Ernie Talbert

Here is a thought exercise: What if Warner is right about the NBA? Warner is getting dragged through the mud right now for letting NBA rights slip out of their fingertips. But what if they’re right? What if it’s not worth the $2.5B that NBC is forking over? If you think about it, the bear case becomes clearer. For starters, the NBA has a long season, and more and more of their young fans are watching highlights on YouTube and TikTok over regular season games. That makes monetizing those games on TV harder as fans can just keep up with the games elsewhere. Further, there is more allegiance to players over teams at this point. So it’s not like all 30 teams are must watch TV - instead, it’s more like 10-15 players. Plus, the NBAs stars are aging up and out in the next few years - LeBron, KD, Curry, etc. The new crop is strong, but not to the levels of these players. Just look at NBA playoff ratings - without these players in the mix, playoff ratings are down 11% YoY through the 2nd round. A year ago, LeBron, KD and Curry were all in the mix in the 2nd round, and LeBron made it to the conference finals. Finally, look at the NBA ownership trends. Mark Cuban just sold his stake in the Mavs, along with MJ. When smart people and owners start signaling they think the valuations have peaked, pay attention. I’m not saying Warner is making the right move to not retain the rights - but it’s possible they are right that the NBA rights are being overvalued. Time will tell who is right. (Post inspired by Joe Pompliano great podcast this weekend with Alex Sherman. Check it out!)

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As VP of Brand Partnerships in the creator and gaming space, this caught my eye: a new Amplify article featuring MrBeast and YouTube creator Samir Chaudry 👉 https://lnkd.in/gkZMzcgw   Here's the key takeaway: forget traditional advertising.  Consumers crave authenticity, and creators hold the power.   For brands, maybe it's high time to ditch generic sponsorships. Focus on building partnerships, not ads. Partner with creators to reach engaged communities and leverage their storytelling magic.   For creators, advertising partnerships open new revenue streams and give you creative control. Choose brands that value your vision and build long-term relationships with your audience.   Clearly, this isn't a trend. It's a fundamental shift.    Brands need creators, and creators are the future of advertising.   What are your thoughts?   #CreatorEconomy #BrandMarketing #BrandPartnerships #CommunityBuilding #ContentCreation #Advertising

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One of the most fun categories to work on involves vehicles performing amazing feats of derring-do! Toy Stories Chapter 13: Tyco RC Feature Vehicles! Kudos to the brilliant creative minds behind my 3 favorite RC toys: Joseph Moll, Vlad Leonov, carmen ezzio, David Bowen and many others! Shell Shocker!: I had just taken over as GM of the Tyco RC group. Half of the team had just moved from Philly to LA, and most of their time had been allocated to packing up, so the fall line was missing its TV driver. Joe Moll led a brainstorm that included a ball that transformed into RC vehicle, but mechanically it was not quite yet viable, and visually & thematically it needed more. Our mechanical genius, Vlad Leonov, then created a rotating panel transformation that also delivered multi-terrain propulsion! Designer Dave Bowen then gave it an Alien-like monster look and added a tail for balance. It was a cool toy and a big hit at the fall toy show. A great first joint effort by the newly formed team, that won Boys Toy of the Year at the following year’s TIA TOTY’s at New York Toy Fair. Alas, I was not at the ceremony to accept the award, as my twin girls elected to be born a bit earlier than expected. It’s OK, I forgive them…sort of. Terrain Twister!: This all-surface RC was already in production by the time I came on board, so but Vlad Leonov told me that he created the prototype and it sat on his shelf for 10 years, before it was submitted into child testing, where it dazzled kids just as it would in market. Once in production, we had a big argument with management over the media plan. Our President said that sales in early fall wouldn’t justify a September flight. I argued that we would be advertising early to get re-orders for a big late push. Surprisingly, he agreed, we got the media, we got the reorders, and Terrain Twister was the #1 feature RC that year. So popular, in fact, that when I went to Hong Kong Toy Fair the following January, Chinese companies had already knocked it off and were pitching it (to me! Weird!), often even keeping the original name. NSECT!: We knew following up our hit Shell Shocker was going to be tough, so I asked Vlad Leonov for something robotic, which was coming trend. He showed me a cool bug-walking mechanism that was creepily lifelike. I loved It! But it needed more….Just then, Ken Ong sent into my office an RC car driven with the aid of a camera with can of silly string pointed right at me. What a scary feeling! Who was doing this?! We added the camera and silly string to the walking mechanism and the first NSECT was born. Later, we cost-reduced out the camera, and kid-testing told us they preferred darts over silly string. That was fine with me, and Carmen Ezzio did a fantastic job presenting at NYTF, firing the darts so that they would hit and stick on the news camera lens! We added the pincers in front because I always wanted a robot that could bring me a Diet Coke, and I KNEW I wasn’t alone on that! #mattel #tycorc

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Folks, we have an exciting webinar TODAY on the hottest topic in the media industry right now: Retail Media or Commerce Media. We have an outstanding panelist lined up, and you definitely don't want to miss it. If you're a CPG marketer, this topic is a must for you. I assure you that you'll walk away with actionable insights to bring back to your organization. Click the link below to register. Looking forward to seeing you there!

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More and more brands are wondering how they can advertise effectively to consumers across a fragmented identity ecosystem. Kristina Prokop's recent article in AdExchanger drills down the 4 ways brands can continue to maintain addressability for their omnichannel advertising strategies. 💫 Integrate audience data and first-party data: Brands can unlock more information about their customers and enable more precise targeting and personalized experiences by enriching their first-party data with audience data. These enriched data sets can then be used to find new like-minded audiences that represent a brand’s most receptive prospects. 💫 Use context: Contextual data and targeting – fueled by data and insights into the content people are consuming and how they’re consuming it – enables brands to tap into predictive audiences without relying on cookies. 💫 Adopt universal ID solutions: Brands can engage their users without cookies across channels by shifting to strategies that embrace universal IDs. While no single ID will replace the cookie, an ID-agnostic approach that combines the power of multiple IDs can go a long way while complying with all applicable privacy rules. 💫 Target omnichannel environments: Brands should also deepen their investments in channels that have never depended on cookies, including audio, CTV, DOOH and others. These channels represent growing opportunities to reach relevant, engaged audiences. Dun & Bradstreet Eyeota, a Dun & Bradstreet company https://lnkd.in/ex87Grxe

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Recent developments at Nike and Lululemon underscore significant shifts in the activewear industry. As reported by Barron's (https://lnkd.in/g2YnFdqH), Nike is poised to eliminate approximately 700 jobs, part of a broader strategy to reduce its workforce by about 1,600 positions, signaling a move towards optimizing operations amid fluctuating demand. Similarly, Lululemon plans to lay off 128 workers, reflecting changes in its fulfillment strategy and infrastructure. These changes occur as both brands, previously buoyed by pandemic-driven demand, now experience divergent stock performances - Nike faces a decline amid slow innovation and increasing competition, while Lululemon, despite a significant year-on-year drop, has managed gains. While acknowledging the real impact of layoffs on individuals, I am particularly intrigued by the underlying consumer behavior and brand strategy within the luxury activewear market. The market's evolving dynamics suggest a shift in consumer preferences, where customers seem to be gravitating towards brands that not only offer value but also continually innovate and resonate with their lifestyle aspirations. This observation aligns with a broader trend where consumers increasingly scrutinize the value of their purchases. An anecdotal example: my wife, a fitness enthusiast, recently switched her preference from lululemon to Sweaty Betty, finding that the latter offers greater real and perceived value. For brands like Nike and Lululemon, the challenge is to stay ahead of rapidly changing fashion trends and consumer expectations. Are consumers merely seeking cheaper alternatives, or is there a deeper desire for products that break the mold and offer something truly unique? The answers, as always, will be dictated by consumer preferences. As professionals in the industry, we must consider how these shifts affect our strategies and decision-making processes. How can brands better align with consumer values to maintain their relevance and market position? What does this mean for innovation in design and marketing? Are qualitative considerations feasible in the face of consumers' rising quantitative concerns? As an economist, I am confident we will understand these patterns in retrospect; however, hindsight offers little solace to clients. Being nimble and adaptable to rapidly evolving consumer preferences is crucial in the short term.

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Like athletes to train both physically, and mentally, preparation is key for success. At Sports Innovation Lab, we’ve spent three years preparing for this moment. Now, everything comes together – the preparation, the passion, the positioning. With a breadth of inventory and depth of understanding of fans were ready to help break new records and media performance. The opportunity is here. Are you ready to score big? #MediaPerformance #SportsInnovation #DigitalMedia #audiencetargeting #IABNewFronts

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Amazon occupied Pier 36 in Manhattan, NY, showcasing a massive installation featuring shows, movies, and sports like "Fallout" and "The Summer I Turned Pretty." Amazon Prime Video presented its first upfront to advertisers in New York, featuring major stars to announce its original series, film, and sports offerings. An upfront is a crucial advertising sales event held by network executives and significant advertisers to purchase commercial airtime months before the start of the television season. Advertisers were presented with various projects and news aimed at making a substantial impact in the advertising marketplace. Imagine having access to 200 million customers worldwide, including 115 million subscribers in the US market. Now, add to that the power of advertising technology that can segment audiences and deliver better results than traditional network TV. This is the untapped opportunity that Amazon's advertising platform offers to brands with substantial advertising budgets. Considering that many advertisers are based in New York City, it's no wonder that Amazon pulled out all the stops by offering celebrities and entertainment at this event. This raises the question: what are other networks doing to provide their advertisers with access to technology that can instantly monetize intent? #amazon #tv #advertising #primevideo https://lnkd.in/gPgDYX_Y

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✅🖥️ AdExchanger (6/3): “Seedtag was mainly attracted to Beachfront’s SSP direct integrations with TV and streaming publishers, which is something that Seedtag doesn’t have much of. These publishers will attract new demand and more scale for Seedtag’s contextual ad products. Seedtag entered the US market in 2022. But it wasn’t until earlier this year that it launched its first CTV-focused contextual ad product that allows advertisers to apply contextual targeting signals to their streaming buys. More advertisers are now looking for addressable alternatives in light of signal loss and privacy concerns, which, in turn, is driving more interest in streaming ad products. Hence Seedtag’s decision to buy rather than build in order to capture that growing demand. Beachfront operates both a video-focused supply-side platform and ad server.” ⬇️ #streamingtv #ssp #dsp #ctvadvertising #spo https://lnkd.in/evvUE4hY

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✅🖥️ WSJ (6/14): “The streaming ad market was upended earlier this year when Amazon converted its entire Prime Video subscriber base to a new ad-supported version, giving customers a chance to switch back to ad-free streaming for an extra $2.99 a month. Prime Video’s large ad-supported subscriber base means it has a significant amount of ad inventory that is affecting the negotiations that Netflix, YouTube, TV networks and other streamers are having with advertisers as they commit to buying billions of dollars in commercial time for the coming TV season—a process known as the “upfronts.” The e-commerce company is driving down ad prices for everyone, analysts and ad buyers said. While Amazon doesn’t disclose subscriber numbers, it has said the ad-supported tier of Prime Video has an average reach of 115 monthly viewers in the U.S. By contrast, Netflix told advertisers at its star-studded presentation last month in New York City that its ad tier reaches 40MM global monthly active users—a significant jump from the 23MM users the company disclosed in January. “Amazon in many ways is building the killer app,” said John Terrana, chief media officer at the ad firm VaynerMedia. It has “premium content, live sports, immense scale,” and advertisers can target ads to their customers and can often see if a viewer bought the product on the platform, he added. Although Amazon has plenty of reach, ad buyers said Netflix programming is attractive because it tends to be more popular and often generates more buzz in the marketplace. Netflix consistently ranks as the second most watched streaming option behind Alphabet’s YouTube, according to Nielsen.” ⬇️ #streamingtv #ctv #ott #fast #upfronts #smarttv #vaynermedia https://lnkd.in/eK6ukkdv

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Wow, this is great to see from the Roku team who want to bring increased transparency to programmatic CTV ad buys. 👏 With the Roku Exchange, programmatic buyers can access the same data as direct buyers, Louqman Parampath told AdExchanger, such as the length of ad breaks and when those breaks happen within a particular stream. Programmatic buyers also get more metadata about networks and channels, including genre. More here from Alyssa Boyle. #CTV #AVOD #FAST #Streaming #Programmatic #AdTech

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Announcing Aperiam's Latest Investment: Gigi! 🍒 Aperiam continues to make strategic bets in commerce media and CTV, the fastest-growing segments of digital advertising. With Amazon Ads being the largest commerce media channel AND the fastest-growing Streaming TV ad platform, we are excited to introduce our latest investment: Gigi. Why Gigi? 1) The product. Gigi’s unique ability to integrate a brand's first-party commerce data with Amazon's data for audience enrichment and deterministic omnichannel measurement sets it apart. This powerful combination enables brands and agencies to buy and measure Amazon Streaming TV ads more effectively. 2) The team. The founders behind Gigi consists of experienced commerce media executives - led by cofounder and CEO, Adam Epstein - who have a bold vision for the future of Streaming TV, commerce media, and data collaboration and a history of success in commerce media. Their expertise ensures that Gigi is at the forefront of innovation in this space. We believe Gigi’s capabilities and the vision of its team will drive significant advancements in how brands leverage data to enhance their advertising strategies on Amazon’s platform. Check out Gigi here: https://gigico.tv/ cc: James Borow Joe Zawadzki Danilo Tauro, PhD

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I really enjoyed this Marketecture Pod by Harry Kargman. He said what we all know to be true: "If you even look at Trade Desk today...are they even a DSP or an ad network or a data company, or all the rest, you can't put anything in a box." But what I do know is what a black box looks like. So if you don't know where your ads are running (ie: domain level reporting with log files to back them up) or how much you are paying for them now, (beyond the platform fee, or the variable/blended margin), then I can tell you with a large degree of certainty that you are you are probably lighting 50-60% of your media dollars on fire once it actually gets to the end human, which you aren't also tracking to be true. Keep in mind, your screenshots are also made up. AI can do that for me now too. If you don't believe me, hit me up via DM and I'll tell you where you money is being wasted. https://lnkd.in/gHxmHeZ7 CC: Lizzie Black Brittany Smartt Batchelor

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Curious to get to know more about how Contextual TV works? 🤔 In this final part of a two-part episode, my bestie Mike Villalobos , VP of Strategy & Planning at Seedtag, discusses what makes Contextual TV unique, delving into the four steps of a Contextual TV campaign that allows advertisers to target users with a precision that goes beyond the standard CTV activations. Watch now: https://lnkd.in/eXZiXEaY #GetToKnow #ContextualTV #CTV #ContextualAdvertising #PressPlayForContextualTV

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More than just media.

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Every time we come together, this team just feels like pure magic. The below is just the start, IYKYK. Oracle Red Bull Racing, AOI, Bybit, and Uncaged team (Mando, OSF, Cowlz, Green Giant, Dunked, and The Wizard on X). #Art #F1 #DigitalArt #Fans #Community #Web3 #Blockchain #CustomerExperience #BrandExperience #Marketing #Web3

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**Over 95% of GenZ consume media alone (versus 50% of Millennial's).*** Have you ever heard something at an event that stopped you in your tracks? I experienced this yesterday at the Brand Innovators summit at Paramount's offices. The always brilliant Shelly Palmer hosted a fireside chat with the extremely inspirational David Kenny, Chairman of Neilsen Company. Of course they talked about strategy, the future and more, but then..... David made this comment (that I am paraphrasing so feel free to correct me on the exact percentage). In a world where we see levels of anxiety, depression and loneliness increasing with each generation, time spent alone on devices is having an impact. This leads to huge opportunity for future entrepreneurs, media companies and founders. Innovation that leverages and fosters a customers experience that also creates a healthy mental state seems to be exactly what we might need. I want to expand this conversation and get your feedback on our future and how we can battle the social anxiety we have created over the past decade.

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