Welcome to Ad Age Datacenter Weekly, our data-obsessed newsletter for marketing and media professionals.
Datacenter
Top 10 March Madness advertisers so far: Datacenter Weekly
Also: GM’s zero-party data play, Innovid’s data deal with Walmart, macroeconomic news in a nutshell—and more
Credit:
Buffalo Wild Wings
Innovid to use Walmart data to target CTV advertising
“Innovid struck a deal with Walmart Connect to use the retail giant’s data to target and deliver personalized creative to shoppers on connected TV networks,” Ad Age’s Jack Neff reports.
Buy-in so far: “Publicis Media’s Spark Foundry and its Campbell Soup Co. client are among early users of the capability, which is delivered via Walmart Connect’s demand-side platform (DSP), managed through The Trade Desk,” Neff notes.
Essential context: “The move comes as brands, in particular packaged-goods marketers, rapidly increase their spending on both retail media and CTV, and retail media networks increase their efforts to harness their data to let advertisers shape their buys on CTV,” Neff adds. “Kroger Precision Marketing last year opened its retail data marketplace for use in connected TV buys via several DSPs. Roundel has made similar moves. And Amazon—both a retailer and a substantial player in ad-supported CTV via its own Freevee network and others—also makes data available for targeting on streaming networks.”
Macroeconomic news and data in a nutshell
• “US jobless claims inch down as labor market remains tight,” ABC News reports
• “Here’s what the Federal Reserve’s 25 basis point interest rate hike means for your money,” per CNBC.
• “The Fed Has Targeted 2% Inflation. Should It Aim Higher?,” from The New York Times
Previously: US ad employment fell by 1,000 jobs in February
Don’t miss: Layoffs and budget cuts—tracking economic moves and news
Top 10 March Madness 2023 advertisers (so far)
This just in: Here are the top 10 March Madness TV advertisers so far, per TV measurement firm iSpot.tv, as ranked by share of household impressions:
1. AT&T Wireless (4.52%)
2. Progressive (2.48%)
3. GEICO (2.48%)
4. Nissan (2.42%)
5. Buick (2.32%)
6. Capital One Credit Card (2.22%)
7. Buffalo Wild Wings (2.22%)
8. State Farm (2.11%)
9. GMC (1.91%)
10. Subway (1.80%)
Previously: Measuring March Madness, silver screen ad attention and more: Datacenter Weekly (March 17)
See also: Women’s March Madness ad inventory sells out
GM’s zero-party data play
Ad Age’s Garett Sloane reports that GM “is investing in its customer data platform to help move drivers into EVs, and the strategy hinges on ‘taking our first-party data down to zero-party data,’ according to Ajay Kapoor, GM’s global director of performance driven marketing.”
The big picture: “GM has had a tremendous amount of first-party data, on the vehicle, the individuals, households,” Kapoor told Sloane. “Now, it’s about really driving activation, and cleaning up and pulling that [data] together … gelling that together in an enterprise data strategy.”
First-party vs. zero-party data: “First-party data is information brands collect during the normal course of business,” Sloane explains. “For instance, when a person visits a website and buys a product, the brand could infer a certain amount of information from the consumer. ... Zero-party data is more direct, when the consumer states a preference and opts into using that preference for greater customization in marketing and services. For GM, this is a key distinction as it builds a more complete marketing picture of its customers, and as it deals with the transition in digital media that is moving away from cookies and third-party ad IDs.”
Just briefly
• “Amazon DSP measurement—what brands are getting wrong,” from Ad Age
• “TikTok CEO defends app to Congress—what brands need to know,” also from Ad Age
• “AT&T Vendor Data Breach Exposed 9 Million Customer Accounts,” CNET reports
• “Your Data Is Diminishing Your Freedom,” from The New York Times Magazine
Ad Age Best Places to Work 2023
In his introduction to Ad Age’s Best Places to Work 2023 package, Ad Age Datacenter’s Bradley Johnson writes,
The best practices at the Best Places to Work turn out to be pretty straightforward:
Fair pay. Solid benefits.
Recruit and retain a diverse workforce. Keep staffing levels adequate so team members and teams can do their best work.
Provide good training and keep employees in the loop on how the business is doing. Tilt work-life balance a bit more toward life.
Easy to say—and hard to do. Ad Age Best Places to Work 2023 honors 50 companies for a job well done last year amid the challenges of a tight talent pool, uncertain economy and ongoing effects of the pandemic.
The newsletter is brought to you by Ad Age Datacenter, the industry’s most authoritative source of competitive intel and home to the Ad Age Leading National Advertisers, the Ad Age Agency Report: World’s Biggest Agency Companies and other exclusive data-driven reports. Access or subscribe to Ad Age Datacenter at AdAge.com/Datacenter.
Ad Age Datacenter is Kevin Brown, Bradley Johnson and Joy R. Lee.
