This Week in Native Ads 6/21

One big thing Back in the hot seat, to a deluge of Cannes / no Cannes attendance chatter. What makes Cannes great is the concentration, bumping into people you know, everyone’s there to catch up, reconnect. Which is rare these days. But that’s what makes it so good. Unfortunately not for me this year but surely next. The other conference, if you haven’t been, is Dmexco. It is way more focused and compressed in a smaller location. But 45,000… Continue reading

This Week in Native Ads 6/7

One big thing I spent some time in LA this week, chatting with a cross-section of content creators. The consensus was that Netflix has been a net positive for the ecosystem. One takeaway was how everyone is on the hunt for the next great content idea/series. Where and how can they get an edge on the next cultural moment? The competition and hunt for that (and data) is more fierce than ever. It’s completely analogous to the competition for… Continue reading

This Week in Native Ads 5/31

One big thing A by-product of consolidation, is the reduction in operations, both companies don’t need a finance team for example. But these teams are the lifeblood that keep organizations running, they hold the organizational memory and market knowledge. The counter, is the rise in technology at scale to power and enhance processes. Consolidation is an opportunity to rejuvenate and refocus on what truly is most impactful. As every other chat seems to be about the consolidation of the… Continue reading

This Week in Native Ads 5/24

Happy Friday! For readers in the US hopefully a quiet Friday ahead (if you’re not already out). One big thing Catching up with colleagues this week there were a few jokes about sketches, that is the crude drawings that form the backbone of bringing a concept to life. They may be crude but effective. Effective communication, this is a literal drawing of what I want. In a multimedia, digital world, the need for effective communication is ever more pressing. Continue reading

This Week in Native Ads 5/17

One big thing This week I got to guest edit Why is this interesting? A daily newsletter by Colin Nagy and Noah Brier. Using Amazon Prime Video as an example I dig in to, data-driven vs data assisted decision making. And how subjectivity plays a big role even though the data itself is objective. Check it out. I’ll be in LA in the coming weeks, if you want to come talk… Continue reading

This Week in Native Ads 5/10

One big thing The untold story in the duopoly discussion is how brands feed them data, from their owned channels. How does this happen? Via the Facebook pixel, or any Google pixel, on brands owned sites/content. Interest, retargeting, lookalike audiences are informed up and shared with other advertisers. Why is this important now? With Google Chrome’s changes this week to privacy controls (mimicking Apple) and the ecosystem shifting more towards privacy. These signals provide EVEN… Continue reading

This Week in Native Ads 5/3

It’s NewFronts this week, with all sorts of announcements. What sticks? We’ll see as we go through the year. The thing that really stood out to me was Conde Nast announcing 175 pilots. That’s putting the idea of throwing ideas on the wall to see what sticks to the extreme. Are there really 175 concepts that can be reasonably tested this year? Why not 40, why not 10? It just seems terribly wasteful. Notable… Continue reading

This Week in Native Ads 4/19

Colin Nagy of creative shop FF here covering for Ben while he is down in NZ. A quick insight to lead off the newsletter this week: it has been fascinating to watch how much migration there has been in recent months to small, niche private networks. Just at the beginning of the web when interest groups self-organized around topics and passions on message boards and forums, the same seems to be happening… Continue reading

How the Growing Audio Space can Avoid the Missteps of the Web

Spotify recently doubled down on audio with the acquisition of Anchor, the WordPress for audio, as well as Gimlet Media which has positioned itself as premium, narrative storytelling delivered via podcast. And they’ve earmarked $500 million for future acquisitions which is undoubtedly a catalyst for the entire audio ecosystem to invest and build new models. To date, we’ve seen the hardware and ecosystem side of voice heating up with the rise of Alexa, HomePod, Google Home, etc. We’ve seen… Continue reading

This Week in Native Ads 4/12

There will be a little bit of a hiatus for two weeks as I travel down under. One big thing I admire the cheekiness and creativity of Juan, remixing vines on YouTube, to continue making money from the content. Permissions here are a problem. But for an enterprising mind, there are lots of ways to pursue your passion, on your own terms. Most of us in this newsletter are in the industry weeds but it is pretty neat that… Continue reading