Has technology really helped brand storytelling? Or are we still just launching TV campaigns that get chopped and iterated elsewhere? With consumers bouncing across so many screens throughout their day, the opportunities for surrounding them, sequencing the messaging, and iterating a brand’s utility in so many different settings seems rich in creative possibilities. Where is this being done? Where is cross-channel marketing being realized to its full creative potential? And why aren’t we seeing more of it?

The viewability/fraud issue escalated this season when several TV network Up Front presentations bludgeoned  digital rivals over the problem. Yet, in fairly short order, the concern over inventory quality has gone from being a debatable “issue” to a consideration baked into most media buys. But what have been the results? Are buyers seeing improvements in overall inventory quality, share of voice, performance – all early promises from those pushing for viewability and fraud metrics? And have publishers seen the improved CPMs, less clutter? How are these new metrics themselves becoming currency in the market and do they impact buying and planning strategies and tactics?

With more than 90% of retails sales still taking place in physical stores, the main digital challenge for shopper marketing is driving foot traffic and in-store conversions. How can digital marketers accompany the shopper from pre-shop and through her path to purchase? How are programmatic, social, mobile, email and other channels best working together and across screens to keep brands top of mind along the journey? And is shopper marketing being informed by the same new art of data mining as other areas of marketing? But ultimately, how are these campaigns being measured and demonstrating real ROI?

The early pitch for advanced targeting and automated buying was that they would help make the Web safe for big branding budgets. Five years later, programmatic buying still is aimed mainly at performance based campaigns with uninspired creative telling negligible stories. How does this change? How are some brands leveraging these channels, blended KPIs, integration with broader campaign strategies to evolve tech-driven ad platforms into branding machines? How is success being measured here? And what can the early lessons about programmatic branding inform the automation of video, mobile and TV?

Most marketers and media buyers, if not vendors, seem to agree that measurement remains mobile’s weakest link. Transparency, discrepancies, app vs. Web tracking – all thwart basic ROI calculations. And yet marketers have no choice but to invest ahead of their own trust in the system. So how are they making do? We ask mobile experts to share their tricks and tips for assessing mobile ROI. 

Branded Entertainment, lush, high-touch campaigns, content marketing, native placements – all drive rich encounters with a brand’s stories. But marketers still have bottom lines, ROI and budget allocations to calculate. How is the value of content in all of its digital forms being measured, and optimized. What really measures “engagement” now? How are metrics and accountability being baked into campaigns from the beginning? What sorts of data do these programs cast off? And how is digital content performance being compared and reconciled with offline efforts and direct marketing? What is a story worth in today’s market, anyway?

The true scope and impact of digital ad blocking may be unclear for now. But the jig is up. Consumers now know they can improve their online experience and reduce their data charges with simple tech tweaks that major platforms, including Apple, are about to make easier to toggle on. How should marketers and publisher respond? Refuse service to blockers? Focus on un-blockable native and integrated ads? Cry ‘foul’? Or just make better ads?

It’s no surprise that the cigarette-smoking, sexy secretaries and binge drinking days of Mad Men are over. But some are saying the traditional agency of record is in danger and more companies are moving toward a fragmented approach. This talk addresses why this is happening – and what you can do to make sure your agency isn’t in danger.

The search for marketing “authenticity” in social channels has led marketers to countless partnerships with YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat “stars” as well as the more numerous class of “influencers.” But these hookups can be fraught with peril: clashing creative priorities, influencer fears of “selling out,” unclear expectations and more. So, when, how, and to what end do you really want to “co-create” your brand with people who have no marketing experience but piles of fans?

Publishers who once saw in programmatic platforms only  cannibalization of direct sales and CPM death spirals are now BFFs with these technologies. But how are publishers and agencies navigating this new jargon hell of direct, premium, guaranteed and open marketplaces? Are the sellers seeing the promised improvements in CPM, broadening of the customer base, and new clients for direct sales? Are the buyers finding in private exchanges the transparency and safety they typically seek here while maintaining efficiency and scale? After years in which ad tech clearly favored the buy side, have private marketplaces restored some balance and mutual benefit to both parties?

Marketing continues to move towards technology and science, but has the pendulum swung too far? All marketing teams should be using data, but behind that data are real people.  People with emotions, feelings and a desire to connect with a brand on a human to human level.  Data mining can provide an impressive roadmap and data can be used to create awesome experiences, but making a true connection to your customers isn’t simply a matter of data quality and utility.  There is still a role for art in marketing.

Sorry, but the standard exchange based mobile banners are eyesores. They either miniaturize desktop banners and fit the target screen poorly, or they break the user experience and site design. Are richer and better ad creative ever coming to mobile programmatic? Is a better in-feed experience via native part of the answer? Or should mobile media and advertisers be rethinking ad experiences altogether for this screen?

The entire audience buying infrastructure relies on a single but inscrutable fuel – data. But who is minding for quality? As third party data becomes commoditized, marketers are struggling to build their own or find reliable sources from others. Whose data do you trust? How are companies vetting for reliability, assessing value? In a market awash in data, how can marketers and agencies tell the good from the bad?

In just the last six months most of the major social nets have formalized their entry into video with products that combine their advanced audience building, keyword and behavioral targeting with a native in-feed format. But how are they performing relative to traditional formats and channels? And how are brands using them most effectively?