, as well as metrics like website visitation, location data, or tune-in conversion after being exposed to an ad.”
The Beauty of the New York Market and NYI for Advertisers
When you are representing the biggest, most diverse global market as New York, you can’t help but see the great importance the market has for advertiser brand’s TV media strategy. It is a must-buy. “It all happens in New York!” Renicker exclaimed. “We are the #1 market in the country. We have the most affluent, diversified consumers and now, thanks to data and reporting, we have the ability to target like never before and prove a brand’s ROI.”
NYI should be the centerpiece of any marketing effort. In addition to the accolades NYI has received with the Myers Report rankings, their Marketing Team was recognized as Marketing Team of the year by the Faxies- and NYI was a runner up for Best Sales Organization. “NYI has always strived to maintain a great blend of talent that includes Sales personnel, Operational personnel, Marketing personnel, Business/Financial Planning personnel, HR personnel, and overall sales support personnel,” he explained, “We truly work as a team with the objective of servicing our clients at the very highest level. We do this by having homegrown talent combined with bringing in talented subject-matter experts when required.”
When asked to summarize what the secret sauce is to NYI’s success, Renicker didn’t hesitate in his answer. “1. Client service, 2. Client service and 3. Client service. Our technology is always the most current, but our philosophy is always the most tried and true. Our clients come first in everything we do and keeping the best interest of our clients as our driving force has never steered us wrong.” The proof is in the Myers’ ranking.
This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com
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