Digital

In response to brand safety concerns over the past six months, nearly six in 10 US CMOs surveyed in November 2017 said they’ve increased their spending on channels that can prove they are brand safe, and almost as many respondents said they’ve reviewed their agency relationships.

It’s no secret that in addition to traditional television, viewers also have access to a plethora of subscription video on demand content and virtual multi-channel providers. As the options for these streaming services have grown, so have the means by which viewers can view them on their TV screens.  Consumers, in turn, are taking action.

As more advertisers start to explore the benefits of connected TV and over-the-top (OTT) services, buyers and sellers are facing a slew of challenges. eMarketer’s Lauren Fisher spoke with Ryan Reed, director of innovation for TV and video at Lotame, about the major hurdles on both sides of the spectrum, including what’s holding up programmatic trading of connected TV and OTT inventory.

In the fifth and final episode of our “Critical Challenges” series, we dig into the topic of brand safety, featuring highlights from our one-to-one interviews with top marketing executives from around the world.

Digital marketers are being taken to the cleaners.  Roughly half of all digital campaigns use multiple data sources, according to a study out today by Forrester. That would include email.  But they lack clarity into data sources and what they are buying.

It’s no secret that in addition to traditional television, viewers also have access to a plethora of Subscription Video On Demand content and virtual multi-channel providers. As the options for these streaming services have grown, so have the means by which viewers can view them on their TV screens.

2017 has been the year that advertisers called out digital advertising as broken and sorely in need of repair. As stewards of the investment that funds the internet, these ad execs should be applauded for their insistence on better performance. That said, their focus has been on surface issues related to the ad experience, while a larger problem lies beneath.

First in a five-part series: eMarketer co-founder Geoff Ramsey sits down with top marketing executives from around the world to discuss the critical challenges they face and what they’re doing to address those challenges. Today’s topic: Digital transformation.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) presented “The OTT Co-Viewing Experience: 2017,” a comprehensive study revealing that more than half (56%) of those co-viewing on over-the-top (OTT) say that they regularly talk about the brands or products they see while watching content on television screens. Moreover, brand-related multitasking behaviors are particularly strong among OTT co-viewers, including chatting on social media about the brands they see, conducting brand-related searches, and even making purchases online.

New data from Hub Research suggests that TV watching habits may be at a tipping point, with the majority of US TV viewers saying they mainly watch their favorite show via a digital source.

To most industry experts, at forums like ANA and elsewhere, the only sure thing in advertising these days seems to be changed. Forecasters keep painting a future about the profitability of digital over analog and all things; Google competes successfully with the Global giants of Advertising; and Facebook reveals the powers of the 6-second spot. Where are we these days? Enter the growing content-creation activity by agencies.

Recent studies from key players in the world of ad tech tell quite different stories of how video ads seem to be performing, based on completion rates, viewability rates, clickthroughs and more.

Massive cybersecurity breaches have become almost commonplace, regularly grabbing headlines that alarm consumers and leaders. But for all of the attention such incidents have attracted in recent years, many organizations worldwide still struggle to comprehend and manage emerging cyber risks in an increasingly complex digital society. As our reliance on data and interconnectivity swells, developing resilience to withstand cyber shocks—that is, large-scale events with cascading disruptive consequences—has never been more important.

You’re in a new city, with an hour before a business meeting. You need to focus on your presentation, but you also need something to eat. Your connected watch finds several local quick-service restaurants and chooses one based on how busy it is, your company expense policy and your dietary preferences—using your vital signs to ensure you’re eating a balanced diet. (Did you really have bacon maple pancakes for breakfast?). While you keep working, the watch tells your self-driving car to take you to the restaurant. Based on local traffic, the watch will alert you when it’s time to leave for your meeting. And because you’re in a hurry, it will pay the bill. Hopefully, it will leave an appropriate tip.

The influencer marketing space shows no signs of slowing down. But to have a successful strategy, brands need more than just celebrity endorsements. Identifying the right influencers is a science that relies on complex data, not just the number of social media followers a user has—that’s why influencer platforms are becoming key components of companies’ marketing stacks. Rob Trauber, CEO of apparel brand Johnny Was, and Zackary Cantor, director of decision sciences at digital marketing company GlobalWide Media, spoke with eMarketer’s Maria Minsker about the value of influencer marketing technology.

Kantar Millward Brown has transformed its annual Getting Digital Right study into a global Getting Media Right study. Why? Because digital cannot and should not be considered in isolation from the rest of the media mix.  by Nigel Hollis

Today’s connected world is driving a ‘consumer trust divide’ between suspicious minds in developed nations and more accepting attitudes in emerging countries, according to Kantar TNS’s latest Connected Life research.

The job of managing the amount of data available to marketers has become too big for humans alone to handle. If marketers haven’t yet handed off some data management tasks to machines, they undoubtedly will soon. Allen Nance, global CMO at marketing automation firm Emarsys, spoke with eMarketer’s Sean Creamer about what artificial intelligence (AI) does best, while leaving human marketers to refocus on connecting with consumers.

Experts are evenly split on whether the coming decade will see a reduction in false and misleading narratives online. Those forecasting improvement place their hopes in technological fixes and in societal solutions. Others think the dark side of human nature is aided more than stifled by technology.

Common Sense announced the release of The Common Sense Census: Media Use by Kids Age Zero to Eight, the third installment in an ongoing series of national surveys tracking the use of media and technology among U.S. children from birth to age 8. Among the key findings is the spike in the number of young children who have their own tablet device (now 42 percent, up from 1 percent in 2011) and the amount of time children age 0 to 8 are spending with mobile devices (48 minutes, up from just five minutes in 2011).