Tag: Advertising

Sydney, Australia – Kargo has announced a new partnership with Samba TV which will enable advertisers to target, measure and optimise reach and frequency across mobile and connected TV (CTV) environments with greater precision.

This collaboration builds upon Kargo’s recent launch of its CTV advertising solutions in April, developed in partnership with Fetch TV. The integration of Fetch TV’s subscriber and set-top box data with Kargo’s advanced contextual targeting capabilities has already positioned Kargo as a frontrunner in delivering impactful advertising experiences. 

Now, with the integration of Samba TV’s automatic content recognition (ACR) data from globally opted-in televisions, Kargo further solidifies its leadership in audience engagement on the largest screen in the home.

The new solution will leverage Samba TV’s first-party viewership data, which is analysed at a granular postcode level to give advertisers an in-depth understanding of ad performance for more effective planning and targeting across all major programmatic platforms. 

Kargo will also combine its creative and targeting capabilities with Samba TV’s omniscreen measurement to unlock deduplicated incremental reach on top of digital campaigns.

Cam Dinnie, operations director at Kargo APAC, said, “Not only do Kargo’s creative formats captivate audiences, but they consistently outperform traditional media. Now we have created an even more powerful CTV advertising solution by integrating Samba TV’s robust data and measurement. This approach gives our advertisers an even more efficient and effective method to plan, activate, and measure their omni channel campaigns.”

Meanwhile, Yasmin Sanders, managing director for Australia at Samba TV, commented, “This partnership is about giving advertisers the most straightforward and effective approach to enhance their connections with audiences while also gaining a better understanding of their incremental reach. We’re excited to combine our technologies to give Kargo’s advertisers a smarter way to inform their omnichannel planning strategies and access more levers to optimise performance.”

With browsers prioritising user privacy, marketers must pursue other methods of targeting and measuring campaigns. Reality has forced them to seek alternatives to adapt to a digital world becoming less and less dependent on third-party cookies..

But even as the global reliance on cookies decreases, some people still find it difficult to envision a practical and effective future without them. 

In MARKETECH APAC’s latest What’s NEXT in Marketing interview with Amit Kotecha, Quantcast’s chief marketing officer, he specifies how the industry can thrive in the inevitable cookieless future without compromising results. 

Impact of data privacy regulations

Due to data privacy issues, more web users have opted to browse in environments that have ceased using third-party cookies. As such advertisers who have benefitted from third-party cookie measurement tactics in their campaigns have had to adapt. 

“I’d say that it’s impacting everything today already. So, as much as we tune in on what Google is going to do with Chrome, half of the internet is currently cookie-less today. Since Safari made a change to their browser in 2018, cookie deprecation has been happening across the whole world in every market. According to our data, in most markets it’s over 50%,” Amit said.

According to him, even the percentage of people who have cookies will only keep them for less than a week. 

“So there’s this constant refreshing of cookies that are unreliable now for any type of targeting or measurement. That is the reality today,” he added.

Adopting alternative measurement tools

The notion of shifting to other measurement tools is that advertisers need to compromise with less efficient and effective means. With emerging technologies however, this does not have to be the case. 

“When it comes to measurement, a lot of it is about education. A lot of this is new. And so you’re moving away from a certain way of doing things and moving to a new process. Yet the measurement itself should not change, I don’t think. The actual outcome you’re driving to shouldn’t be different, whether it’s toward a sale, or sign-up or whatever it is that you’re trying to deliver,” Amit said.

Concerns over the practical use of alternative measuring tools are not unfounded. According to Amit, there are also levels of complication when dealing with cookieless campaigns. Using artificial intelligence is one way to solve this problem, at least after testing out what works over time.

“The way I look at it is that there used to be a direct line between an ad that you deliver, an impression and a conversion. And that connection was always a cookie. You know that you delivered an ad via a device or a browser to this person, and then they saw that ad, before they converted. Now that connection is severed–it’s no longer there anymore. But that impression still happened and that conversion still happened,” he explained.

“In order to understand the link in the customer journey, you have to connect the dots, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the best solution for this because it can start to make predictions. The more conversions and impressions an AI engine sees, the better it gets at making predictions on web users and how they convert on an advertiser’s website. A lot of this is about testing and education, but it’s also about running more and more campaigns using this type of measurement,” he added.

Amit specifies that advertisers can start using modelled or enhanced conversions, which provide conversion tracking despite cookie limitations. Additionally, they can use conversion APIs, which gather data from a customer or advertisers directly.

“I don’t think we’ll be talking about cookies moving forward. I think the future will be about modelled conversions and modelled insights, and those will just be the norm moving forward. We’ve got some ways to go before we get there, but the fact that advertisers can do this today and still have cookies to check their data against now–it’s like the best training data set to test against,” he said.

Restructuring perspectives to function without cookies

Brands are facing the fact that consumers are opting out of using third-party cookies due to privacy concerns. Advertisers are also aware, according to Amit, that the eventual cookie elimination is inevitable.

“I think we’ve always looked at this is as inevitable no matter what. So we’ve re-architected our entire business to function without cookies. And many advertisers consider targeting and measurement with the eradication of cookies and they think, ‘well, this is complicated and confusing and it’s not effective anymore,’ so they move their budgets away from programmatic, which doesn’t help them to succeed in an increasingly digitised world,” he explains.

With that, Amit emphasises the importance of first-party data for advertisers.

“If you’re an advertiser and you have first-party data, collecting it and using it is really important now for measurement. You can either connect it to a DSP, or to a clean room and measure some of your conversions directly from the publisher’s side as well. That’s really important, but it’s never going to give you the full picture. This is where you’re going to have to fill the gaps in with some type of modelling,” he said.

Reflecting on the future of advertising, Amit also highlights a potentially harmful practice with third-party cookie measurement.

“I really hope that we move away from the usual kind of arbitrary metrics that have become commonplace. I would hope that we eventually move away from last-click measurement and start to understand all the touch points that lead towards an action as it really doesn’t paint an accurate picture of digital advertising performance when you’re just looking at one touch point that delivered a conversion,” he said.

The evolution of the digital marketing landscape makes the loss of cookies imminent. However, its demise is not necessarily fatal to advertisers. While the transition to a cookieless future poses challenges, there are also many opportunities and technologies that can help make things easier for advertisers in the long run.

Through adopting these alternatives, marketers can find ways to deliver and measure campaigns effectively while ensuring data privacy and ultimately reduce the risk of falling behing in the industry.

Sydney, Australia – StackAdapt, a multi-channel advertising platform, has launched the self-serve StackAdapt Brand Lift for advertisers in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. 

Through the update, advertisers and agencies can initiate brand lift studies within the StackAdapt platform, allowing them to measure campaign performance across multiple channels. 

The StackAdapt Brand Lift offers real-time insights and audience perceptions at multiple stages, enabling data-driven actions. It eliminates the need for third-party solutions, which can cause delays and can be more costly. 

Leveraging data accuracy, the new feature can provide reliable insights into the audiences’ perception of campaigns. It leads to precision in campaign performance findings, and consequently, optimisation of performance.

Additionally, StackAdapt allows customisation within its platform, ensuring that advertisers can tailor their studies according to their campaign goals. It also allows marketers to start and stop studies when necessary.

The brand lift tool supports a range of digital channels including native, display, video, CTV, OTT, audio, and in-game advertising. 

Liam McCarten, vice president of Asia-Pacific at StackAdapt, commented, “Our mission at StackAdapt has always been to empower our users with the most advanced tools to drive successful outcomes. With the introduction of our self-serve brand lift studies, we’re giving advertisers the ability to gain critical, real-time insights with unprecedented speed and flexibility. This is a transformative solution for marketers who need to stay agile and responsive in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.”

Singapore – Sitecore has announced the launch of ‘Sitecore Stream’, which leverages secure, brand-aware AI, enabling enterprise marketing teams to boost productivity and growth.

For the company, ‘ Sitecore Stream’ represents market-leading innovation and fulfillment of its vision for an Intelligent DXP (digital experience platform) that addresses the challenges and opportunities faced by enterprise marketing teams today.

‘Sitecore Stream’ leverages generative AI to simplify marketing workflows and enhance productivity through orchestration, content intelligence, and automated assistance. Sitecore Stream leverages Sitecore’s composable product architecture, enabling full interoperability across a brand’s existing martech stack, with built-in AI guardrails to help preserve brand compliance and data privacy. 

Moreover, it also includes brand-aware AI which helps align marketers’ actions, recommendations, and experiences with the organisation’s brand identity, values, and guidelines.

The platform also has AI-enhanced workflows that automates repetitive tasks to accelerate execution and boost collaboration. These workflows may be creating content, building a website page, or A/B testing a call to action to help marketers stay in a productive flow.

Lastly, it also has generative copilots dedicated for brand, brief, content, and experience creation and optimisation, which will help marketers stay true to their brand and brief as they complete their work.

Dave O’Flanagan, CEO of Sitecore, said, “Together with leading brands, we reimagined the content lifecycle from the perspective of what the customer wants and the marketer needs. Our work with brands such as Nestlé and Microsoft, in combination with Sitecore’s deep understanding of marketing workflows and digital experience best practices, has enabled the development of Sitecore Stream. With it, we’re delivering on our vision of the Intelligent DXP.”

Roger Connolly, chief product officer at Sitecore, stated, “With Sitecore Stream, we’re delivering a smarter, more strategic, and more secure way for marketers to create and manage content and deliver seamless customer experiences. Sitecore Stream leverages customers’ brand architecture to provide brand-aware AI but, critically, does not use your content to train the underlying AI models. With Sitecore Stream and our vision for an Intelligent DXP, we are addressing marketers’ pain points head-on, combining the power of AI with our deep experience helping customers with their digital transformations.”

Meanwhile, Shelley Bransten, corporate vice president of global industry solutions at Microsoft, commented, “As part of our long-standing, strategic relationship with Sitecore, we’ve collaborated closely with Nestlé and other enterprise customers to deliver entirely new AI capabilities to marketers. Leveraging the power of Microsoft Azure AI enables Sitecore Stream to understand an organisation’s brand, campaigns, content, and data – empowering marketers to do their best work.”

Lastly, Aude Gandon, global CMO at Nestlé, shared, “We have partnered with Sitecore and Microsoft innovation teams over the last year to pilot and leverage the power of generative AI with Nestlé brand guidelines and toolkits. Together, we’ve created an innovative new offering: the Sitecore Brand Assistant as part of Sitecore Content Hub with Sitecore Stream. This solution is specifically designed to facilitate brand and category knowledge within our organisation and supercharge our creative partners.”

New York, USA – Web advertising company Taboola has officially launched ‘Abby,’ an industry-first generative AI technology designed to help advertisers easily start and manage campaigns, regardless of their expertise in advertising.

As an AI assistant, Abby provides advertisers with a conversational approach to seamlessly build and launch every aspect of their campaigns, including budgeting, targeting, creative development, optimisation, and more.

Abby handles every aspect of advertisers’ media plans by guiding users through simple prompts that automatically create plans tailored to any marketing objective. With Abby, advertisers can focus on goals such as driving purchases, boosting brand awareness, or generating leads, while also setting budget allocations between desktop and mobile, and more.

With Abby, advertisers can also access advanced generative AI creative features, enabling them to use a conversational approach to create and modify images. They can easily edit backgrounds, adjust call-to-action (CTA) elements, and craft relevant captions—all without needing image editing software or expertise.

Abby draws on more than a decade of insights from successful advertiser campaigns on Taboola, allowing advertisers to launch effective campaigns in minutes across a trusted network of premium publisher websites that reach over 600 million daily active users. In testing, campaigns initiated with Abby were found to go live 75% faster than those set up manually.

Commenting on the launch, Adam Singolda, CEO of Taboola, said, “Abby reinvents what’s possible for advertisers of all sizes, taking the guesswork and time demands out of launching campaigns. Abby democratises access to advertising so that anyone can build their campaigns, in the same way they would talk to a seasoned ad industry executive.” 

“Advertisers can ‘speak’ to Abby in plain language and sit back as she acts as a campaign expert. Abby combines the best of generative AI with our unique data and best practices to help advertisers succeed. This is one more step on our journey to drive advertiser success with Taboola,” Singolda added. 

Singapore – X, formerly known as Twitter, has reached an agreement with multinational FMCG company Unilever regarding partnership on the social media platform, the company has announced in a short post.

“X is pleased to have reached an agreement with Unilever and to continue our partnership with them on the platform. Today’s news is the first part of the ecosystem-wide solution and we look forward to more resolution across the industry,” the company said.

It should be noted that Unilever was one of the companies included in X’s advertising boycott lawsuit back in August this year that also included the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), Mars, CVS Health, and Ørsted.

The lawsuit alleges that these companies, in collaboration with the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), orchestrated an advertiser boycott after Elon Musk’s acquisition of the platform, resulting in billions of dollars in lost revenue for X. The company claims that this boycott violated U.S. antitrust laws by suppressing competition in the digital advertising space.

X argues that the boycott was not only illegal but also politically motivated, potentially influenced by concerns over the platform’s content moderation policies under Musk’s leadership. This legal action follows months of declining ad revenue, as many advertisers distanced themselves from X due to concerns about their brands appearing next to problematic content.

At that time, GARM also decided to suspend its activities, explaining the non-profit did not have the financial resources to fight the case in court.

“GARM is a small, not-for-profit initiative, and recent allegations that unfortunately misconstrue its purpose and activities have caused a distraction and significantly drained its resources and finances. GARM therefore is making the difficult decision to discontinue its activities,” the WFA statement read back then.

Many brands and advertisers have been reluctant to advertise on X primarily due to concerns about brand safety and content moderation. After Elon Musk took over the platform in 2022, significant changes to its moderation policies sparked fears among advertisers that their ads could appear alongside harmful or inappropriate content, such as hate speech or misinformation.

Several brands withdrew their ads in response to these risks, worried about potential reputational damage. Musk’s reduction of moderation staff and a shift towards more lenient content policies raised further alarm. Additionally, advertisers were concerned about how X’s evolving platform dynamics, such as a surge in controversial or offensive content, could impact the perception of their brands.

Sydney, Australia – Ogury, a global adtech company, has appointed Melisa Zenicanin as its new director of field marketing for Asia-Pacific (APAC). The appointment marks Ogury’s continued commitment to driving data privacy and its brand presence expansion in the region.

In an exclusive interview with MARKETECH APAC, Melisa shares her reflections about navigating the adtech industry in a new company and her plans to contribute to the industry’s future. 

Boosting Ogury’s presence in the region

As the director of field marketing for APAC at Ogury, Melisa aims to boost the brand’s presence in the region’s programmatic sector. Her focus is on nurturing relationships with agencies, brands, and publishers.

Meanwhile, she also leads a diverse team from Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Japan – with plans for further expansion. Their differences in location allow the company to tailor their approach to each market’s distinct needs. 

“This collaborative effort in addition to building out a local marketing team, will be crucial in enhancing our impact and driving success across the APAC landscape,” Melisa said.

With Ogury’s operations being grounded on championing data privacy, Melisa also shares her aim of imparting this knowledge to other companies in the industry. According to her, this will help educate the industry about effectively delivering solutions without compromising privacy. Consequently, this will also help the company enhance its brand awareness.

“We believe that strengthening our relationships with high-value prospects and enhancing our digital presence through localised content channels will play a big role in increasing our visibility and engagement,” Melisa said.

“At the heart of this approach is our incredible team and our focus on building strong relationships. With a robust team on the ground, we’re committed to driving returns for our clients. By combining these elements, we’re well-positioned to navigate the ever-evolving market landscape while championing privacy and innovation together,” Melisa added.

Continuing leadership stint in adtech companies

Before her appointment at Ogury, Melisa also held marketing leadership roles at Index Exchange and Travelport. In her experience at both companies, she learned how to adapt in the dynamic market, embracing innovation and constant awareness of industry trends.

As she focuses on regional market needs, she shares that it is important to understand the customers and the nuances of each market in Asia. She also highlights the need for collaboration within the company to accomplish tasks.

“Working cross-functionally with sales, product, and customer success teams proved vital in aligning our marketing efforts with business objectives. I’m excited to bring this collaborative mindset to Ogury, ensuring that our marketing initiatives support our broader goals.” Melisa said.

As she steps into her new role, she also aims to carry her philosophy of building trust among clients and partners for mutual success.

Championing consumer privacy with zero-party data

With data privacy concerns hounding adtech companies, Ogury sees an opportunity to meet the demand for transparency in advertising practices. Some companies, like Ogury, push for innovation that effectively delivers outcomes and does not compromise privacy. 

With this aim, Ogury highlights the use of zero-party data or information that consumers willingly share with brands. According to Melisa, zero-party data allows for a more trustworthy connection, ensuring that privacy is maintained while brands tailor their messages to enhance engagement.

“Additionally, the shift toward targeting personas instead of individual consumers is becoming increasingly valuable. This strategy allows us to focus on broader segments rather than depending on traditional identity graphs or contextual solutions, which often face scalability and accuracy challenges. By targeting consumer groups based on shared interests or behaviours, we can deliver more relevant advertising while maintaining consumer trust,” Melisa said.

Personified advertising and the act of targeting personas are strategies that Ogury aims to share with the industry, educating them on consumer targeting capabilities that are privacy-centric.

“Providing insights into these evolving strategies to help the industry navigate the complexities of the adtech landscape while prioritising consumer privacy will be key. This approach not only reflects our commitment to ethical advertising but also ensures access to solutions that scale independently of future industry decisions, all while emphasising consumer choice and engagement,” Melisa concluded.

New York – Social media platform TikTok has revealed new advertising solutions designed to help businesses achieve better results. Its new solutions include automated performance tools, additional measurement capabilities, and privacy technologies.

The new tools aim to help brands unlock the potential of TikTok. While the platform is used for entertainment, TikTok reports that 61% of users have purchased products after viewing content.

One of these tools include Smart+, which automates the advertising process, from targeting, bidding, and creatives. Meanwhile, the Out of Phone Retail offering bridges the digital and physical, bringing TikTok content in-store.

To provide a measurement solution, TikTok introduced the Conversion Lift Studies, which evaluates the real impact of TikTok ads. Additionally, it revealed Privacy-Enhancing Technologies that help advertisers protect user data.

“TikTok is building for the future. We have been listening, learning, and innovating with our advertiser partners to continuously develop solutions that deliver performance. TikTok is a unique ecosystem where culture, discovery, and commerce come together. Our goal with these new solutions is to empower brands to engage their communities on TikTok and achieve business results,” David Kaufman, global head of monetization product solutions and operations at TikTok, said.

Singapore – Levi’s has unveiled a new global campaign featuring Beyoncé, reimagining the brand’s most iconic advertisements with a fresh, modern twist. The collaboration with the global superstar breathes new life into classic Levi’s ads, blending the brand’s rich heritage with Beyoncé’s visionary artistry.

The announcement comes on the heels of Beyoncé’s hit track ‘LEVII’S JEANS’ from her critically acclaimed album ‘COWBOY CARTER,’ which explores and redefines Americana. This collaboration reaffirms Levi’s enduring influence at the heart of modern culture, driven by one of today’s most influential cultural icons.

In the new campaign, titled “REIIMAGINE,” Beyoncé takes centre stage as the protagonist, blending the timeless legacy of the Levi’s brand with her forward-thinking vision. Inspired by her innovative take on art and culture, the campaign reimagines classic Levi’s looks, revamping iconic ads for the modern era through the lens of renowned filmmaker Melina Matsoukas. 

The campaign’s first film, inspired by the iconic 1985 ‘Launderette’ ad that revived ‘I Heard It Through the Grapevine’ on the Billboard charts, features Beyoncé front and centre. It celebrates Levi’s heritage as a symbol of self-expression, worn by trailblazers and cultural icons throughout history.

“My song ‘LEVII’S JEANS’ celebrates what I believe is the ultimate Americana uniform—something we all wear with pride,” said Beyoncé. 

“I am honoured to work with Levi’s to create quintessential American iconography. Denim on jeans has often been seen through a male lens, so this reimagining campaign, which celebrates the iconic female perspective, is important to me. I look forward to exploring innovative ways for our visions to align in empowering women and honouring their strength,” she added. 

The fully integrated campaign, spanning TV, out-of-home, digital, social media, print, brand activations, and exclusive products, launched with dynamic digital projections in major cities such as San Francisco, Houston, Chicago, New York, Atlanta, Paris, London, and Berlin. 

The teasers gave fans an exclusive preview of the upcoming campaign, which officially launches on September 30 with bold out-of-home activations worldwide, signalling the beginning of the Levi’s and Beyoncé collaboration.

Kenny Mitchell, global chief marketing officer of the Levi’s brand at Levi Strauss & Co., said, “The Levi’s brand has and always will be the unofficial uniform for those moving forward in the pursuit of better. We believe a key part of that is continuously breaking and building the codes of culture.” 

Mitchell continued, “In collaboration with Beyoncé, we explore the power of reimagination through this campaign, helping us to connect with our fans in new ways and supporting the growth of our women’s business as the definitive denim lifestyle brand.” 

The first film was shot by Emmy Award-winning cinematographer Marcell Rév, creating a visually immersive experience. Complementing the film, photographer Mason Poole captured a series of timeless campaign images, adding to Levi’s iconic legacy, which has featured cultural legends from Marlon Brando to Marilyn Monroe—and now, Beyoncé. The campaign was conceived in collaboration with TBWA\Chiat\Day LA and produced by de la revolućion/PRETTYBIRD.

Singapore – Integral Ad Science (IAS) has announced that it will offer its industry-aligned misinformation brand safety and suitability reporting for advertisers running campaigns across YouTube ad inventory. With this, IAS can now detect content across YouTube that it identifies as misinformation enabling advertisers to further verify the safety and suitability of their digital media investments on YouTube.

IAS’s ‘Total Media Quality’ (TMQ) product suite provides valuable third-party assurance that advertisers’ campaigns are running adjacent to brand safe and suitable content. IAS’s misinformation measurement delivers independent verification, complementary to YouTube’s own policies and procedures. 

It is worth noting that IAS classifies content according to industry-aligned definitions and provides reporting based on advertisers’ custom brand suitability settings. Video-level reporting provided by IAS allows advertisers to get a full, accurate picture of the content their ads are running adjacent to, and adjust their campaigns based on their own desired suitability profiles. 

With this, advertisers can gain trusted video-level insights into the content adjacent to their advertisements according to industry-aligned definitions, analyse if the ads appear next to content identified by IAS as misinformation and make optimisations as needed to drive brand suitability, and access global reporting with more than 30 languages on YouTube for key international events in 2024 and beyond.

Lisa Utzschneider, CEO of IAS, said, “Brand safety is a top priority for marketers as we approach upcoming marquee global media events. We are empowering marketers with enhanced products like our expanded Total Media Quality for YouTube which now offers IAS’s misinformation reporting. We’re excited to offer the ability to detect misinformation with our best-in-class measurement solution.” 

In March, IAS announced earning MRC accreditation for integrated third-party calculation and reporting of YouTube video viewability. In December 2023, IAS announced the availability of its Total Media Quality (TMQ) brand safety and suitability measurement across YouTube Shorts, offering advertisers expanded coverage for advanced brand safety and suitability measurement.