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We’re all familiar with the philosophical question, “if a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” Striking parallels to this old adage can be drawn in our industry today, where many are asking a similar question relating to the effectiveness of ads in the digital environment. In light of concerns around ad viewability, brand safety and in-target delivery, many are now asking: “If an ad falls in the wrong place and no one has an opportunity to see it, does it make an impression?”

In other words, what is the value of an ad that doesn’t deliver an opportunity to be seen, or worse, is delivered next to brand unsafe content? How should we value an impression that reaches a consumer outside of the intended target?

In my role running Research at AudienceScience, I spend a lot of time talking to advertisers. While in most cases, their challenges, pain points, strategies, and goals broadly differ, the one term I am now consistently hearing out of the mouths of advertisers globally is “transparency.” From where I sit, “transparency” is the advertising buzzword of 2014 and advertisers are actively seeking how they can get more of it.

Not that advertisers asking for transparency is something new. Nearly all advertisers have some guarantee of transparency written into their agency contracts and smart advertisers have long known that transparency is essential to understanding what’s working, what isn’t, and how their organizations can improve their media spending.

By Digital Advertising Alliance of Canada Since its launch over six months ago, the Canadian Ad Choices program has been successful in building business participation and consumer awareness. To date, over 50 companies have begun registration for the program, with many now licensed to use the Ad Choices icon in Canada. These include major Canadian […]

We’ve heard all the hype about viewability and how it will be the savior for the digital world. The theory goes that with the Media Ratings Council (MRC) recently setting a standard definition, brands will have all the confidence they need to transition TV budget to online video (OLV). Although this is a great step in the right direction, brands need to know the truth – all OLV is not created equal.

The three key metrics advertisers must monitor to ensure their video execution parallels that of TV are viewability, audibility and ad size. On average, about 50-60% of most brands’ OLV media is actually achieving these three basic measures of execution. So if a brand equates TV to OLV, the media failing to meet those basic measures is essentially wasted.

By ACA Staff The ACA recently published a report from a survey we conducted on purpose marketing, which explored the importance and success of this form of marketing according to Canadian marketers. Part of the Marketer’s Pulse report series, the survey polled 52 senior Canadian marketers representing a cross section of industry sectors and MarCom […]

I was recruited as a marketing assistant. I was the assistant to the assistant product manager. We helped the product manager research, write and defend marketing plans designed to sell more of our portfolio of products. We worked on frozen foods, Swanson and Pepperidge Farm Dessert brands.

Our focus was on selling product. We were measured on sales and market share gains. Perhaps we inherently knew we were building brands but that was not our focus. Our focus was on selling stuff. Brand value wasn’t discussed.

How the world has changed in the nearly 4 decades since. Lining my bookshelf today, next to the Campbell Soup mug, are some twenty-five books on brands. Over the course of my career product managers were replaced with brand managers.