| | Media Buyer & Planner Today | | | | | | | | | #1 Twitter to Identify Political Advertisers | | The social network has updated its ad policy to require public disclosure of the backers of all online political ads, much like the long-time policy for TV and radio stations. Twitter announced the new policy in a blog post that read: "we're announcing steps to dramatically increase transparency for all ads on Twitter, including political ads and issue-based ads." Bruce Falik, Twitter general manager of revenue product and engineering, said, "To make it clear when you are seeing or engaging with an electioneering ad, we will now require electioneering advertisers to identify their campaigns as such. We will also change the look and feel of these ads and include a visual political ad indicator." Twitter will also create an online Transparency Center that will include information about ad campaigns, including who they are targeting. | | WHY THIS MATTERS: Twitter is the first social platform to roll out its own disclosures in the wake of reports that Russian interests bought ads on various social media sites to spread misinformation in an attempt to impact the U.S. presidential election. Its move comes on the heels of a bi-partisan U.S. Senate bill called the Honest Ads Act, which would require public disclosure of online political ads. One of that bill's co-sponsors, Senator Mark Warner (D-Va.), wrote that Twitter's move is "a good first step." | Three Takes: B&C | Ad Age | Adweek
| | | | #2 Westwood One Offers Guaranteed ROI | | The nation's largest radio network, in what it says is an industry first, is giving its ad partners a return on investment guarantee. Those participating will have their commercials pre-tested against industry audio creative test norms and Nielsen will then measure return on ad spend on behalf of the radio campaign, Adweek reports. If the ROI is not positive, participating advertisers will receive free supplemental media weight from Westwood One so the advertisers can reach their guaranteed ROI. | | WHY THIS MATTERS: Says Suzanne Grimes, executive VP of corporate marketing at Westwood One parent Cumulus Media and president of Westwood One, "We've been working for the past couple of years to help break some of the myths and misunderstandings of radio. Historically, radio hasn't been able to step up and participate in discussions of data, insights and confidence. With this new program, we're able to marry reach of radio and results from our listeners." Westwood One reaches a massive audience of 245 million listeners each week across 8,000 affiliated stations and media partners. And recently, according to Pierre Bouvard, Westwood One chief insights officer, several large consumer products brands like P&G and Unilever inquired about moving money back into radio. So Westwood One has a lot riding on its new ROI guarantee. | | A Take: Adweek | | | | #3 Facebook Smart Speaker Could Elevate Voice Game | | Gregg Johnson, CEO of call intelligence company Invoca, in a first-person article for Adweek, says while it hasn't formally announced plans for a smart speaker that would compete with Amazon's Echo and other brands in the category, Facebook is indeed developing a voice assistance device. And, he says, such a product by Facebook would transform the category because of the massive amount of data Facebook has collected from its users. Says Johnson, "Consumers don't need another device or application to set an alarm, order detergent or check their bank balance, which are the kinds of commands and transactions Siri, Alexa and Google's assistant can handle with ease." He says a Facebook voice assistant would go way beyond those capabilities by offering brands more options to connect with consumers based on their understood intents. And because Facebook has such a high level involvement with brands and advertisers, it can offer mass voice interactions between brands and consumers via a smart speaker. | | WHY THIS MATTERS: The traditional TV networks are able to continue to bring in revenue despite their digital competitors because content is king and the networks have the best content to offer. Likewise in the voice assistant arena, content will eventually be king and the systems that can offer more services to consumers will be the ones that are most desired. Facebook has the largest amount of consumer data so it should be able to parlay that into a very successful voice assistant device. | | A Take: Adweek | |
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| | 83 | | Dollars in billions that will be spent on digital advertising in the U.S. in 2017, based on company financial reports as compiled by eMarketer. Google is projected to take in $35 billion in U.S. digital ad revenue, with its YouTube site expected to take in $3.8 billion of that. Facebook is projected to take in $17.3 billion with its Instagram platform expected to take in $3 billion of that. Next on the list is Microsoft which is expected to take in $3.6 billion, with its LinkedIn site expected to take in $810 million. | – Reported by eMarketer
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| | Series Opener Down on Fox | by Michael Malone
Fox took top honors in terms of Tuesday ratings, posting a 2.9 in viewers 18-49, per Nielsen's overnights, and an 11 share. The World Series, pitting the Los Angeles Dodgers against the Houston Astros, led Fox to the title, though ratings were down considerably from last year. The World Series did a 2.9. Last year's Series opener, the Cubs versus the Indians, did a 5.4, with many curious to see if the Cubs might craft their first Series win in more than 100 years. The 2015 Series opening game, Mets versus Royals, rated a 4.4. NBC was next at 1.9/7, as The Voice was down 10% at 1.9 and This Is Us slipped 4% to 2.7, before Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders did a flat 1.1. CBS did a 1.2/4. NCIS did a 1.4 and Bull its usual 1.2, before NCIS: New Orleans rated a 1.1. All three were flat. ABC was at 0.9/3. The Middle rated a flat 1.3 and Fresh Off the Boat was off 9% at 1.0. Black-ish was down 8% at 1.2 and The Mayor was a level 0.8, before Kevin (Probably) Saves the World fell 25% to 0.6. The CW was at 0.7/3, with The Flash up 11% at 1.0 and DC's Legends of Tomorrow at a flat 0.5. Telemundo did a 0.7/3, led by El Señor de los Cielos at 0.9. Univision rated a 0.4/1. | |
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| • ERIKA DALE has joined the American Association of Advertising Agencies as senior VP, business development. She was previously VP and group creative director at SS+K and also served as an account director of integrated marketing at Y&R New York.
• GIAN FULGONI will retire from his post as CEO of comScore on Jan. 31, 2018. He is co-founder of the media measurement company. He previously had left, but returned in 2016 to replace Serge Matta as CEO after accounting issues arose that led to the company having to reaudit its financial statements. The comScore board, headed by chair Sue Riley, will conduct a search for a successor to Fulgoni.
• RANDY FREER was named CEO of Hulu, succeeding MIKE HOPKINS who is leaving to become chairman of Sony Pictures Television. Freer, who serves on the Hulu board of directors, was previously president and chief operating officer of Fox Networks Group. • MICHELLE McNEILL was appointed VP, social strategy, at MDC Partners agency Assembly. She was previously regional director of paid social at iProspect and director of paid social at MediaCom. | |
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