| | Media Buyer & Planner Today | | | | | | | | | #1 Amazon Gets Into Header Bidding | | The eCommerce company plans to announce a cloud-based header bidding solution for publishers as early as next week, Ad Age reports. The process will be a little different than traditional header bidding platforms, with the entire ad auction process occurring in the cloud. It is expected to make the process easier since ad requests will be handled on the server instead of in consumers' browsers. | | WHY THIS MATTERS: Header bidding is an increasingly important area of ad tech, which allows publishers to take more offers for their ads at the same time and gives advertisers a better chance at getting inventory. And Amazon's entry into header bidding will present a strong challenge to Google and Facebook in the programmatic ad marketplace. | | A Take: Ad Age | | | | #2 Agencies Eye Ads on Voice Technology | | Ad agencies such as Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Huge, Rain and We Are Social are examining voice-enabled technology services like Alexa, Siri, Cortana and Watson and looking to create their own voice apps as places to incorporate their client's brand messages. And they have been making significant investments in this area, Digiday reports. Rain developed a recipe library for Campbell's on Amazon Echo and recently built a smartphone app called Reverb, which lets users interact with Alexa, even if they don't own an Echo device. We Are Social has launched a daily news broadcast on Echo. CP+B employees meet regularly with New Haven-based Digital Surgeons to keep up to speed with voice-enabled technology and to determine where to make investments in that area. | | WHY THIS MATTERS: Says Tom Ollerton, innovation director at We Are Social U.K., "To ensure brands stay relevant, they need to be a central part of technologies that are solving consumer problems. It's key for an agency like ours to be able to make the most of new tech so we can offer those kinds of solutions for our clients." | | A Take: Digiday | | | | #3 Breitbart's Kellogg Boycott Raises Legal Questions | | A First Amendment lawyer says the alt-right website's decision to promote a boycott of Kellogg products after the brand pulled its ads from the site could violate laws barring unfair business practices because the boycott is aimed at furthering its competitive position. Ted Boutrous of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher based in Los Angeles, says the Breitbart boycott is "clearly intended to deter other advertisers from withdrawing their business and to ensure costs and prices don't go down for Breitbart." He adds that California's broad anti-competition law would be fertile ground for legal action by Kellogg, and says the cereal maker could have a strong case if it can show its sales were harmed by the boycott. Another attorney, Frederick Lane, who specializes in technology cases, says former head of Breitbart Steve Bannon's position as a top adviser to President-elect Donald Trump could make it seem like the White House is backing the boycott. | | WHY THIS MATTERS: Kellogg has not commented on any plans to take legal action against Breitbart, but clearly every advertiser is watching how this situation plays out. | | A Take: Digiday | |
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| | 60.1 | | Percentage of U.S. social media users to play games on social media, according to a survey by AYTM. Some 24.5% play games regularly, 21.9% do so occasionally, while 13.4% have played games at least once. Just under 40% have never played games on social media. | – Reported by eMarketer
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| | NFL Carries NBC to Thursday Win | By Luke McCord NBC topped all broadcasters Thursday with a 4.4 rating/15 share among adults 18-49, according to Nielsen overnight numbers. CBS came in second with a 1.4/5, while ABC followed with a 1.2/4, The CW a 0.9/3 and Fox a 0.7/2. On NBC, Football Night in Minnesota scored a 2.9, while Thursday Night Football, featuring the Dallas Cowboys and Minnesota Vikings, did a 4.7. That was down from last week's Thanksgiving game at 6.9 but up from the 4.2 two weeks prior. CBS' The Big Bang Theory was even with its last original at 3.1, as was The Great Indoors at 1.4. Mom slipped a tenth to a 1.3, while Life in Pieces fell two-tenths to a 1.2. Pure Genius shaved off a tenth to a 0.8. ABC's airing of A Charlie Brown Christmas scored a 1.5. The Great American Baking Show, formerly The Great Holiday Baking Show, earned a 1.1. The CW's DC's Legends of Tomorrow rocketed 83% to a 1.1, and Supernatural was flat a 0.7. Fox's Rosewood and Pitch were flat with their last original airings at 0.7s. | |
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| • KARINA WILSHER was promoted to global chief operating officer at MDC Partners' agency Anomaly. She was previously Anomaly New York CEO and will relocate to London. FRANKE RODRIGUEZ, most recently CEO of Anomaly Toronto, will succeed Wilsher heading up the New York office. • CHRISTINA FALZANO was promoted to managing director of the New York office of Brand Union, WPP's global brand strategy and design agency. She was previously executive director of client services at the agency. • TAMMY EINAV and MAT GOFF were elevated to coCEOs at London-based adam&eveDDB. RICHARD BRIM was also promoted from executive creative director to chief creative officer, while ALEX HESZ was promoted to chief strategy officer. He was previously executive interactive director. • MITCHELL CAPLAN was named U.S. chief growth officer at Omnicom's Rapp agency. He was previously chief marketing officer at IBT Media. • HOWARD SCHULTZ is leaving his position as CEO of Starbucks and will be succeeded by KEVIN JOHNSON, currently president and chief operating officer, effective April 2017. Schultz will continue to serve on the Starbucks board. | |
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