AdExchanger

What does it take to serve mid-size brand clients; how is AI transforming media buying; and why – for the love of god – is measurement still so messed up? Mediastruction CEO and Founding Partner Marilois Snowman has a few thoughts.

For publishers, digital advertising is a lot like playing craps, says Aditude’s Justin Wohl. It’s all about tuning out the noise while placing safe bets that work for your monetization strategy.

According to CreativeX, ad creative is responsible for nearly half of sales lift, which is more than reach, recency and targeting combined. So why doesn’t creative get the credit it deserves? Until recently, says Anastasia Leng, CEO and founder of CreativeX, technology wasn’t advanced enough to measure creative decisions at scale.

Many measurement companies are promoting marketing mix modeling as an easy-to-use solution to overcome signal loss. But that couldn’t be further from the truth, says Maor Sadra, CEO and co-founder of incrementality measurement startup INCRMNTAL.

Agencies now have more breathing room to think carefully and be strategic about signal loss solutions, because signal loss isn’t just a third-party cookie thing, says Sisi Zhang, chief data and analytics officer at Razorfish. Specifically, she says, brands need to spend more time testing alternative identifiers.

It’s not easy competing for business with massive holding companies (which are only getting more massive). But the Omnicom-IPG deal “also creates opportunities for the rest of us,” says Remy Stiles, North America CEO of programmatic agency Kepler.

What do toasters have in common with transparency and online advertising standards? Quite a lot, actually, says Ben Hovaness, chief media officer at OMD Worldwide. If you can trust a set of standards – and companies conform to them – the less transparency you need. It’s like when you plug in a new toaster. “You’re not worried that it's going to burst into flames and destroy your home,” Hovaness says.

Performance marketing can become a crutch for some brands, warns Duolingo CMO Manu Orssaud, especially app-based businesses that are under pressure to show rapid growth. That’s why Duolingo makes organic marketing a top priority.

Tune into the first episode of the year with guest Andrew Frank, VP and distinguished analyst at research firm Gartner. We cover a lot of ground, from the impact of multiple major Big Tech antitrust trials to practical AI use cases (minus the BS).