AdExchanger

The digital advertising industry has been too focused on data perfection, according to Analytic Partners CEO Nancy Smith. But as data disappears due to signal loss, brands have an opportunity to regroup around “commercial analytics,” a different measurement approach focused on driving outcomes with less user-focused data.

Performance marketers once turned up their noses at creative, seeming to only care about audience targeting. But signal loss is putting creative back into the spotlight by highlighting how essential even the smallest of details can be, says VidMob CEO Alex Collmer. Also: Hot takes on generative AI art. (Spoiler: Humans aren’t obsolete – yet.)

Are retail media networks overhyped? “It’s a very fair question,” says Ali Miller, Instacart’s VP of product management for ads. The answer is yes and no. Yes, companies are jumping on the RMN bandwagon – but it’s not hype, as long as retail media can prove its value.

Roughly one-third of the US population has a direct connection to the military. And yet many brands “still struggle to authentically connect with this key demographic,” says Mark Harper, GM of military and defense at Recurrent Ventures.

With 100 million customers and a homegrown CDP, Intuit is a data-driven brand, says Intuit CMO Lara Balazs. But beyond conversions, the owner of TurboTax and Credit Karma closely tracks brand reputation as a measure of success.

The combination of attention across streaming and linear television is a massive, undermonetized opportunity, says Blockgraph CEO Jason Manningham. But if traditional TV players don’t get more creative with their data, they’ll lose out to the Big Tech platforms. It’s a familiar tale.

This week we’re republishing one of the most popular AdExchanger Talks episodes of 2022, with Brian O’Kelley, an originator of RTB and now the CEO and co-founder of Scope3, a new startup that aims to help ad tech companies monitor and reduce their carbon emissions. Happy holidays and happy listening!

When online grocery subscription service Misfits Market was founded in 2018, it took a page right out of the DTC advertiser’s playbook, says Holly Eagleson, VP of marketing. But since the release of Apple’s ATT, Misfits has been embracing new channels.

Advertisers often talk about supporting Black- and minority-owned media companies. It’s Mark Prince’s job to help them turn those pledges into action. As SVP and head of economic empowerment at Dentsu Media, he pushes brands to consistently diversify their media mix – and move away from one-off investments.

Mary Engle is EVP of policy at BBB National Programs, a nonprofit organization that’s helping keep self-regulation of the ad industry alive. She’s also spent more than three decades with the FTC. In this episode, Engle gets into the weeds on “commercial surveillance,” the nitty-gritty of ad disclosures, the FTC’s case against Kochava and more.