BlackWeek is October 15-18 at Spring Studios in Manhattan. Don’t miss out on this powerful event that aims to drive real change and create economic opportunity for diverse communities.

The advertising industry has a big problem. Despite thriving on creativity and connection it struggles to reflect the real world. 

Black consumers hold over $1.4 trillion in buying power, yet Black talent remains critically underrepresented in advertising, comprising only about 7.2% of professionals in the space. When diverse talent is absent from decision-making rooms, it’s more than a staffing issue — it’s a creativity crisis. We end up with ads that miss the mark, reinforce stereotypes, or worse, leave entire communities feeling unseen and unheard.

Enter BlackWeek. Founded by seven Black and Latino agency leaders, the event brings together top talent, brands, and decision-makers to show how real inclusion can turn into real results. As brands and advertisers continue to fall short on diversity promises made during the racial reckoning of 2020, BlackWeek plans to apply the pressure and drive real accountability. Inclusivity leads to better business outcomes. Period. And BlackWeek is here to show that.

As an economic forum, it offers a platform where conversations around opportunity, cultural representation, and diversity in advertising aren’t just happening — they’re front and center. 

Walt Geer, Chief Creative Officer for Innovation North America at VML, knows how to make noise. For years, he’s reinvented how brands connect with consumers and fiercely advocated for Black talent. With BlackWeek, Geer and his co-founders are building more than just a seat at the table — they’re building a new one. Ahead of the event, running October 15-18 at Spring Studios, we caught up with Walt to talk about how BlackWeek is set to reshape the future of advertising.

In this Q&A, Geer explains why BlackWeek is designed to create space and fundamentally transform how Black professionals are represented and empowered in the advertising ecosystem. With keynotes featuring leaders like Shannon Sharpe and Gary Vaynerchuk to intentional discussions on Black buying power and cultural reinvention, BlackWeek is set to move the needle on inclusion, opportunity, and economic equity.

Lighting the Fuse: What Sparked BlackWeek?

AdMonsters: What gaps in the industry did you and the other founders see that made you want to start BlackWeek?

Walt Geer: It’s an interesting conversation. This idea actually started with Joe Anthony, one of our founders, during a birthday party. He had gathered a lot of executives, and there was this moment where it felt good being together and talking about what was going on in our industry. That led to a quick conversation among the seven of us — Andre Gray, Monique Nelson, Dabo Shea, Gabrielle Shannon, Adan Romero, and myself — about how we could move the needle forward. 

Joe was the driving force. He brought in his agency, Hero Collective, to back it and get the ball rolling. And before we knew it, we were all in. We posted a promo video on LinkedIn, and the response was wild. That’s when we knew we were onto something big.

DEI Is Dead? Not So Fast

AdMonsters: We keep hearing that DEI is dead. Did that have an impact on your decision to launch BlackWeek?

WG: Absolutely. I think this whole idea that DEI is dead is bullshit. We’ve seen companies backslide on their promises. Our goal is to put this conversation back on the map in a disruptive way. Black people represent trillions in buying power, yet the leadership at these companies often doesn’t look like us. BlackWeek is about creating a space for real, inclusive conversations with people who are doing the work, not just showing up for a photo op.

Key Conversations That Pack a Punch

AdMonsters: What are some of the key topics and conversations attendees can expect at BlackWeek?

WG: We’re trying to make BlackWeek the Black Davos, an economic forum focused on driving dollars back into the Black community. Some of the sessions are heavy hitters like “Broken Promises,” “The Future of Advertising is Black Women,” and “The Rise of Black and Brown Influence.” We’re not just talking about DEI as a feel-good topic; we’re pushing conversations that will lead to real outcomes like investments, acquisitions, and promotions. It’s all about action.

From the Stage to the Boardroom: Turning Talk into Action

AdMonsters: How do you plan to translate these conversations into tangible outcomes for Black professionals and companies

WG: It’s not just about the conversations on stage — it’s about who’s in the room. We have leaders like Peloton’s CMO, Lauren Weinberg, and others who are not just talking but showing how their companies are walking the talk. 

We want attendees to leave inspired and equipped to go back and make changes within their organizations. We’re also hosting sessions with WPP’s top M&A guys to give Black-owned companies insight into acquisitions. It’s about making sure that we’re funneling real dollars back into the Black community.

Breaking Down Barriers for the Next Generation

AdMonsters: How are you making the event accessible to young, creative Black talent while also meeting your financial obligations?

WG: We’ve been super intentional about making BlackWeek accessible to young talent, and that’s key to what we’re trying to achieve. Conferences like this are expensive — sometimes $4,000 or $5,000 just to attend — and it’s usually the senior leadership who gets sent. To level the playing field, we’ve partnered with organizations like The One Club, 100 Roses, and Creative Ladders to give 60 passes to individuals with five years or less of experience. 

We’ve also given out 50 passes to unemployed professionals who submitted their portfolios and resumes. That’s 267 submissions for 50 passes. It’s about giving access to those who usually get left out of these spaces.

We’re also working with local colleges like NYU and Columbia to bring in Black student organizations and get them involved. These students and young professionals are the future, and we’re committed to making sure they have a real seat at the table.

Where Opportunity Meets Creativity

AdMonsters: What makes BlackWeek different from other conferences when it comes to connecting talent with opportunities?

WG: The structure of BlackWeek is intentionally designed to connect talent with real opportunities. We’re not just hosting panels for the sake of discussion. We’ve built-in moments for attendees to pitch themselves. On the last day, we’re bringing 15 organizations into a room where young professionals and even mid-career folks can present their work. 

It’s like a live TED Talk, giving people five to seven minutes to speak directly to decision-makers about who they are and what they do. These moments are designed to spark real connections that can lead to hires, partnerships, and more. The goal is that in two or three years, we’ll see millions of dollars funneled back into Black communities through job creation, acquisitions, and investments. That’s the long-term vision of BlackWeek.

Big Names, Bold Conversations: Who’s Showing Up

AdMonsters: Who are some of the key players and content highlights that attendees can expect at BlackWeek?

WG: We have a crazy lineup of speakers. You’ll see Greg Oden, Shannon Sharpe, Dave East, Eric Austin from P&G, Danny Robertson from The Martin Agency, Gary Vaynerchuk, Aliyah Kemet, and so many more. 

What’s wild is that most of these people are donating their time, paying for their own travel and hotels just to be part of this. They believe in what we’re doing, and that’s what makes this so special.

Support the Movement, Show the Love

AdMonsters: Any final thoughts for those attending BlackWeek or thinking about getting involved?

WG: Look, showing love is showing up. Whether that’s liking a post, commenting, or sharing — it all helps. We’re seven founders self-funding this event, and we’re almost at break-even, which is incredible for year one. But this isn’t about getting rich — it’s for us, by us. We’re trying to create a moment, and we appreciate any support.

The post Shaping the Future of Advertising: Walt Geer on Why BlackWeek is the Black Davos appeared first on AdMonsters.

Last week, I had the honor of moderating a session at the IAB Connected Commerce Summit called “How to Supercharge Your Creative Strategy with AI.” Joining me on stage were Mike Brunick, SVP, Head of Commerce Media at Yahoo; Devrie DeMarco, Managing Director at MediaLink/UTA; and Wendi Dunlap, EVP, Business Intelligence and Audience Science at Mediahub Worldwide.

Together, we dove into how AI is reshaping creative strategies and, most importantly, how it’s knitting together the online and offline worlds to build seamless customer experiences.

One of the most compelling moments came from DeMarco, who reminded us that it’s not just about optimizing workflows, it’s about crafting journeys that resonate across every touchpoint. She said it powerfully: “If AI can free people from manual tasks, imagine the potential of a better in-store experience.”That struck a chord. We’re not just using AI for efficiency’s sake; we’re using it to enrich the entire shopping experience, connecting the digital and physical realms.

Brunick emphasized that personalization needs to go beyond immediate transactions. It’s about fostering long-term relationships. Picture a customer’s journey as a continuous thread weaving through both online and in-store experiences. AI helps us analyze behaviors, build meaningful touchpoints, and drive engagement that resonates across channels. But it’s most effective when it amplifies our ability to connect on a human level. We can’t let data and automation drown out the personal touch.

Dunlap added another layer, urging us not to overlook the ethical implications of AI in creative strategies. While AI can enhance creativity, without vigilance, we risk introducing bias into the strategies we create to connect with diverse audiences. “Bias” and “inclusivity” must be at the forefront of any AI-driven approach, Dunlap explained. The technology is only as good as the data it’s fed. Without human insight, we can easily miss the mark in reflecting our diverse audiences and their varied consumer experiences.  This isn’t just about algorithms; it’s about responsibility.

AI Strategy in Three Key Points

Our panel boiled down AI strategy to three essential takeaways:

1. Bridge the Online and In-Store Experience: It’s not about separate channels; it’s about guiding customers through a unified journey.
2. Enhance Creativity, Don’t Replace It: AI should augment the human touch, but always keep a sharp eye on data-driven biases.
3. Start Small: Test a few use cases, learn, and then scale up thoughtfully. Don’t try to boil the ocean.

The Power of Experience

After my panel, I attended several discussions that expanded on these ideas. But the last session of the day — “Unlock the Power of Innovation through Creativity in Commerce” — truly drove everything home for me. Featuring Michael Olaye, EVP, Managing Director at Hero Digital, and Lauren Chesley, Head of Industry, Retail + Restaurants at SiriusXM Media, and moderated by Pam Zucker, Chief Strategy Officer at IAB<, this session wrapped up many of the themes we’d explored throughout the day.

They picked up right where our panel left off and closed the loop on what Walter T. Geer III touched upon earlier in the day during his fireside chat: We need to be creating experiences. It’s not just about selling products; it’s about crafting a journey that resonates on multiple sensory levels and stays with the consumer long after.

Olaye framed it perfectly: “Creativity stays the same, but the canvas changes.” We’ve moved from TV and print to automation and digital platforms, and it’s about using technology to drive human thinking. His words encapsulated what we’d been circling all day — AI isn’t here to replace creativity; it’s here to enhance it, giving us new canvases to paint on.

Chesley illustrated this idea deeper, painting a vivid picture of a European hotel where every detail was designed to engage the senses. The scent in the lobby, the jazz music playing softly, the warm towel handed to guests, and the champagne toast at check-in. “The more senses you activate, the more connected you are to someone,” she explained. It clicked. The same principles apply to retail. She argued that audio is a powerful yet often underused channel, creating emotional connections in a world saturated with visuals. When was the last time you thought about a brand’s sonic identity?

Olaye also introduced the idea of Zero UI — a world that moves beyond screens and traditional interfaces. Imagine stores where sensors, AI, and connected devices know your preferences without you having to input anything. Zero UI is about blending the physical and digital worlds in seamless ways. This dovetailed perfectly with what we discussed during the session I moderated: AI is a tool to build customer journeys that speak to how people want to interact with brands, online or offline.

Key Takeaways from the IAB Connected Commerce Summit

1. Phygital Experiences Are Key: Rose Ferraro of Rockbot emphasized that consistency between online and in-store environments is crucial. Unified media across audio, signage, and other touchpoints strengthens the brand narrative and keeps consumers engaged.
2. In-Store Digitization as a Business Enabler: Nick Ashley of Tesco Media nailed it when he said that digitization isn’t just about media revenue; it’s about enhancing the overall business. Elevating the look and feel of stores fosters long-term customer loyalty.
3. Retail Data Drives Better Impact: Elizabeth Cotogno of Kroger Precision Marketing noted that incorporating retail data earlier in media planning can boost business impact by 50%. But the real challenge? Moving beyond outdated metrics like CPMs and focusing on real-world outcomes.
4. Creativity and Technology Must Work Hand-in-Hand: Walter T. Geer III reminded us that while AI and automation provide incredible tools, it’s the human element — our stories, ethics, and passion — that ultimately drives compelling campaigns.
5. Personalization, but Not at the Expense of Privacy: The summit repeatedly highlighted that AI should personalize and enhance consumer experiences while keeping privacy and ethics at the forefront of every interaction.

Creating the Connected Experience

If there’s one major lesson I walked away from the IAB Connected Commerce Summit with, it’s this: AI is an enabler, not the end goal. Whether we’re streamlining creative processes or building phygital retail environments, the focus should always be on crafting meaningful, holistic experiences.

AI can free us from mundane tasks, drive deeper insights, and open up new possibilities. But at its core, it’s the human touch that keeps the heartbeat of creative strategy alive. It’s about understanding what truly resonates with people and using technology to amplify those connections.

The post Supercharging Creative Strategies with AI: Top Takeaways from IAB Connected Commerce Summit appeared first on AdMonsters.

This recent political season has been full of twists and turns, and that doesn’t seem to be changing anytime soon. We’re all looking for ways to contextualize this presidential election cycle to keep our heads wrapped around what’s happening. 

A recent analysis by GumGum sheds light on how the media portrays Vice President Kamala Harris and Former President Donald Trump in political discourse. Utilizing their advanced contextual advertising tool, GumGum examined over 5 million pages of political content from late July to uncover trends in media coverage and sentiment. 

The findings reveal a significant disparity between mentions and sentiment: the media mentioned Donald Trump more than 1.7 million times, while Kamala Harris was mentioned around 1.36 million times. Notably, Kamala Harris’s media presence surged by 388% on the day of her candidacy announcement.

We chatted with Hailey Denenberg, VP of Strategic Initiatives, Data at GumGum, to explore these findings and how contextual advertising can help political advertising campaigns.

Leveraging Contextual Analysis for Political Campaigns

Andrew Byrd: Why did GumGum decide to conduct this study? What were your goals, especially in relation to your contextual tool?

Hailey Denenberg: Our contextual technology, developed over the past 15-16 years, uses computer vision and natural language processing to understand content as a human would. With the upcoming political campaign, we wanted to leverage this technology to track trends over time.

Given our extensive programmatic integrations with large platforms like DSPs and SSPs, we have a vast amount of classified content at our disposal. Following Kamala’s presidential announcement, we found it particularly interesting to analyze how the open web and editorial content discussed Kamala versus Trump over the last two weeks in July. We focused on mentions and sentiment, aiming to understand how each candidate is perceived and discussed in content.

Understanding how different editorial voices and platforms perceive and talk about each candidate, especially in terms of sentiment, provides valuable insights into the broader public discourse. Our goal was to use this analysis to uncover trends and patterns in how content about these candidates is produced and consumed, ultimately offering a deeper understanding of the political environment through the lens of digital content.

AB: The upcoming election is full of unexpected developments, especially after Kamala’s recent announcement and the campaign’s strategic execution. Given this dynamic, can you explain how contextual analysis helps understand political coverage?

HD:  Contextual analysis has many applications, especially in presidential campaigns. Advertisers should stay updated on how content is trending, positively or negatively. Think of it as playing offense and defense. For instance, if mentions of Kamala’s opponent, Trump, spike negatively, her campaign can play offense by surrounding that content with positive messaging about Kamala.

On the other hand, they might want to avoid any negative mentions of Kamala to keep the messaging streamlined, which is more of a defensive strategy. Understanding these content trends as different announcements unfold allows campaigns to use advanced contextual targeting. They can target all positive or negative content that mentions specific candidates, leveraging this analysis to shape their messaging effectively.

AB: How can publishers benefit from these technologies?

HD:  Yes, publishers can significantly benefit from contextual technologies. For example, news publishers can strategically package their inventory by grouping positive political news and offering it to brands comfortable with political content but wanting to avoid association with sensitive issues like abortion or immigration. This allows them to monetize content that aligns with the advertiser’s brand safety requirements.

Advanced contextual technologies not only understand the sentiment of the content but can also identify and filter out specific sensitive topics that an advertiser may want to avoid. This capability is crucial for maintaining brand safety while still allowing advertisers to participate in positive, relevant conversations.

Addressing Brand Safety Concerns

AB: At our last conference, there was a significant discussion about brand safety. Advertisers naturally want to avoid being associated with certain content, but publishers face revenue challenges due to these restrictions. How does GumGum approach brand safety, especially in contextual advertising?

HD:  Brand safety has become even more critical recently, especially with the news around the dissolution of VM and GARM. While we align with the GARM framework, we’ve also developed our custom threat categories beyond the usual “Dirty Dozen” like violence.

This is important because while positive contextual targeting aligns with preferred categories, there’s a strong demand for blocking or negatively targeting specific categories. Where GumGum stands out is in video analysis. For instance, in political advertising, which is huge for TV and CTV, most providers struggle to analyze what’s happening within the video content. 

However, our advanced video contextual technology allows us to explore the complete audio transcription and perform scene-by-scene or frame-by-frame analysis. This helps us determine what parts of the video are brand-safe or suitable according to our established threat levels, ensuring more precise targeting and reducing over-blocking.

Reaching the Right Audience and Environment

AB: How does contextual advertising help political ads reach the right audience in the right environment?

HD: At GumGum, we focus on placing ads where they are most relevant, using a deep understanding of content. For example, if someone is reading an article about the election and sees an ad with positive messaging about a candidate like Trump, it aligns with what they’re already thinking about. 

This increases the ad’s effectiveness, especially when combined with geo-targeting in swing states. It’s all about reaching consumers at the moment they’re considering a topic, which can influence their actions.

AB: Does your approach to contextual advertising change depending on whether it’s on mobile, desktop, or other platforms? Or is there generally much overlap?

HD: Generally, there’s significant overlap, as reaching the consumer in the right mindset is often based on the content itself, which tends to be consistent across devices like mobile and desktop. However, attention models can vary depending on the environment. We have different panels for mobile and desktop, and we’re beginning to explore video. While I don’t have definitive data yet, it will be interesting to see if there are differences in optimal attention times across these environments.

AB: What final advice would you give to advertisers and publishers considering political advertising and contextual targeting?

HD: I advise them to gather as much data and insights as possible from various sources. This will help you uncover unconventional ways to position your brand or supply. Instead of sticking to obvious choices, explore new audience segments. For instance, while Nike might seem like a fit for sports content, insights might reveal it’s also popular in Home and Garden content due to a current trend. By broadening your perspective, you can enhance your targeting strategy and reach new audiences more effectively.

The post How Contextual Analysis Shapes Political Campaigns: Insights from GumGum’s Hailey Denenberg appeared first on AdMonsters.

The only thing consistent in advertising is change, and the keys to thriving amongst the recurring shifts are innovation, adaptability, and a deep understanding of client needs. Yahoo Creative, under the leadership of Tony Gemma, embodies these principles. Announced at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Yahoo designed Yahoo Creative to help alleviate the challenges advertisers face in programmatic. Its services promise to deliver personalized ad experiences alongside cookie deprecation.

Integrating the Yahoo DSP provides a seamless connection between ad creative and programmatic media buying. It helps streamline the execution process since its capabilities lead to better creative workflows and planning tools. It also helps simplify the advertising activation process for advertisers, offering more integrated campaign management that drives consolidation and efficiency.

As an omni-channel DSP with unique first-party identity solutions, Yahoo saw an opportunity to create a unique offering in the marketplace and did just that. The strategy behind Yahoo Creative was shaped by feedback from clients, who stressed the need for creative tools backed by trusted identity solutions. 

Yahoo Creative’s collaboration with Innervate leverages Yahoo’s first-party data and creative services with Innervate’s advanced creative tools, enabling the delivery of personalized, high-quality creative at scale. This not only enhances Yahoo Creative’s own DSP but also provides clients globally with a comprehensive solution to meet the industry’s growing demands, demonstrating Yahoo’s commitment to ecosystem interoperability. 

In this interview, Tony Gemma, VP, Global Head of Yahoo Creative, highlights the inspiration behind Yahoo Creative, its features, and how it is the new game-changer for buyers.

Yakira Young: What inspired the development of Yahoo Creative?

Tony Gemma: As an ad creative service organization, we’ve witnessed the friction advertisers face when activating creative in a growing programmatic ecosystem. As the identity landscape evolves, advertisers face additional challenges in finding ways to deliver high-quality and relevant experiences to users. 

Much of our strategy was driven by feedback from our clients — to expand advanced creative tools and services backed by a future-proofed strategy and deliver personalized ad experiences in a cookie-less future. With our position in the marketplace and our full-service creative team’s support, Yahoo positioned itself to invest in something new and differentiated for the marketplace. Offerings that will be particularly valuable in driving better advertising outcomes for our clients.

YY:  How did the partnership with Innervate come about, and what role does Innervate play?

TG: We previously tested dynamic creative in the Yahoo DSP and quickly found that Yahoo’s first-party data and creative services were strong assets for our clients. However, we didn’t have the expansive toolset that many clients were leveraging outside our walls. Our partnership with Innervate allows us to pair advanced creative tools with our talented full-service creative team and Yahoo’s unique Identity Solutions to scale personalized and high-quality creative to drive better client outcomes.

YY:  How does Yahoo Creative address the challenges of identity changes in online ad-targeting?

TG: Yahoo Creative is backed by Yahoo Identity Solutions, which encompasses Yahoo ConnectID and Next-Gen Solutions. Direct consumer relationships power these solutions, and a robust first-party dataset of over 205 million logged-in users in the U.S. Yahoo Creative ensures that dynamic creative remains relevant and engaging, even in a cookie-less environment. This approach helps maintain personalization and audience engagement, thus overcoming the hurdles posed by evolving identity standards.

YY: How does the first-party dataset of over 205M logged-in users enhance campaign targeting and personalization?

TG: Yahoo’s first-party dataset enhances campaign targeting and personalization by providing rich consumer insights and behavioral data sources. This data allows Yahoo Creative to develop highly personalized and relevant ad content that resonates with target audiences without using legacy cookie solutions. Leveraging such a vast and accurate dataset ensures that campaigns are precisely targeted, improving engagement and overall campaign performance.

YY:  In what ways has the lag in the evolution of creative tools impacted advertising effectiveness?

TG: Overall, our research has shown that creativity is one of the biggest drivers of advertising outcomes compared to media placement. In fact, we recently published research in partnership with IPG/Magna that showed 56% of purchase intent was driven by creative quality. Despite that, Yahoo and Advertiser Perceptions polled advertisers about their experiences in launching ad campaigns, and 95% noted that they face challenges when building and managing creative for ad campaigns. 

This is a huge gap in advertisers’ value chains, and we are uniquely equipped to help bridge the gap between creative and media to drive better outcomes for our advertisers.

YY: How does Yahoo Creative leverage data and technology to bridge the gap in creative capabilities?

TG: Yahoo Creative is built with an expansive toolset of creative authoring and visual planning tools that allow for the intersection of beautiful, interactive creative with the scale and personalization of real-time dynamic creative execution and optimization. This combination allows for eloquent and high-quality interactive creative backed by cookie-less creative targeting parameters leveraging Yahoo’s Identity Solutions. It allows advertisers to create personalized, engaging, and scalable ad content across multiple channels.

YY:  What are the key features of Yahoo Creative that set it apart from other ad creative solutions?

TG: We developed Yahoo Creative with ease of activation in mind, taking into consideration some of the challenges we’ve seen advertisers face when activating creative programmatically:

• Full-Service Creative Expertise – Many creative offerings are built solely for self-serve. At Yahoo Creative, we offer our consultation and omnichannel expertise from ideation to iteration, including insights, planning, design, development, campaign set-up, and optimization to drive better results for our client’s advertising.
• Future-Proof Personalization – Dynamic Creative is a growing opportunity for advertisers to deliver the most relevant creative to users while increasing efficiency with real-time optimization. As cookie deprecation continues to loom, Yahoo’s First Party Identity Solutions will help advertisers maintain addressability and scale intelligently to non-addressable audiences with their creative campaigns.
• Quality Creative Everywhere – Yahoo Creative is an omnichannel solution that supports various ad formats and platforms, including CTV, mobile, display, DOOH, and more. Although Yahoo Creative is connected with the Yahoo DSP, it is also designed to be interoperable with other DSPs and media-buying platforms. It ensures consistent and impactful creative across all platforms, allowing advertisers to reach their audiences effectively wherever they are.
• Inclusive Pricing—Advertisers often face challenges from long-term contracts, variable rate cards, or hidden fees for creative production or design. Yahoo Creative can be activated with no contracts, transparent rates, and no hidden production or design fees. This ensures complete pricing transparency, paying only on a usage-based pricing model, eliminating the need for tedious price negotiations. Moreover, you receive dedicated, full-service support throughout the entire process.

 YY: Can you explain how Yahoo Creative’s AI and data principles work in real-time creative development?

TG: Yahoo Creative leverages AI in several stages of the creative process. It has become a valuable tool in production, offering capabilities like image creation, image editing, image fill, and more that can speed up design or scale asset iteration. Yahoo Creative also leverages robust campaign optimization tools that allow for real-time multivariate testing to automatically pause underperforming creative or elements, ensuring optimization to the highest-performing advertisements.

YY: How has Princess Cruises utilized Yahoo Creative, and what results have they seen?

TG: Princess Cruise leveraged Yahoo Creative’s full-service expertise to build a series of animated advertisements across multiple formats to drive brand awareness. Princess Cruise has seen positive performance and has noted that Yahoo’s demand-side technology combined with integrated creative solutions is a powerful offering for driving successful advertising executions.

YY: How does Yahoo Creative ensure consistency and impact across different advertising channels like CTV, mobile, and DOOH?

TG: Yahoo Creative ensures consistency and impact across different advertising channels by offering an omnichannel solution that works seamlessly across CTV, mobile, display, DOOH, etc. The platform’s advanced technology enables the creation of adaptable ad content that maintains its effectiveness and engagement across various formats and devices. This ensures advertisers can deliver a unified and impactful message to their audience, regardless of the channel.

YY: Can you share some insights on the nearly 10,000 pieces of creative the team developed in 2023?

TG: Yahoo Creative has years of experience building creative, and we compile best practices across verticals, formats, and features. These extensive insights drive our consultative approach to working with clients to meet their unique creative needs and drive more effective creative performance. Whether advertisers are looking to drive brand awareness, drive site traffic, sales lift, or tune-in, our experts combine the science of our data and  insights with the art of our craft to offer holistic solutions that deliver high-quality experiences that move the needle for brands.

YY: How does Yahoo Creative support Interactive Authoring, and what benefits does this bring to advertisers?

TG: Interactive authoring powers beautiful, interactive advertising experiences across channels. The Yahoo Creative team are experts in interactive creative and it is an area where advanced technology and art come together to offer eloquent user-led experiences. It affords us the ability to add unique features like QR codes, touchpoints, gamification, and more. We often see that the addition of animation or interaction can drive tremendous lift in engagement.   

YY: How do you see Yahoo Creative evolving in the next few years?

TG: Yahoo Creative represents a major technological advancement in advertising, bringing robust creative tools closer to media. We are committed to its ongoing development. We will continue to innovate and enhance its capabilities, ensuring that it remains at the forefront of creative solutions for advertisers. 

We aim to empower brands and agencies to achieve greater personalization, engagement, and superior campaign results. Over the next few years, we’ll listen to our partners and expand capabilities that further advance their needs and drive positive outcomes in their marketing campaigns.

The post Yahoo DSP Does it Again: Hits the Bullseye With Yahoo Creative appeared first on AdMonsters.

The 2024 AdMonsters Dream Team comprises carefully selected industry powerhouses recognized for their exceptional innovation, dedication, and trailblazing spirit in turning digital ad challenges into realized revenue gold.

These ad ops wizards and revenue rockstars were chosen to represent who AdMonsters would hire if they were launching an ad ops team. They have earned their places among the best of the best, redefining the boundaries of possibility in the dynamic world of ad tech. The Dream Team will be celebrated at Publisher Forum Boston, taking place August 4-6, with roundtables, in-depth conversations and networking with fellow publishers.

Meet the 2024 Dream Team
AdMonsters is proud to introduce the inaugural members of the 2024 AdMonsters Dream Team and their appointed roles:

Scott Messer – CRO
Current: Principal & Founder, Messer Media

Matthew Kent – SVP, Client Services
Current: VP, Client Services, Tubi

Connie Walsh – SVP, Yield & Monetization
Current: VP, Advertising, Legacy.com

Linda Chen – VP, Revenue Operations
Current: Director, Programmatic Revenue Strategy, Chegg

Zip Nguyen – VP, Business Intelligence
Current: Business Intelligence & Yield Lead, BBC

Pooja Singh – VP, Data & Analytics
Current: Director, Data Science, Kroger Precision Marketing

Kevin Antoine – Head of Programmatic
Current: Head of Digital Inventory Optimization, Graham Media Group

Addy Atienza – Head of CTV Revenue Operations
Current: VP, Programmatic Revenue and Operations, Streaming TV, Trusted Media Brands

Catherine Beattie – Head of Mobile Monetization
Current: Director of Programmatic, WeatherBug

Lauren Farber – Head of Sales Operations
Current: Advertising Tooling & Infrastructure, Netflix

Kimberly Hall – Sr. Director, Ad Operations
Current: Director of Digital Ad Operations, & Technology, Farm Journal

Jasper Liu – Sr. Director, Yield Management
Current: Sr. Programmatic Yield Analyst, Daily Mail/Mail Online

Sarah Webb – Manager, Ad Products
Current: Ad Production Coordinator, Bloomberg

See the Dream Team and learn more here.

“We are absolutely thrilled to introduce the AdMonsters Dream Team, celebrating the top talent in digital advertising operations. These professionals have demonstrated exceptional innovation and dedication, embodying the essence of our community and charting the course for its future. We eagerly anticipate how their expertise will inspire and elevate the entire industry,” said Becky Peck, Group Publisher, AdMonsters.”

“The Dream Team initiative underscores our commitment to fostering excellence and leadership within the AdMonsters community,” added Lynne d Johnson, Content Director, AdMonsters. “By bringing together these industry leaders, we are creating a powerful platform for collaboration and growth. We can’t wait to see the magic they will bring to our events and the broader digital advertising landscape. We look forward to the innovation, leadership, and inspiration the 2024 Dream Team will bring to the AdMonsters community and the digital advertising industry at large.”

About AdMonsters Dream Team
The AdMonsters Dream Team program celebrates the most influential and innovative minds in digital advertising operations. Members are handpicked for their outstanding contributions and leadership in their fields. As Dream Team members, they will receive widespread recognition, participate in exclusive Publisher Forum events, and enjoy special privileges designed to further enhance their professional journey.

For publishers in the digital advertising industry, the Dream Team represents an unparalleled resource of expertise and innovation. The insights and leadership of these professionals will empower publishers to navigate the complex digital ad ecosystem, optimize their revenue streams, and enhance audience engagement. By collaborating with the Dream Team, publishers can stay at the forefront of industry trends and achieve sustainable growth.

About AdMonsters
AdMonsters is the leading community for digital advertising operations and revenue optimization. We provide insights, training, and networking opportunities to help professionals and organizations stay ahead in a rapidly evolving industry. With a focus on collaboration and innovation, AdMonsters is dedicated to supporting the success of its members and the digital advertising ecosystem.

Media Contact:
Trish Borrelli
Sr. Marketing Director
AdMonsters, AdExchanger and Folio:
tborrelli@accessintel.com

Visit admonsters.online/dreamteam24 for more information.

Follow @AdMonsters on LinkedIn for the latest updates and announcements.

The post AdMonsters Announces Inaugural 2024 Dream Team Picks appeared first on AdMonsters.

The IAB Tech Lab Summit Day 1 was a whirlwind of innovation, insights, and forward-thinking strategies that are set to redefine the digital advertising landscape. From evolving identity solutions to sustainable advertising practices, the sessions were packed with valuable information and thought-provoking discussions. Here are five standout takeaways from the event that you need to know.

5 Key Takeaways from IAB #TechLabSummit Day 1

1. The End of the Beginning

IAB Tech Lab CEO Anthony Katsur’s opening set the tone with a nostalgic yet forward-looking take on the last 10 years of IAB Tech Lab. He emphasized the dramatic evolution in advertising technology, from the significant rise of mobile not so long ago to today’s explosion in CTV. Despite the decline in linear TV, Boomers and GenX are holding on, creating a convergence with CTV that’s ripe for Advanced TV’s interoperable measurement solutions and data-driven, cross-channel approach to planning and buying across both. Katsur’s message was clear: nothing will ever be the same again.

2. Registered Ad Creative: The Future of CTV

The session on the Ad Creative ID Framework (ACIF) was eye-opening. Nada Bradbury from AD-ID and Dan Brackett from XR Extreme Reach discussed how creative IDs can revolutionize CTV advertising. Forget privacy surveillance; this is about simplifying ad management with unique IDs, making frequency capping, competitive separation, and cross-platform reporting seamless. Bradbury emphasized that implementing creative IDs brings much-needed transparency and accountability, making it a crucial step for cross-platform measurement.

3. Embracing New Identity Strategies

Gruia Pitigoi-Aron from The Trade Desk and Shailley Singh from IAB Tech Lab tackled the fast-evolving identity landscape. They discussed UID2, privacy regulations, and the critical need for reducing friction from the user experience. Gruia’s advice? Publishers should make it easy for users to provide their email addresses and he highlighted the importance of finding the right moments to communicate your value exchange. The goal is a sustainable, long-term identity solution that doesn’t rely on browsers or operating systems.

In a follow-up breakout session about building your identity strategy, Kanishk Prasad from The Trade Desk highlighted the need for publishers and advertisers to test and implement identity frameworks like UID2, RampID, and ID5. He emphasized that these solutions should be easy to deploy, scalable, and focused on enhancing user authentication and overall consumer experience, ensuring the open internet thrives.

4. Sustainability in Advertising

Bill Wescott’s session on sustainability was a wake-up call. The ad industry must play its part in tackling climate change. From individual consumption patterns to the collective power of advertising, Wescott highlighted the role of behavior change. His message? Climate risk is financial risk, and the industry needs to move faster. It’s not just about profit; it’s about purpose.

5. Kara Swisher’s Tech Take: Insights and Wit

The keynote with Kara Swisher and Anthony Katsur was electric. Swisher, known for her sharp insights on technology and media, didn’t hold back. She discussed the impact of technology on journalism and the importance of consumer protection around personal data. One standout moment was her remark on AI and self-driving cars, as noted by Mathieu Roche on X: “Technology is going to get better while humans stay terrible.” It was a fitting end to a day that underscored the transformative changes ahead.

Anthony Katsur and Kara Swisher. Photo by IAB Tech Lab

As Day 1 of the IAB #TechLabSummit wrapped up, it was clear that the future of advertising lies in embracing change. With the growth of CTV, evolving identity frameworks, and a strong focus on sustainability, the industry is on the brink of significant transformation. Get ready for a new era in digital advertising. #TechLabSummit #EndOfTheBeginning

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Pending publisher licensing deals with OpenAI aside, one part of the news organization finds generative AI extremely useful, and in some instances, transformative: the Ad Ops team. AdMonsters has interviewed numerous Ad Ops people across several organizations to see if and how they’re using it.

Reshaping Ad Ops With Generative AI

Ad Ops professionals aren’t just dabbling in generative AI; they’re diving in deep and successfully putting it to work to improve their daily jobs and elevate the overall Ad Ops team. It isn’t a surprise that they’ve largely sidestepped the challenges others have faced using generative AI. As tech-savvy people, Ad Ops professionals are well aware of the limitations of all AI and take active steps to mitigate the pitfalls and problems.

This Publisher Pulse looks at:

• • Popular generative AI tools used by Ad Ops team members
  • Ad Ops personas — distinct ways that interviewees use generative AI to elevate their performance or the performance of their teams
  • AI use cases
  • How generative AI will transform the Ad Ops Teams
  • Tips for getting the best results out of AI
  • Sample outputs

Enter your info to download your copy below!

The post AdMonsters Publisher Pulse: Ad Ops Reimagined — A Guide to Reshaping Ad Ops With Generative AI appeared first on AdMonsters.

Many marketers are – let’s say – generally excited about the promised targeting power of CTV. 

Yet, for political advertisers, many are staking their careers on this burgeoning new medium.

Indeed, candidates can’t wait for CTV to sort out all of its fundamentals in the near future. They can’t set aside some ‘test and learn’ budgets while hoping that all the targeting tools, identifiers, and post-cookie offerings that CTV has dangled — producing the ultimate combination of precision targeting and big screen branding — get put in place.

Rather, politicians have a high-stakes race to run now. And if they lose – they don’t just slip behind in market share. Their brand goes out of business (for four years at least).

The stakes don’t get higher than a race for the White House. But, because the 2024 races should also provide the ultimate test case for this still unfinished medium, the stakes couldn’t be much higher for the business of television advertising either. 

Whether CTV ad targeting can deliver on its campaign promises in 2024 will have huge ramifications for the industry.

What CTV Needs To Prove To Persuade the 2024 Vote

Given the macro shifts in media consumption, political candidates – typically among those without the larger media budgets-  cannot afford to lean on linear-TV-centric playbooks of the past. Today’s voters are ‘Streaming.’ 

However, CTV still needs to prove it can influence voter behavior and election outcomes this year. The good news is that thanks to the adoption of ad-supported tiers by many top streaming services and the expanded availability of FAST platforms, there is far more CTV ad inventory and reach available to political advertisers than just a few years ago.

More importantly, CTV is uniquely equipped to drive tangible outcomes that candidates care about (besides votes on election day), such as site visits, sign-ups, and donations. Increasingly, a new crop of researchers and ad technology companies can tie TV exposure to spikes in web searches, mobile downloads, and transactions.

The key will be for CTV’s targeting capabilities to come through by reaching the right, ideally persuadable, swing voters. That means hitting crucial voting segments in the right neighborhoods or clusters of DMA’s to push voters to the polls.

In addition, CTV will be crucial for connecting with the hard-to-reach yet highly influential Gen Z voters, most of whom are streaming-first, cord-TV viewers. The same can be said for underserved minority voters, who are likely to consume niche streaming content. 

Considering the ability of these groups to potentially sway this election, it’s fair to ask — can politicians holistically impact all necessary groups across the CTV ecosystem, both in reach and investment? 

Is It the Creative? 

The CTV ad tactic that could have the most impact on political campaigns this year is its long-touted ability to deliver a wide range of different TV ads to different target constituents. This kind of creative variation in CTV has been chiefly theoretical, as many brands continue to run their general TV spots in streaming environments. 

However, given the issue-driven nature of their campaigns, political advertisers can and should take advantage of this opportunity by delivering unique messages – tied to specific causes – to distinct audiences in a very nuanced way.

To help, there are also more impactful creative options in CTV vs. traditional linear, such as QR codes, picture-in-picture units, and other interactive strategies that can be used to achieve performance results among a range of constituencies. 

Politics – And CTV – Are Not for the Faint of Heart

Of course, given that the CTV advertising ecosystem is still in its infancy, candidates who decide to spend aggressively on this vehicle face plenty of potential pitfalls.

Brand safety is of utmost importance for many marketers, yet they are still working through protection mechanisms and technologies common to digital advertising in CTV. If an unwelcome ad adjacency is a nightmare for the average CMO, it could prove fatal to the wrong political campaign.

Plus, this time, campaign managers have to worry about not just keeping their messages away from unsavory or inappropriate content – but also the inevitable rise in misinformation, thanks mainly to the increased adoption of generative AI.

The more that the ‘bad guys’ figure out how to exploit this tech to spread falsehoods, the more that social media platforms, in particular, will have to fight an arms race while trying to keep candidates out of trouble. 

As a result, CTV has an opportunity to provide a more regulated environment – as long as streaming platforms and their ad tech partners can create reliable safeguards.

The Race (For Media Supremacy) Is On

Just as the pandemic accelerated many shifts in consumer behavior and subsequent advertising strategies, this year’s highly contested election could serve to pour jet fuel on an already red hot medium – or a bucket of cold water. Candidates essentially have no choice but to dive right in and make a big bet on the medium’s supposed unmatched set of capabilities. How that bet goes could sway many future advertisers to quickly look to emulate the 2024 winners’ CTV ad tactics – or to put on the brakes. It’s incumbent on the industry as a whole to execute and deliver. Whichever candidates win, if CTV is considered key to their success – the entire medium should soar.

The post Why CTV May Decide Who Wins the White House – and the Fate of the Medium appeared first on AdMonsters.

In an exclusive Q&A, Michael Scott, Vice President, Head of Ad Sales, Revenue and Operations – North America at Samsung Ads, and Takashi Nakano, Senior Director of Business Development and Content Acquisitions at Samsung TV Plus, share insights into the groundbreaking AI advancements shaping the future of advertising at Samsung. From the expansion of their Smart Outcomes suite to the introduction of Smart Acquisition solutions, Samsung is setting new standards in ad performance and audience engagement.

These new AI-powered tools not only bridge campaigns across CTV and mobile but also optimize efficiency and deliver superior outcomes for advertisers. As Samsung continues to push the boundaries of innovation, discover how they leverage AI and machine learning to drive conversion, enhance targeting, and offer unparalleled advertising solutions.

Yakira Young: Both Michael Scott and Cathy Oh highlighted the role of AI in enhancing advertising solutions at Samsung. Can you share more about the recent innovations in AI technology and its integration into Samsung Ads advertising platforms? Can you explain how these AI tools work and the specific advantages they offer advertisers?

Michael Scott: At Samsung, we envision a future where intelligent, interconnected experiences enrich our lives, which is why we’re prioritizing AI as it is the cornerstone of our innovation.

Samsung Ads is expanding its suite of AI-powered performance solutions, Smart Outcomes, with new solutions. These new offerings come on the heels of the successful launch of Samsung Smart Audiences, combining the scale of Samsung’s ecosystem with the power of AI and machine learning to drive conversion. SMART Outcomes starts with your desired objective, be it app downloads, engagement, retention or purchase attribution and dynamically optimizes inventory to deliver your desired outcome.

Our new Smart Acquisition solution is designed to drive new user acquisition to the destination of your choice, be it mobile, web or on the TV.  Launched initially for our streaming app advertisers, Samsung Smart Acquisition has delivered exceptional results in driving new app subscriptions on Samsung TVs. This solution is now scaled for your brand whether you are a pizza company, a DTC brand, or streaming media company. For example, if you are an advertiser with a mobile app looking to acquire new users or increase engagement, Smart Acquisitions leverages Samsung’s unique Smart TV real estate paired with our unique AI capabilities to acquire new users specifically for your mobile app. Through our partnerships with top MMPS, advertisers can also prove more ROI by measuring return on ad spend through our partnerships.

For advertisers, Samsung Ads’ AI-powered solutions help you improve efficiency, achieve outcomes across the entire sales funnel and ultimately make your media strategy smarter over time.

YY: Can you provide more details on the newly introduced Smart Acquisition and CTV to Mobile solutions? How do these innovations help advertisers bridge their campaigns across CTV and mobile and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of advertising campaigns?

MS: We know that as audiences fragment across platforms and devices, advertisers are facing the challenge of both missed reach and duplicated reach. Smart Acquisition helps solve for that by addressing fragmentation for advertisers aiming to reach their best audiences with greater efficiency – especially where they are most receptive and responsive. Not only does this optimize engagement and ROI, but it also streamlines performance monitoring and campaign refinement.

YY: Travis Scott Howe mentioned “Optimal Reach” for sharper audience targeting. How does this tool utilize Samsung’s proprietary data to improve advertising reach and effectiveness?

MS: Optimal Reach provides insights across linear and streaming to identify gaps in reach, unexposed audiences, and target “missed audiences’ at scale using machine learning through a single source solution that leverages a myriad of proprietary Samsung Adsdata signals, such as data from our proprietary viewer panel, TV & You, linear and in-app ACR data and more. Leveraging billions of data points across screens in-home, in hand, and on-the-go, our extensive proprietary dataset integrated into our machine learning engine stands unrivaled.

Lynne d Johnson: A swath of Samsung’s audiences are being categorized as Super Influencers. Who are those Super Influencers and why is that such a coveted audience for advertisers?

MS: According to a recent Advertising Research Foundation survey of over 50,000 people, Samsung’s audience has more spending power with a higher income than other OEM users – and they care about checking their financial standing on a regular basis. They are what the study calls “super influencers” when it comes to tech, electronics and video games.

These super influencers are loyal, well-educated, family-oriented (more likely to have children in the home), and are likely to use flight and hotel reward programs for travel. They are also actively engaged and, though they are busy, they make up for it by being more likely to shop and order food delivery online.

LdJ: Can you talk about how purchase attribution and engagement attribution help to dynamically optimize inventory to deliver advertisers desired outcomes? I think you guys call it Smart Outcomes, right?

MS: As marketers are increasingly tasked with accountability and efficiency, Samsung Ads’ outcome-driven solutions are based on advertisers’ most requested business outcomes.

Built on the undeniable scale and proprietary data sets, Smart Outcomes allows Samsung Ads to deliver result-driven campaigns capable of driving a variety of in-demand outcomes tied to key performance indicators (KPIs). These performance-focused solutions pull together planning and optimization tools across Samsung Adsproduct portfolio including pre-campaign insights tool Audience Advisor, AI-driven Smart Audiences, and the Samsung Pixel product amongst others.

YY: Samsung TV Plus is getting major league sports channels thanks to partnerships with MLB, AHL, Formula 1, and others. How do these collaborations align with your broader advertising and content strategy?  How do you plan to attract sports fans and bring them deeper into the funnel?

Takashi Nakano: We remain focused on delivering a premium, seamless viewing experience where users can simply switch on and start watching.

FAST continues to take a hold as viewers’ preferred viewing vehicle, and sports leagues are responding to that demand. In fact, we’ve seen over 60% growth in time spent viewing year over year, showing that Samsung TV Plus, our FAST and AVOD service, is a tremendous engagement vehicle that keeps viewers coming back for more. As the premiere FAST service on Samsung TVs, Samsung TV Plus provides sports leagues with the flexibility they need to deliver their local and national live games, pre-and-post-game coverage, documentaries, and everything in between to engaged sports fans with the tech that is required at scale.

With our all-new, premium sports partnerships, we’re launching exclusive and first-to-FAST offerings that will deliver more of the content fans want, across the most in-demand Sports category. Our new partnerships will bring the MLB, the AHL the Ontario Reign, ONE Championship TV, the PGA TOUR, and Formula 1 to all Samsung device owners with access to extensive free content offerings, and will make some key sporting event, free of cost to all Samsung device owners.

With Samsung TV Plus, we’re continuing to build a vast, unrivaled library of brand safe, quality content that viewers want to watch, with over 2,600 ad-supported channels globally, and nearly 500 national and local channels in the US.

YY: Starting next month, advertisers can sponsor the Samsung News app on Galaxy devices. What does this mean in terms of ad placement and visibility for advertisers? And how will the Olympics feature within news services benefit both users and advertisers?

MS: With roadblocks that include both display and video ads in its top five editorial news sections, advertisers can benefit from prime ad placement for their campaigns, reaching a wider audience base across diverse platforms. Think of the opportunity here – advertisers can reach their specific target audience watching their favorite show on Samsung TV Plus on the big screen, and then re-engage them with a tailored message later in the day when they’re on-the-go on their mobile phones.

Additionally, the Samsung News Galaxy mobile app is set to feature curated, up-to-the-minute Olympic content this summer in partnership with the International Olympic Committee. This new offering comes at a pivotal time where live sports continue to dominate as a major opportunity for reaching new audiences, gaining deeper insights and delivering innovative ad experiences.

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In a world where the green of cannabis meets the red tape of regulation, Kate Lavin, Editorial Director at Marijuana Business Daily (MJBizDaily), cultivates a unique blend of compliance and creativity. Balancing on the ever-shifting ground of advertising rules, Lavin’s savvy lies in her ability to grow MJBizDaily’s reach while diligently pruning the risks of non-compliance.

Through shadow bans and shifting sands, her insights illuminate the path for cannabis businesses aiming to flourish in a market that’s as challenging as it is promising. In this exclusive Q&A, delve into Lavin’s perspective on the current state of cannabis advertising, the budding trends on the horizon, and the perennial quest to keep the industry’s message both loud and legal.

Lynne d Johnson: With such a diverse landscape of advertising regulations across different states in the U.S., how does MJBIZ approach content strategy to ensure compliance while still effectively reaching a broad audience?

Kate Lavin: We are lucky at MJBiz in that, since we are not plant-touching, we are not subject to as many regulations as our readers in the cannabis cultivation, manufacturing, and retail sectors.

We have still faced issues with our social media sites being shadow-banned, or blocked from view and search results, by most of the big social media sites.

The MJBiz marketing team has to be savvy when deciding what language to use in digital advertisements so they reach not just the cannabis audience but the cannabis business audience as well.

There is a lot of wordplay and innuendo involved; “shattering the grass ceiling” was a recent favorite.

LdJ: Given your extensive coverage of the industry, what emerging trends or challenges have you noticed in cannabis advertising?

KL: When I first started at MJBiz in 2018, the rule of thumb for plant-touching companies was to have two social media accounts and encourage fans to follow both. That’s how commonplace it was to have your Facebook or Instagram page shut down.

Twitter, or X, really turned that rule on its head last year, when it began accepting ads from regulated cannabis companies.

Other businesses such as Weedmaps got in a lot of trouble with their regulated marijuana clients for accepting ads from illicit retailers. Regulated marijuana companies spend a lot of money on fees, licensing, and taxes, and they did not want to play in the same sandbox as illicit companies that can beat them on price because they don’t have as much overhead. Today, companies that advertise on Weedmaps have to display a state-assigned license number proving they are regulated.

LdJ: In your experience, how do the advertising regulations in Canada, with its comprehensive federal Cannabis Act, compare to the U.S.’s state-by-state approach? What impact do these differences have on the content you produce or the strategies you advise?

KL: Ironically, since adult-use marijuana is legal in Canada, their rules regarding product packaging are more strict than what you see in a lot of U.S. markets. Most products are sold in boxes that are relatively plain compared to their U.S. counterparts, which use flashy colors, fonts, and imagery.

Canadian regulators say this rule is to make intoxicating products less appealing to children. Regulated U.S. markets also have rules with the same aim, but they are more specific: no cartoons, no packaging that looks like mainstream candy, gummies can’t be in the shape of an animal or character, etc.

LdJ: Based on your observation, what advertising strategies or platforms are proving most effective for cannabis brands in this highly regulated environment?

KL: Digital advertising is king in the cannabis market, although I still love an alt-weekly newspaper. Marijuana was a salvation to the alt-weeklies in the early days of legalization, and most mainstream publications still won’t accept ads for marijuana retail.

For digital advertising, promoting deals and loyalty rewards programs can be great strategies, especially in markets where the offerings are similar from store to store.

LdJ: Last year, AdMonsters highlighted the challenges and opportunities in cannabis advertising. From an editorial perspective, how do you see MJBIZ contributing to or aligning with these insights, especially in terms of educating or guiding advertisers?

KL: MJBizCon, our annual conference and trade show held in Las Vegas, includes a full day of sessions tailored to cannabis marketers. The 2023 Marketing Forum included talks from Alexa Alianiello, who leads cannabis ad sales and partnerships at X.

Jake Bullock, CEO of the leading cannabis-infused beverage company, Cann, spoke with Joe Hodas, CMO of leading edibles maker Wana Brands, about how to keep your brand identity fresh when new competition is entering the market.

Jeremy Johnson of Dispense gave a really outstanding presentation about SEO for cannabis dispensaries. He showed how companies can use data they already have to grow web traffic, which leads to increased sales.

LdJ: What do you foresee as the future of cannabis advertising regulations, and how might this impact the type of content or advice MJBIZ offers its audience?

KL: I don’t envision federal changes to marijuana advertising happening any time soon, so I believe it will continue to be a patchwork of regulations overseen by individual states.

For example: In Rhode Island, retailers can’t use a billboard to advertise, but billboards are legal in Missouri.

In the current environment, there really isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution for cannabis advertising. The journalists at MJBiz seek to educate operators about changes in state regulations, and we will always have something to write about because they are a moving target.

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