Jonathan Gipson

✅🖥️ Variety (5/22): “Last year, the writers strike kept boldface names from appearing at the upfronts. This year, everybody turned up the star power to 11. NBCU stuffed its presentation with performances from Little Big Town, Michael Bublé and Kelly Clarkson. Amazon went overboard with a nonstop parade of A-listers, including Reese Witherspoon, Will Ferrell, Jake Gyllenhaal and tennis great Roger Federer, with none other than Alicia Keys as the opening act (and yes, she promoted her Amazon line of skin care products). Disney also hauled out the heavy hitters: Ryan Reynolds, Michelle Williams, Sterling K. Brown, Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez, just to name a few. Opening Disney’s upfront was Emma Stone, introducing CEO Bob Iger while getting in one more plug for her Oscar-winning film “Poor Things.” The sheer number of movie mentions (NBCU took time to debut the trailer to “Wicked”) felt unusual at an event traditionally tailored to ad-supported TV. But in the streaming age, everything’s for sale — and there’s nothing brands like more than cozying their messages up to the biggest names in showbiz. Sports franchises were put on a higher pedestal than usual as networks lean on live games to deliver the audiences that advertisers covet. Sports personalities, from Tom Brady to Jason Kelce to Dawn Staley, were all over the presentations. Fox made it clear to anyone in earshot that it has the Super Bowl next year and it has Brady, a bona fide NFL legend, joining the Fox Sports team in the booth for football season this fall. Disney used a hunk of its time to tub-thumb the future of ESPN. Netflix bragged about landing two Christmas Day NFL games. WBD pledged allegiance to the NBA even as the company is kneedeep in contract negotiations with the league.” ⬇️ #upfronts #newfronts #streamingtv #ctvadvertising

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Elon Musk's recent lawsuit against advertisers who boycotted Twitter after his acquisition raises intriguing questions about the future of advertising and creator partnerships. Read it here: https://lnkd.in/gPEwD7AR.   On the surface, the lawsuit presents a legal battle. Did the advertisers have the right to pull their spend based on their perception of Twitter's content moderation policies? The legal outcome will be fascinating to watch.   But beneath the legal wrangling lies a deeper issue. Are brands ceding too much control over their messaging by relying on platforms with ever-evolving content moderation policies?   This could lead to a shift towards a more decentralized approach to advertising.  Imagine a future where brands forge direct partnerships with creators, leveraging their influence to promote products and services.   This would have several potential implications:   ➡️ Increased brand control - Brands would have greater control over the messaging and ensure alignment with their brand values. ➡️ Greater creator agency – Creators would have more freedom to express themselves authentically, potentially leading to more engaging content. ➡️ Data ownership and transparency – Direct partnerships could offer more transparency around data ownership and usage.   However, challenges remain. Mainly, it concerns matching brands with the perfect creators and requires careful audience analysis and strategic partnerships. At the same time, tracking the effectiveness of campaigns across disparate creators poses measurement challenges.   Lastly, there are contractual considerations. Establishing clear agreements that protect both brands and creators is crucial.   Musk's lawsuit might be a legal dispute, but it serves as a catalyst for a broader conversation.  As brands seek more control over their messaging and creators strive for greater autonomy, the future of advertising could be one built on direct partnerships and a more decentralized ecosystem.   What are your thoughts on this potential shift? Will creator partnerships become the dominant force in advertising? Share your insights below👇🏼   #Advertising #CreatorEconomy #ElonMusk #BrandPartnerships #TheFutureofMarketing

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🚨 The shutdown of GARM marks a turning point in digital advertising. Without this player, brand safety is now squarely in the hands of advertisers. It's a challenge—but also an opportunity to innovate and set new standards tailored to our unique needs. How will you navigate this new landscape? 👉 Read more

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The marketplace will look a lot different in five years. Mars United's Michele Roney offers 8 trends every hopeful network needs to consider in this new report. Check it out here: https://lnkd.in/gFNQnU-h

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Everything Gavin Bridge says here about the opportunity for FAST (Free Ad Supported Streaming TV, eg Tubi) is why streaming platforms are a partnership and ultimately exit opportunity for MakeLoveNotPorn, because our 'human curation layer on top of the internet' offering represents the partner/investor Holy Grail - how to monetize sex, safely: 'FAST services shouldn’t shun brand extensions from adult brands, especially given the interest in the genre and their higher than average adoption of FAST. .. At the end of the day, capitalism will ultimately see that the most money to be made is made, and it is for reasons like this that I think what’s outlined here will happen sooner than later.' https://lnkd.in/etq9KYJe

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Instacart and NBCUniversal’s new partnership connects CPG with Streaming and has the potential to change retail. NBCUniversal and Instacart are broadening their existing collaboration to introduce a fresh retail media avenue, allowing Instacart’s CPG advertisers to interact with viewers through NBCU’s streaming and linear TV content. In late 2023, the two companies united to incorporate NBCU’s Peacock streaming platform into the Instacart+ membership package. Now, advertisers gain access to engage consumers through NBCUniversal’s content and analyze campaign effectiveness by leveraging ad exposure and purchase data from Instacart. Tim Castelli, VP of Global Advertising Sales at Instacart, highlighted the forthcoming capability for NBCUniversal advertisers to utilize Instacart’s first-party audience data to enrich their streaming campaigns and validate their impact through closed-loop measurement. This seamless integration presents a mutually beneficial scenario for consumers and brands alike, enabling viewers to encounter a CPG ad on streaming platforms and have the product delivered within an hour via Instacart. The rollout of this offering is slated for Q2 on the streaming service, with plans to extend to linear programming. With this collaboration, CPG brands can engage with the next wave of grocery shoppers in an immersive setting. This initiative aligns with a broader trend among established retail media players such as Instacart, aiming to integrate their first-party shopper data into third-party advertising environments. https://lnkd.in/g9rcxrVJ #digitalmarketing #retail #firstpartydata #CPG #advertising #OTT

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✅🖥️ Variety (6/26): “When the news program “CBS News 24/7” surfaces Wednesday morning on streaming venues, it may surprise the average information junkie. There’s no typical anchor behind a desk here. Instead, on-screen hosts too busy to read scripted lines from a teleprompter will guide viewers from one story to the next, many of which are happening in real time. All are displayed prominently on a screen of insta-feeds from CBS newsrooms around the nation or from points of interest around the world. When it’s time to move beyond the quick headline, or some chatter about what’s happening at the moment, the host is meant to identify the feed, then let viewers hear from people and experts on the ground. It’s entirely possible that a host might start talking to producers and assignment editors while on camera about what’s going on in the feeds and what needs to be looked at first. CBS will stream hours of the show at 10 a.m. from New York, led by Vladimir Duthiers, and at 1 p.m. from San Francisco, guided by Reed Cowan. The streaming audience — seen as being as much as 20 years younger than its linear counterparts — has come to expect to build its own primetime schedule; to decide whether to watch recaps or end credits; and to pause a show at moments of its own choosing. Why wouldn’t it expect new flexibility out of the news?” ⬇️ #streamingtv #ctvadvertising #news #journalism #fast #avod #ott https://lnkd.in/encwBURP

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Nearly 47% of US consumers said streaming is their most frequent method of TV viewing, while 33% said cable and just 14% satellite. Streaming is now the dominant method through which Americans consume TV, according to a recent Prosper Insights & Analytics survey. CTV is one of the fastest-growing sectors in digital advertising, expected to grow 25% this year to more than $30 billion. But CTV advertising is still in its early days. And it is about to get a whole lot smarter and more effective thanks to GenAI.... #CTV #Streaming #AVOD #FAST #AdTech #GenAI

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🎬 It's Pacing Like Barbie! 🎬 The numbers are in, and Inside Out 2 is a box office sensation. Brands looking to connect with their prospects, there's only one game in town, and that's the #BigScreen. Don't miss out on the next #Culturalzeitgeist! Get your brand in front of an engaged audience ready to be wowed. ✨ #SummerCinemaSurge #InsideOut2 #BoxOfficeHits #BigScreenMagic #PremiumVideo #GrowthAudience #AttentionMetrics #Attribution https://lnkd.in/eess6txy

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Last week saw 2 BIG influencer mktg M&A deals. Publicis Groupe bought Influential, and Stagwell bought LEADERS. Today I write about the Influential deal. I est the forward revenue multiple at around 2.5x. Let's break it down... ---SELLER: Influential--- • IM platform for marketers and influencers • Founded 2013 by Ryan Detert, Piotr Tomasik 🌊, Daniel Steele • 300 employees • 3.5M influencer network • Access to 90% of influencers w/ 1M+ followers • AI-powered platform w/ 100B+ datapoints  • 300+ brand clients incl Disney, Hilton, Hulu, McDonalds ---FINANCIALS & CAP TABLE: Influential--- • $150M revenue in 2023 • 50% YoY revenue growth • $51.5M capital raised between 2014 to 2021 • Investors incl Paradigm Agency, Plug And Play, Ruttenberg, Capital Zed, Tech Coast Angels, WME, ECA Ventures, Regal Funds, ---BUYER: Publicis--- • Diversified agency holding company (#1 by net bookings) • Founded 1926 • Based in Paris • In 100+ countries • 103,000 employees • €13.1B 2023 net revenue ---FINANCIALS (in €): Publicis--- Stock performance as of 7.29 at 940am ET… • Share price: €97.72  • Mkt cap: €24.9B • Up 15.6% YTD • Up 33.1% YoY 1H 2024 YoY results per public filings (PE 6.30.24)... • Net revenue up 5.9% to €6.7B, from €6.3B • Operating margin up 6.1% to €1.2B, from €1.1B • EBITDA up 4.9% to $1.4B, from $1.3B  • €744M in free cash flow, up 2.6% YoY • €3.1B in cash • €3.2B in total debt (incl earnout/buyout) ---DEAL DETAILS--- • $500M purchase price • Expected to close Aug 2024 • 3.3x 2023 LTM revenue multiple ($500M / $150M) • If assume 2024 revenue growth slows to 30% from 50%, implies $200M forward revenue and a 2.5x revenue multiple  • Deal structure undisclosed (likely an earnout) ---DEAL VALUE PROP--- Overall, expand Publicis IM client services… • More creators to target any audience demo, niche • Better creator-client matching, campaign design via Influential AI + Publicis data businesses, Epsilon • Offer holistic digital campaigns that blend IM w/ digital, affiliate channels • Better ROI analysis of IM campaigns for brands, will drive more spend • Retain client media spend as moves away from linear TV and into social / streaming / other digital —IM MARKET NOTES— • $7B in 2023, up 17.4% from 2022 • Up more than 10.6% for all digital ad spend • Est to be $8.1B in 2024 and $9.3B in 2025 • Social spend to be $186B by 2025, exceeding linear TV spend – IM is fastest growing segment ---POST DEAL OPS--- • Influential will operate standalone • CEO Ryan Detert will stay on ---WHAT ELSE I FIND INTERESTING--- Following WPP's acquisition of Goat in 2023, and Stagwell buying LEADERS last week, I expect big agency IM M&A to continue ramping...though few scaled companies remain! I'll write more in my Friday newsletter. -- I'm the founder of RockWater Industries. We do M&A and strategy advisory for media, agencies, and creator economy. My DMs are open.

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📹 Amazon is Shaking Up the Streaming Advertising Market! 📺 In January, Amazon made a bold move by making all Prime Video subscriptions ad-supported by default. Just six months in, the impact is clear and brands need to pay close attention to how this will further change the advertising landscape: 🔸 Subscription Changes: Prime Video now defaults to ad-supported at $14.99/month for Prime members and $8.99/month for non-Prime members. Want ad-free? It’s an extra $3/month. 🔸 Market Impact: Amazon joins Netflix and Disney in offering ad-supported tiers, leading to an oversupply in the ad marketplace and therefore companies like Disney are now working harder to attract advertisers. 🔸 Ad Market Dynamics: Prime Video could add over 50 billion impressions to the connected TV (CTV) market this year. Amazon's aggressive pricing strategy is pushing down ad costs, with CPM rates between $30 and $35 which is causing competitors, like Netflix, to lower their CPM rates to stay competitive. 🔸 Competitive Edge: Amazon’s extensive audience reach and customer data from Prime gives it a significant advantage! They can integrate their search advertising with Prime Video, enhancing content monetization and lowering ad prices. 🔸 Market Trends: More consumers are opting for cheaper ad-supported streaming plans. MoffettNathanson predicts a 33% growth in advertising video on demand this year. 🔸 Industry Adaptation: Amazon's approach is pushing the industry to focuse more on market share over high ad prices. SO... What are some things you should be thinking about for YOUR brand? 🔹 Commitment to a proper investment and appropriate flight length 🔹 Plan for ample amounts of video development and to A/B test 🔹 Leverage your data to create tailored targeting 🔹 Take advantage of competitive pricing NOW - test early & often 🔹 Look for the halo effect and take advantage of retargeting 🔹 Up your influencer marketing game - it can boost your credibility, especially with young shoppers 🚀 Exciting times ahead for streaming and advertising! We're following them closely here at The Topo Agency, so if you looking to learn more follow along, reach out to me or someone from my team and as always head over to our website at www.thetopoagency.com to learn more about service offerings! #Streaming #Advertising #Amazon #PrimeVideo #Marketing #TechTrends

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How much of a rival is social media for linear TV audiences and ad dollars? Digital video is often considered the beneficiary of linear TV’s decline. But with 60% of time spent on social networks now dedicated to video, those platforms have also emerged as strong contenders for shrinking linear TV audiences. ✨ There will be 7.8 million more social network users than linear TV viewers in 2025, per EMARKETER. ✨ US adults will spend 52 minutes on social networks per day this year, which is slightly longer than an average primetime TV show without commercials. The social networks are following in YouTube's footsteps. It already has a bigger US audience than any social, TV, or streaming platform, and its user base continues to grow. ✨ YouTube surpassed linear TV in monthly US users in 2023. ✨ Close to half of daily time spent watching #YouTube will take place on CTV, meaning it's a direct competitor for time spent on the bigger screen. Among Gen Z, social media is a form of TV. You can still find Gen Zers in front of the big living room screen, but they’re far more likely to be streaming YouTube (or another digital video service) than watching linear TV. And they’re probably scrolling #TikTok —or even Instagram—on another screen as they do. ✨ TikTok has already surpassed linear TV in daily time spent among 18-to-24 year olds, and #Instagram will overtake linear TV in 2026. ✨ Even #Snapchat now has more Gen Z monthly users than linear TV. Over $50 billion in linear TV ad spending is at stake. Linear TV ad budgets are already leaking into social video. Broadcasters and streamers are shifting strategies to become more social and #creator-friendly in an effort to bring those dollars back. ✨ US advertisers will spend over $5 billion more on social video (excluding YouTube) than linear TV in 2025. I wrote about that here: https://lnkd.in/dBe2ry7u PRO subscribers can access the full report here, with takeaways on what it all means for the evolving entertainment landscape: https://lnkd.in/dr5j-nGu

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Congratulations to The Clio Awards 2024 winners and the creative teams whose work exemplifies excellence in advertising.   Thinking back on the judging, several winning campaigns and themes stood out. One that resonated with me powerfully was simplicity. In a landscape often dominated by digital, AI, and flashy new tools, sometimes the most impactful campaigns are the simplest ones that solve consumer problems in a straightforward way. The Creative Use of Data category surprised me with a few brilliant gems. Makro Colombia developed produce stickers showing the full spectrum of ripeness and suggested usage at each stage. The low-tech approach made a high impact – changing consumer behavior, extending food’s lifecycle and reducing waste. Creating new consumer habits is a shared objective for Procter & Gamble Many campaigns deserve recognition this year but one was so dominant, so transformative and so pink, that it couldn’t be ignored. The Barbie Movie created a worldwide phenomenon, inspiring a different conversation about the role of brands and resetting the bar for the entire industry, making the iconic brand a 2X Grand Clio winner. Reviewing nearly 300 submissions alongside Martell Beck, Vida M Cornelious, Nancy Mammana, Mo (Maureen) Kingston, Amy Manganiello, Joo-Mee Song, Julie Touyarot was an enlightening journey. We started from very different places which led to some heated, sometimes provocative discussion, but by the end the connection was real. It reminds me that when we come together as an industry to share ideas and engage in honest dialogue, we get to common values and inspire even more creativity. Here's to another year of pushing boundaries, sparking imagination, and making a difference through creativity. #ClioAwards #Creativity #AdvertisingExcellence  

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In connected TV (CTV) advertising, "outcomes" are the new focus as platforms introduce shoppable ad formats and partner with measurement providers like Innovid and EDO. These partnerships aim to prove that ads drive real business results beyond just reach and frequency. EDO emphasizes measuring actions like search activity and web traffic to predict sales, advising against focusing solely on immediate sales to maintain long-term brand health. #CTV #DigitalMarketing #DigitalAdvertising https://lnkd.in/geJZjX-F

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✅🖥️ NextTV (9/10): “Are these the best of times? Hell, no,” he said. With the streaming players joining linear networks in the advertising forum, Irwin Gotlieb spoke about the immense amount of content, driven by the streamers, facing consumers. “The stuff that is produced is not readily discoverable — the streamers don’t run the promo schedules that the linear [networks] do,” he said. “How do you get to the point of knowing what you want to watch?” He also noted the challenge of different measurement systems on linear and non-linear. “If you don’t have proper measurement you don’t have the basis for doing transactions,” he said. Gotlieb assessed the state of the streamers, including Paramount Plus, Max and Hulu, but suggested taking Netflix and Prime Video out of the equation. “How many of them are making serious money?” he asked, noting how they are more likely to report finally stopping “hemorrhaging capital.” Gotlieb was not entirely pessimistic about the industry. “Television is the most efficient and effective marketing tool that has ever been developed,” he said. Streaming, for its part, “should be the overall answer to the long-term health of the business but for the fact that the industry isn’t prepared for it.” ⬇️ #streamingtv #ctv #ott #smarttv #cordcutting #tv https://lnkd.in/ewiGZxPs

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🔊 🔊 🔊 🔊 This is the best, most honest, and real podcast interview you will listen to this year in advertising. From my friend and mentor Joshua Lowcock who might have questionable music taste but should be running every independent governing body in ad tech, and everyone should want to work for him. 😏 🔊 🔊 🔊 🔊 This is way more than media auditing. It's about questioning the incentives behind everything your partners do if they aren't either adding value back to the publisher, the end user, or the brand that is sponsoring the content. "There was an understanding that the industry was broken" "It wasn't about the blood money I was prepared to take, it was about being true to my values and be the change the industry needed" "The things about the holding company model, the statements they make publicly about transparency or supply path optimization or doing the right things for clients, are not the things they do privately in the room when accountants and financial people and senior executives are making decisions on how to run the business." My favorite line: "virtue signaling" "It's not about buying more impressions at scale, it's about buying less media impressions against an audience and not being obsessed with I bought millions of impressions so I've got scale." 🔊 🔊 🔊 🔊

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To my independent DSP peers -- here's to making it without epic self-dealing in the face of decades of blatant monopolistic practices by the largest player in the market. Pro tip: if you're going to conspire broadly to kill off your competitors, perhaps don't give your monopoly building projects such catchy names: https://lnkd.in/ec39wMBr

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With Spotify announcing yet another price increase, Lucas Shaw does a deep dive into the platform’s dominance with some very interesting little nuggets comparing it to streaming: 🎸 While most folks have four to six streaming services, generally audiences choose one music service between Spotify, Apple, Amazon and YT Music. And while streaming is fraught with subscriber churn, Spotify enjoys just a 1.5% monthly churn rate compared with an scary 6.1% average monthly churn rate for streaming as of June 2023 (https://lnkd.in/gitAZRHE), and roughly the same 4-7% for their music streaming rivals. 🎸🎸 What makes this even more remarkable is that audio services are undifferentiated, offering all the same millions of songs sorted into albums, (mostly) the same podcasts, and playlists functionality. 🎸🎸🎸 So where is their leverage with audiences? “Users have dozens or hundreds of playlists within their preferred service, creating very real switching costs. This is good news for the music industry, which wants the companies to raise prices.” And that is exactly what they are doing - apparently together. https://lnkd.in/gdjeNWKY

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