Inside Universal Ads' plan to reach the next 100K buyers of TV ads
Over the next few weeks, marketers will learn what's coming down the pike in video advertising at both the Interactive Advertising Bureau's digitally focused NewFronts, taking place May 5-8, and at spring upfront presentations. While historically a time for major brands and agencies to cut deals, this year's ad-buying bonanza features a new platform aimed, not at existing spenders on national and local TV, but the channel's next 100,000 buyers: an e-commerce-heavy field that hasn't yet made the leap to the home's biggest screen.
The platform, called Universal Ads, was announced ahead of the Consumer Electronic Show in January as part of Comcast's efforts to create a one-stop TV advertising platform that simplifies premium video buying. Since launch, Universal Ads has added publisher and technology partners to improve its offering to the small- and medium-sized businesses that have mostly bought social video but are looking to take the next step in advertising.
'We want to replicate the way you buy YouTube for premium TV,' said James Grant, general manager of Universal Ads.
Bringing the ease of online ad buying to TV requires both developing new tools and providing access to premium video as a category, rather than a fragmented publisher-by-publisher approach. To address the former factor, Universal Ads hired talent from the walled garden world to create solutions that resemble what advertisers are used to in the digital and social realms. For the latter, Universal Ads relies on FreeWheel, the connected TV ad server that has already been adopted by major players in video and standardizes how Universal Ads defines and targets audiences. Among Universal Ads' digital-first team is James Borow, an architect of Snapchat's ad manager who emphasized how critical FreeWheel is to realizing Comcast's goal to modernize TV transactions.
'When he was familiarizing himself with FreeWheel, [Borow said], 'You guys have done the hard part — the ad server exists,'' Grant recalled.
Growing partnerships
Initially launched with partners including A+E, AMC Networks, DirecTV, Fox Corporation, NBCUniversal, Paramount, Roku, TelevisaUnivision, Warner Bros. Discovery and Xumo, Universal Ads last week added Estrella MediaCo, Fuse Media, LG Ad Solutions, Scripps, Spectrum Reach and Vizio to its publisher slate.
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