media buying & selling

Do Advertisers need “Traditional Media”?

Brands are reallocating their marketing budgets away from traditional media and toward programmatically bought digital media, social media platforms and retail media networks. In doing so, are they “killing the goose that laid the golden eggs?” One advertising guru thinks it is time to rethink current strategies.

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Media Measurement and Experimentation in an AI-integrated World

Artificial Intelligence is revolutionizing the way advertisers find and influence consumers, how success is measured, and the strategies and tools used for experimentation. On July 10, panelists from Google and HP led a discussion on the changing landscape of measurement tools, shifting mindsets from precision to prediction, and leveraging AI-driven tools to achieve marketing and business outcomes.

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The ARF Attention Measurement Validation Initiative: Phase 1 Report Updated

  • ARF ORIGINAL RESEARCH

Attention metrics have drawn a high degree of energy in the last few years, for many reasons, including the loss of behavioral signals due to privacy restrictions, growing frustration with ad viewability and its perceived limitations, attention metrics’ impact on the cross-platform measurement debate and that biometric technologies can now be applied “in the wild,” rather than just in labs. The ARF’s Attention Measurement Validation Initiative aims to describe the attention measurement space in detail, illuminating this nascent sector. The Phase One findings include a comprehensive literature review and a report that maps out the vendor landscape in this increasingly diverse specialty. The report includes two sections. The first section describes what methods are being used, what these companies report and how and what they measure, be it ad creative or the media environment. The second section includes in-depth overviews of the 29 participating attention measurement companies. The Phase One Report is a must-read for anyone interested in attention metrics or what companies are operating in the space.  

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Retail Media Networks, Generative AI Top JAR’s Industry-Informed Research Priorities

  • JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH

Retail media networks, generative AI across creative, market research and trust, ad effectiveness and attention: These are among the topics highlighted on the Journal of Advertising Research’s list of 2024 research priorities. The list is a result of one-on-one interviews with advertising professionals by Editor-in-Chief Colin Campbell, who asked: "What are your biggest needs and challenges?"

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Cross-Platform Measurement Options from an Agency Perspective

Audience measurement is changing at an unprecedented rate. Concurrently, identifiers such as cookies are fading, and traditional models and incumbent suppliers are being questioned. In reaction to all these happenings, new measurement initiatives and a new Joint Industry Committee (JIC) have risen to establish a path toward a new video measurement framework. In 2023, the Online-Offline Metrics Working Group, within the ARF Cross-Platform Measurement Council, conducted anonymous, in-depth-interviews (IDIs) with eight key decision-makers from major agency holding companies. The IDIs focused on three major issues involving the metric situation confronting the advertising industry. This report summarizes the learnings from those interviews.

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Navigating the Evolving Media Landscape

  • OTT 2023

The media landscape continues to evolve, arguably at a faster rate than ever. Leading media and measurement experts presented research-based insights on how viewers use different forms of TV/video on various platforms. Attendees joined us at the Warner Bros. Discovery Studios in California and via livestream to understand the latest data and discussions of the data’s implications.

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How Best to Advertise During a Recession

  • ARF Knowledge at Hand, CMO Brief

Even though the U.S. economy has some bright spots, economists warn a recession is still possible due to stubborn inflation. Advertisers want to be prepared as a result. While there is no failsafe advertising playbook to follow, as individual brands and businesses have nuanced needs and branding, there are some best practices and guidelines, which the following ARF Knowledge at Hand report gleans from some of the best research on the topic. The report covers the impact of “going dark,” the often-overlooked opportunities a recession can bring, how to maximize media spend effectiveness and how to frame appeals that are most attractive to customers during tough economic times.

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The AI Conundrum

A presentation at a recent MMA event discussed key issues surrounding AI, including its impact on media and marketing.   Read more »