The industry’s annual sojourn to Cannes Lions is now well in the rear-view mirror, and the second half of another year of change is underway. The overarching topics and trends that emerge from the discourse along the Croisette in Cannes have proven to be a barometer for what’s happening in the industry at large.
This year, among several issues around creative, one of the biggest themes that emerged from the brands we engaged with, is one that we had already made a major focus of our products and our company for the year and beyond:
Marketers Want Unification
The industry has largely acknowledged, for going on a decade now, that there’s “no such thing as TV.” This couldn’t be more evident than in discussions at Cannes Lions. Today’s multi-platform, multi-generational landscape means TV, streaming, and video are synonymous, and currency and measurement must adapt accordingly.
The heightened presence of digital-first streamers and social platforms in Cannes, as well as the conversations we held with major brands there, underscored a clear truth: Marketers buying media across social, digital, streaming, and linear TV require a deeper understanding of how ad campaigns reach and perform against audiences in all of the places they consume video.
And it is incumbent on measurement providers like iSpot to bridge the gaps that exist between disparate platforms and fragmented audiences to provide a more holistic view of ad effectiveness everywhere. Unification has become a guiding principle for iSpot and is already reflected in the ways we are merging social video, digital video, streaming, and linear TV together within our Unified Measurement platform, which brings together audiences from a comprehensive array of linear and streaming providers as well as social video platforms like Youtube, TikTok and LinkedIn.
And as the industry evolves at a rapid clip, expect to see many more innovations from us throughout this year that help deliver on the promise of truly holistic, ad-first, cross-platform measurement for all advertisers large and small.
Coming Together is Key
Unification also takes on many forms. We think about bridging creative, audience, and outcomes to give brands a view of full-life-cycle ad performance. We think about unifying big data from disparate data sources and walled gardens to give advertisers a clear picture of ad effectiveness across all screens and all marketing channels. But perhaps just as important is that annual mile markers like Cannes Lions provide an invaluable opportunity for the industry to come together, celebrate creative excellence, work through our challenges and differences, and set the tone for future innovations.
Nothing can replace the inspiration that spurs from in-person gatherings like that on the Croisette, with the insights and experiences shared fueling the industry’s growth and next-wave of advancements. Relive the connections in Cannes in our recap video from this year’s event.