IAB NewFronts 2023: Identity Takes Center Stage

The Interactive Advertising Bureau’s NewFronts is the world’s largest digital content roadshow; an opportunity for media buyers to connect with digital publishers and technology providers on the forefront of data, content and connectivity.

In a fireside chat at this year’s event, TransUnion SVP of Media Vertical Partnerships David Oliveira and Univision SVP of Data, Analytics & Advanced Advertising Daniel Aversano discussed how the streaming revolution is changing the landscape of media buying — and how identity is key to unlocking the potential of that new marketing future.

The investment imbalance

One statistic kept popping up: This year, time spent consuming streaming media on all devices will exceed time spent watching traditional TV for the first time. And with digital video expected to account for nearly 25% of all marketing spend in 2023, advertisers have certainly taken note of these shifting consumer viewing preferences.

But while spending in digital channels has increased, it hasn’t necessarily kept pace with consumer adoption. According to data from TransUnion, 35% of all ad-supported TV viewing came from streaming, ad-supported video on demand (AVOD), but AVOD only accounted for 24% of total TV ad spend.

“Some of us who grew up in the digital world are used to this idea of dollars chasing eyeballs,” Oliveira said. “But there’s still opportunity in the AVOD world.”

A complex problem

In their time on stage, Oliveira and Aversano named two main reasons why ad investment in AVOD is not keeping pace with consumer adoption: ad load and complexity.

According to Aversano, ad load contributes to investment in AVOD being out of proportion with view time simply because of supply. Ad loads are significantly lower in a connected TV (CTV) environment than on linear TV. This does vary based on the kind of program in place: Disney+’s ad-supported subscription video on demand (SVOD) tier averages around 4 minutes of ads every hour, while free ad-supported television (FAST) channels like Amazon’s Freevee average around 8 to 10. In both cases, that’s significantly lower than the traditional linear ad load of 13 minutes per hour. Regardless, lower ad loads create less available inventory for advertisers to access, which in turn creates an investment bottleneck.

While the concept of lower ad loads is relatively straightforward, complexity in the advertising space is a tougher nut to crack.

By Aversano’s measure, we’ve come a long way from back-of-the-napkin deals handled over the phone at the Upfronts. With the explosion of advertising technologies has come a deluge of intermediate steps between media and buyer: Media buyers are contending with different types of data, privacy arrangements and technologies between all of their partners. This creates friction and pushes some marketers out of the conversation entirely.

“I describe the challenge as, to some extent, trying to put Humpty Dumpty back together again,” Aversano said.

And this isn’t an issue solely affecting advertisers. Publishers are also facing challenges in navigating an environment where the interconnected web of ad tech solutions has drastically increased the complexity of nearly every transaction they make.

“We went from having a handful of distribution endpoints where we put our content and ads to literally hundreds,” Aversano said of Univision.

The identity solution

If complexity is hampering investment in streaming, then Aversano saw identity as a way for advertisers and publishers alike to simplify.

Fundamentally, a robust identity solution will link identifiers to individuals across devices, platforms, channels and more. This creates a unified view, collapsing dozens of different signals down to one easily usable and anonymized view of a given consumer or household.

“Identity ultimately is becoming the Rosetta Stone to solve for these issues,” Aversano said. “At the end of the day, there are only so many people in the US… our ability to understand who they are — information about them, what they’re watching and when they’re watching — really is the key.”

Aversano cited this as one of the main impetuses behind why Univision partners with TransUnion. He noted, “The reason why we’re working with companies like TransUnion is the ability to create and stitch identity across the entire daisy chain of how we transact.”

Aversano stressed identity is alsoclosely linked to measurement: If media buyers and publishers have an actionable and reliable view of all the signals that make up their audiences, then naturally they’ll also be able to refine their measurement strategies with that higher-fidelity data.

And in an environment where ad budgets are shrinking and optimization is increasingly important, measurement needs to have a solid foundation in identity to enable confident investment.

“If you're not working in and around identity and how we plan, optimize and activate, you're dead in the water, so to speak,” Aversano said. “Identity and measurement need to be stitched at the hip. The more light of day you create between them, you’re creating inefficiency in the ecosystem, which leads to less efficacy for agencies and advertisers , which is bad for their business.”

The full spectrum

To Oliveira and Aversano, a thoughtful approach to identity is a rising tide that lifts all boats: For publishers and advertisers, it connects the signals that enable measurement, while at the same time creating a better experience for consumers by providing more insights to power things like frequency caps. And while a focus on identity may not be an immediate silver bullet, its adoption has started moving the industry in the right direction.

“It is a highly complex route to get there,” Aversano said. “I don’t want to downplay that. I think at the last four Upfronts, there’s been press around identity-based marketing. But we are making inroads.”