Month: October 2024

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After a string of somewhat monumental upfront cycles since 2020, this year’s annual haggle between TV and streaming ad buyers and sellers was hard-pressed to prove its significance. And yet it did.

“The biggest shift or change this year is it was really a reset year from a digital video standpoint in terms of pricing,” UM Worldwide’s chief investment officer Marcy Greenberger said on the latest Digiday Podcast.

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Advertising on platforms is becoming a bit of a magic show, courtesy of AI. It’s the tantalizing promise of dazzling performance that keeps marketers captivated, ready to embrace the enigma – as long as the results sparkle.

In the end, it’s the outcome that matters to them, not the sleight of hand behind the curtain. For better or worse they accept that, whatever the outcome, they won’t grasp every detail of their campaign’s performance, trading transparency for the confidence that the results will likely outshine their own efforts.

With each new platform unveiling its version of this advertising magic, that acceptance solidifies just a little more. TikTok is the latest to join the spectacle, launching its Smart+ tool earlier this month. While it raised some eyebrows among marketers, those concerns were quickly overshadowed by the promise of making advertising on TikTok significantly easier – and better, of course. 

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Marketers continue to face a familiar conundrum: Do more with less.

Calls from the C-suite have reached a fever pitch over the past year or so, in which marketers are being asked to spin more brand storytelling magic, but without the extra cash to back it up. Those calls have yet to subside all while budgets remain stagnant at best.

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A slew of announcements confirming mergers and acquisitions in the ad tech sector during Advertising Week New York has stoked enthusiasm among dealmakers that late 2024 will deliver a flurry of such activity.

Separately, the $25 million funding announcement for one of the most prominent names in ad tech — Brian O’Kelley’s Scope3 — could have seasoned observers thinking the clocks turned back to the giddy days of 2014 when the sector was the fastest-developing sector of digital media. Still, amid such heady announcements, it’s worth exercising a note of decorum.

Last week, Zeta Global announced the acquisition of LiveIntent for approximately $250 million, funded with a mix of $77.5 million in cash and $172.5 million in Zeta’s common stock. The deal also includes potential earn outs tied to performance targets, which could add up to an additional $25 million per year over the next three years if specific EBITDA growth milestones are met.

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Fox News announced on Monday that Vice President Kamala Harris would sit down for an interview with its chief political anchor, Bret Baier, on Wednesday, Oct. 16, at 6 p.m. ET. This will be the Democratic presidential candidate’s first formal interview on the network and will be conducted in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. The…

PQ Media’s findings show the B2C and B2B sectors both grew 9.7% in 2023 to $116 billion, with the industry far below the 2019 spend of $122 billion. Experiential marketing spend across the globe is
estimated to reach $128 billion this year. growing over 10% year-over-year.

After 30 years at Microsoft, one of which was spent as the head of Xbox Studios, Alan Hartman will retire at the end of November.

“Defendants know that all it takes to hook an average user is viewing 260 videos,” the complaint alleges.

Genius Sports and the Los Angeles Rams know that just because you have fans in your building on game day doesn’t mean you have their undivided attention. The growth of fantasy sports, gambling, short-form video, and streaming content means fans are still deferring to their devices regardless of what they’ve paid for admission or what’s…

With artificial intelligence continuing to advance, the industry is starting to move from the “robots are coming for our jobs” to acceptance. AI platform Brand.AI sponsored a group chat at ADWEEK House during Advertising Week New York looking into exactly how different facets of the industry are embracing AI. Founder and co-CEO Chelsey Susin Kantor…