Month: September 2019

Amazon’s talks with publishers to carry their linear channels on IMDb TV have served as a clear recent example of FAST services’ rising demands of publishers. The e-commerce wants to control ad sales for publishers’ channels and share the resulting revenue. That revenue-sharing model is fine for smaller publishers that don’t have established sales teams or enough of a video footprint to capitalize on their channels’ inventory. However, Amazon’s demand has rankled larger publishers and TV networks who feel that, in preventing channel providers from selling their own inventory, Amazon is asking for too much.

Amazon is not the only company in the FAST market starting to ask more of its channel providers. These FAST services, including IMDb TV, Pluto TV and Samsung TV Plus, have begun to feel out publishers’ willingness to provide more new content as well as exclusive programming for their streaming channels, according to execs at TV networks, publishers and production studios. In addition to asking channel providers to refresh their channels’ programming slates more frequently and to create programming blocks specific to a given service, the FAST services are looking for original shows that would premiere first on their service before a publisher syndicates the show across its linear channels carried by other services.

While the execs described the services’ exclusivity inquiries as exploratory at the moment — “everybody is kicking the tires,” said one media exec — the demands are expected to become de rigueur as the FAST market becomes more crowded. Until now FAST services enabled publishers to syndicate their linear channels across multiple services, so that a publisher’s channel carried by Pluto TV was the same that appeared on others such as Xumo and Roku’s Roku Channel. This has led to these linear streaming channels becoming the gateway for mid-sized media companies into connected TV. But with Amazon’s IMDb TV joining the fray, NBCUniversal’s Peacock considering following suit and smart TV makers Samsung and Vizio looking to grow their respective FAST services, the increased competition is pushing these services to seek out reasons why audiences should choose theirs over all the others.“They all want to feel like the special snowflake,” said the media exec.

To persuade publishers to customize their linear channels, the FAST services are both dangling carrots and holding up sticks. In some cases, the services are willing to pay for shows in exchange for an exclusivity window or to provide better analytics regarding a channel’s viewership and monetization if the channel provider is willing to refresh the channel’s content more frequently for that service than for others. In other cases, the services are telling publishers that they would be more willing to promote a channel to viewers on their service if that channel offers some exclusivity; this carrot doubles as a stick because the implication, per media execs, is that a publisher unwilling to make these customizations would see other publishers’ channels propped up and, as a result, find their own channel’s presence overshadowed.

Publishers aren’t beholden to the FAST services’ demands, at least not at the moment and particularly not for publishers with higher quality programming. For these FAST services to merit TV ad dollars, they need more TV-quality or actual TV content that would in turn attract TV-like audiences, according to agency execs. “We have not had enough confidence that we’re reaching the right audiences across the FAST channels, so we’ve scaled back our investment considerably,” said an agency exec.

TV networks and publishers recognize that the FAST market’s current balance of power is in their favor, and they intend to take advantage of that. At the same time as the FAST services ask for exclusive programming, media companies are considering windowing their content based on which services offer the most favorable financial terms, such as the services that enable a publisher to sell at least a portion of its channel’s inventory or that deliver the most revenue to a publisher.

“We’re sitting on the most valuable asset they need, which is content, so the degree to which we’re willing to provide quote-unquote our best stuff has to do with the economics and the terms of the agreements,” said a TV network exec.

However, while media companies enjoy the upper hand at the moment, they are aware that may not continue to be the case. As the FAST services become more adept at attracting viewers and selling ads, “over time I expect those negotiations to become more balanced and there becomes a little bit more pressure on the [channel] providers like ourselves,” said the TV network exec.

The post Free, ad-supported streaming TV services are starting to demand more from publishers appeared first on Digiday.

Now that the production of hemp was legal, national retailers far and wide began stocking CBD skin care, ingestibles, pet care and patches at a breakneck pace. Take for instance Sagely Naturals, which saw its retail door count jump to 5,000-plus locations over the last nine months, thanks to key partnerships with CVS and Ulta.

Of course, part of the hockey-stick trajectory of CBD is directly related to access. (The Brightfield Group estimated that the U.S. CBD market will hit $22 billion by 2020.) But it also ties back to consumers and brands’ increased preoccupation with health and wellness. It arrived on the greater consumer scene at the perfect time.

“More and more people are focused on taking care of themselves. This idea of self-care has resonated so strongly with the millennial generation because they are realizing that you can proactively try to be well and not just think about wellness when you are sick,” says Kerrigan Behrens, co-founder and CMO of Sagely Naturals. “People are interested in natural alternatives to the products they are accustomed to taking without thinking twice.”

Anthony Saniger, founder of CBD retailer Standard Dose, agrees. “A stigma around cannabis exists, but the rise of CBD and the benefits to issues like sleeplessness, anxiety and inflammation has caused people to rethink the stigma. Society understands the power of plants and that they have been used medicinally for thousands of years; this can sometimes be better than turning to the pharma machine.”

Though first and foremost Standard Dose is a CBD retailer, Saniger stocks Saint Jane’s CBD beauty serum with Golde’s turmeric powder and Corpus Naturals’ clean deodorant. The point? To underscore CBD’s wellness positioning and not its Nancy Reagan-era D.A.R.E. or prohibition past.

Further cementing CBD’s cure-all qualities is how its growth runs parallel to the rise in sober culture. Sanger himself is moving toward a sober lifestyle. “I don’t like the feeling of being drunk anymore,” he says. “Alcohol, like THC, is psychoactive, which is a feeling some consumers don’t want. CBD has solved this gap.”

“People are learning how alcohol and other substances when used in excess have a detrimental impact on one’s body. Cannabis and hemp-derived CBD could be an alternative for some people, so why wouldn’t they try it?” says Cannuka founder Michael Bumgarner.

Though CBD use and drinking fewer alcoholic beverages may not be directly correlated, both trends’ roots in healthier living is something that Green Growth Brands’ CMO, Jann Parish, has also noticed. “CBD does treat anxiety and is perceived and proven to be anxiety-lowering; alcohol had previously played that role socially when someone wanted to take the edge off,” she says. “You used to have a glass of wine, but now you can have a tincture or put on a patch on, and you don’t have to wake up with a headache or a hangover.”

This is particularly appealing to Green Growth Brands’ target demographic of women in the middle of the country, many of whom who are juggling both work and parental commitments. The company’s portfolio includes a variety of brands including Seventh Sense Botanical Therapy, Green Lily and Camp; they are also creating a private-label line called Mood for American Eagle Outfitters.

“Because of the flow of information and how people can get an education online and on social media, these women are not reliant on only television news or government-sponsored information like they were 30 years ago,” says Parish. “That was what moms were looking to before, and that is not the case today.” Standard Dose’s top markets echo something similar. While New York is its highest-performing state, its other significant states (via its e-commerce site) are North Carolina, Texas and Illinois.

Increased information is obviously a good thing in neutralizing the social fear of CBD and possibly later THC and other cannabidiols, but as government regulations ease up, there are still hurdles. Facebook, Instagram and Google’s lack of drug-related promotions are a problem, but perhaps an even bigger one is the disparity in pricing and amounts of CBD in products.

At Sephora.com, customers can buy purchase a $125 Saint Jane product (the brand’s hero serum is made with 500 mg of full-spectrum CBD and 20 other botanicals), while Cannuka’s face cream that sells at Ulta retails for $58. Cannuka’s product is made with 100 mg of CBD isolate as well as manuka honey, witch hazel and hyaluronic acid.

It might be easy to assume that CBD is akin to ibuprofen and a consumer would not find such a price differential between Advil and Motrin, but Parish says the customer appetite is also changing that.

“Full-spectrum CBD and CBD isolate is four times cheaper than it was in fall 2018, and as more shoppers want CBD products and brands can provide options, the price will continue to come down,” she says. Proof of that is Green Growth Brands’ Seventh Sense line, which just opened its 100th store and has ambitious retail and product plans for 2020.

Still, not all CBD is created equal as Saint Jane founder Casey Georgeson emphasizes. “Consumers have to understand what the right dosage is for them based on what their needs are and what other ingredients CBD is coupled with,” she says. “They have to read the ingredient label like any other product, and that is the only way for CBD to be less scary and just as mainstream as it should be.”

The post The everything elixir: Why CBD is everywhere appeared first on Digiday.

“Esports’ greatest strength is also its biggest weakness, which is having a global reach.” said Nathan Lindberg, senior director of sponsorships at Twitch. 

Lindberg said that when a new client comes to him asking where their dollars are best spent between esports, television or a spot during a soccer game, he says it’s crucial to justify through data that partners can yield the same results from advertising during a streaming session on Twitch as they do from advertising during a soccer game. 

Brian Lancey, Mastercard’s head of global marketing and sponsorships, said, “At some point, someone will ask, if I have to spend one dollar, is that best spent on esports versus a TV spot versus something else? And if we can’t justify that through data, esports will always lose out.”

However, panelists bemoaned the fact that there is still no standardization when it comes to metrics for esports, like average minute audience, and Lindberg explained that he’s hearing partners say that they love spending in the industry, but can’t continue doing so if they have no way of tracking the new customers or driving value. So the effort at Twitch, and what he expects is the rest of the industry, is to push toward creating a standardized system for data tracking.

Esports is the same thing as gaming, right?
Yes and no. Lancey said that while they are connected, they’re not the same. “Esports is kind of like major league baseball, and video gaming is just the sport.” So if you’re trying to reach a broader audience, gaming is industry to focus on. To reach a deeper and more invested customer, esports is probably your better option. 

Esports is not just for endemic partners.
Mastercard is categorized as a non-endemic partner for the video game League of Legends, even though Lindberg suggested, “What’s more endemic than the card you use to pay for game items?” But as a non-endemic partner, Lancey said the company has had a lot of success with reaching audiences by experimenting on the same models used by the endemic brands, like headphone manufacturers and PC retailers. 

For example, Mastercard shifted the idea of an influencer unboxing video by taking iconography from League of Legends and bringing it to life with very little branding. It then sent out these gift packages to gamers in 22 different countries, who shared the packages with their followers via Twitch. 

“That’s the kind of fun scale that these brands can have. When you’re a global brand, there is a really cool way to interact in a way that is global, but feels hyper-localized for the people in those markets,” said Lindberg. He continued that activations like this are a strong way to connect partners with, not only the core community of professional esports players but the other millions of players at home watching through the screen as well. 

These partnerships are symbiotic as well, with global brands like Mastercard and Honda giving validity and credibility to the esports industry when they participate within that ecosystem. 

The other problem with esports is accessibility.
Steve Arhancet, co-CEO and owner of pro esports organization Team Liquid, suggests to brands who want to make contact with the esports community but feel like that community is speaking a foreign language, should hand over the keys to the partnership. 

When Jersey Mike’s Subs wanted to reach Team Liquid’s following, Arhancet sent them scripts for the social media team to follow, which included exact wording and timing for each post. He explained that he sees Team Liquid as a consultancy that’s helping guide its partners through the space. This is because, more often than not, the brand partners and the agencies they work with don’t understand the needs of the esports industry or how to navigate successful conversations with their fan base the way that an actual esports organization does.

The post ‘Justify it through data’: How brands can work with esports appeared first on Digiday.

The Enhanced Tracking Changes, rolled out Sept. 3, are Mozilla’s equivalent to Apple’s Intelligent Tracking Prevention for Safari, which have made it impossible for publishers to monetize ads programmatically on Safari. While U.K. and U.S. publishers have seen a negligible effect from the Firefox changes, Germany has a far greater number of Firefox users, estimated by industry sources between 20% and 30%.

“This is a big concern for publishers marketwide in Germany,” said Mike O’Sullivan, vp of product, identity and data for Index Exchange. “This is inventory that was previously addressable, that has gone dark overnight, so it was a much more stark change than the latest Safari updates given that that inventory has been in the dark for years,” he added.

In a way, the fact Germany has been hit harder by the Firefox changes is unsurprising. That’s because, in Germany, where privacy is far more deep-rooted culturally than it is in the U.S. and U.K., the non-profit Firefox browser has always been especially popular.

“We’ve had, of course, the experience of dictatorships, and the Stasi, so people are aware what happens if your privacy isn’t protected,” said Oliver Gertz, managing director of interaction for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at MediaCom Germany. “Then in the 1980s there was a strong civil movement about what data should the government be allowed to collect — that is part of the culture.”

Germany is also the home to controversial ad blocking firm AdBlockPlus, and had the highest proportion of ad blockers in Europe for a time. For that reason, the Firefox update doesn’t feel like a seismic shift.

“The short-term effect is it’s another nail in the coffin of cookie-based targeting,” said Gertz. “But it’s a gradual progression on the journey that started five years ago,” he added.

That said, Firefox’s changes are still no joke for media buyers in Germany. The volume of targetable and trackable users has dropped daily since the latest update earlier this month, according to Christian Waurich, director of programmatic supply at Publicis Media Germany. Pinpointing exactly what proportion of programmatically available inventory has disappeared is difficult as it’s a constantly moving beast as an increasing number of users update their browser to the latest version, he added.

“The [Firefox] changes have an impact on the scale of delivery as well as on conversion-tracking,” said Waurich. “Performance-optimized campaigns, in particular, have been affected, as well as attribution.”

Naturally, there are workarounds being looked at, such as redirecting spending on other browsers or environments where agencies can still target using cookies. But media buyers and advertisers cannot afford to ignore the impact the changes have had so far, added Waurich. “These [Firefox] users won’t be available sooner or later for data-driven marketing.”

The post German publishers wrestle with Firefox’s latest anti-tracking changes appeared first on Digiday.