Media companies
After making sure measurement data is integrated with ad tech partners, the next step for media companies is to educate internal teams, including product, engineering and selling teams, on how to understand, work with and “ingest this data,” said Andrea Zapata, executive VP, head of ad sales, research, measurement and insights at Warner Bros. Discovery.
Zapata said education on the nuances of how this new data differs from what has been used historically is crucial “because not on my watch are we just going to say we did something and then not actually see it through to activation. That would actually, I think, sour the marketplace on what’s possible with all of this innovation.”
A new and tangible challenge at this year’s upfront will be pricing and forecasting with alternative currencies.
“This year is the first year that I think people need multiple rate cards,” said Dan Aversano, senior VP of data, analytics and advanced advertising at TelevisaUnivision, referring to the pricing sheets media companies generate for buyers. “You’re going to need a VideoAmp rate card if you want to do an upfront deal on it. You’re going to need a Nielsen rate card.”
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However, if an agency’s clients each chooses to strike deals on different currencies, Aversano foresees an additional obstacle not yet addressed. TV companies typically price buys per agency holding company, which are transacted on behalf of numerous clients.
“What does that look like when I’m using three different datasets within a single agency?” asked Aversano. “I ask my publisher peers that question and I don’t get a lot of good answers. You ask a buyer and they say, ‘Yeah, we’re not doing it.’ The negotiation is done at such a scale, you then have to shift the upfront model from being negotiated at hold co level to literally negotiating client by client within the hold co.”
One agency executive told Ad Age the systems integrations necessary likely won’t be optimal in time for this year’s negotiations, requiring a more hands-on approach. “All the TV networks as we come to the upfront will be touting the percentage or the dollar volume that they are putting through alternative currencies,” said the executive. “It’s going to be much less than it sounds, and it’s going to be a manual side project versus actually going through the system the way Nielsen currency goes through the system for this year.”