A Shark's Perspective: Interview with Sean McCaffrey - Fueling the Growth of a Video Ad Platform
Conversation with Sean McCaffrey, the President and CEO of GSTV, a national video network and platform delivering targeted audiences across tens of thousands of fuel retailers in over 200 DMA’s reaching 1-in-3 adults.
Listen to Sean’s interview here:
https://soundcloud.com/asharksperspective/216-fueling-the-growth-of-a-video-ad-platform
Adweek: What McDonald’s Acquisition of Dynamic Yield Means for DOOH and Personalization
Brands are able to target their consumers are every touchpoint feasible
By Sean McCaffrey | Adweek
Last month, McDonald’s announced its largest acquisition in 20 years. Yet the $300 million purchase of Dynamic Yield was notable for another reason: It legitimizes outdoor as a two-way medium for ad messages and delivers personalization at scale.
Simply put, McDonald’s, long a leader in outdoor advertising, has signaled that the space will be used for creating a dialogue between consumers and brands. The purchase lets McDonald’s vary its electronic display of items and DOOH network for walk-up or drive-thru customers based on the weather or consumer demand. For any franchisee who has ever mused that a product or service would be a perfect day for certain promotions then this purchase gives hope that they might be able to switch to promoting ice cold drinks when the temperature rises or hot chocolate on inclement days. But more importantly, it also connects that in-the-moment message to all other data-driven consumer engagements in both paid media and in-store messaging.
Too often we miss the true value of innovation in the moment and only grasp more foundational shifts in hindsight. It’s those brands and agencies that execute on such tectonic shifts that can accelerate their growth and gain share even in mature markets. With this acquisition, we’re seeing that singularity, the moment that will most matter in years to come, right now with DOOH and its impact on marketing strategy and investment outcomes.
The evolution of DOOH is clearly more than signs becoming screens. The marketer’s goal of presenting the right message to the right person at the right time is now in reach. DOOH networks have broadcast-level scale and bring added benefits of location-based context, dynamic creative and sequential messaging on the literal consumer journey. Such an objective has long been elusive for the $8 billion U.S. out-of-home market but now appears to be imminent. As with previous advertising innovations, marketers who embrace the technology first will reap the rewards.
It’s time to consider the truly available digital audience nature of the classic OOH channel.
Such promise is one reason why digital out-of-home spending has continued to outpace all other buying methods and is a bright spot in the menu of advertising options. This is bigger than dynamic screens; it’s the birth of digitally-enabled communication between brands and shoppers. It’s time to consider the truly available digital audience nature of the classic OOH channel.
But let’s face it: OOH has traditionally suffered from the one-way nature of its communications. A billboard can’t hear or recognize you, so the consumer has a natural advantage over it. Or, alternatively, it’s been judged only by physical placement. But what if OOH is now considered more broadly as every consumer touchpoint outside the home including in-restaurant placements? The location and physical context still matters that’s OOH’s most core value.
Current state-of-the-art technology can already vary messaging based on the time of day or the weather, but now, connected audience data drives true convergence of mobile, location-based and addressable audience marketing inclusive of DOOH.
Such sentient displays inject consumer intelligence into even routine interactions so a store rep can suggest a new or offbeat menu item that a shopper might like because it’s based on knowledge of their buying patterns. Suggesting the right offer, news, entertainment or insight to a targeted group of consumers in real-time drives results.
Imagine how such technology would work if adapted to pretty much every consumer. It would know better than to promote a new drink to someone who never varies from his standard purchase but could reap incremental sales from someone who’s open to such a suggestion. That’s the promise of cognizant out-of-home: It’s an intelligent system that knows both the store’s selection and the frame of mind of the visitors at moments in time.
Of course, such types of listening can be abused, but ideally it augments a human staffer who merely sizes up a consumer based on their age, sex and other signs of purchase intent to make a well-thought-out recommendation.
The best marketers have always understood the power of OOH. It offers massive canvases, broadcast scale, location-based targeting, unavoidable messaging and truly special creative opportunity. The past several years of Cannes Lions OOH winners have shown the new promise of the medium such as Google, Twitter and others. But many have also ignored the medium due to perceived limitations like targeting, measurement, attribution and true integration with overall media and creative strategy in the digital age.
The potential magic in this acquisition is the realization that all consumer touchpoints are an opportunity to personalize at scale.
Such is the evolution of DOOH, which can bridge the gap between out-of-home brand communication and a consumer’s personal profile. In the process, OOH is meeting consumers in the digital audience age.
The Drum: Four Unexpected, Data-Driven Media Buys For Quickly Boosting Sales
By Sean McCaffrey | The Drum
Of all the topics that come up in my conversations with brands, agencies, media and data/analytics partners, how to quickly boost sales is always a common one. Even though most brands plan their media spending annually, every marketer should have a deep bench of partners they know have a higher likelihood of driving sales without the long lead. Oh, and that can leverage the most relevant data resources on the market.
For brands wanting to know who they can call today to have a data-enriched campaign running tomorrow (or maybe next week), with a degree of certainty that they’ll see some lift, read on.
To hone the list, I’ve put recency in the crosshairs, which means we’re not talking about TV, mobile, social or any of the usual suspects. Why recency? Recency theory holds that ads are most effective when they air “immediately before the time of decision” per Nielsen. Brands shouldn’t overlook recency when considering where to place media, especially if making the sale is their immediate goal.
Paul Macaluso, chief executive at the fast-growing quick-serve restaurant Krystal, told QSR Magazine last week that recency is one of the most important elements of restaurant marketing.
“We need to be in front of people when they’re thinking about food or when they’re hungry. It’s just not TV anymore,” he says. “Certainly not predominantly TV anymore.”
Sometimes the simple answer is the right one. Here are a few to consider.
Intersection’s Link kiosks
With a monthly reach of 44m (Source: Geopath), anyone walking the streets of New York or London has seen a Link kiosk. It’s the sleek digital obelisks that offer beautifully displayed content, free wifi, phone calls, device charging and tablets for local search. These are savvy technologies that are only growing in number.
And given that almost every major retailer, QSR/fast-casual, finance, travel - and so many other business categories - sell in New York and London, Link is a recency goldmine. In these urban markets, you can combine recency with proximity - consider a promotion for financial services. Link makes sense for consumers who are directly outside or blocks away from the institution.
Cinema
Cinemas present a unique option among this list because moviegoers are a captive audience, unable to opt-out. They’re sitting down, noshing, and relaxed because all they’re doing for the next 90 minutes is watching a flick. It’s an opportunity for a brand to say hello and ask for their consideration.
With the evolution of the movie theater to include reclining chairs and alcoholic beverages, consumers may be more likely to arrive on time, snacks and all. And for theaters located inside shopping malls, viability goes up further. Monthly reach is 25m and 15.1m for National CineMedia and Screenvision, respectively (Source: Nielsen Media Impact, Sept 2017).
Walmart’s WMX and Kroger’s ClickList Ad Platforms
You’re on Kroger’s ClickList website, or walmart.com searching for cereal, and a sponsored ad shows up for something you’ve bought in the past with a deal if you buy two. Recency doesn’t get any more recent, and advertising here should be a no-brainer for brands selling, or thinking of selling, in either store.
Why is this media buy “unexpected?” Amazon’s AMS/AMG are so well known at this point; I want to call out Walmart’s WMX and Kroger’s ClickList, newer platforms that have the same kind of advertising options (or will). Various news outlets have reported that Kroger is selling ad units and developing a programmatic platform. WMX, by contrast, came around just after AMS and AMG.
There is sure to be a lot of upside for brands that get in early and develop relationships with these platforms, invest, and learn how to take advantage of them early. Hint for media and advertising agencies: if you can help brands do this, you’ll win. The substantial growth brands have seen on Amazon, and the cottage industry of agencies and media companies developing Amazon-specific service offerings is a clear sign the same is sure to happen for WMX and Kroger.
A significant player in the space, Walmart’s WMX sees a unique monthly reach of 103.3m thanks to Walmart.com traffic (Source: comScore, Feb 2018). Kroger's reach data is not yet available.
GSTV
Self-promotion alert, but here’s why it matters. GSTV is the new name for Gas Station TV, a data-driven, national video network delivering targeted audiences at scale across tens of thousands of fuel retailers (BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon-Mobil, Kwik Trip, Speedway and more). This format reaches one in three Americans monthly, and know from research that people who are fueling up are very often on their way to buy something else. I could go on, but know there are plenty more reasons to consider GSTV.
All of these businesses have access to best-in-class third-party data resources. They offer all the trappings of du jour digital offerings, without the risk that an off the cuff remark from a celebrity will send stock prices plunging.
And, most importantly, they reach consumers at natural times when a purchase is a likely outcome, times when audiences are potentially in a buying mindset. While there are plenty of media formats disrupting consumers at all other times of day, doesn’t it make sense to reconsider the options that aren’t as disruptive?
Thoughtful application of these unique media offerings could mean a big difference for brands who leverage them appropriately. And in a marketplace rife with fraud, brand safety, and so many other issues, it pays to have tools like these at your disposal.
Sean McCaffrey, is chief executive officer at GSTV