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 year, some digital media skeptics disregarded generative AI as another fad set to fade away in a couple of months. But the AI takeover is now in full speed. If the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) conference in Las Vegas indicates its trajectory, this is the new tech hot commodity. 

CES expects more than 130,000 people to attend this week, and generative AI was one of the biggest draws for the conference. Companies such as Digitas are sending a large cohort of attendees to ensure they are up to date on the latest AI innovations.  

“With trends like AI hitting the pre-show headlines in such a saturated way, we’re eager to be on the ground to interrogate what is real and relevant, where our clients should invest, and how they should think about the future,” said Melissa Levy, chief customer officer at Digitas North America. 

Although this is unsurprising, 2023 was a landmark year for generative AI. Despite the initial hype and some regulation concerns, generative AI has proven its benefits — content creation, customer targeting, personalization, and testing. 

But what are they saying at CES in Las Vegas? 

AI’s Dominance at CES 2024

The conference hosts dozens of talks centered around AI, including a specific focus on marketing, social media, and entertainment. In addition, before the conference starts on January 9, they will host a media preview with a host of AI discussions: the media preview include titles like “Virtual Humans: Hollywood CGI to Generative AI Video & Chatbots” and “Monetizing Immersive Hollywood = Real-time AI + Advertising + Metaverse.” 

CES 2024 will host AI policy discussions involving speakers from various branches of the U.S. government. These discussions will encompass a bipartisan panel on emerging tech policy, including U.S. Senators Ben Ray Lujan, Jacky Rosen, and Cynthia Lummis. Additionally, representatives from the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, the National Security Council, and the U.S. Treasury Department will participate in other conversations.

This is necessary as the U.S. federal government is working to regulate AI. Critics raised concerns about privacy and misinformation. Even ChatGPT has a disclaimer on its website: “All the information on this website is published in good faith and for general information purposes only. ChatGpt Connect does not guarantee this information’s completeness, reliability, and accuracy.” However, there are endeavors to regulate tech, such as at the White House and European Commission, that discuss AI development. 

Generative AI City

Rumor has it that CES has embedded AI into almost every aspect of the conference. Marla Kaplowitz, president and CEO of 4A’s, emphasized how the conference will extensively integrate AI into everything on display. While the show historically spotlighted voice-enabled tech, Kaplowitz pointed out that the recent emergence of AI and chatbots could further enhance the usefulness of gadgets and services.

“The chatbots have tremendous capability,” said Kaplowitz. “The key for brands is making sure they understand what the customer experience is like.” 

Of course, the gadgets are the main attraction at CES, and they are pulling out all of the stops. Many incorporate AI enhancements that have new capabilities spanning beauty, music, smart home, TV, etc. This includes gadgets such as: 

• An AI-powered toilet that offers easy urinalysis in the comfort of one’s own home. 
• AI mirror, created by Mirrorroid Inc, will attempt to give users a futuristic salon experience by using Face ID technology to simulate hairstyles and other looks.
• LG is unveiling a smart home AI agent with two legs intended to watch over a person’s home while they’re away.

Although, it’s essential to consider the actual extent of “AI-powered” capabilities in these tools. Some warn that the term’s widespread use has led to its reduced significance. According to Dipanjan Chatterjee, VP and principal analyst at Forrester, “AI’ is the label that has replaced all other labels.” 

How Publishers and Advertisers Can Make the Most of Their CES Experience

Companies like Microsoft, Meta, and Google are showcasing their new AI technologies, and brands are striving to figure out how they will work for their capabilities. According to Dan Gardner, chief executive of agency Code and Theory, each tech provider will showcase their AI developments behind closed doors. He urges brands to prepare for the meeting by coming up with a list of questions related to their business. 

“These inquiries should address the long-term potential of prospective partnerships, including the length of a typical commitment and how a provider can guarantee that a brand’s experience on the platform will be competitive,” said Dan Gardner, chief executive of agency Code and Theory. 

Chatterjee from Forrester adds that publishers and advertisers should consider whether these technologies will strip away their unique identity. You must make sure your unique identity aligns with the AI product you’re using. 

Dan Rua, CEO of Admiral, warned us about this. He said, “Readers come to publishers for their content or knowledge, which are two different things. There are the individual articles written, but then there’s the knowledge infused in those articles that readers are getting. There will be publishers that are differentiated by the knowledge they bring to the world. Then, there will be publishers that are differentiated by their presentation of knowledge. Every publisher should have an AI brain or an AI agent that has leveraged the knowledge of that publisher, and that knowledge is some combination of all of their content.”

The post The Big Pull at CES Conference? Generative AI appeared first on AdMonsters.

Too many brands have only cast their focus inward when it comes to sustainability, diversity and inclusion, and purpose. 

This hasn’t necessarily been their intention. These areas are broad and multi-faceted; to be successful, they must touch many skill sets. The issue is that the departments that have historically governed programs to increase values-based efforts have been internal-facing ones like human resources. In some cases, there is no determined owner at all. These internal-facing owners might make traction with how employees participate in these efforts, but they fail to tie them to revenue-driving performance. 

And that’s a massive missed opportunity. Purpose-driven organizations grow three times faster, on average, than non-purpose-driven ones, and 82 percent of consumers are making purchase decisions with purpose in mind. Today, tying purpose and profit together is necessary to be competitive in any market. To do that requires shifting ownership of the former to a department responsible for driving the latter: marketing.

Values, Adrift

HR has never been the right home for sustainability, DEI, and purpose.

This team often owns these areas because, historically, companies have looked at them from an employee perspective. And, after all, HR is trained to measure employee satisfaction and retention above all else. But HR doesn’t play a direct role in how much money a business makes.

I’m not here to say this isn’t a valiant effort—organizations should and must engage employees on how to be more ethically responsible and values-driven because it makes for psychologically safer workplaces. But, knowing brands’ sustainability, DEI, and purpose goals coincide with more significant profit means that a team well-versed in engaging external audiences should execute, manage, and measure them. Marketing fits the bill in several ways.

First, marketing owns the overall brand and plays an integral part in creating it. This starts with mission, vision, and values exercises and cascades down to positioning, value propositions, messaging, and tone and voice. Because marketing intimately understands the brand from all angles—what it stands for and sells for—it can translate that language into internal- and external-facing marketing messages.

Second, like any marketing campaign about any product or service, values-based efforts require their own narrative, and marketing is excellent at storytelling. Marketing can share the overarching “why” of a brand’s values in creative and compelling ways to target audiences across channels—including consumers who are now increasingly purchasing with purpose in mind. This ranges from the company website to video snippets on social media to public relations and everything in between, meaning marketing can embed values-driven messaging anywhere and everywhere. And because marketing is across all campaigns, they know the right opportunities for weaving values-based messaging into other topics. For instance, if marketing runs a holiday campaign, it might be an excellent place to talk about the charities the company gives back to.  

Third, marketing gets to choose the imagery and content across all channels, allowing the team the opportunity to represent diversity and inclusivity. Consider, for example, shifting pronouns to non-binary ones in marketing messages and ensuring that stock imagery doesn’t just depict one race. Marketing can incorporate values across everything an organization does. Values are not just a strategy for a couple of programs and should never feel that way – they should be present in everything an organization does. For instance, Patagonia doesn’t just sometimes care about the environment – their climate-friendly values are foundationally associated with their brand because of consistent action and marketing of that action consistently.

Fourth, marketing also owns events, which exact a heavy toll on the environment. They can restructure some of this budget to avoid needing to heavily re-print collateral and signage and produce so much SWAG. Some materials can be reused between events, or landing page links and QR codes can replace printed information.

Measuring the Monetary Value of Meaning

Suppose companies want to tie their purpose to profit. In that case, they must rely on the department trained to set goals, effectively communicate internally and externally and track the benefit of every dollar spent.

Marketing should set values-based goals for the entire organization and understand how they impact every aspect of the business. This enables them to influence where focus and budget are going so that they can help all departments make quick adjustments. For instance, many businesses want to work with partners whose values align with their own and want the data to back it up. Marketing and sales teams must work together to ensure tangible impact and that it’s being conveyed accurately to prospective partners.

Then, marketing can lead the charge of incorporating these values into every aspect of the business. I recommend that marketers test smaller activations around their values vs. waiting for everything to be perfect. Don’t lock your stakeholders in a room for six months to debate your values. Know that you won’t be all things to all people. Move quickly and thoughtfully and optimize from there.

Marketing will measure how internal teams activate against values and how their external audiences engage with them. As marketing already measures external engagements with key audiences such as prospects, press, and partners, they can get a holistic view of how values-based messaging resonates across each. They already have many systems and measurement methodologies necessary for proving the value of, well, values. And they’re in luck because a new suite of solutions is emerging to emphasize company values while achieving and exceeding business goals. Many are designed to be turnkey, easily incorporated in place of historical solutions, and offer additional resources to build a tight societal impact roadmap. Marketers should determine which solutions best align with their unique goals and incorporate these new strategies into their daily operations.

A marketing team can only achieve all of the above with key business leaders’ buy-in, ongoing support, and reinforcement. Marketing is the natural tip of the spear to lead an organization’s values initiatives because they already work across many departments as part of their broader function. Still, they can’t be the only advocate within the walls of an organization. Every executive needs to be an advocate. If not, they’re not paying attention to how business is changing. Marketing is the rallying group but not the sole responsible party.

The marketing team should lead efforts to determine which partners will help them achieve their value-based goals while driving the business forward. They should own the measurement of all values-based initiatives across the company and use their communication skills to broadcast their social impact successfully. By authentically communicating values and utilizing tools to drive action, companies can enhance their earnings and solidify that purpose drives profit. 

The post How Marketing Can Help Brands Tie Purpose to Profit appeared first on AdMonsters.

2020 was the year of the curveball. For the digital media industry and the world, Q1 brought a deluge of change: sudden home offices for most, reduced budgets for many, and sadly, even layoffs for some. We had to adapt just about every facet of our work and home lives. We had to be resilient, and it was hard at times. Whether you missed the camaraderie of the office, the quiet solitude of a commute, the excitement of business travel, or even just putting on real pants, everyone was missing something this year.

AdMonsters felt it was our duty to keep the digital media community talking and learning. We knew that peer-to-peer sharing was perhaps even more important during a time of isolation and uncertainty. Like everyone else, we pivoted. With live events off the table, how could we make these interactions similarly valuable and authentic?

This year, you let us into your lives with a variety of virtual learning and networking opportunities: 

TWO CONFERENCES

We organized Publisher Forum Virtual in August and PubForum+ in December, with a collective 2,000 attendees that came together across five days of keynotes, sessions and breakouts.

TEN WEBINARS

With topics ranging from Identity to Privacy to Cookies, 3,000+ of you registered to attend an AdMonsters webinar, which we proudly make free of cost to everyone in the industry.

TEN THINK TANKS

Our Think Tanks kept the spirit of small group networking alive this year. We brought together groups of 10-12 director-level+ individuals for intimate hourlong tête-à-têtes on specifics topics.

We truly hope that you could benefit from these conversations. AdMonsters’ key objective is to champion the mission-critical importance of Revenue Operations within the media organization and to bring people together for that purpose.

If you’d like to share some feedback on how we can better serve you and your professional community, we’d love to hear from you. You can shoot us a note at events@admonsters.com, which goes right to me and the team.

AdMonsters will be back in 2021 with our resiliency force fields on high. We look to the future with both optimism and realism and hope to bring you a mix of vibrant virtual learning opportunities and, perhaps as the year progresses, some opportunities for safe in-person networking.

Here’s to you, Monsters. Here’s to your work. Here’s to every campaign, every client fire you put out, every tech stack tweak, every great idea, and every fail, and most of all, every time you showed resiliency in the face of uncertainty. We see you.

Best wishes and happy holidays,

Bill Amstutz

Group Publisher

AdMonsters

The post AdMonsters + You Recap 2020: Resilience in the Face of Uncertainty appeared first on AdMonsters.

We already know that email is one of the best channels for delivering the personalized content consumers crave. Instead of using a browser cookie, a user’s interests and preferences can be tied to their hashed email address across devices.

Then there’s the exciting new channel called push notifications. They provide deep one-to-one and highly contextual experiences and are easy to implement and optimize across devices. Plus the acquisition and retention rates are off the charts.

Leading up to our webinar, Personalization Power at Scale, on June 18 at 1 PM EDT (Register now!), I spoke with Powerinbox CEO Jeff Kupietzky about personalization, privacy, and how publishers can build trust while increasing engagement and revenue with push notifications.

Lynne d Johnson: In your report, “Common Audience Engagement Misconceptions: What do digital consumers really want?” You learned that 78% of people are really uncomfortable with being tracked online. Yet, they still expect personalized messaging and recommendations—and even ads. How can publishers best leverage this information and also use it in conversations with advertisers, especially now that the third-party tracking cookie is nearly extinct? 

Jeff Kupietzky: I think what consumers are really telling us is that they want us to protect their data and be judicious in the way it’s used. Consumers hear stories about data breaches, which makes them extremely wary of who has and is using their data. But, they likely don’t realize just how rare those events are when you consider the massive amount of data they share with companies every single day. What they want is to feel comfortable and in control of their data. They don’t want publishers to sell it or share it without permission, and that’s a reasonable expectation. This is also why first-party data—what publishers gather about their subscribers—is so valuable for advertisers. It’s much more precise than cookie data and provides much more targeted personalization.

LdJ: I know in the past you and I talked about the power of personalization (and monetization) in email, but can personalization and privacy really co-exist? 

JK: Yes, and this is why opt-in methods like email and push notifications work so well. Consumers consent to sharing their data when they subscribe, and they can unsubscribe at any time. Of course, publishers still need to take the most stringent precautions to protect subscribers’ data, and by cultivating trust with their subscribers, personalization and privacy can co-exist.

LdJ: Powerinbox recently acquired Jeeng, an AI-powered autonomous personalized notification platform.  You guys already work with a lot of publishers with their email monetization. And you’ve often talked about the value of push notifications for publishers and the brands they work with. How will this acquisition help you to help publishers increase engagement and revenue?

JK: Jeeng gives publishers a new channel to engage audiences and monetize their traffic. Our data shows that more users are subscribing to push notifications and publishers can leverage this growing interest to give their subscribers more of what they want, which increases the “stickiness” of the relationship and keeps subscribers coming back. And by monetizing push, this creates a new revenue stream for publishers that can help to offset some of the ad dollars that are being siphoned off by social channels. Also, from an operational perspective, the ability to manage your web, email and push notification programs all from a single platform is so much more efficient for publishers. This is especially important for smaller publishers with lean teams.

Don’t forget to sign up for our webinar with Powerinbox, Personalization Power at Scale, on Thursday, June 18 at 1 pm EST? Along with Jeff, we’ll have speakers from Assembly and IQVIA. See you there!

The post Building Trust Through Privacy and Personalized Push Notifications appeared first on AdMonsters.

With everyone working from home, consumer engagement skyrocketed, but at the same time, there’s been a precipitous fall in ad revenue. In response, many media companies have resorted to dropping paywalls, lowering floor prices, and significantly reducing staff. It hasn’t been a picnic, that’s for sure.

A couple of weeks ago, we caught up with some folks in the AdMonsters publisher community for a virtual meetup and check-in and asked them to speak candidly about the many challenges they currently face and what they were doing to not only survive, but continue to thrive amid this pandemic.

The conversation covered everything from monetization strategies to improving processes and workflows to managing relationships with partners and other teams inside your own organization. But one area that was prominent throughout the discussion was how to manage teams remotely during a crisis.

“I think everybody is sort of concerned about the status of the industry,” shared Jen Castillo, Sr. Director, Ad Operations, Slate. “It’s not only, ‘Are we going to continue making money?’ But, ‘Is my job safe?’ I think one of the hardest challenges is ensuring your team members that you are there for them and that you’re their voice in leadership meetings when discussing what’s next and what’s happening. One of the hardest parts is finding balance, you don’t want to overshare and create panic. ”

In our recent guide for working-from-home, we talked about the many challenges with boosting morale at this time and how important it is for managers to be transparent and human. There’s been a great mental toll to workers, as many juggle homeschooling, the loss of loved ones and friends, and other distractions while they WFH. Many people are working extended hours just to keep up. For managers, it’s important to help them find balance.

“We operate globally and we have local managers who keep close connections with people to make sure they feel supported and allow them to find their best way to be productive,” explained Jeannie Gammon, VP Sales Operations, The New York Times. “There’s no blanket rule for everyone. It’s been really important to look at the individual and see what they need and cater to that.”

Although the work environment has changed, the idea of understanding your team members strengths and weaknesses hasn’t. What are people good at? Is it time to modify job responsibilities based on the current situation?

Given the pressures of working from home and dealing with personal issues, times are really different than they were two months ago. Managers may need to be a little more lenient with timelines and understanding that people will get work done at different times throughout the day. Helping teams prioritize tasks is really important right now, determining what’s most important and what can be put on the back burner for a few weeks. And then, if anything is urgent, there may be other people on the team you can call on to step up to help get things done in a more timely manner.

Communicate, then Overcommunicate

“I told my team, this is a time to overcommunicate. If it’s not an eight hour day and you have stuff to do and deal with your family and you can only be on for two hours, that’s fine. If you have a project you need to get done, ask for help or let me know in advance and we can figure it out,” related Reena Mehta, Sr. Director, Digital Advertising Operations, Fox Networks Group.

“Eight hours a day being in an office is very different from being at home in your own environment with 15 people around you asking for milk or water or whatever… You have to manage and respect that,” Mehata added.

What the crisis has presented is an opportunity to build stronger trust between managers and their teams.

Then there’s the matter of not being able to read non-verbal cues now that you’re communicating over platforms like Slack or even back-and-forth on email more often. “It’s not like when someone could just walk over to your desk in the office. Sometimes you just have to pick up the phone and work through it,” expressed Jared Collett, Director, Ad Operations and Analytics, Major League Fishing.

Even on video platforms like Zoom, managers have talked about not being able to pick up on body language during a call. If someone on the team isn’t contributing during the team call, check in on them personally.

We’re in the midst of creating a new normal that is sure to impact how we function as an industry and as organizations going forward. Even as businesses begin to open up more steadily around the globe, how we managed during this crisis is creating new rules for how we operate in the future.

What we learned about managing teams in terms of being more flexible with timelines, prioritizing tasks more efficiently, overcommunicating, and automating processes and workflows will provide a framework for building high-performance teams that can lead to successful outcomes for years to come.

From left-to-right, top-to-bottom (Gavin Dunaway, Editorial Director, AdMonsters; Scott Messer, Senior Vice President, Media, Leaf Group; Jared Collett, Director, Ad Operations and Analytics, Major League Fishing; Doug Park, Global Sr. Director, Media Solutions Advertising Operations, Expedia; Jeannie Gammon, VP Sales Operations, The New York Times; Reena Mehta, Sr. Director, Digital Advertising Operations, Fox Networks Group; Jen Castillo, Sr. Director, Ad Operations, Slate; and Rob Beeler, Chairman, AdMonsters)

The post Managing Teams Remotely During a Crisis appeared first on AdMonsters.

But also, Ops is fun. Ops is one of the things that drew me to AdMonsters in the first place. I’d been to a ton of conferences over the years, but at my first Ops, not only did I take a lot of notes (which, as we all know, is absolutely not a certainty when you go to a lot of conferences), but I realized, These people know how to have a good time. So, taking one more look back at what we did last week, we turned to Twitter and to the photos Donna Alberico Photography captured live throughout the two days of Ops. You’ll see what I mean: We had a lot of fun while we were learning and connecting.

Please note that just because a Tweet is next to a photo, that does not necessarily mean the Tweet is from the session in the photo. In fact, they’re probably about completely different things. Also please note Rob Beeler’s Infinity Gauntlet.

You know an event is going to be good when it begins by quoting Macho Man Randy Savage. #opsny #snapintoit

— Benjamin Hansz (@bjhansz) June 4, 2018

https://twitter.com/jgruchacz/status/1003999428791947264

Q: what do publishers want from their ad exchanges

A: money, support from real humans that give a real response in a reasonable amount of time, oh and better holiday gifts.

The end.

#opsny

— happensinadops (@happensinadops) June 5, 2018

Comparison of blockchain to early days of railroad development. Blockchain is the rail, not the train. Lively discussion. @M_AdOps #opsny

— Mitchell Weinstein (@mitchellw) June 5, 2018

Mike Finnegan VP Data Products Live Nation is talking about engaging your audience mid-funnel and I’m sitting here wondering why more brands still aren’t doing that. IMO, Every point of the buyer journey is an important point to meet them. #OpsNY

— Lynne d Johnson (@lynneluvah) June 5, 2018

It’s weird when vendors talk about “data” like it’s a living breathing thing with feelings.

“Protecting” the data.
“Respecting” the data.
“Comforting” the data.
“Whispering sweet nothings” to the data.

#opsny

— happensinadops (@happensinadops) June 5, 2018

“If you choose to use 3rd party data, you are legally liable to ensure that your data is #GDPR compliant.” – Tiffany Ku, SVP of Digital Investment at @zenith #OpsNy

— Index Exchange (@IndexExchange) June 5, 2018

Agencies and Publishers want partners, not vendors #choosewisely #OpsNY

— ron duque (@rondookie) June 5, 2018

Did he really just compare GDPR to the zika virus? I think I like it! @happensinadops @AdMonsters #opsny #ops #admonsters

— mmcleod741 (@mmcleod741) June 5, 2018

#opsny ‘6 seconds on a mobile device is an investment’

— ADYOULIKE (@Adyoulike) June 5, 2018

"Advertisers didn't get tired of news, they got tired of Scotch tape" says @thesethrogin at @AdMonsters #OpsNY

— Nucleus (@Nucleusmktg) June 5, 2018

The post Let’s Have Some Fun: Photos and Tweets From Ops 2018 appeared first on AdMonsters.

So, in prepping for Ops this year, we on the editorial team were looking to find out how things are going in digital media now that everything is different. GDPR is on the books. Data vending is a cottage industry. Publishers are putting poorly-performing demand partners in the penalty box. The monster ripped off its mask in this Scooby Doo episode, and it’s Mark Zuckerberg underneath. The fake news epidemic has given ops people at quality publications a sense of moral obligation. Branded content is the new premium advertising. The buy side is in-housing tech like crazy (or at least that’s what a lot of brands are trying to communicate to the rest of the world). When you look at the last 12 months in digital media, you get this sense that there are a lot of things that used to be like this, but now are like that.

Of course, here’s the kicker—and this was one of the themes I heard at Ops—maybe things are different now in meaningful ways, but that means publishers have to come up with new roadmaps. And not everyone has those roadmaps yet. Like GDPR, for example. Turns out that if you’re a publisher and you’re still trying to figure out a GDPR compliance strategy, you’re in good company. I was hoping we’d be hearing some mind-blowing insights from publishers who had come out on the other side of GDPR, but we’re not there yet. More broadly, we’re hoping a regulatory crackdown doesn’t happen before U.S. publishers are ready for one.

How about those other “everything is different” points? Yeah, publishers are more comfortable becoming data vendors, but they still need agencies to be really clear about the data they (the agencies) need.

It feels good to underline how quality, reliable media benefits society, which gives ops people a mission greater than figuring out why their partners aren’t filling—but that doesn’t change the fact that they need to figure out why their partners aren’t filling.

Publishers might be fed up with what Facebook has done with their power as an unavoidable distribution channel—but as of right now, Facebook remains unavoidable as a distribution channel.

Branded content is big business, especially for major publishers that can launch their own creative shops, but branded content is expensive to produce and challenging to measure.

Because header bidding allows publishers to integrate more demand partners, putting one poorly-performing partner on pause isn’t necessarily so damaging to their bottom line—but it’s not as damaging to the demand partner’s bottom line, either, because they’re working with more publishers as well.

The buy side is in-housing, but that could create a talent shortage on the tech side and open the door for even more consultants to jump into the mix.

So we’re seeing all of these “everything is different” scenarios in digital, but that presents so many new and different issues to work on. Hopefully that means people with expertise on those issues have some additional job security right now. But it also means a lot more conversations between publishers, vendors, brands and agencies. (That’s good news for me, personally, because I’m in the conversation business.) New tech will undoubtedly emerge, and some of it will undoubtedly change the way publishers do business. But right now, there’s a lot of focus on the more human side of the biz—stronger relationships, deeper business partnerships, clear understanding of goals. While the tech is doing its job, it’ll be interesting to watch how these evolving relationships change ops’ people’s jobs.

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The inaugural Power List was selected based each individual’s demonstration of leadership, innovation, initiative, vision, execution, and mentorship.

“This year’s Power List encompasses a group of digital media professionals that bring leadership to their teams and innovation to their companies,” says Gavin Dunaway, Editorial Director of AdMonsters. “The people who make up the backbone of digital media are an oft unsung group of digital heroes who keep the media machine running day after day. AdMonsters sought to shine light on their hard work and accomplishments.”

Honorees will be recognized and honored on June 5, 2018, from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. in New York City at the 2018 Power Hour, part of AdMonsters’ annual Ops conference event.

The 2018 AdMonsters Power List (in alphabetical order):

Roxanne Allen, Head of Ad Operations, DotDash
Kelly Andresen, SVP, Client Solutions & Head of GET Creative, USA Today Network
Sam Appelbaum, General Manager, YellowHammer
Landon Bennet, Cofounder/CEO, Ad Reform
Leslie Black, Senior Manager, Digital Sales Ops, NBCUniversal
Jonathan Bokor, SVP, Precision Video, Publicis Media
Maria Breza, Advertising Techology Leader, Pandora
Dascha Bright, SVP, Account Management, ExtremeReach
Chris Cable, Marketing Analytics and Strategic Planning, Diageo
Melissa Chapman, Director of Digital Operations, Crain Communications
Amit Chaturvedi, EVP, Revenue Operations & Product Management, Turner
Laura Correnti, EVP, Managing Director, Media, Giant Spoon
Adrian D’Souza, SVP, Revenue Operations, Intersection
Jarrod Dicker, CEO, Po.et
Emry Downinghall, VP of Advertising, Chegg
Angelina Eng, Executive Director, Marketing, Morgan Stanley
Christopher Garcia, VP, Ad Ops, CBS Local Digital Media
Alex Gardner, CRO, Index Exchange
Tom Good, Director, Product Architecture—Supply, Comcast
Lizzy Hanna, General Manager, Engine Media
Bryan Harris, Director, Ad Product Operations, Buzzfeed
Walt Houseknecht, Executive Director, Audience Solutions, Politico
Robert John Davis, Head of Digital, Ogilvy
Chandon Jones, SVP Partner, Ad Operations, UMWW
Ben Kneen, Director of Monetization, AppNexus
Oleg Korenfeld, Global Chief Platforms Officer, Wavemaker
Megan Latham, Global Head of Advertising Operations, Bloomberg
Brie Manakul, SVP, Revenue Operations, Nucleus
Lou Mastria, Executive Director, Digital Advertising Alliance
Jeffrey Mayer, Director, Programmatic, Shazam
Patrick McCann, VP, Data Science, CafeMedia
Ryan McConaghy, Head of Revenue Operations, The Atlantic
Ashley McGee, Director, Programmatic and Platforms, Tronc
Mike McLeod, Director of Advertising Products and Technology, PGA Tour
David Murnick, EVP, Digital Operations and Technology, Dentsu Aegis Network
Tim Ngoc Ho, Manager, Optimization and Analytics, Star Tribune
Derek Nicol, VP of Advertising Technology, CBS Interactive
Dan O’Shaughnessy, Director of Ad Operations, Purch
Chris Olson, CEO and Cofounder, The Media Trust
Erica Osher, Senior Director, Sponsorship Products, National Public Media
Ari Paparo, CEO, Beeswax
Rachel Parkin, SVP, Strategy and Sales, CafeMedia
Jenna Pere, Partner, Sr. Director, Digital Activation, Wavemaker
Christine Peterson, Managing Partner, Digital Investment Lead, MindShare
Shenan Reed, President, Chief Client Officer, Publicis Groupe
Brendan Reiley, Director of Revenue Operations, NASCAR Digital Media
Dennis Ritell, Director of Ad Ops, PopSugar
Brett Robinson, Senior Director, Ad Operations—NPR, National Public Media
Trace Rutland, Director of Media Innovation, Tysons Food
Todd Sawicki, CEO, Zemanta
Stephanie Snow, VP, Ad Operations, Intermarkets
Brendan Spain, VP, Advertising Americas, Financial Times
Katelyn Stoll, Senior Ad Product Operations Lead, Buzzfeed
Jason Tollestrup, VP, Programmatic Strategy, Washington Post
James Van Sweringen, Associate Director, Digital Business Operations, Mansueto Ventures
Connie Walsh, Director of Ad Operations, Legacy.com
Katie Watson, Director, Technology and Activation, Spark Foundry
Mitch Weinstein, SVP, Digital, ICON

See the agenda for the Ops conference, presented by AdMonsters, taking place June 4-5 in New York City, and featuring experts from major media companies, brands, and advertising agencies, including Al Jazeera, Buzzfeed, Diageo, Discovery Communications, Hearst, LinkedIn, Pandora, Samples, Soundcloud, USA Today, Viacom, Vice, and Zenith.

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January brings with it cold weather, year-end reconciliations, lower post-Q4 CPMs, and CES. This year I had an audacious plan: I’d go to CES and actually go to CES. You know – the actual show, not just going to Vegas during CES as most everyone in ad tech does. I’m not sure when I made my CES mistake: did I just prepare poorly or was it a mistake to even try?

Like most digital people, CES sounds like a dream event with the coolest, latest gadgets. Self-driving cars. Televisions with resolutions beyond human sight. Virtual Reality. Augmented Reality. That’s last year’s CES. Self-driving televisions and augmented reality with Virtual Reality: That’s the promise of CES. Why wouldn’t I want to walk around tech nirvana?

Welcome to Vegas…

A red-eye flight in, coupled with rain in Vegas (rain in Vegas? Really?) and issues with my registration– by the time I hit the floor, I was wet, cranky and woefully short on time to do anything. Tech is everywhere, but not ad tech. There was actual ad tech ‘content’ at CES, but not where I was. If seeing refrigerators with cameras on the inside and 4k monitors on the outside so one doesn’t have to open the door to see what’s inside (!!) is your thing, you should have been with me.

To dispel any rumors, the news was about a blackout at CES and not me blacking out at CES. To my knowledge, that’s not really considered news.

As the week progressed, I mentioned my disastrous attempt of ‘real CES,’ and the ad tech veterans easily dismissed the notion that I was ever going to get anything out of the experience. I know that’s not completely right, as I see these writeups about CES that are relevant to ad tech.

My folly cost me a day of what most in ad tech do at CES: Meet for 15 minutes. Drink a coffee or a mixed drink. Go from the Aria to the Cosmo or vice versa. High-five people you know along the way (“No time to talk! See you later? Okay. Bye!”). Rinse and repeat until you find yourself at a party or the chandelier bar. Stay out all night. Start all over again.

It’s honestly not the most refreshing way one could imagine starting the year.

However, you can have a lot of quick, concise conversations and certain topics emerged often. John Battelle thinks Mark Zuckerberg “dropped acid.” I would have referenced it as “getting religion” or a “come to Jesus” moment, but Facebook’s upcoming changes will impact publishers. A crack in the Duopoly, or ultimately another problem for publishers? Depends on who you asked. Facebook’s about-face would’ve been the dominant discussion if GDPR wasn’t on the horizon. No matter how GDPR plays out, it certainly is the number one buzzkill for any conversation.

But for all that existential talk, I feel like everyone is upbeat for 2018. Consolidation, the aforementioned GDPR, brand safety issues and the like didn’t seem to temper the enthusiasm of the people I spoke to. New Year’s optimism or mass delusion? I’d say a bit of both.

For all of that, the thing I was excited to see was the announcement of the IAB Tech Lab’s OpenData 1.0 for public comment. I had a small hand in getting this in motion (David Smith from MediaSmith was the big driver, with Jennifer Derke as the engine), and it’s unsexy but so important: nomenclature to help people reconcile campaign reporting between all parties in digital advertising. A small step for sure, but this is the kind of step needed to make ad operations more efficient.

Who knows? Maybe if report reconciliation becomes easier, more ad ops people can make it to Vegas in January. Maybe some of them will even venture to check out CES.

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