What is the Strategy in This Brave New Media World?

As the media landscape continues to evolve, media mavens sat down at the recent IRTS breakfast to discuss how the industry can respond to evolving consumer behaviors, decide which metrics are most meaningful in an omni-channel world and where they see the upfront going into the future. One thing they agreed upon is that the most important consideration is to make each dollar count by reaching the right consumer at the right time on the right device… and it isn’t easy.

What is the Strategy on the Programmer Side?

Data from all the possible touch points dictates how companies are deciding how to best manage their content for both ad-supported and subscription services noted Lisa Valentino, Executive Vice President, Client and Brand Solutions, Disney Ad Sales, thus creating multiple revenue streams for the company. “Our subscription businesses are going to fuel product development, the data strategy and the target-ability and addressability that we can offer going forward.”

Kirk McDonald, Chief Marketing Officer, Xandr, stated that his company has, “big investments in our strategy in on-demand,” and in the ad-supported sector, his company is, “collecting signals from all of the touch points across our mobility business as well as the consumption that happens in on-demand services, normalizing those data signals, parsing them in a way that we can add them to decorate the impressions we want to sell in ad-supported and doing that closer and closer to real time especially as CTV and digital come together.” McDonald believes that it is important to make it easier for agencies to buy into these various platforms and invited the industry to participate in a community marketplace, “to make it easier to buy those audiences at scale.” He concluded by saying, “It’s not the units in environments, it is the audiences and where and how they want to consume. You have to make that much easier.”

What is the Strategy on the Advertiser Side?

In seeking a go-forward strategy to reach the right audience, Catherine Sullivan, Chief Investment Officer NA, Omnicom Media Group, stated, “With the streaming services, consumers should have the choice to choose whether or not they want advertising or not. Let’s let them make the choice instead of someone else.” In this way consumers, who she sees as generally being open to advertising messages, won’t be subjected to too much advertising or irrelevant messaging and can therefore maximize their enjoyment of the content. “We have to do a better job as an industry to provide better formats for the consumer,” she added.  

Looking at streaming companies such as Netflix, she sees opportunities to create marketing partnerships and believes that, “we will see an ad-supported new world order that will allow the consumer to make the choice for advertising across platforms.”

What is the Strategy in Live?

Live events are important lean-in, tent poles and are now encompassing a variety of cross platform opportunities. For Sullivan, distinguishing marquee events requires not only working with frenemy companies but also with social media companies, “to help the consumer have a bigger experience.” It is also important, she added, to make sure that in live events, “we help our marketers get more bang for their buck and make those experiences bigger and longer,” and also lead up to the red carpet or the Olympics. “You have to map it out to get the most leverage,” she concluded.

Authenticity in live events is vital, noted McDonald. “If it’s not authentic and if it is forced, you will backlash,” that will impact the content creator and the advertising brands. “We are looking for those authentic moments.” He explained that with any partnership with Xandr, “ads have to be less interruptive,” with a good balance of the ads that viewers see against the content they came to view. “That is where we think there has to be a lot of innovation and make ads complimentary to the experience.”

Conclusion

All of this change and innovation has the potential to deliver a much better, more immersive and highly relevant viewer experience that not only benefits the viewer but also the brands that support the content.

This article first appeared in MediaVillage.com

Kathy Doyle and the Art of Mentoring

The value and importance of mentoring – for both the mentor and mentee - cannot be under-estimated. On November 15, 2016, Kathy Doyle, Executive Vice President, Managing Partner of UM, will be honored by the IRTS for her leadership in the industry and her impact on the next generation though her mentoring efforts. Bloomberg Media COO Jacki Kelly will present Kathy with an IRTS Foundation Hall of Mentorship Award. Kathy's fellow Honorees (and presenters) are NBCUniversal's Linda Yaccarino (Joe Uva), PepsiCo's Seth Kaufman (Ross Martin), and Discovery's Henry Schleiff  (Kerry Kennedy). For more information please contact joyce.tudryn@irts.org.

I sat down with Kathy to talk about her experiences in helping others and how that has shaped her views on her career and her life.

Charlene Weisler: Kathy, what is your definition of a mentor?

Kathy Doyle: I believe that it is primarily leading by example, being a resource, being an advisor in different situations and a teacher who provides actionable advice. I would say that at its core, being a mentor is about being a counselling teacher.

Charlene Weisler: How does one get started in becoming a mentor? What is the right approach?

Kathy Doyle: I am overly sensitive about not naming myself as a mentor to a specific person and am very cautious when someone says to me, “I want to be your mentor.” It’s important that the feelings of respect are mutual.  I would say that I am very approachable to becoming someone’s mentor, but I would not necessarily initiate that relationship.

Charlene Weisler: Tell me about your own mentors through your life.

Kathy Doyle: I think a lot about the long list of those who I considered to be my mentors. I would include my mother, father and father-in-law among them. They were huge influences in my life and my career. From a work standpoint, one of the first mentors I had was a woman I worked for at Leo Burnett, Stella Gentile, who was very significant to me. Some of my mentors were on the agency side, some on the client side and some were on the partners’ side. They gave me well rounded resources from which to draw upon. And, for the most part, it was all natural the way the mentoring relationships occurred. At IPG, we have an official mentoring program but the best of these types of relationships often come naturally. For example, Jacki Kelley, Chief Operating Officer; Bloomberg Media at Bloomberg LP, has been a great and positive influence for me – as well as a many other women in the industry.

Charlene Weisler: Do you think there is a successful style of mentoring that works best?

Kathy Doyle: I think it is very individual. For me, what works best is very organic and not too prescriptive.  I’m less “hands-on” and lean much more toward the “there for you when you need me” style.  I also believe that the chemistry between the two people ultimately drives the style of the mentorship.

Charlene Weisler: What mentoring moment are you most proud of?

Kathy Doyle: Aside from being honored by the IRTS for mentorship, I’d have to say that my proudest moments are when I look at how our two sons have approached their careers.  They are both dedicated, loyal and successful.  Christopher is an Attorney and Andrew is in the advertising business.  As they have grown professionally I have been incredibly proud of who they are, how they conduct themselves and what they have achieved.

Charlene Weisler: IPG has a mentoring program. Can you tell us a little bit about its history and how it works?

Kathy Doyle: The IPG Diversity & Inclusion team is committed to creating a mentoring culture throughout our network. I’ve specifically participated in our Women’s Leadership Network mentoring program over the last 10 years.  The first person I worked with through this program is someone who still considers me a mentor today, and I am very proud of that.

Charlene Weisler: What advice would you give someone who is seeking a mentor?

Kathy Doyle: I would say find somebody who inspires you and whom you respect and just ask them about being a mentor.  And it is important to note that it mentorship can and should be a symbiotic relationship. I get as much out of the relationship as my mentee. It gives me a good perspective of what it is like to be an up and coming media executive, which keeps me grounded and very appreciative

This article first appeared in www.MediaBizBloggers.com

 

Upfront Relevancy and the Importance (Or Not) of Data. The IRTS Newsmakers Panel.

The IRTS is an industry organization of top media executives and also serves as a charity to build future leaders and industry diversity through an educational program initiative. The recent Newsmaker Breakfast not only recognized the thirty students comprising this year’s IRTS fellows program, it also offered a provocative panel of noted agency leaders moderated by Jack Myers, Chairman and Founder of Myersbiznet.

The panel included Lori Hiltz, CEO Global Brands, Havas Media Group, Dave Penski, Chief Investment Officer, Publicis Media, Dani Benowitz, EVP Director of Investment, Magna Global, Rino Scanzoni , Chief Investment Officer, GroupM and Donnie Williams, Chief Digital Officer, Horizon Media. Myers led a lively discussion of the state of the industry from the upfront and newfront to data, automation and disintermediation. 

Upfront 2016

“The upfront has taken some interesting turns this year,” Myers began, “What do you see happening?” Hiltz responded, “The Upfront is the social currency of our industry. It doesn't matter what platform or channel – we are platform agnostic when it comes to investment. But the Upfront becomes the jump start.” Scanzoni countered, “The Upfront marketplace is irrelevant to what the overall market really is. Last year we saw market declines and this year we expect to see low to single digit growth. There is change and disruption but the fundamentals of our business are not changing.” “There is more of a shift from national TV into digital. We have been looking at digital holistically for a while as a way to reach consumers,” Benowitz noted.

The Importance of Data and Closed Loop Initiatives

 Is data a game changer? “We are all talking about data,” Scanzoni said, “But there is nothing new about data. Yes it is more sophisticated and there is more first and third party data. But we’ve used data in TV for many years. We are doing it better – it is more objective and reliable - but there is no nirvana here using data.” But data is being collected and leveraged in new ways. “The closed loop is new,” said Myers. “There are closed loop initiatives from companies like NBCU, Viacom and Turner. Do they have scale and are they sustainable?” Scanzoni responded, “If I were a seller I would do exactly that but as a buyer I do not see the value in closed loops. You have to have a consistent data set to apply to a full TV portfolio. The correlations are different between Kantar and Nielsen, for example. They point you in different directions. You need a consistent dataset and have to find a way to optimize across vendors. Sellers have to work as a group but that is impossible because they have their own self interests. Agencies need to choose data and do their own correlations.”

Automation versus Human Relationships

Programmatic continues to loom large over the industry. Williams noted, “Programmatic has the ability to help decision-making over multiple media touch points, which is great. Investments become more efficient and it is a true value proposition.” But what about the balance between sales automation and the human relationships that are the cornerstone of our business? Penski responded that, “Relationships are important if not more important in the industry now. We have added people to our staff because to buy programmatically now requires even more people. Keeping talent is a big challenge for us. We are still a very human based industry.” Benowitz added, “It is not a matter of traditional versus programmatic. There is room for both. We look at content, engagement and watercooler talk. But the ability to buy auto intenders is certainly where we should be headed. It won't go all one way or the other. It still takes two people talking to hear the passion in their voice. If we lose that we are in a different place.”

Looking Ahead

Between the impact of data and programmatic on creative and consumers, the industry continues to evolve and innovate. Some final words of wisdom were offered by the panel. Benowitz advised, “Don't be afraid. There is a lot going on but there is room to do business.”  Penski added, “There is still a need for humans in our ecosystem. We must continue to work together and find ways to bring competitors together to work together. It is not just about data.”

This article first appeared on www.MediaBizBloggers.com