“Do We Really Need A Full Day To Discuss Measurement?” Ampersand CEO Nicolle Pangis Kicks Off Advertising Week NYC 2023 with Top Investment Leaders

Ampersand CEO Nicolle Pangis led a lively and far-reaching discussion on one of the first panels, themed "Moving TV Forward: A View From the Top," which attracted a riveted, standing-room-only crowd. Joining Pangis on the panel were three top agency executives from the media investment world: Sean Muzzy, Global President of KINESSO (an IPG Mediabrands company), which recently incorporated agency brands Matterkind and Reprise under its umbrella. When asked about the recent restructuring, Muzzy explained, "A lot of it has to do with bringing together important pieces of the marketer's puzzle. If you think about performance margin capabilities that span biddable channels and the automation of media, we did this to help our clients seamlessly."

Also on the panel were Michael Law, CEO of Carat North America, and Jay Askinasi, Chief Growth Officer of Publicis Groupe and US CEO for its investment arm, PMX.

All panelists seemed to agree that there can no longer be a narrow definition of "television." Muzzy stated, "Based on your objectives and your audience, there are many ways to define it. There's still the way of looking at how ads are delivered across streaming, linear, cable, which is a big important piece. But increasingly, we're having to look at that video landscape that changes over generations." Law, who is ready to move past that question in general, believes that "TV is what anybody makes it to be, and videos are what anybody makes it to be." Law related how he recently checked TikTok to find a clip from 60 Minutes while at his son's baseball game, then watched the full piece on YouTube TV. "One had no ad experience, and the other had a very different ad experience," said Law. Ultimately, Law believes that balancing brand and demand is key, "the brand needs to show up in a very positive way and really help whether they (the consumer) want to be entertained or whether they're trying to buy something."

In a statement that might be worrisome, Askinasi believes that while content and context still matter, the idea of "professionally produced" content has lost some of its value. "If you ask my kids what TV is," explained Askinasi, "it is certainly YouTube on an iPad. Math is math. The time spent on devices versus sitting back on a big screen watching a linear network has changed quite a bit." Yet, Askinasi still sees many clients choosing the safety of linear TV, hinting at quality and brand safety issues with much social video content, saying, "I don't think anyone wants to get a call about a screenshot or a viral video. Those are not fun, and they happen."

Just as last year, there was an entire day at Advertising Week focused on measurement, and this continues in 2023. Pangis asked the esteemed panel whether that was warranted. The overall consensus from the panel was negative, with Law expressing frustration: "I think we've had a lot of full days on this topic, well weeks. There are a lot of full conferences on this topic, but it's just all the same people talking to each other. At some point, we've got to value progress over perfection... There are so many stakeholders in these organizations that say 'I know 200 GRPs a week drives my sales. Prove me wrong.' We're in this crazy moment in our industry where all the factors are coming to a head. I think maybe less day-long panels and more, in the room, let's-figure-this-out together."

Finally, the topic of alternative currencies was addressed, with Pangis asking whether the focus has been more hype than actual execution. The panelists seemed to agree that the hype had exceeded the actual usage of alternative currencies but also that there had been much advancement and a rising tide of interest in alternatives to Nielsen. Law stated, "There are a lot of really smart people trying to make these transitions, and there's a lot of legacy inertia that is behind the old way of doing things. I think we can live in a world where there are multiple measurement companies that will have to be comfortable with the trust and transparency in the way that the data set is used. I really believe that it's ultimately cost per 'fill in the blank.' If you're a brand that wants to deliver on performance or on demos, we can trade on any one of those currencies. I think we're going to have to accept that there's going to be a bespoke future of measurement and currency."

If all of this seems a bit familiar, the panelists all agree that the difference seems to be, as Pangis pointed out, that we've moved from an era of test and learn to actual roll-out, which is definitely progress.

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