Meredith and Hearst Magazines adopt new data standard, Oprah on ‘Buttabeep, Buttaboop’ (Pete Buttigieg): Publisher’s Brief

Welcome to the latest edition of Ad Age Publisher’s Brief, our roundup of news from the world of content producers across digital and print. Got a tip? Send it our way. Joining us late? Here's the previous edition. Bigger data: Meredith Corporation and Hearst Magazines are adopting a new Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Tech Lab data-transparency standard, the two publishing conglomerates exclusively tell Ad Age. A little background: Last fall, the IAB Tech Lab, together with the Association of National Advertisers’ Data Marketing & Analytics division, the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement and the Advertising Research Foundation, released what they called a beta version of a “nutritional label”-style standard for audience segment data sets to disclose the source of consumer data, how it was parsed, etc. Also part of that trial balloon: a proposed compliance program to keep participants honest. The beta release came with a six-month public comment period, during which the groups above and a leadership committee including LiveRamp, MediaMath, Neustar and Oracle Data Cloud, plus a working group made up of Acxiom, Experian, MetLife, the U.S. Postal Service and others, took in feedback and rallied additional participation from major data players. At the time, it was unclear how many publishers would sign on. But with multimedia conglomerates Meredith and Hearst Magazines now on board, the IAB standard suddenly gets a big boost. In a joint statement to Ad Age, the companies say they expect the new standard “will help differentiate high-quality, first-party data partners in a market where data origins and definitions are often murky” and “will make it easier for advertisers to make apples-to-apples comparisons and measure performance across partners.” Alysia Borsa, chief marketing and data officer at Meredith, and Mike Smith, chief data officer at Hearst Magazines, took the lead in getting their respective companies to adopt the the IAB Data Transparency Label, which is due for formal, finalized release this fall—perhaps during Advertising Week (in September). NewFronts in a nutshell: Speaking of Meredith, this Thursday it’s presenting at the Digital Content NewFronts, the annual IAB-sponsored showcase for “the best in original digital video content programming”; stay tuned to Ad Age for coverage. Hearst is skipping the NewFronts again this year, but fellow glossy/digital publisher Condé Nast is presenting this afternoon, while Vice is taking the stage Wednesday. Want to catch up on what’s happened so far? Check out Ad Age’s NewFronts Day 1 blog, with details on presentations from The New York Times, the BBC and Viacom. Just briefly:Another one bites the dust: “ESPN The Magazine to abandon print, go web-only,” per Bloomberg News (via Ad Age). New chief: Joe Brown has been named VP and editorial director, New York, at Bonnier Corporation (the U.S. subsidiary of Stockholm-based Bonnier AB), spokeswoman Perri Dorset tells Ad Age. Brown, a veteran of Wired and Gizmodo, has gained praise for his revamp of Bonnier’s Popular Science, which he’ll continue to run as editor-in-chief—but now he’ll oversee editorial for Field & Stream, Outdoor Life and Saveur as well. Tweetstorm: “Twitter strikes new content deals with Viacom, WSJ and sports properties,” per Ad Age’s Garett Sloane. Poached: “InStyle’s revolving door continues with new publisher,” per the New York Post’s Keith Kelly. Agnes Chapski, the president of Sandow Media’s NewBeauty magazine, takes the reins of the Meredith fashion glossy from Laura Frerer-Schmidt. And finally... Oprah dishes: Oprah Winfrey fronts The Hollywood Reporter’s first annual “Empowerment in Entertainment” issue, released just as the media legend is set to receive THR’s new Empowerment Award at an event in Los Angeles later today. The coverline, “Oprah Wants More,” plugs an in-depth sit-down conducted by Lacey Rose titled “Oprah Talks Apple Plans, ‘60 Minutes’ Exit, ‘Leaving Neverland’ Backlash and Mayor Pete ‘Buttabeep, Buttaboop’”—and it’s a really frank, fun read. For instance: THR: You have so much cultural power. Short of running yourself in 2020... Winfrey: (Shakes her head no.) THR: ...how do you use it? Winfrey: Right now, I'm studying the field. I'm reading “Shortest Way Home” by [Pete Buttigieg], I call him Buttabeep, Buttaboop. (Laughs.) The name’s either going to really hurt or [really help] — I think it’s going to help, actually. Just the other day, I was at Apple with Spielberg and we were in the hallway talking about, (employing a dramatic voice) “What are we going to do?” And I said, “Have you heard of this Butta guy?” He goes, “No, Butta-who?” I go, “Buttabeep, Buttaboop. Look him up.” Keep reading here.

Meredith and Hearst Magazines adopt new data standard, Oprah on ‘Buttabeep, Buttaboop’ (Pete Buttigieg): Publisher’s Brief

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