Keeping the Family In Mind. An Interview with UPtv’s Ron Plante

How do you construct a break-out segmentation study in a world of custom segmentations? Ron Plante, Senior Vice President, UPtv, launched a multi-wave, multi-year segmentation study that teases out psychographic behavioral elements in viewers that can then be merged with quantitative measurement services such as Nielsen and MRI. 

According to the study, the linear TV viewing audience can be divided into three main segments: Family in Mind or “FIM” (which represents 40 million U.S. households), Thrill Seekers (26 million) and Escape Artists (42 million).

The latest wave has just been released and Plante shared his insights with me in this interview. 

Charlene Weisler: What is the study about and why conduct it now?

Ron Plante: We started the study in 2014 because we wanted to know more about our audience – the people that UPtv really resonated with. The study serves two masters – to help us better understand our target audience and also offered something that could be used for ad sales.

Right out of the gate we found a lot of interest from the ad community. In fact our first wave was vetted by MediaVest who advised us as to their point of view. We also engaged with a major retailer who took some of the data and merged it into its own proprietary model. 

Weisler: What type of input did you get from MediaVest?

Plante: What MediaVest did in the first study was review the questionnaire with us, offering us advice such as which were the most important areas to explore. They gave us detailed questionnaire feedback and as well as some general direction.

Weisler: What methodology did you use?

Plante: A nationally representative sample, cable plus. In the most recent study we focused on persons 25-54 and also expanded from cable plus to a broader universe so we also included broadband only homes, which is obviously an important target for a lot of people right now and for our UPtv SVOD offering. 

Weisler: In this most recent wave, were there any surprises or reinforcements from previous waves? 

Plante: There were definitely some surprises and also some consistencies. The first surprise was that when we looked at the three groupings, the edgiest group (Thrill Seekers) declined from 36% in our first wave to 25% in the most recent wave. People seemed to have migrated, even though this wasn’t a static sample, from that edgier group into Escape Artists and FIMs. When you look at the television landscape in 2014 compared to 2018, and look at the top shows, it is a bit of a gentler landscape. You have “This is Us” and a lot of shows in the top tier in broadcast and cable that seem a little gentler.

What also surprised us was the broad demographic spectrum FIM occupies.  FIMs are from small towns and big cities, racially and economically diverse and politically they are purple - just as likely to be Democrats or Republicans as the total U.S.  What they have in common is the importance they place on TV as their main source of entertainment and they seek out shows they can watch with the entire family. 

Weisler: How are you implementing the results? 

Plante: We’ve done a couple of things. Internally, we conduct research studies that recruit specifically for FIM. That is how we screen our shows and our acquisitions. We have also fused the data definitions with both MRI and Nielsen so we can actually look at FIM in both of those platforms. And we share that with advertisers and agencies if they wish to use it. 

Weisler: What would you say makes these segments unique or special and make them a standout? There are a lot of segmentations out there.

Plante: There ARE a lot of segmentations out there. We looked at a lot of historical research on segmentations and were happy to find that a lot of our results compared to historical segments. What makes ours different is the slightly larger universe because we are including broadband-only homes now too. And we are able to fuse this with Nielsen and MRI. That helps with the actual application of the data. One of my frustrations as a researcher in my career is that we have segmentations but are unable to use it after the fact. We have found that within the company, people understand what FIM is and everyday it is activated when we engage and interact with our audience.

Weisler: What would you say are the implications for UPtv, for programmers and for advertisers with these segments?

Plante: For advertisers, environment is the hot button right now. Everyone is talking about how their content can be in a safe and appropriate environment. This underscores that- when you reach out to those who are in the Family In Mind segment and you reach them in an appropriate environment, you ad performs on steroids. We have found that environment makes a big difference. By targeting people in an appropriate environment who are in this mind-frame, your ad will perform well.

For programmers, we are seeing that there is a general shift happening and the industry seems to be getting a little bit softer in these times. When you look at UPtv, we are one of the few places that is super serving this audience. And when we talk to them, they still say that they want more programming that is appropriate for my entire family. They are saying that there is too much content with too much violence and sex. That is something that we have taken to heart. Some of our most recent campaigns show families that watch together – and that has come directly from our research. 

Weisler: What are your plans going forward in this study?

Plante: I would love to get other programmers and other advertisers interested in the segments and join forces with us to have a bigger, better and complete understanding of this audience. Although we have built a pretty large base, the industry is expanding and changing so fast that a study conducted six months ago is already behind the eight ball. We would also like to start to look at some non-linear behaviors like video in the digital space.

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com

 

Lotame Ignite Americas Conference Focuses on the Power of Data

Data has (finally) become the force for change in our industry. Not only have many media companies devoted much of their upfronts about it, but Lotame's inaugural Ignite Americas forum last week expanded the discussion of how data can be used to improve ROI, upend legacy measurements, tell a story and totally restructure a company. It is finally revenge of the nerds. 

Data Attributes Have Evolved

There is so much data available from first, second and third party data that the parameters of what constitutes a valuable dataset have evolved. Previously, data size was one of the paramount requests. Do we have a large enough sample approaching census that will get us stable results? Now, with the complexity and sophistication of data availability, the wants have shifted from size to data quality. The components of data quality are Transparency (Do we understand the data attributes and origins?) Accuracy (Are we getting actionable successful results?) and Performance (Do the results deliver on the KPIs and/or ROI?).

Data expert Joyce Lee, Director Global Data Sales Strategy, Oath, has seen her role evolve from accumulating third party data to finding ways to "sync all first party data in the Oath family." Data stitching is like cooking, she noted, from having the right ingredients, to blending them together to serving a final, perfect result. Michelle Mirshak, Vice President Data Architecture and Platforms, Spark Foundry, noted that "Some of our more sophisticated clients are asking us to normalize data across channels to better track performance," as the data is analyzed in a more holistic way. The importance of data quality cannot be understated. According to Mirshak, whether it is third, second or first party data, "it all comes down to performance," because quality is not just a first party data attribute.

Data From Collection to Insights

Alejandro Matos, Digital Marketing Director, Omnicom Media Group, Dominican Republic and The Caribbean, explained the challenge he faced in generating insights for a local retailer who had limited data on its online consumers. “We needed to come up with a way to capture data,” he said. His work in capturing data that explained the consumer journey focused on a variety of sources - from placing beacons in various locations in the store, launching a DMP, CRM on social media and on apps, placing pixels in banner ads, gathering data on mobile, emails, websites, from multiple sources and then matched with third party data before modeling.

The result was the ability to more clearly understand the consumer journey, but it was putting the collection structure into place that made all the difference. Is every data project unique and custom? Not necessarily, according to Matos. The collection methods may be similar across clients but the insights and stories that can be crafted from the data, even from similar data sets, will differ.

A Move From Legacy Metrics to Segmentation and Attribution

With the availability of sophisticated datasets, it is time for the industry to move away from legacy age and gender demographics. According to Chris Frazier, Vice President Business Intelligence, Cadent Network, his company uses data to, “build what that audience will be” by building out a target consumer beyond age and gender, to “reach the intended target at the right time.” He added that linking to linear TV using traditional Nielsen to digital platform performance is a challenge, impeding the ability to measure and guarantee standardize-able sales deliveries across platforms. “We would like to see uniformity in how we measure impressions. Is it two seconds? Is it a minute? We want to see industry standards,” he stated. When it comes to addressable, attribution is key. “Attribution allows you to connect your exposures to where the sales are. It’s a measure of ROI to media spend.”  

The TV industry is beginning to embrace the use of consumer data in measurement in conjunction with demographic data enabling cross platform measurement. The need for a holistic, unified view of audiences and campaigns has never been greater and is essential for the evolution of the advertising industry. As data advocate, Andy Monfried, Founder and CEO, Lotame, concluded in his opening keynote, the requirements of a DMP is to unify disparate datasets to target the right audiences, extend a brand’s position to find and reach new customers and to better understand a consumer journey through greater personalization. This requires internal buy-in, retaining talent and aligning the strategic corporate vision to better understand and execute on the data insights. We are at the beginning stages. For the industry and for a company like Lotame, it should be an exciting and ground-breaking time going forward.

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com

Freeform Cracks the Culture Code With Advertisers

How can you best reach the coveted 14-34 age group for both programmers and advertisers? First you have to crack the culture code to understand what stimulus motivates and connects with them. In a recent industry showcase for ad sales clients, Freeform announced the results of a special research study that identified their core target consumer which they call the Becomer. Tom Ascheim, President, Freeform, explained that a Becomer is “shorthand for a life stage – who am I and who am I evolving into. Our brand goes from the first kiss to the first child.” 

In a departure from the usual ad sales events, Freeform representatives escorted clients through four separate rooms, each highlighting one of the audience mindsets. In addition to an overview of each mindset, attendees were asked to perform a task that helped explain how the mindset worked. One task involved going through a series of psychological questions that led you to your ultimate profession. Another had participants describe celebrities in one word and hang their photo on a tree. After the tour, attendees settled into a luncheon panel of agency thought leaders who gave their perspectives on the mindsets and the implications for advertisers.

Research to Discover Mindsets

Freeform launched a two year research effort focusing on 14-34 year olds. The study resulted in the identification of nine relevant segments, four of which Freeform uses to focus on the Becomer. The study reached out to 10,000 respondents, according to Jane Gould, SVP Consumer Insights, Freeform, who noted, “We wanted to listen and be a part of the youth culture and see the world through their eyes, We wanted to bring to life the visual culture of the demographic, not by asking how they feel but by studying images and signs that decode the visual culture. This was truly a passion project.”

Gould stressed that this research study did not ask respondents direct questions (which is unlike most research studies). “We had them focus on an image. Respondents gave us a dream that represented them. Then, using images pushed through semiotic analysis that uses both anthropology and linguistics, we brought the four mindsets to life,” she said.

The Four Mindsets

These four mindsets – They Value the Struggle, Embracing the Undefined, Being Intersectional and Standing Together – are, each in their own unique way, focusing on a cultural, behavioral touchpoint of this generation. When these sensibilities are evident in content, branding and messaging, a deeper understanding and connection are formed. 

They Value the Struggle encourages fighting for success. It embodies resilience, the journey of working hard for your achievement, hustling. 14-34s don’t want to see people who were given everything without working. They believe that you have to work hard for what you get. But engaging in the struggle can make them anxious. An example of a celebrity who embodies The Struggle is Beyonce who, after achieving great success through her own hard efforts, reveals her authenticity in sharing her real life hardships. This helps her to stay relevant with this audience.

Embracing the Undefined shows the non-linear possibilities that transcend limits, encourage wanderlust and create, what Freeform calls, a messy glory. When all around you is crumbling, seize the opportunity and pivot to positivism. Memes like the Crying Michael Jordan and programming like Louis CK and the Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt are examples of Embracing the Undefined. If life gives you lemons, you don’t necessarily need to make lemonade. You can also make lemon cake. You have many options.

Being Intersectional means being interchangeable, embracing and combining complexity and offering many versions of oneself. The rally cry is Don’t Box Me In where we are able to learn many different (and sometimes conflicting) things about a single person. An example of a program that personifies Intersectionality is NBC’s This Is Us where the viewer discovers new things about each character that might surprise or confound.

Standing Together is a value concept that differs from past generations. With the proliferation of social media and the immediate connection, there is greater awareness of life’s disparities - the haves and have nots – resulting in a collective mentality and shared experience of adversity. This generation is using their power, rising up and offering real possibility for good. Keywords to connect to this mindset are – punching up / not down, the glass is half full, support underdogs, power to drive change and optimism. An example of how advertisers use this concept is the Nike campaign “Find Your Greatness” which highlights the efforts of regular folks and not elite athletes.

Mindsets in Use

So how does the use of mindsets help advertisers and the network? For advertisers, what resonated was, as Scott Hess, EVP, Corporate Marketing and Millennials, MediaVest/Spark, explained, “how heroes for Millennials differ from Gen X. Bling is out. Earned bling is nobler.” Thomas McGinley, Project Director, Flamingo Group, noted that, “communities can live longer through streaming.” And, Hess added, “the scope of them look different. It is truly a global marketplace.” The secret is, according to Jonah Disend, Founder and CEO, Redscout, “to focus on experiences and loyalty showing that you care about the consumer. Cultivate the tribe, listen carefully and see where the genius can be found.”

For the network, these audience filters, according to Ascheim, “are used to power our business. The insights we have gained informs our branding and programming.” The relaunch from ABC Family to Freeform has helped to shift attitudes resulting in an increase in brand affinity and loyalty. “This lifestage can be a scary time – there is ambiguity but also positivity. The potential energy is loud, huge and exciting. So we are being fluid and ever-changing, embracing the idea of an un-tagline. We are now moving quickly because the audience moves quickly,” he concluded.

This article first appeared in www.MediaBizBloggers.com

Where Do We Go With Programmatic? Experts Weigh in at the Addressable Advertising Conference

As the television ecosystem continues to evolve with ever increasing speed, it is difficult to keep up with not only all of the new advancements but also all of the conferences whose panels and speakers keep us up to date. This past week was the fourth annual NYC TV and Video week comprising of four major conferences that included a range of compelling speakers on topics from virtual reality, addressable advertising, data, diversity and programmatic. These series of events offered an up to date appraisal of where the media ecosystem is headed.

When it comes to programmatic, the conversation comprised of many of the issues that now face television in general. That is, the need for standardization (in the case of programmatic that means standard buying segments), a common language so that terms are clearly understood (the recently updated CIMM Lexicon addresses this issue) and the ability to get to scale cross-platform, especially with niche targets (there are no easy solutions as of yet and the landscape continues to change).

What are the pressing needs to move programmatic and addressable advertising forward?  Here are some takeaways:

Standards are Important … When we talk about creating standards, we need to specify the areas that benefit from standardization (such as terms and definitions) and those that can’t (such as CPMs and pricing). Eric Schmitt, EVP, Communications, TV & Media, Acxiom, noted that, “the lack of segmentation standards is the single biggest impediment in rolling programmatic TV out across the industry. How segments are defined is also a problem across advertisers. We are tackling this because we want segmentations to be actionable across industry.”

… But Not for Every Aspect of Programmatic or Addressable

But when it comes to pricing and CPMs, Nick Troiano, CEO, Cadent, stated, ”Audiences are different across MVPDs. New York is different than Iowa. Advertisers are used to buying across the nation but we price by specific markets, according to supply and demand.” And Maria Mandel Dunsche, VP, Head of Marketing, AT&T AdWorks, added, “Pricing depends on the category. The price for the initial buy could have a higher CPM than for a linear buy. But the effective CPM can wind up lower.” 

Scale Needs to Be Addressed

“Where does an addressable campaign fit in with the rest of the media?” asks Jonathan Bokor, SVP, Director of Advanced Media, MediaVest|Spark. He continued, “Standards are important. Do we base it on frequency or reach? We look at addressable as targeting. Scale is an issue.” Troiano explained that at Cadent, “We are placing media across platforms and work closely with our engineers to support addressable advertising. We recognize that, with any new medium, scale is fundamental. Fifty to 60 million homes are addressable today but they have different workflows. From a technological perspective, we unify and make it simple.

Walled Gardens Have to Come Down

The walled gardens that exist across MVPDs, content owners such as networks and agencies are preventing the easy access, execution and calculation of addressable campaigns. As long as they exist, this will stunt growth. “The siloed and walled gardens that exist today have to come down,” stated Troiano. “We need to be able to execute campaign across operators. Until there are mechanisms for agencies or buyers to execute across operators, we won't get out of the small end of the funnel,” he added.

Everything takes time and the media ecosystem appears to be in constant change and evolution. If we as an industry can start to collaborate by dismantling the walled gardens, agree on even the most basic terms and perhaps even a standardize-able list of acceptable metrics, it could move the business further faster. Everyone benefits.

This article first appeared on www.MediaBizBloggers.com