Alvir Navin

It’s upfronts week, with many of the big TV networks, from NBCUniversal, to Fox to Disney, and Warner Bros. Discovery hosting their annual presentations. Streaming giants Netflix and Amazon are also joining the festivities.   Measurement is emerging as an important part of this upfronts season, as advertisers are searching for more than just scale — they want to tie measurement and attribution data back to business results — meaning there is a bigger focus on the full loop from reach to conversion. Add in all the jockeying to be the dominant measurement currency and there’s a lot to talk about - with perhaps nothing more foundational than #identityresolution (especially for the connected household). It was a pleasure to join Chris Brooklier from The Trade Desk to talk about all of these things--and how Blockgraph is playing the important role of "data draino" unclogging the pipes of addressable television (credit Jonathan Heller). #householdidentity #measurement #attribution #signalloss #connectedTV #privacy

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I still believe the best way to buy all media, when possible, is programmatically to enable decisioning. However, the current setup isn't efficient and frankly kinda sucks when it comes to TV. Between fraud and unnecessary middlemen that don't add value, we need a change. (Yes, Goodway Group is already on its way to a huge CTV buying overhaul that will deliver 30-40% more CTV value for brands shortly!)

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I enjoyed speaking to Dan Meier from VideoWeek about the new Publica by IAS CTV white paper, explaining how TV OEMs, AVOD & FAST services can build more intelligent ad breaks, and grow their advertising revenues. Link to download the CTV white paper in the comments below... 👇 #CTV #AdServing #SSAI #AVOD #FAST #Streaming #Programmatic

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https://lnkd.in/gZbWK9eQ "As we look ahead, the relationship between content, advertising and consumers will continue to evolve. The main challenge for streaming services remains: To ensure ads are not excessive nor intrusive to push away viewers." My belief is that brands will find that as they move away from ads....into entertainment...value creation and consumer centric content...essentially, content #foryou. They will it very profitable for brand and business. Studies show that on TikTok, ads by creators drive 5x more completions (not skipping!), 27x more Likes (no frustrations) and they double conversions - creating positive impact across the funnel. 😉

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Sometimes, it takes a while to fully grasp what something truly is. Blockgraph is a bit like that. From the start, we understood why Blockgraph was created. It was designed to unify fragmented data within an increasingly complex #convergedTV marketplace (a critical need should TV advertising continue to thrive), all while ensuring necessary privacy and security protections (a must-have for any company involved in today's advertising industry). However, articulating exactly what Blockgraph is has often been a challenge. • Customers frequently ask, "Are you another clean room?" Well, sort of. • "Are you an ID?" That's part of it, but it doesn’t capture why we’re unique. • "Are you a TV data consortium?" Yes, but not quite in the way you might think. In reality, Blockgraph is all of these things and more. Yet, I recognize that no business, especially a four-year-old startup, can be everything to everyone. Much like in life, there are moments that bring clarity. Blockgraph’s fourth anniversary and several key partnerships provided our team with just such a moment. Blockgraph is exactly three things: 1) A Privacy-Centric Household Identifier: Derived from authenticated data, this identifier forms the foundation for unifying the connected TV industry’s data. 2) A Data Collaboration Platform: Our software offers data owners flexible, secure, and efficient technology to manage first-party data, facilitate peer-to-peer data matching, and enable more fluid planning, targeting, and ad measurement. 3) A Purpose-Built Ecosystem: Comprising internet operators, publishers, distributors, marketers, adtech platforms, data and measurement partners, all of whom have a vested interest in facilitating converged TV ad campaigns. That leaves, the “how” we do all of this better than alternatives. We’d be happy to answer that. Just let us know when you’re free :)

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Jounce Media's newly published State of the Open Internet Report explains the industry’s chronic bidstream congestion issue and how to address it. This latest research highlights the trend toward consolidation we are seeing on the supply side and is a must-read.

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Check out my a new piece #adexchager on how agencies can use AI to gain control over the platforms algorithms and enable better use of future-proofed media strategies. #razorfish

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Are you heading to the Snowflake Summit next month? Here are the details of how you can meet Gnarly and learn more about Dremio!

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For the last several months... lord, it's been almost a year, I've been working on a task force with the IAB Tech Lab to evaluate elements of the Google Chrome Privacy Sandbox, which is a set of tools designed to help marketers reach their audience after 3rd party cookies are deprecated. It has been a slog. Over the course of time the document grew from 30 pages to now, I think, over 100 pages. It covers over 40 important use cases for advertisers, publishers and ad-tech vendors in-between. The question to answer: How well do the Sandbox tools support the use cases? My key takeaways: - Nothing is as useful or easy as the simple cookie - Implementation of Sandbox features is a heavy lift for most ad-tech companies - Publisher revenue will fall when cookies go away as these replacements are not as effective That being said, we're still marching toward a more privacy focused future in the online advertising ecosystem. Whether or not the Sandbox proves to be very useful, cookies will either go away, or regulation will step in and leverage the law to enforce privacy compliance. Change is coming.

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Let’s re-run it back? An interesting and thorough love letter about the rise of FAST darlings Pluto, Tubi and Roku. While analysts have been touting the financial prospects of these platforms (and their acquisitions look better and better with each monthly Gauge report), I remain a little skeptical. Consider: 📺 Article about the stratospheric growth focused on Roku, Pluto and Tubi, all of whom will def be winners. But what of the remaining 16 that provide largely commodified content. How do they separate and get into this top tier that's dominated by YT? There are 5,000 FAST channels across 18 services. Most of these channels, therefore, are replicated across multiple FAST services rendering the platforms undifferentiated. Sounds like the Highlander to me. 📺📺 To wit, the author indicates that "While users may have initially been drawn in by the prospect of a free service, they’re now sticking around because of the quality of content." Really? I am sure that comfort-watching reruns is fine, I am hard pressed to call it transformational. Moreover, 40% of Tubi viewers don’t subscribe to other paid streaming services which means either cable or rabbit ears. (Not sure that is the kind of audience advertisers look at as "premium"). Charter/Comcast/Xumo research indicated 72% of FAST viewers also watch cable or broadcast TV and 86% subscribe to at least one paid streaming service so maybe this isn’t quite the untapped market Tubi’s data suggest. 📺📺📺 What I do appreciate and am bullish about FAST is their ability to super-serve specific audiences with specific content like Korean soaps, telenovelas, surfing and kickboxing (for me), etc., at very low cost. That is smart way to drive viewership instances (if not total viewership minutes) but likely not unique to each service, given the commodification of these deals. https://lnkd.in/gW-ueu7H

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Has anyone ever sized the market opportunity the measurement/verification/attribution/optimization companies are fighting for a share of? Are long-term projections tethered to assumptions using math like we expect X share of a market sized Y, yielding revenue Z, margins A = valuation B? I suspect the pie is finite and not going to grow enormously, so in the end there is only room for a handful of players. And someone is going to have to lose significant share for even that to work. Especially as long as the sell side is paying most of the freight (directly and indirectly).

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Great article on Digiday by Viafoura's own Dan Seaman on how publishers need to create new digital experiences to engage the next generation of media consumers. As Dan notes, "Integrating social features such as comments, polls, live chats and live blogging directly into news platforms can foster a sense of community and belonging, encouraging active participation and deeper connections with the content...The future lies in creating interactive, personalized and empowering news experiences that resonate with younger audiences, building a more engaged, loyal and vibrant news community for the digital age."

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Blending Art & Science in Pasadena 🎨🔬 The singer #Rihanna “found love in a hopeless place,” and I found my teenage crush in the back of a #Ross store in Pasadena during the July 4th weekend. There he was: Prof. Richard Feynman, whom I first heard about in high school Physics class. His face on a giant mural, taking over the entire back wall of a warehouse-like building. ➡ To a young aspiring scientist, he was the ultimate role model: a world-famous Physicist and a Nobel Prize winner. ➡ To a marketing executive, he suddenly appeared as my first marketing icon. Prof. Feynman could explain quantum physics in ways that excited the general public. As an #engineer-turned full-stack technology #marketer, I’ve always felt inspired to do the same. If Feynman could make physics interesting and relatable to everyone—even teens—then I must strive to explain any technology I’m responsible for marketing in clear, layperson terms. Feynman’s “teaching method” has become my gold standard. I often ask myself: “How would Feynman explain it?” With human attention spans dropping to less than that of a goldfish 🐠, the pressure to communicate clearly is immense. (Did you know that goldfish have an average attention span of 9 seconds, while humans have a 8.25 second attention span?) https://lnkd.in/gxGqMsqh Just a few weeks into my new role as VP of Marketing at Synadia, I’m inspired to channel that same spirit of simplicity and excitement into my work. For example, here's how we make complex #Microservices systems simple with NATS.io https://lnkd.in/gd-BZZMN: 3 favorite things in a technical post: ✅ architecture diagrams ✅ call flow diagrams 🍒 ant lines in the diagrams 🐜 as a cherry on top! Just like the mural in Pasadena blends art and science in unexpected ways, so should marketing in 2024. We must cut through the noise and capture our audience’s attention in those precious few seconds ⏱️. What techniques do you use to make complex ideas relatable to your audience?👇 #ArtMeetsScience #MarketingInspiration #RichardFeynman #Storytelling #Innovation #Synadia The Art" "The Motion of the Planet", for Richard Feynman, 1997, Artist Gifford Myers, Altadena, California

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🎙 New Podcast - CreatorIQ 🎙 Had the honor of sitting down with Conor from CreatorIQ on the #EarnedPod to talk all things Creators, Threads, and Meta OG days. #podcastguest #podcast #meta #creators #threads #marketing #creatoreconomy

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My latest thought piece on identity and addressability is now live on The Drum, and explores deeper motives behind Google's decision to delay third-party cookie deprecation. Dive into the discussion on how online privacy is reshaping advertising and share your thoughts. 💼💬 http://bit.ly/4em8bRO. #Google #PrivacySandbox #AdTech #OnlinePrivacy #AdvertisingPrivacy #inMobi

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An interesting article by Digiday discusses the continued reliance of publishers on #programmatic revenue despite recent challenges. One-third of publishers report that programmatic ads account for a large part of their revenue, and over half plan to focus heavily on programmatic strategies in the near future. The article highlights a shift in revenue sources from direct-sold programmatic ads to #openmarket ads.

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💡 #Brands Take note how the #NYPost mitigated #cookiepocalypse risk by using Aqfer's identity resolution tech, informed by Prohaska Consulting. In a post 3rd party cookie 🍪 world killer content and segmentation hooked to an adtech #frankenstack results in risk & loss. Pubs and brands need their own 1st party IDR systems to avoid fragmented customer views that result from multiple ID providers & other partners who are all hooked to each other in an attempt to create their own scale. This many-to-many-middlemen scenario has plagued adtech from the start. The result is redundancy, media waste, inconsistent customer experiences and inaccurate measurement. Think of Aqfer IDR like Data tech’s version of SPO 😉 #DPO, enabling clients like the NYPost, to get a single, deduplicated, omnichannel view of their customers. More here - https://lnkd.in/ggjDGWn5 https://lnkd.in/gTNURTu2

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This is only a pause. The IAB Tech Lab maintains that the 3PC will eventually disappear. We continue to advocate for a portfolio approach to addressability. This delay should not be an excuse for the digital advertising industry to be complacent. We must continue to innovate privacy-preserving addressability & measurement solutions while working with Chrome to improve upon the critical shortcomings of the Privacy Sandbox. https://lnkd.in/dWq9Pam6

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This is so great to see! As we head into the Upfronts and Newfronts, brands need to know they can reach a massive audience, using video, that doesn't get skipped or ignored and is 4x more efficient on a cost per second viewed metric. Efficiency AND Impact from In-Scene Media #uninterrupted #advertising with #AI

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