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News Finecast Takes Part in the Opening of WPP Manchester Campus  Joining seven other of WPP’s agencies, Finecast celebrated the official opening of the highly anticipated WPP Manchester Campus. For over three decades, WPP has been a driving force in Manchester, nurturing the growth and success of agencies like CSP Commerce, EssenceMediacom, Cheetham Bell, Code Computerlove, Wavemaker, and Kinetic. The new campus continues this tradition by supporting their expansion and welcoming newcomers Ogilvy Health and VMLY&amp;R Health to establish their presence in Manchester.
This is a momentous occasion as it marks the establishment of the first WPP campus outside London in the UK, demonstrating WPP's dedication to investing in the North of the UK. Covering an impressive 67,000 square feet across eight floors, this campus will serve as a hub for 550 professionals specializing in digital, creative, and ecommerce marketing from across the North, fostering collaboration and igniting innovation.
The opening event was graced by the presence of esteemed guests, including WPP's CEO Mark Read and UK President Karen Blackett OBE, along with Greater Manchester's Mayor, Andy Burnham, WPP clients, senior executives, partners, and local community leaders.
Mark Read, CEO of WPP, said:
 “Our Manchester agencies have achieved significant growth and success, driven by the extraordinary talent and dedication of our people. It is their accomplishments that have paved the way for the creation of this new state-of-the-art campus. Manchester is a thriving creative hub and it has always been our intention to invest in a campus that would bring our agencies together in the city. This move further demonstrates our commitment to facilitate collaboration, fuel creativity, and give clients access to the breadth and depth of WPP talent in one location.”
Karen Blackett OBE, UK President of WPP, said:
“Manchester has always been a city brimming with growth and creativity and we wanted to be at the heart of that. The city is also home to a beautiful fruit salad of people and we need to reflect that in our organisations in order to generate growth. We are thrilled to see this vision come to life and become an integral part of the vibrant Manchester community.”
Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, said:
“We’re really pleased to see WPP strengthen its presence here in our city region with the opening of a major new site in Manchester. This campus is another testament to our international competitiveness and showcases our ability to attract world-renowned businesses and world-class talent. The presence of WPP, along with other industry giants, is helping to transform the economic landscape of Greater Manchester and support a growing success story.”
 
Learn more about the WPP Manchester Campus Agencies:
CSP Commerce
EssenceMediaCom
Cheetham Bell
Code Computerlove
Wavemaker
Kinetic
Ogilvy Health
VMLY&amp;R Health 

Finecast Takes Part in the Opening of WPP Manchester Campus

Unlocking the Potential of Addressable TV 

Keep up to date on addressable TV with our blogs, articles and research.

Insights Ad Spotlight:  Cécile Douillard, Global Head of Growth, Addressable Content, Hogarth (WPP)    Welcome to the Ad Spotlight series where we hear from a different guest from the industry each month to get an insight into the landscape of advertising as well as their own personal experiences.  
Our guest this month is Cécile Douillard. With experience in the media trading, measurement and data, and creative corners of the industry, Cécile has a comprehensive understanding of the addressable TV landscape. In her current role, she oversees the growth of addressable content, helping a wide range of clients capitalise. 
Cécile dove into this wide-ranging subject to look at what’s happening now, and what is to come… 
 
Q: Why did you choose a career in advertising?
A: Studying law gave me skills I use to this day, including how I process and structure my thoughts and work. But it can be rigid and conservative. I wanted to be in an environment that encourages versatility and fluidity.  Somewhere where things weren’t as set in stone. Advertising offered a relatively boundaryless industry where there’s always something new to learn or try.
Q: What are the biggest challenges in the industry you see right now.
A: We need to work out how to adopt, drive, and encourage change at scale. You can suffer from information overload in our industry because everything is brand new all the time. It’s about making it as easy as possible to consistently go back to the drawing board and embrace change.
There is also a challenge around finetuning the increasingly interlinked ways of working. It’s breaking down silos, but we need to ensure we’re marrying a macro focus with bringing together the right experts in their field to achieve more intelligent advertising.
In terms of TV specifically, there's a real opportunity to optimize a fragmented landscape. I oversee the growth of addressable content across channels including TV and I’m seeing more and more content hitting the mark because we can drill down into the target audience, platform, and device that is best suited. The challenge is making sure people aren’t scared of navigating a sometimes convoluted ecosystem.
Q: Sum up the future of advertising in three words.
A: Intelligent: Driving intelligence at scale using the tools we have access to. There’s no excuse for us not to be smart in the way we function and create because some of the heavy lifting will be done by data and technology.
Agile: Advertising is anywhere, anytime, all the time. We need to be prepared to shift and adapt in a super-fast way without disturbing the fundamental principles.
Multi-dimensional: Making sure brands think outside the box. And we marry the rational and emotional when guiding them so, ultimately, all types of people, areas of expertise, and skills sets are represented.
Q: What is your biggest career highlight?
A: Rediscovering the importance of content. I spent years working in analytics and RTB engineering focused on trading efficiency. I needed reminding of the power of creative – and to feel I had a stake in it.
Working in the addressable function at Hogarth has let me be at the heart of it again. That first campaign where every element – storytelling, directors, copywriters, production, data – came together with passion is what I needed to reinforce the idea that content really matters.
I love that what the end creative looks like is partly my responsibility again and that creative, tech and data are considered in equal measure now.
Q:…and biggest regret?  
A: It’s not really a regret, but certainly a big factor in my life, and that’s how my career got derailed by health issues. I suffer from endometriosis, which can have a devasting impact on a woman’s life. But I have actively tried to turn it into a positive, because I got to explore a side of myself that I didn’t know.
I set up a charity (endOF.org, which helped people with chronic pain get active) and continue to do lots of charity work to this day. But I do sometimes feel like I lost precious time while navigating my health issues.
Q: What is your favourite advert of all-time?
A: Growing up in France, we had this TV show called ‘Culture Pub’ which showed adverts from around the world. It was fascinating to see how creativity comes to life in different countries.
But if I had to pick one, it would be Nike’s ‘Find your Greatness’ campaign. It might be cheesy, but it perfectly captures an inspiring, inclusive message.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0JdbZEKz7k&amp;ab_channel=GreatBigMindsCollection 
You’re in a unique position to talk about the future of creative in the evolving TV ecosystem, so let’s do just that…
Q: What is your view on the relationship between data and creative when it comes to delivering effective advertising? 
A: It’s a relationship of interdependency – and one that can be a happy marriage when done right. Data is the conduit for fuelling impactful creative moving forward and, when combined, they bring a new dimension of opportunities for brands and how they engage with consumers. Creative can be more tailored to specific audiences and be built on foundations based on relevant insights.
Data is also such a generic word that encompasses so much. There is absolutely a creative element to identifying the data that matters and using it correctly to inform how the campaign looks as well as how it is rolled out.
Q: Several case studies have shown how QR codes can lift attribution. What is the next step in the evolution of attribution methods?
A: QR codes are a very pragmatic way to capture direct attribution in a TV environment that, traditionally, has found it difficult to track direct engagement. But there’s room to grow because audiences aren’t necessarily warmed up to reacting to QR codes when they appear on screen. It’s still a bit of a novelty, although they aren’t!
This talks to a wider conversation about how TV ads are evolving. More and more, brands are weaving together creative experimentation with pragmatic templating. And there is still some friction there. But just because an ad is set up to lift attribution by using QR codes doesn’t mean it can’t also be creative. We’re seeing that in addressable campaigns all the time.
Q: What would you tell a brand wondering if its creative was suitable for addressable TV?
A: Everyone is a good candidate. Creative works best when it reflects market conditions and addressable TV allows you to consider this in the way content is built and delivered.
Everything we do now in advertising is audience driven. But audiences are not static. Your audience on Instagram today is not your audience on Instagram tomorrow in the way they consume content and interact with your brand. And the same goes for TV advertising. Understanding the subtleties - how people’s behaviour and the way they engage with the platform change – helps produce better creative. If we as people are not static, it is foolish to think about developing content that is static.
Enjoyed this Ad Spotlight? Check out previous editions to see how other names across the industry found their way into advertising, and what they predict for its future – including Mike Shaw (Roku) and Vanessa Goff-Yu (TAG).  

Our guest this month is Cécile Douillard. With experience in the media trading, measurement and data, and creative corners of the industry, Cécile has a comprehensive understanding of the addressable TV landscape. In her current role, she oversees the growth of addressable content, helping a wide range of clients capitalise.

Ad Spotlight: Cécile Douillard, Global Head of Growth, Addressable Content, Hogarth (WPP) 

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 Tapping into different audience demographics with addressable TV   TV is an incredibly strong advertising medium. And ongoing development of the technology powering addressable TV advertising is allowing advertisers to reach more targeted audiences across a range of attributes than ever before. It should, therefore, represent an increasingly important component of the media mix for existing broadcast TV advertisers, as well as those brands who are newer to TV advertising.
Linear broadcast TV channels carrying advertising are watched by roughly three-quarters of consumers in developed markets on a weekly basis. But this still leaves roughly a quarter of individuals unreached. And as linear broadcast TV viewing continues to decline, driven by consumers switching to streaming services, this ‘unreached' audience grows larger every year.
Addressable TV services play an important role in ensuring that marketers can extend the visibility of their products and services to this audience unreached by linear tv, and ensure that the context of advertising consumption is comparable to broadcast TV – i.e. high-quality video advertising is paired with high-quality TV, film and sport content.
On a weekly basis, 19% of internet users in the UK, USA, Australia and Germany report watching ad-supported video services (from a broadcaster, long-form AVoD (advertising video on demand) platform, or YouTube) but not watching TV via any commercial broadcast channels. The result of this is that combining broadcast TV advertising with advertising on addressable TV-capable streaming platforms delivers a significantly greater breadth of audience than using either one in isolation.
 
Addressable for all age groups
Many advertisers rely on addressable TV platforms to engage younger audiences, who have been the most active in switching their viewing away from broadcast TV. By contrast, older audiences can typically be reached easily through linear TV channels, and for many advertisers, spend on broadcast TV advertising reflects this. However, older consumers now represent the fastest-growing segment of streaming video viewers, which means that advertisers who want to target older consumer groups should seriously consider addressable TV options for their media mix.
In developed markets, 16% of 45- to 64-year-olds now report watching an ad-supported video-on-demand platform in any given week, but no commercial broadcast TV.  YouTube has the largest weekly audience reach for this age group, but broadcaster-led video-on-demand (BVoD) services like the UK’s ITVX or Australia’s 9Now are also popular in their respective markets, with BVoD products reaching more than 40% of 45 to 64s in the UK and Australia on a weekly basis. Reach is lower in Germany at 17%, but broadcaster-led video-on-demand services nonetheless remain the most popular category of ad-supported streaming products after YouTube. In the US, AVoD services like Pluto, Tubi and Roku reach 39% of 45- to 64-year-olds.
 

Source: Consumer survey of 8,000 18- to 64-year-olds in US, UK, Germany, Australia

 
Unsurprisingly, the incremental reach provided by streaming video services is even more pronounced among younger consumers, with streaming addressable TV reaching a further 24% of 18- to 34-year-olds over and above linear TV on a weekly basis. Advertisers targeting younger groups should alter their media mix to further weight towards addressable TV platforms as a result. It is worth noting that while this demographic pattern is a universal trend, global advertisers should consider that the exact platforms via which consumers can be reached will vary by market. European and Australian 18-34-year-olds are regular users of BVoD services. However, in the US, hybrid SVoD (subscription video on demand) services provide a key opportunity to reach these younger audiences. Almost half of 18 to 34-year-olds in the US engage with an ad-supported tier of a subscription streaming product every week, with Peacock and Hulu being the most popular among the group.
Young consumers are also generally receptive to addressable TV advertising. More than three-quarters of 18- to 34-year-olds are interested in seeing addressable TV ads relevant to their location, while more than two-thirds are interested in seeing advertising aimed specifically at their demographic group.
 
Relevance always matters 
Relevant advertising messaging is important to all age groups. Research on creative messaging optimization revealed that the right creative elicits positive emotion, which ultimately influences short-term sales and long-term brand growth.
While older consumers are generally more wary of targeted advertising than younger groups, two-thirds of older consumers are still interested in seeing advertising relevant to their location and just over half are interested in seeing adverts for products relevant to their demographics.
There are further advantages for brands; finding the right target audience for their product and tailoring the message accordingly ensures a much higher hit rate than untargeted campaigns. An interview with an education brand in APAC targeting prospective students indicated that addressable TV advertising helps them spend efficiently and avoids alienating future prospects. In relation to advertising to consumers outside their target audience, the view was clear: “[It] wastes your money, but it annoys [consumers] to the point where if they ever are prospects in the future [they will be] sick of seeing something that was never relevant to them”.
Overall, there is a strong argument for brands to ensure that their approach is diversified. Linear TV alone reaches large audiences, but it is no longer capable of delivering exhaustive campaign reach, even among older consumer groups. Adding addressable TV to the mix immediately enhances reach and opens up targeting capabilities to deliver the advertising messages that consumers want.
 
  download Download Unlocking the Potential of Addressable TV Complete the form to get your copy of the report Download nontranslatable-text-group  nontranslatable-text nontranslatable-firstName First name  please enter your first name nontranslatable-text nontranslatable-lastName Last name  please enter your last name nontranslatable-email nontranslatable-email E-mail address  please enter your email address nontranslatable-text nontranslatable-company Company name  please enter your company name nontranslatable-text nontranslatable-jobTitle Job title  please enter your job title nontranslatable-checkbox nontranslatable-consent I agree to receive other communications from Finecast. In order to provide you the content requested, we need to store and process your personal data. If you consent to this please tick the checkbox below.  Please check the consent checkbox 

TV is an incredibly strong advertising medium. And ongoing development of the technology powering addressable TV advertising is allowing advertisers to reach more targeted audiences across a range of attributes than ever before. Learn how to reach discrete audience demographics with addressable TV.

Tapping into different audience demographics with addressable TV

 Leveraging the power of commerce data with addressable TV   People often think of TV as only a brand-building medium, but decades of Marketing Mix Modelling (MMM) tell us that it’s also a powerful way to drive sales – and it’s getting stronger by the day. This is due in no small part to the growing opportunities of commerce media – advertising that uses retailer and transactional data as a way of reaching audiences more effectively to generate online and offline visits and ultimately sales. 
At Finecast, we’ve always been about combining the power of TV with the precision of data. By expanding our capabilities to integrate commerce data, we’ve created an end-to-end commerce solution that spans the entire addressable TV campaign lifecycle. That means we’re now helping brands and advertisers to use commerce data at every step, from planning, targeting and creative to measurement and campaign optimisation. 
A common way many of our clients are starting to use commerce data is by identifying valuable customers and creating audience segments. For instance, data from credit card transactions or a retail loyalty scheme can lead us to audiences in a particular category, high-value customers, high-frequency customers, consumers with a purchase history of competitor brands or consumers with an intention to purchase a certain type of goods within the next three months.
A case in point is our recent work with Boots, which combined their loyalty card purchase activity with the power of addressable creative. By connecting campaign exposure data to first-party transactional data, we measured a four-fold return on ad spend and 19% uplift in purchase intent, with 61% of exposed viewers likely to purchase the advertised product.
Another key opportunity is incorporating commerce data signals to aid our understanding of consumer purchasing behaviour into the campaign planning process.  For example, if retail data shows that sales of their particular product are low in a specific location, but that category purchases are high, a retailer can shift TV budget to drive brand awareness and maximise sales to a captive audience.  
Commerce data enables smarter targeting and more agile message delivery, but its strengths don’t end there. We’re seeing some interesting examples of commerce data lending new power to creative innovation. For instance, a fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) brand might use SKU-level data to inform addressable creative, delivering TV ads for one product line in areas where stock is abundant and alternative messaging for other product lines in areas where stock levels are running low.
With many people now adept at juggling multiple screens at once, QR codes provide an opportunity to drive sales directly from TV ads. When a shoppable TV ad with a QR code appears on the TV screen, a viewer can scan the code using their phone, go straight to the advertiser’s website and complete a purchase almost instantly. Voice activation can work in a similar way, so that consumers who want to purchase the product shown in the TV ad they’ve just seen need only announce their desire to buy to their smart speaker. Job done!
When it comes to closing the loop, commerce data gives a huge boost to reporting, measurement and validation. As well as measuring campaign impact on online traffic and sales, we can analyse store footfall to see if a campaign drove traffic uplifts in a geographic area or look at transaction receipts to see if it generated an uplift in store sales. These clear insights can be plugged into future campaigns for optimisation. Testing and monitoring to find geographic areas or audience segments that deliver exceptional performance can, in turn, inform smarter budget decisions and creative messaging for both existing and upcoming campaigns. 
By using Finecast’s advanced targeting capabilities, we worked with B&amp;Q to build a fully bespoke audience segment of homeowners around its stores who are interested in kitchens. The result? Stores and the surrounding catchment areas that were exposed to the campaign witnessed a 23% greater increase in store visit conversion that those in the control group. 
We’re seeing these capabilities helping all kinds of different clients – retailers who are using their own first-party data to increase sales and ROI, FMCG brands that are taking advantage of credit card or loyalty scheme data to reach category and competitive product buyers, and direct-to-consumer businesses that are leveraging their first-party data to build brand awareness, attract new customers and increase repeat purchases. 
These businesses come from every market you can think of, from DIY stores to specialty food brands to telcos. But the common denominator is that they’re combining the power of addressable TV with commerce data sets and new creative formats to deliver more valuable experiences and generate incremental revenue for their brands.
 
*Recent campaigns with Boots UK and Airwaves Taiwan are great examples of how we’re integrating loyalty card data and purchase history data to achieve incremental sales and raise brand awareness.  by Chris Keenan, Global Chief Product & Commercial Officer   Chris is Global Chief Product & Commercial Officer download Download Unlocking the Potential of Addressable TV Complete the form to get your copy of the report Download nontranslatable-text-group  nontranslatable-text nontranslatable-firstName First name  please enter your first name nontranslatable-text nontranslatable-lastName Last name  please enter your last name nontranslatable-email nontranslatable-email E-mail address  please enter your email address nontranslatable-text nontranslatable-company Company name  please enter your company name nontranslatable-text nontranslatable-jobTitle Job title  please enter your job title nontranslatable-checkbox nontranslatable-consent I agree to receive other communications from Finecast. In order to provide you the content requested, we need to store and process your personal data. If you consent to this please tick the checkbox below.  Please check the consent checkbox 

TV advertising is not only a brand-building medium but also a powerful way to drive sales, thanks to the growing opportunities of commerce media. Finecast has integrated commerce data into its addressable TV campaign lifecycle, helping brands and advertisers use this data at every step, from planning to measurement and campaign optimization. This approach enables smarter targeting, agile message delivery, and creative innovation, ultimately generating incremental revenue for brands across various markets.

Leveraging the power of commerce data with addressable TV

From automotive to pet products: Leveraging addressable TV for all categories With the proliferation of addressable TV in developed markets, most internet users regularly. Ad-supported video-on-demand (AVoD) and free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) platforms such as Pluto TV, Tubi, Samsung TV+ and YouTube are particularly expansive, collectively reaching 90% of internet users each month in markets like the US, UK, Australia or Germany. The growing maturity of addressable TV means that there is an opportunity for brands to not only reach large audiences but also maximise the use of addressable TV’s unique targeting features and interactive or shoppable formats.
 


Source: Consumer survey of 8,000 18-64 year olds in USA, UK, Germany, Australia

 


 
Thanks to their near-universal reach in markets with high broadband penetration, addressable TV products are relevant to most advertisers, including brands from major spend categories such as Automotive, Personal Finance, Health &amp; Beauty, Retail and others. Among consumers looking to purchase products across major categories, such as Automotive and Baby &amp; Children’s goods, addressable TV services reach an average of prospective customers each week.
The specific services that advertisers can rely on to deliver that reach will vary across markets. In the US, a mix of pure-play AVoD services like Pluto, Samsung TV+, Roku (as well as hybrid products like Hulu), complemented by YouTube, will deliver maximum reach for most categories. Yet while AVoD services like Pluto TV and Samsung TV+ are available in markets like the UK and Australia, consumers in these markets also frequently engage with broadcaster-owned video-on-demand (BVoD) platforms such as the UK’s ITVX or Australia’s 7plus, which advertisers should factor into media planning.
BVoD services in the UK and Australia are used by nearly three-quarters of all consumers looking to buy Automotive, Personal Finance and Childcare &amp; Baby products. Specifically, there are between 15-17% of potential buyers for these categories that use BVoD and not AVoD platforms. This suggests that in the UK and Australia, brands should use a mixture of addressable TV platforms to maximise their reach.
 



Source: Consumer survey of 8,000 18–64-year-olds in US, UK, Germany, Australia

 
Addressable TV enables brands to experiment with creatives. One of the advantages of using addressable TV products is the ability to personalise the content that audiences see, and there is a strong desire from certain buyer categories for this. In fact, on average, just over two-thirds of consumers looking to purchase within Automotive, Personal Finance, Beauty &amp; Health or Childcare &amp; Baby categories would be interested in advertising that is tailored to their needs, with consumers in the latter category being particularly receptive. Such targeting would be best received among buyers in the US and Australia, with strong interest also in the UK and even in a privacy-conscious market such as Germany.
And it isn’t just personalisation that is of interest to potential customers. As addressable TV technology matures new formats are becoming available for brands to use. These include QR code-based formats and shoppable ads that enable brands to give more information, offer promotions, better map customer journeys, and sell products instantly or more easily. Survey data indicates that those consumers looking for Personal Finance and Insurance products, and Childcare &amp; Baby products are particularly receptive to some of these newer formats. This receptiveness has led to brands in these categories being among the first to experiment with the new technology. One Childcare brand in APAC interviewed for Unlocking the Potential of Addressable TV research spoke particularly highly of QR code-based formats that they have used to help new parents find support groups in their area, noting “[we are] quite happy [using QR codes] to target specific groups and would do so again”. Folding these formats into wider marketing campaigns not only provides brands with new ways of engaging their audiences but also gives consumers a fresh experience, which can help brands stand out from the crowd.
There is, of course, no one size fits all strategy. Potential customers of one category will behave in different ways to potential buyers of another. And there are many factors that go into purchase decisions such as cost, immediate need, availability, etc. Addressable TV can ensure that advertisers in any category can target their audiences more effectively and efficiently, providing prospective customers with relevant information throughout the buying cycle, whenever and wherever they are watching. Its ability to cut across the mix of both traditional TV and new formats can build an additional layer of engagement to help audiences move through the sales funnel.  download Download Unlocking the Potential of Addressable TV Complete the form to get your copy of the report Download nontranslatable-text-group nontranslatable-text nontranslatable-firstName First name please enter your first name nontranslatable-text nontranslatable-lastName Last name please enter your last name nontranslatable-email nontranslatable-email E-mail address please enter your email address nontranslatable-text nontranslatable-company Company name please enter your company name nontranslatable-text nontranslatable-jobTitle Job title please enter your job title nontranslatable-checkbox nontranslatable-consent I agree to receive other communications from Finecast. In order to provide you the content requested, we need to store and process your personal data. If you consent to this please tick the checkbox below. Please check the consent checkbox

Thanks to their near-universal reach in markets with high broadband penetration, addressable TV products are relevant to most advertisers, including brands from major spend categories such as Automotive, Personal Finance, Health &amp; Beauty, Retail and others. Among consumers looking to purchase products across major categories, addressable TV services reach an average of 85% of prospective customers each week.

From automotive to pet products: Leveraging addressable TV for all categories

Insights Ad Spotlight: Sue Todd, CEO, NABS   Welcome to the Ad Spotlight series where we hear from a different guest from the industry each month to get an insight into the landscape of advertising as well as their own personal experiences. 
Our guest this month is Sue Todd. Sue has 25 years of experience working with brands and individuals across the advertising industry to maximize employee and business potential. She joined NABS (the National Advertising Benevolent Society) as CEO in April 2022, where she leads the charity’s mission to advance mental wellness in the advertising, marketing media industry. 
 With a background in transformation and cultural change, plus hands-on industry experience, Sue is here to shine a light on where the industry stands, where we’re succeeding, and where improvements can be made. 
 Q: Why did you choose a career in advertising and media?  
A: I’ve always been interested in human behaviour. It’s crucial to my role at NABS today and is what led me to study marketing at university. From there, I started out at a local radio station in Manchester, and it didn’t take me long to realise how fun the media industry was. Getting to see how marketing, media, and advertising coexist – and what makes people tick – had me hooked.
Q: What are the biggest challenges facing the industry right now?  
A: I think the industry is quite aligned on the challenges it is facing; talent attraction and retention, mental wellness, creating an environment where people can thrive, and achieving greater inclusion and cohesion. And they all interlink.
As we continue the journey to increase diversity (which is by no means complete), it is important to ask how we create a cohesive environment that accommodates different voices and opinions and ways of doing things. And that echoes mental health challenges the industry is facing, too. Making sure mental health isn’t a taboo and thinking about it like we do physical health is crucial to tackle the feeling of imbalance and uncertainty that can develop.
The solutions are complex but, at no point in my time in the industry, have boards, agencies, and companies been as aligned on finding the answers.
Q: Sum up the future of advertising/media in three words…
A: Brave: Our sector is at the forefront of so much change, whether it’s social or cultural or new technology and digital disruption. Being brave is when boundaries are pushed.
Better: People join our industry because it’s exciting. But that relentless speed can also tip into stress. Better support structures are needed.
Bright: Seeing the work that is being done already gives me confidence that the industry can adjust.
Q: What is your biggest career highlight?
A: I’m really lucky that I’ve worked with lots of incredible people and teams but what makes me most proud is Wonder, the small consultancy I built and ran with my partner Gary Hollins for eight years. It allowed us to support the cultures of many of the most progressive businesses in our industry - from MEC (now Wavemaker) and Channel 4 to Ocean Outdoor and Grey, and may more. We did some really good work, had lots of fun doing it and I got to see my daughter a ton in the first eight years of her life. Working for myself and building something from scratch helped me truly understand what my capabilities were and weren’t and where I added value to teams and businesses.
Q: And your favourite advert?
A: This Girl Can by Sport England. The first time I saw that on TV was the first time I remember seeing real women swimming, sweating, and doing sport in an ad. The term can be overused, but it was a genuinely ground-breaking campaign. I showed it to my daughter who was seven, and its impact went beyond an advert. It started conversations that I believe had a direct impact on the increase in participation (and success) in women’s sport.
[You can watch the ad here.]
Starting conversations and providing support is a big part of your day job at NABS. Let’s dive into that a little more…
Q: Calls to NABS have increased dramatically by 100% YoY this year. Why do you think this is?
A: It is a combination of things. We’re all a little more honest about how we feel and when we need support. The fact people are more comfortable seeking support is a good thing. Yet, and this goes beyond advertising, there are also more people feeling overwhelmed, burnt out, or stressed post-pandemic as we try to find our balance in what has been quite a relentless time.  
The more important thing is making sure we can accommodate that increased demand. Because it could make all the difference.
Q: What initiatives are available to people? 
A: NABS is about helping people get the skills and mindsets to thrive in the industry. We’re always looking to do more to promote what good mental health looks like. At the most basic level, that is supporting individuals to help keep them balanced – whether that is through calling NABS’ support team, accessing therapy via our referral service or applying for financial assistance.
We also do a lot in what I’d call the interpersonal skill development space. From building resilience and confidence to becoming an inclusive leader, our growth workshops are free to individuals in our industry to support their development and that feeling of confidence in what you do.
The other thing we’re big on is connecting people, groups, and communities to help address the big issues in our industry. That can be through mentoring or taking part in one of our courses. Fostering a sense of belonging and social cohesion is so important as the industry evolves. And, when you are struggling, it can be nice to have someone from outside your immediate work environment to speak to.
Q: How can managers create a supportive environment?
A: A recent study showed that your boss has the biggest effect on your mental health, so managers need to feel competent and confidence around mental health support. But it’s tough. The old methods and ways of managing don’t all work with, for example, more people working away from the office.
I’m having to learn new ways of providing support, and it’s the same for a lot of us. It’s important to create a culture where everyone feels safe and supported. That includes providing the right training to managers (new and old). At NABS, we’ve recently launched our Inclusive Leader and Trusted Hybrid Leader courses to help people get the tools and strategies they need.
Q: Lastly, do you have one piece of advice to help promote good mental well-being?
A: When you ask someone how they are, ask it twice. The typical response to that question is to say, “I’m fine”. But, by asking again, you’re much more likely to get an honest response. Of course, you never want to push someone if they don’t feel like talking, but it speaks to this wider point about encouraging openness and safer spaces for conversations on coping.
Call NABS for a confidential chat on 0800 707 6607, email support@nabs.org.uk for help and guidance, or visit nabs.org.uk to find out more about its broad range of support services.
Enjoyed this Ad Spotlight? Check out previous editions to see how other names across the industry found their way into advertising, and what they predict for its future – including Kelly Parker (CEO, Wavemaker UK) and Seb Munden (Chair, Ad Net Zero). 

Our guest this month is Sue Todd. Sue has 25 years of experience working with brands and individuals across the advertising industry to maximize employee and business potential. She joined NABS (the National Advertising Benevolent Society) as CEO in April 2022, where she leads the charity’s mission to advance mental wellness in the advertising, marketing media industry. 
 
With a background in transformation and cultural change, plus hands-on industry experience, Sue is here to shine a light on where the industry stands, where we’re succeeding, and where improvements can be made.

Ad Spotlight: Sue Todd, CEO, NABS

Five areas underpinning the next phase of CTV growth Global connected TV (CTV) advertising is set to grow by 64% over the next five years, according to GroupM’s bi-annual growth forecast. That takes CTV to a $42B global industry, making up a quarter of all TV spend. Recent research from Ampere Analysis on the addressable TV landscape corroborates these findings, estimating a 50% growth by 2027.  
Either way, CTV investment forecasts are predicted to be at least double the average growth rate for the media market over the next five years, which in the face of global financial challenges, is notable. There is no denying that CTV is a good place to be right now. So where does this next phase of growth come from?  
Across our EMEA markets, about 60% of campaign briefs come from TV or audio-visual teams. Although every market is different, there is a tendency to associate CTV with the known quantity which is linear TV. Because we understand that TV is good at building reach and awareness, we apply that theory to the CTV world. As linear TV audiences move to digital platforms media plans are augmented to include CTV to offset the audience movement. This is a great start and has been the driving force for the exponential growth of this medium. However, we’re only just scratching the surface of what’s possible. 
The mainstay of TV has always been about driving efficient and effective reach to a mass audience. However, the opportunity that CTV brings to enhance the medium of audiovisual is still building momentum. These hugely exciting opportunities are where the next phase of growth will come from: 

Creative Effectiveness. Historically, effectiveness in CTV has been driven by media placement optimisation. We estimate that just 1% of current CTV impressions have some form of creative messaging optimisation. The opportunity here lies in the ability to target specific messages to specific audiences based on data signals such as lifestyle, demographics, purchase behaviours, etc. Those who can unite media placement optimisation with creative messaging optimisation will be well placed to capitalise on the growth opportunities over the coming years. 

 

New to TV. Some clients traditionally don’t spend on TV, either because there can be inherent wastage in regional strategies for location-based advertisers or because the cost of entry is simply too high for some brands. CTV offers a new route to TV that can reduce waste by targeting only specific audiences or locations that are geographically relevant or that over-index against certain characteristics. The fact that CTV can be more targeted and use data sets to refine the most appropriate audience strategy means that CTV is an option for a broader group of advertisers, which brings net new money into the medium. 

 

Redefining performance metrics. Historically the performance of TV has been predominantly focused on upper-funnel, reach or brand-based metrics. The ability to combine TV media activations with new data sets unlocks the ability to plan, optimise and measure the performance of campaigns through a more response-driven lens that has previously been the domain of digital channels. Commerce data, for example, offers new potential for campaign planning and optimisation. From optimising campaigns to individual store location stock levels to tying campaign delivery to sales performance at a geographic level, the opportunity to bring net new investment to CTV is impressive. 

 

Omnichannel. The promise of omnichannel offers performance optimisation and budget fluidity so that investment can be dynamically allocated to the best-performing channels. Before digitisation and programmatic, TV was never able to respond to real-time performance signals, machine learning and AI. We know that TV offers up to 54% boost to other media channels, so there is a clear opportunity for CTV to gain a share of media spend when considered as part of an omnichannel media plan. At GroupM Nexus we’re investing in this area from a product, and importantly, a measurement perspective. Those who can demonstrate the impact of CTV as part of an omnichannel approach will be well positioned to benefit from the anticipated growth in this area. 

 

Contextual + Audience. The power of context has long been recognised as a vehicle for relevance in the TV space. CTV, powered by infinite data capabilities has turned this approach on its head in support of a more audience-driven approach. The next phase of growth comes from the partnership of these two traditionally opposing tactics. Combining audience insight with the power of context is an exciting opportunity for those who can get the right data signals in the right place at the right time.  

The foundation to all these innovations is that digitisation has moved the game forward. The ability for TV to operate in a world with machine learning and artificial intelligence brings huge growth opportunities, and many of these are still to be realised. The promise of omnichannel brings even greater power to each of these areas and when working in synergy the whole is, most certainly, greater than the sum of its parts.    by Laura Hicks, Global Head of Market Development Laura is Global Head of Market Development, supporting the acceleration and expansion of Finecast across new and developing markets. Learn more about the Addressable TV industry’s potential

The projected growth of the global connected TV (CTV) advertising industry is set to increase by 64% over the next five years, making it a $42 billion market. In this blog post, we'll look at five key areas driving CTV's growth: Creative Effectiveness, New to TV, Redefining Performance Metrics, Omnichannel, and Contextual + Audience. We'll also highlight the potential brought by digitisation, machine learning and artificial intelligence, emphasizing the synergy of these elements for exponential growth in the CTV sector.

Five areas underpinning CTV’s next growth phase  

Insights A-Z of Addressable: O is for Omnichannel   In the “A-Z of Addressable TV” series, we introduce some of the key terminology, technical aspects, and target audiences involved in addressable TV and explain how they enable advertisers to discover and reach new audiences. From ‘Addressable’ to ‘Gen Z,’ we’ve got you covered.
A-Z of Addressable: O is for Omnichannel
What is omnichannel advertising?
Omnichannel advertising is when a brand uses multiple, interconnected media channels to reach and interact with its audience as part of its media planning and activation strategy.
The aim is to provide a consistent and connected experience for the customer across all media touchpoints and stages of the buyer’s journey – from addressable TV advertising and digital out-of-home, to display, search, social and beyond.
Why is omnichannel effective in the modern advertising ecosystem?
There have always been different channels to advertise on and brands wanting to be across all of them. What has changed in recent years is the application of data and technology.
Omnichannel advertising campaigns can now be more dynamic by using real-time data and insights to inform planning and adapt and mold ongoing campaigns. By tracking against business goals and analysing performance across all channels, brands can constantly evolve campaigns by adapting creative or shifting budget to different channels or locations to optimize outcomes.
Advances in technology and improvements in data signals have broken down the traditional media planning silos. TV, out-of-home, and digital teams, for instance, are now much more connected as part of an overall strategy. This enables more tactical, effective, and efficient deployment of media spend.
What is the role of addressable TV in omnichannel advertising? 
TV remains the trusted medium and can provide a key, and powerful, element of the sales funnel in an omnichannel campaign. And customers now experience brands in a borderless and increasingly personalised way when they interact across various touchpoints. It is important that TV is equipped to play a role in this new and fragmented ecosystem.
An addressable TV approach makes this possible by using the power of data to allow brands to deliver hyper-relevant creative to audiences in locations and demographics that are underrepresented via other media channels in terms of reach and/or attention.  
How does Finecast addressable TV solution enable effective omnichannel advertising campaigns?
The Finecast Audience Planner builds custom audiences to accurately and consistently target audiences across the entire addressable TV marketplace, from BVOD and addressable linear , to newer AVOD services.
As part of GroupM Nexus, which brings together 9,000 practitioners globally across ad ops, addressable content &amp; TV, AI, commerce, programmatic, search, and social, Finecast can bring together our data-led, privacy-compliant approach to creating a single point of access to the TV advertising ecosystem, with the traditional digital channels already  being deployed.
This means brands can optimise a campaign across digital display, digital audio, digital video, connected TV, and digital out-of-home. Connecting thinking, talent, and technology.
This is valuable in an age of walled gardens and regulation where location is becoming the go-to method for precision targeting.
Brands can also use the Nexus Growth Platform to test and learn when it comes to channel weighting to make them unmissable in their target area, and measure performance in different locations and across different channels within omnichannel campaigns.
Let’s look at an example of omnichannel advertising using addressable TV...
Cancer Research UK (CRUK) was looking to relaunch its Race for Life campaign in the aftermath of Covid-19 with a locally relevant yet national campaign. CRUK wanted to drive consideration from new audiences, with a particular emphasis on men.
They used GroupM Nexus’s cross-channel platform, ‘Unmissable’, to achieve their goals. Finecast, Xaxis, and Sightline collaborated to deliver programmatic media at broadcast scale – delivering a high-impact omnichannel campaign across BVOD, digital audio, digital out-of-home, mobile, premium digital video, and premium display, achieved using location-based first-party data overlaid with You Gov data, enabling cookieless targeting across channels.
Maximum concentration and channel mix for each geographic area enabled CRUK to maximise reach and budget and focus on important and upcoming races.
The result was 6x uplift in sign-up intent amongst males, 75% uplift in audience engagement with tailored ad content, £64k additional media efficiencies driven through tailored creative, and more. Read the full success story here.
For more information on how addressable TV can work for you, get in touch via the form below. And catch up on the full A-Z series to date here. Get in touch We'd love to hear from you. Click below to get in touch. Contact us Request demo 

Finecast’s addressable TV solution provides advertisers with a single point of access to 100% addressable broadcaster quality inventory, regardless of what device the audience are using to connect.

A-Z of Addressable:  O is for Omnichannel

Insights Ad Spotlight: with Mike Shaw, Director, International Ad Sales, Roku   Welcome to the Ad Spotlight series where we hear from a different guest from the industry each month to get an insight into the landscape of advertising as well as their own personal experiences.
Our guest this month is Mike Shaw. Mike is Director of International Ad Sales at Roku, the streaming platform pioneer. He has decades of experience across Martech, digital, data, and advertising across the UK, Europe and in APAC.
Mike has a front row seat to how the industry is providing advertisers with the ability to reach and engage consumers – so we got the inside track from the man himself.
Q: Why did you choose a career in advertising? 
A: I graduated in 1999, right as the internet was moving beyond basic search and email into the world of media and commerce. Suddenly, news, entertainment, and more were free to consumers and funded by advertisers.
Working at Fletcher Research in the media and telco sphere, I had a front-row seat to see how media consumption was changing and how digital advertising was funding it all. It was a brave new world where people were ripping up business models and trying new stuff daily, and that was exciting.
Q: What are the biggest challenges facing the industry right now?
A: The first is complexity. Whether it be in trading, ad delivery, or understanding, it’s too tough to get a lot of things done right now.
Linked to this is measurement. We’ve seen unprecedented fragmentation in the devices on which media is consumed, and the number of companies and individuals creating it. Accurately measuring advertising value is difficult. We need independent accountability.
Finally, we need to help clients make their investments work even harder during this period of economic downturn.  
Solving these issues requires simplifying the process for buyers. Otherwise, they (and their budgets) will gravitate to where things are easier - even if they’re less effective.
Q: Sum up the future of advertising/media in three words...
A: Disruptive: Everyone across the value chain must stay focused on innovation as consumer behaviour and technology evolves. 
Challenging: Structural issues need solving. But seeing initiatives like cross-channel measurement makes me optimistic the industry can overcome them.
Creative: I’m predicting a renaissance in creativity that harnesses technology to tell great stories to the people that matter. Let’s use micro-targeting, automation, etc., to let creatives do what they do best.
Q: What is your biggest career highlight?
A: What I’m doing right now. Getting to build great sales teams and be involved in TV at this moment is akin to the dot com era of the internet. The global explosion of streaming is transformational for the television industry, and the associated opportunities for advertisers.
Q:...and biggest regret? 
A: I would have loved to work on the agency side. I’ve worked on the platform side and measurement side, but I’ve not experienced that last part of the triangle.
Q: What is your favorite advert of all time?
A: Nike’s Summer 1998 campaign ahead of the men’s World Cup in France. Adidas was the tournament sponsor, but the Brazilian team weaving their way through an airport to a great soundtrack was iconic. Ask anyone which of the two brands was synonymous with that World Cup and I’d wager they’d pick Nike.
Let’s switch things up from samba to streaming to see what the present and future looks like across the sector...
Q: What is the future for streaming – and what role does advertising have to play? 
A: The future of streaming and advertising are inextricably linked. The perception of streaming as a subscription-only service is outdated. The fastest growth category on Roku’s platform last year was the ad supported content.
Services that were previously subscription-only have launched ad strategies in the last 18 months. In the next few years, we’re going to see a big shift of ad budgets into streaming environments – some from traditional linear buys, some from digital – as streaming TV continues to capture consumer attention and engagement.
Q: How is the economic downturn impacting advertising on streaming platforms – from the perspective of the customer, advertiser, and platform?
A: I think it’s accelerated a trend that already existed. From a consumer perspective, streaming platforms like Roku offer a huge amount of entertainment options. As household budgets for other leisure activities come under more pressure, l options that include advertising are likely to see an accelerated uptake.
From an advertiser perspective, marketing budgets come under a huge amount of scrutiny. Accountability is high. You can’t spend money with impunity. So, things like first-party data and integrated payment capabilities turn the television from a branding medium into something that can be branding.
From a platform point of view, we’re focused on helping users access the content they want faster. That means focusing on innovation around ad formats and UX to give consumers and our partners a better experience and higher engagement.
Q: Can you talk about T-commerce and the role of TV streaming and addressable TV?
A: We’re right at the forefront of this at Roku. The way content is now delivered means TV’s role in the commerce journey can go way beyond the ‘shop window’ that it was in traditional advertising and become a transactional medium in itself.
In the U.S., we introduced a partnership with Walmart that allows Roku users to use their remote to learn more about a product being advertised and even complete the transaction because their payment and fulfillment details are already housed within the Roku payment platform. This makes the transaction process super quick and frictionless and gets the customer back to their content ASAP.
Plus, the significant wave of innovation in shoppable TV ad formats and the ability to transact using the remote control make it easier than ever to convert sales on the biggest screen in the house.
Enjoyed this Ad Spotlight? Check out previous editions to see how other names across the industry found their way into advertising, and what they predict for its future – including Kelly Parker (CEO, Wavemaker UK) and Seb Munden (Chair, Ad Net Zero). 

Our guest this month is Mike Shaw. Mike is Director of International Ad Sales at Roku, the streaming platform pioneer. He has decades of experience across Martech, digital, data, and advertising across the UK, Europe and in APAC.
Mike has a front row seat to how the industry is providing advertisers with the ability to reach and engage consumers – so we got the inside track from the man himself.

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