Written by: Melody Lin
When it comes to innovation, technology and data, are we asking the right questions?
Digital@Dusk successfully concluded last week in Vancouver where the marketers and advertisers came together to discuss the emerging technologies that are fueling innovation in digital media: audio, video, advanced TV and out-of-home.
With Julie Thorne, Supervisor of Digital Media Systems at Media Experts as the Master of Ceremonies, we kicked-off the night on a high note. Sonia Carreno, President of IAB Canada, briefed the audience on the association’s recent activities, core messages and innovative solutions. As a result of more organizations entering the digital advertising space, IAB has outlined the following priorities to crystalize potential issues: establishing far and safe marketplaces, addressing privacy and data concerns, and driving digital innovation and economic growth. An important discussion about the value, policy and regulations, and direct economy of digital media followed:
- Real Discussion about Value: “Cheap is expensive when it does not work,” and it is on us to initiative conversations with advertisers to ensure the true value of filtered and secured digital advertising is fairly communicated
- Policy & Regulation – The Great Leveller: Adoption is the key to successful implementation of solutions. With global regulations being established, it is critical that the industry focuses its efforts on global solutions that ensure privacy and security are delivered in a tenable way to protect the enormous opportunity to innovate in the age of data.
- The Direct Economy: DTC Brands are breathing new life into the digital media economy. As digital natives, they are using data in innovative ways that showcase the power of consensual relationship-building through data analysis.
Sonia inspired the crowd and smoothly segued to the next part of our program with four real solutions outlined by the IAB Tech Lab:
- Identity, Data & Consumer Privacy: Check out the datalabel.org project that’s working to create transparency to the supply chain
- Programmatic Effectiveness: In light of the cookie diet, there has been much work on the blockchain side. The IAB Tech Lab & NAI Joint Accountability proposal is a great example of transparency based on ledger solutions.
- Ad Experience & Measurement: Open measurement has been the biggest achievement this year.
- Brand Safety & Ad Fraud: txt/app-ads.txt has eliminated a tremendous amount of fraud in the supply chain
We then welcomed Steve Kondonijakos, VP Platform Marketing at Telaria, a complete software platform to manage premium video advertising, to share insight on the future of Connected TV (CTV). Coining the term “FOMOTT,” he shared fascinating statistics enforcing why CTV is a better media value, concluding with the cure to “fear of missing OTT”: find a platform that makes you smarter, and partner who is unconflicted and understands videos and big screens.
Key statistics to note:
- Pay TV lost a whopping four million subscribers (equivalent to seven subscribers per minute) and recorded 1.8 trillion fewer ad impressions
- Over 50% of Canadians are subscription OTT viewers and 84% of Generation Z now define streaming as “watching TV”
- Studies show that viewers are two times more likely to purchase and 60% express wanting more information after watching CTV ads
- CTV offers 100% viewability, has a 95% completion rate and omits the worry of fraudulent impressions with unique IP addresses
John de la Mothe, VP Ad Product and Operations at Rogers Media led us through a compelling case study that showcased the unlimited potential of data usage. After intercepting 232,000 mobile devices within a one-kilometer radius, the Rogers team was able to slice the collected data into three segments: people who live, work or are visiting the area. As Scott Howe, CEO of LiveRamp once said, “Any problem is solvable if you get your hands on the right data.” Recognizing that it is complex world we live in, Rogers is beginning to work on CRM matching, addressable campaigns, GeoSpatial studies, etc. to gain a clearer picture of how all this great data can better service customers.
To wrap up the night, John facilitated a three-way conversation on data between the audience and our esteemed panelists: Brandon Young, Manager of Digital Communications at BC Hydro, Saad Uddin, CEO of Native Touch and Brad Jeffrey, Managing Director of Canada at Index Exchange.
Highlights of the panel:
- Understanding how mature you are in the data game is a matter of collection and storage versus effectiveness and sale – remember to be objective, ask simple questions, and not get caught up in the buzz words
- Impactful questions we are currently asking encompass everything from integrity, accuracy and privacy to scaling, interpreting and value creation
- Our already complex ecosystem has becoming increasingly technical, so collaboration between companies and stakeholders has never been more important
- To achieve the adoption of a solution, it needs to meet the following criteria: simplicity and scalability
- With privacy being such a hot topic, the panelists concluded the discussion with one last piece of wisdom: to keep in mind that all of this evolves around the user and how vitally important it is to respect their voices
Thank you to all our speakers, moderators, sponsors, attendees and volunteers – the event would not have been such a success without all of your support. We look forward to furthering the conversation with our Councils, members and at upcoming events.
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