The market moves fast. Canadian Ad Insider gets you there first.
Account moves, people moves, and the conversations shaping Canada’s advertising industry — before your competitors see them.
This year’s Upfront/ Newfront season did not disappoint with numerous exciting new announcements about renewed and brand new TV shows that will keep Canadians glued to their TVs (or other viewing devices) for hours. Several broadcasters, social networks, and technology companies have launched new products and services to help you better connect with Canadians for your upcoming campaigns.
Once again Profectio had a front-row seat and provided coverage of several of the announcements, and this year we took some time to interview several senior media buyers, and this year we had a conversation or two with people on the brand and publishers.
In the second edition of our 2024 Upfront/ Newfront Interview Series, we sat down with Jill McDonald, and Jennifer Young for a recorded conversation about the changing advertising and media buying landscape, a few highlights include:
- Evolution of Upfronts
- What marketers want (in their ad-tech solutions) today vs yesterday?
- What does a rock star media planner/ buyer look like?
Below is a transcript of the interview:
Who are you and what problem do you solve?
I’m Jill McDonald, President, M&K Media. I am an experienced media professional specializing in Strategic & Innovative Media Planning and Buying for over 20 years. I lead M&K Media through work in leadership, mentorship and educations, strategic insights, account management, day to day operations and new business. I also teach media planning and buying part time post graduate students at Humber College in the Faculty of Business
Jennifer Young, Director, Media Buying. I head up the buying side for M&K, particularly video buying (linear and streaming); facilitate & negotiate media buys for M&K clients and provide POVs for the agency on industry changes/developments/technological advances in the Canadian video landscape
So looking back at the upfronts are there any shows that caught your eye this year? What about this year?
Jennifer – I liked the little trailer for The Office Movers. I thought it was really funny. It follows two brothers, who have an office moving company and they’re trying to turn it around.
Jill – I’m looking forward to Law and Order Toronto because it’s a lot of Toronto. I know it’s not new but I’m looking forward to that. Also the Golden Bachelorette but I’m not saying that out loud, I’m just saying it in my head. But in all seriousness, some of the new programming with Amazon Prime looked good. We went to their upfront presentation. One of the shows Sticky which is all about a Maple syrup heist in Canada with some good Canadian content looked amazing, the Celine Dion documentary, the Hip documentary, some of those programs we thought looked really interesting.
I don’t know if you realize but I’ve got some sway with the networks, I can put you in any show. What show would you want to be on?
Jennifer – Okay, I thought about this, I would love to be on The Traders because I think I would shine and be a hell of a trader because I think people usually consider being nice and amenable. I try to present myself that way, so I think if I was there, I would just move under the radar and destroy EVERYONE.
Looking back at the 2024 upfront/ new front season. What are you most excited about? Are there any new products or solutions?
Jennifer – I’m excited about the continual, evolution of connected TV, with new vendors offering increasingly compelling content, more sophisticated targeting and innovative services. And I think it’s clear that connected TV vendors are investing in their products and technologies so advertisers can make a meaningful impact in their advertising campaigns.
Jill – I thought there were a lot of new interesting partnerships that were announced specifically in the Bell and TikTok deal. I’m really excited about the evolution of connected TV and streaming. Amazon Prime’s presentation really a standout out to me as it really focused on a lot of Canadian content.
Jennifer – And Amazon, it’s priced relatively well compared to similar high profile vendors such as you know, the Netflix is of the world. However, Samsung and Roku now offer QR codes, and customization plus PCR technology at no or little premium. So, in that sense, they came out ahead as well.
Do you notice any big change with the upfronts over the last say five to six years.
Jennifer – Absolutely, first of all, the obvious change, COVID took over our lives in the past five years and changed how we consume media which led the upfronts down a new path also between COVID and the writers /actors strike new content has been restricted for several upfront seasons but now production has picked back up. So it’s refreshing to hear about the new and current shows. Pure-Connected TV vendors are no longer on the fringes of properties. They are becoming clear contenders with linear vendors, carrying content and measurability.
The focus during upfronts in the past years has been an addressable TV, which is obviously still a topic but it seems not as many resources are being placed into addressing buying more. They are now speaking about new ways and linear vendors are now focusing resources on streaming services which makes sense.
Jill – Yeah, to double down on what Jen said, I think there’s been a shift from content to more tech and effectiveness which is the right way to go in my opinion. To the point about addressable TV or data-driven linear, I think this needs to be explained more of how it can be used effectively, and not just in the moment but future thinking that we can plan for changes in technology as media planners and buyers. And then in terms of change in the past five years, the big thing is Connected TV and streaming partners, so we’re seeing them at the forefront versus before it was a compliment to build reach to linear plans, then reaching these audiences. Now, we’re seeing them come out with their own upfronts. The Amazon Prime event stood out with some acquisitions or deals, they have NHL or sports which I know we’re going to talk about a bit u. You know, a big change in the CTV and streaming landscape.
What are the top three things that marketers should focus on or look at is they consider media for 2024 – 2025?
Jill – First, how can linear be addressable and how can we Implement more targeting on CTV and other video offerings. That data-driven linear is really important. I think we need to really push that and talk about that. Second, effective cross-measurement platform, every publisher, every broadcaster, and vendor partner seems to have their own solution. How as an industry can read effectively and measure across platforms? And then, I think the other thing that we’re seeing is from a video perspective is engagement. A lot of CTV streaming options now are seeing a lot of engagement mechanisms through QR codes or experiences, shopping applications, through, connecting and streaming. I think this is a big area of growth and I think a lot of consumers will be used to activating these types of ways of engagement.
Marketers can really create an engagement experience through a video. The last one that marketers should really focus on when looking at media in the coming years is continuing to find ways to invest in Canadian content and vendors. I know this is a big discussion right now in the marketplace, but really, how can we maintain our spending within the Canadian ecosystem, support, team partners and content, local news and this is a real area of concern.
Jennifer – Three things mirror Jil’s first as targeting, this is a key tool for marketers that’s becoming more sophisticated each year and it’s really important to stay on top and understand how to use it effectively. Measurability and duplication, especially across multiple platforms. Duplication is a big issue and it’s not completely solvable, but we’re working toward it and it’s something you really need to understand. And then how to measure all the targeting everywhere. Also, where Canadians are consuming content in order to reach them and once you reach them, and once you reach them what we should be communicating with them.
What point of the funnel are you in, what services can offer? You know, there’s things developing all the time so you really need to understand what communications is going to work, best for that. And all these topics are increasingly becoming sophisticated and not all vendors will post these topics equally. So I think it’s important to understand how these are developing and how each impacts is specific type of media.
Are you noticing any trends or differences between what marketers are looking at this year versus last year? And how that impacts their advertising solutions.
Jennifer – I think marketers want to employ KPIs that are quantifiable and they want to be able to apply these results to their business in order to generate sales. And offer a more customizable. customer experience. Marketers also want to obtain more data on our customers and potential customers. And truly understand their behaviour and all the contextual information.
When they spend money on advertising, marketers want practical information that they can use for future endeavours, they don’t want to just throw money out into the ether and hope for any type of response from consumers, they want to be able to quantify and apply our service.
What emerging technologies do you see having the biggest impact on media buying strategies?
Jennifer – The big targeting in data which is becoming more sophisticated and we can hone in on specific populations and create look-alikes and developments and lower funnel targeting such as QR codes and interactive ads, I think that’s really exciting and you can truly reach your consumer. This includes customizing ads without investing a lot of resources and also minimizing duplication across platforms. This is still a work in progress, but it’s been improving year over year and I think we’ll get there soon.
Jill – The importance of first-party data is the biggest impact and how it’s going to be used. Obviously AI has a massive impact from a technological standpoint. Thinking about how impactful and the ways we’re going to use it. Finding ways to use that in our media solutions that’s not just quantity, but quality. A lot of these technologies are really going to shape how our media buying strategies and planning come to life in the future.
What skills and qualities do you feel are most in-demand or required? To be a successful media buyer in the coming years?
Jennifer – The media landscape has been in constant flux and will continue to do so for years to come – everyone involved. Not just buyers but planners marketers, and advertisers. They need to understand the current and future developments in media. Anyone who thinks this is what we’ve always done so we’ll stick with it. I think they’ll ultimately fail. And we live in an age where more sophisticated methods of buying and planning are in constant development and we need to embrace change. I would say the top skills of qualities and media buyers will be to really learn and understand new industry developments. So they can be implemented properly and where they make sense? They should also be attending industry conferences and media invitations, talking with their colleagues and really absorbing what’s been discussed. It also means asking questions and dialoguing with vendors, advertisers and colleagues, and most importantly understanding, how to analyze results and apply the learnings teacher campaigns.
Jill – Well, this question, I’m really passionate about because I think that as a teacher on the side, I teach media planners and buyers. A lot of foundational media skills are super important. What’s going to be most in demand for a successful media planner / buyer are a few things:
- the first one being critical thinking. Always asking why? Or why not? In our business of buyers and planners our job is largely centred around making decisions and justifying why it is the correct decision or why not it’s the right decision? And have we thought of every avenue? So as automation and technology continue to progress that critical thinking piece and a successful media buyer of explaining that and rationalization is super important and will continue to be really important
- In terms of other skills, I think, data, analytics and data science. So applying your those data skills to business outcomes and reasons that impact clients will be very important, taking all that data information and turning it into something meaningful, and again that rationalization. So using it, arming you with knowledge and data to make decisions. I think a big quality that will be most in demand for successful buyers and planners is the ability to change and pivot quickly. So our business every single day is totally different. So understanding, what’s working and what’s not working? Why is it? Why is it not working and rationalizing those choices to come back with the why or the one?
- Within that ability to change is the fast adaptation of new tech and computer skills. So we learn new platforms every other week, there’s something new to learn. It’s continually learning continually using that new tech or whatever the skill is and so we can use that in our planning and buying. And then the last piece I really wanted to touch on was this question about successful media, buyers and planners is more of those soft skills. So selling plans and products. So at the end of the day, we’re media players and buyers and we sell our media plans, and advise so we need to be dynamic. We need to sell.
A lot of this happens either in person and or virtually so those skills of refining your presence. Either in person or virtual and becoming a dynamic seller it’s very difficult. So I think it’s a quality that a lot of hiring managers are going to be looking for. And the last piece is relationship management. In terms of a successful buyer, a lot of this is negotiations internally, externally with the client with your colleagues with cross-functional team because then your agencies and the sellers and vendor partners. So again, it’s that critical thinking and understanding of everyone has an agenda. What are you trying to get out of it, and maintaining a healthy, working relationship with all of these stakeholders is very challenging. So any planner or buyer that can come into your role and can demonstrate that they’re successful in relationship management will be a really key asset to an agency.
Media & Publishers mentioned:
Learn more about each vendor in our Media Marketplace.
This interview was transposed from an audio interview.
Other 2024 Upfront/ Newfront Announcements & Interviews:
2024 Upfront Interview Series with M&K Media’s Jill MacDonald And Jennifer Young
2024 Upfront Interview Series with True Media Canada’s Bruce Neve (Updated)
Microsoft Advertising Accelerate Roadshow Arrives In Cities Across Canada
TikTok #ForYou Summit 2024
The Connected Worlds Canada, Amazon Ads 2024 Upfront
Rogers Sports & Media Reveals 2024/2025 Citytv Programming Lineup
[adrotate banner=”10″][adrotate banner=”4″][adrotate banner=”6″]
