Cross Screen Planning, Buying and Measurement. Q&A with Scott Ferber of Videology

Scott Ferber could be considered an early adopter of technology. He explains, “As a child I was interested in technology and math. I was there for the beginning of gaming, Pong and personal computers. Because of that I was attuned to technology in society and had the belief in 1996 that the world would significantly evolve because of the internet.”

Since then he has been involved in some form in the digital and data space, first launching Advertising.com which he sold to AOL in 2006 and then launching Videology in 2007.

In this interview Ferber talks about his role in the company, metrics, partnerships, global differences and challenges in the digital space. He also looks ahead to the next 3 to 5 years to predict how the video landscape will change.

CW: Tell me about your current job and your company.

SF: Back in 2007, we saw that the digitization of television and escalation in the availability of broadband was going to transform the way that viewers watched content.  We set out to develop a business to meet the unique needs of content convergence across TV and digital video. That was the genesis of Videology—a software provider that helps brand advertisers, agencies and media companies drive better results through cross-screen planning, buying and measurement. While my job as CEO is to represent the face of the company, it is also to attract and empower a team of great people. So I recruit, train, motivate and direct a highly skilled team, and ensure that we have the systems in place to make it sustainable.

CW: What type of metrics do you use? 

SF: We are integrated with over 40 third party data providers such as Nielsen, Oracle, Adobe, comScore, Experian, Axciom, BlueKai, JD Power, Rentak and Kantar Shopcom—so the range of measurement that we offer our users is broad and aligns with their overall goals.  That said, increasingly advertisers are interested in measuring for actual brand metrics ranging from brand awareness to whether a campaign actually moved product off the shelves.  Much of our innovation is focused on measuring that type of ROI.

CW: What is your opinion of the comScore acquisition of Rentrak?

SF: All efforts toward innovation in cross-screen measurement in this increasingly fragmented media landscape are positive for the industry.

CW: With whom do you partner?

SF: We are a huge systems integrator. On a high level, we provide software used by advertisers, agencies and media companies to create and measure effective ad campaigns that sell more product with greater efficiency. We count some of the largest media agencies, global brands and media companies as our partners and clients.

CW: Do you include radio, out of home and print in your cross media system?

SF: Currently we are focused on television and video.  However, our software can work with any media that can be measured through digital distribution channels. So for instance, we can measure digital radio but not terrestrial radio. Outdoor video is also of growing importance and we can include that. And of course we include digital print publications.

CW: What is your cross platform unifying metric?

SF: There is a debate going on right now about the best measurement for digital cross-screen viewing.  Some believe the solution lies with a more digitally-influenced metric, others believe it should be a more traditional TV ratings metric. What everyone does agree upon however is the need for a unifying metric.  One example of how Videology is helping to solve for that is with a direct integration with Nielsen which allows us to tie television viewing behavior to online viewing behavior.  Ultimately, in many ad categories, we are then able to help our users drive campaign results by correlating ad exposure to cross-screen return on investment (ROI) and offline sales. This type of closed-loop, cross-screen measurement is the end goal that most advertisers are looking for.

CW: What are the challenges to your business and how can you overcome them?

SF: One of the primary factors holding back convergence is legacy systems which were not built for a cross-platform world. The hard part is to bridge the old and the new worlds. To do this, we need to unify legacy technology systems, be respectful of current business models and workflows, and ensure the fluidity of data across digital and linear video channels, as well as between targeting parameters on the front end, and measurement metrics on the back end.

CW: Videology is a global company. Are there differences in the business globally?

SF: The main difference is the evolution of their convergence. The US and the UK are further along in planning, measurement and execution than many other countries. But we’re also seeing significant progress across APAC. It’s also interesting to note that as convergence spreads into new markets, the cycle for adoption is becoming faster and faster

CW: Give me some predictions of how the media landscape will look in the next three to five years.

SF: Right now about 7% of the total video ad marketplace—including TV—is automated and data-driven.  Within the next 3-5 years that will increase to around 50%.  Keep in mind that automation and data do not equate to “biddable” which only comprises about 1% of the total video marketplace today and will likely remain less than 10%.  So this means that the majority of growth will come from bringing automation and data to traditional television workflows which are primarily focused on scheduled inventory purchased in an upfront, reserved manner, not from real-time bidding.

This article first appeared on www.MediaBizBloggers.com

Advanced Advertising: Content Remains at the Core ... But Data is a (Very) Close Second

How often does one get to go to a sales oriented conference and hear panelists rhapsodize about data? Not in my corporate lifetime as a researcher for a range of television networks. But if you hang around long enough, I guess you see everything come to pass. And so it was at the recent B&C Advanced Advertising conference as part of television week. 

Here are some of my takeaways from the conference:

Data is Out of Research and Into Sales

It is not what all of the panelists said but it was the leitmotif of this and other conferences on media. And that is, Research is there but more and more in the background while Data is being pulled out of the Research function and moved either into siloed departments reporting to the same C-level executive or moved under Sales. What I thought would be a renaissance for Research seems to be turning into a new level of purgatory. Data without Research-applied analytics and Research-derived insights is worthless in my opinion.

Is It Time For a JIG?

This is arguably one of the most controversial and legally risky ideas in our business. But that does not mean that others are not talking about forming an industry wide group to discuss things like standardization, edit rules and metrics. In a common interest group, all would participate so the issues of anti-competitiveness or antitrust should be moot. Linda Yaccarino Chairman, Advertising Sales and Client Partnerships, NBCUniversal fired the first public volley in this battle by asking, “How do we come together as an industry to better measure our product? It has to be more intuitive and we’ve got to get to a place with a uniform currency. The good thing about Nielsen is that it has decades of experience but it is largely self-reported. We need to come together and coalesce as an industry.” Boom.

Standardization of Metrics is Pivotal

Standardization falls along the lines of forming some sort of common interest group to decide, among other things, standard metrics whether for cross platform, advanced advertising or programmatic TV. The standardization and creation of common metrics came up on practically every panel. As Yaccarino explained, “We have to have a common currency and have to measure the efficacy and value of the consumer experience.” When asked what the greatest impediment to the adoption of TV Programmatic was, Brent Gaskamp, SVP Corporate Development N.A. Videology replied, “No standard metrics.” Travis Howe, SVP Client Services and Operations, Invision, noted, “Standardization will be an issue. Measurement will be an issue.” Shereta Williams, President Videa concluded that, “Measurement has to get better, especially cross platform measurement.” But even if we were to all agree, nothing is easy. Frank Foster, SVP GM TiVo Research added a new wrinkle. He explained, “We currently don't have stewardship systems that can handle the new metrics.”

Will Bigger Networks with Higher Ratings Continue to Dominate?

The answer is ‘not necessarily’, but it depends on who you ask.  For Johnathan Bokor, SVP Director of Advanced Media at Mediavest, “In order to get insight into a program or network we need data depth and we are not there yet. We built a system over the past 75 years where big nets and big ratings get the most money. But as you move to an addressable-based paradigm, this type of spending needs to be justified. If your audience is found on the long tail networks, your cost will be cheaper. Large networks will need to prove that they are worth the premium money. We need to look at context of high rated shows. They need to prove that network primetime is worth the premium.” But Lance Neuhauser, CEO of 4C, countered, “The small guys will still have to figure out a way to prove its value.”

In conclusion, the media landscape continues to shift. Definitions of programmatic, advanced advertising and addressable advertising continue to tangent and merge. But some things are eternal:  Make it Easy to Implement and Bring Value Through the Sales Funnel. Marianne Gambelli EVP Chief Investment Officer at Horizon summed it up when she said, “I want research across all media to unlock better value that we can't get our arms around manually.”

This article first appeared in www.Mediapost.com