Ingredients For Success In The New Media Landscape

What does it take to flourish in the fast-changing advertising ecosystem? Using the right content and latest technology strategically to stay relevant says Xandr senior director, market development JAPAC Samuel Tan.

Today’s rapid fragmentation of content consumption challenges advertisers to find their audiences across screens, while publishers are similarly tasked with packaging, selling and measuring the performance of their media to offer advertisers the scaled and aggregated buying they are demanding.

In the face of this shift comes even more change in the media landscape, as the past few years have brought an unprecedented amount of consolidation. In Australia, Nine Entertainment Co. has merged with Fairfax Media and then subsequently acquired Macquarie Media while the Seven Network has bought the regional Prime Media Group and sold Pacific Magazines to Bauer Media.

Foxtel merged with Fox Sports and majority owner News Corp is looking to list Foxtel in the future, while US giant CBS acquired the Ten Network and AT&T acquired AppNexus (now Xandr). Each of these transactions indicate the emergence of major media giants aiming to offer the leading end-to-end platform solution.

So, what does this shift mean for our future, and how are these new media companies redefining industry standards?

Consolidating assets to deliver premium content
With the rise of cord cutting and Connected TV (CTV), access to content has proliferated across screens – consumers watch on the way to work, in bars, in waiting rooms, at the airport – putting these new, all-encompassing media companies to task to create the most engaging and easily accessible content.

Locally, Nine Entertainment Co. has launched successful streaming service Stan, while Foxtel launched its own online sports-based service, Kayo. Seven signed a new licensing deal with iwonder for documentary and current affairs streaming on its 7plus platform and Ten late last year launched its subscription video on demand service called 10 All Access.

While we still expect collaboration among the industry, each of these examples points toward the value of owned and operated content. Besides content, factors such as insights, reach and scale must be taken into account by companies hoping to thrive in the modern media landscape.

Deploying technology to solve pressing industry challenges
Having access to the right technology will be critical to success, be that through owned channels or collaboration. Technology helps advertisers reach their desired audience and provides media companies with the controls, data, and buyer demand so they can thrive on the open internet, improving consumer experience along the way.

In September 2018, AT&T announced the launch of its advertising and analytics company, Xandr, the result of a merger between AT&T Ad Works and AppNexus, a leading independent ad tech company. Over the past year, Xandr has built on more than a decade of AppNexus’ buy-and-sell side innovation to steadily introduce new tools that create a better solution for advertisers and publishers.

Xandr Invest, our strategic buying platform, offers simplified access to, and tailored buying of, premium, brand-safe content, while Xandr Monetize, our strategic selling platform, enables media companies to unlock the full value of their inventory and improve the experience of their consumers. Each of these tools – along with Community, our premium video marketplace – is tailored towards helping advertisers and publishers thrive in the midst of rapid change.

To meet the growing demands of buyers and sellers, we will continue to deploy holistic, premium solutions that focus on solving today’s issues while preparing the industry for the future convergence of TV and digital advertising on a global scale.

Thinking globally, acting locally
Advertisers and publishers around the world are generally consistent in their high-level needs; however, localised strategies are critical to capturing attention and driving revenue. From regulation and measurement capabilities to consumer behaviour across screens, every market has different patterns and trends – a “one size fits all” approach will leave both advertisers and media companies floundering.

New media giants must invest in both technology and the people in market to deploy more localised strategies. For example, AT&T gained access to one of the world’s largest marketplaces through its acquisition of AppNexus. While we will continue to invest in our technology to support buyers and sellers all over the world, we are committing to grow and develop our regional teams across critical functions like Services and Sales. We know that they know each of their markets best, and so we are thoughtfully investing to their, and therefore our clients’, success.

This “multi-local” mindset has been a driving force for Xandr. We are incredibly proud of the trusted and collaborative relationships we have forged with progressive companies like Nine Entertainment Co. and Finecast Australia. Our customer-centric view of product development means that we consistently deploy innovative solutions that meet the complex demands of individual markets.

Preparing for the future of advertising
The on-going consolidation indicates a shift from a purely digital advertising landscape to one that is more TV-inclusive. It is clear that the future of relevance in the advertising landscape is tied directly to premium content assets paired with the right technology, on a global scale.

From new formats like pause ads to unique, addressable targeting capabilities and new forms of measurement and reporting, we anticipate momentum in the convergence of digital and TV. Xandr looks forward to growing alongside with our clients, sharing as we learn and evolve.