Using A.I. to Insert Ads into Programs. Interview with Mark Popkiewicz, CEO, Mirriad

Mark Popkiewicz, CEO of Mirriad, explains his background as, “the convergence of media, advertising, and technology,” working over the years in telecom, mobile entertainment and broadcasting. His company, Mirriad, embeds brands in programs using advanced technology. 

He views his work as a way to enable brands to break through the clutter and a way for media companies to de-clutter their air. “As networks begin to cut ad loads and experiment with shorter ad formats, there is less opportunity for quality advertiser exposure,” he asserted, “So we’ve developed technology that uses AI and image recognition to embed brand messaging directly into video content.”

Charlene Weisler: How do you track the ads?

Mark Popkiewicz: Advertisers can buy ad units and track delivery while being assured of quality of exposure, ensuring meaningful and contextually relevant ad insertion presented to the relevant audience every single time.

Charlene Weissler: How do you measure the ads?

Mark Popkiewicz: We have developed a set of metrics based on industry best practices from companies such as comScore and Nielsen together with our own research including eye-tracking, guaranteeing viewability and exposure for brands. These metrics, known in aggregate as the Visual Impact Score (VIS) have been verified to adhere to industry norms as practiced by leading ad effectiveness measurement businesses such as comScore. VIS allows us to manage which ad units are be billable. Algorithms using Computer Vision and Machine Learning generate a score between 0 and 2, and any segment scoring above a 1 is deemed ‘billable’ and those scoring below a 1 are discarded.

Charlene Weisler: How is this different from other in-program ad insertion companies?

Mark Popkiewicz: There are currently some companies offering high-end digital video solutions, but none have yet developed the comprehensive methodologies and measurement capabilities we provide. In-video advertising gives brands verifiable exposure and an ad format that’s plannable, reconcilable, and measured and sold on an audience basis, even though it’s integral to the content experience itself.

Charlene Weisler: Is it possible for the actors to interact with the advertising?

Mark Popkiewicz: We utilize a technique called ‘implied usage’ where a product is inserted into a scene suggesting it is actually in use, although it was never there.  For example an ad unit containing a bottle of wine would manifest with the wine being open and maybe half consumed placed next to a wine glass also containing the wine, all contextually relevant to the action.

Charlene Weisler: What do you see as the future of TV advertising in general?

Mark Popkiewicz: The economics of delivering content has vastly changed over the past several years. TV networks are cutting ads en-masse and a number of networks including NBC and Fox have vowed to cut ad breaks by as much as 20% over the next couple years. As the cord cutting trend continues, the video entertainment industry will need to find new ways to monetize content and remain profitable. Media ententes will need to get creative in relaying their messaging to potential consumers and with that will come new forms of advertising, which will be much more contextually relevant to the viewer based on what they watch.

Charlene Weisler: What do you see as the future of in-program advertising specifically?

Mark Popkiewicz: In order for in-program advertising to be successful, it will have to cater equally to brands, networks, and viewers and be engaging.  We have tested several methodologies to engage audiences and drive e-commerce transactions without damaging the audience experience. The results are staggeringly positive.  It’s clear that a blend of content marketing and engagement is part of the future of advertising - but at all times protecting the audience experience and adding value.

Charlene Weisler: Can this be bought programmatically?

Mark Popkiewicz: At the heart of In-Video is data.  Content is analyzed for brand fit and when combined with audience information we have the essential ingredients for programmatic.  The magic is about transforming content into data, the rest is straightforward.

Charlene Weisler: Can this be inserted on other platforms aside from TV?

Mark Popkiewicz: Our primary focus is on premium entertainment content wherever its consumed but our strategy is all about SVOD, and other OTT platforms wherever there are large audiences and a great deal of content in aggregate.

Television in a Second Screen World. Can it Adapt?

With all of this talk about second screens and multi-platforms and all the opportunities and challenges ahead, it is a good time to reflect on where the television marketplace headed. Robert Tercek of Creative Visions did just that at the recent 2^nd Screen Summit in NYC. His Cassandra-like assessment of the state of television called “Ten Things That Should Be Obvious But Apparently Are Not” could stir fear in the hearts of some media executives.

Tercek is bullish on the media disruption that is only now just beginning to manifest.  He says that providers who do not embrace the future with all of its business uncertainties will soon be steamrolled by it. Are you someone who is afraid of disrupting the current business model for an unknown monetization future? Well please stand back and get out of the way.

According to Tercek, all this fragmentation is causing gridlock, whether it is in content roll-out, devices or in measurement and TV is fast becoming a bubble economy that could soon pop.  But rather than ignore the inevitable can we as an industry put aside the status quo and start to think like disruptors?

The old TV model does not serve us well in this brave new world and needs to be changed. For one thing, we need to stop serving advertisers at the expense of the audience. We tend to think, “How can we best monetize this new business paradigm?” But the viewers are really in charge and now has the tools and wherewithal to consume content when, where and how they want it, whether the media industry can monetize it or not.

In the three major generations of TV viewers, Boomers celebrated the invention of the remote control which enabled easier navigation. Generation X welcomed the DVR which further pushed personal viewing opportunities. Now, Millennials have Youtube and mobile video at their disposal which not only takes television off platform, it further enhances viewer control over their entertainment. Sense a trend here?

Among some of the more provocative conclusions: 
1. TV Everywhere is a failed experiment, a defensive play by providers, confusing and cumbersome to viewers and is ultimately unsustainable. 

2. Video innovation is coming from beyond TV, rendering the TV platform as an “also-ran”. 

3. The Smart Home trumps Smart TV. And it all comes down to mobile applications both in and out of the home. 

4. TV is essentially an app now.  

5. However, large prestigious networks lose leverage when they release apps because they are suddenly competing with small interlopers. This humbles great brands since anyone with a personal brand can launch their own channel. 

6. There are no barriers to entry. You can launch a potentially major entertainment company on a shoestring, receive free collaboration and use a cloud service for scale.  

7. Franchises are cluttered because we are now all B2C and some of us are better than others. An example here is Netflix’s House of Cards which has been nominated for a slew of Emmys. 

8. There is a re-invigoration of print (something I have long believed) which can now transcend its format by offering video and audio.  

9. The Internet is Big – Really, Really Big. Sites that you might never have heard of before are huge and growing quickly.  

10. TV is fast becoming a subset of digital media causing a shift in the power pyramid. Film used to be on top followed by broadcast, cable and internet. Now it is Internet and Mobile on top followed by cable, broadcast and film.

There is no turning back the media model to a simpler, more economically predictive time where viewers were more beholden to the offerings of the major entertainment outlets. It is a time of disruption that can be as exciting as it can be upsetting. Complacency is not an option. Let’s start disrupting.