• by David Goetzl , June 5, 2013

It could be that so-called advanced advertising will never fulfill its promise. Mind you, that doesn’t mean failure. Success metrics might be widespread. An increasing number of advertisers might use the new technologies and tout the results. 

Maybe, though, the potential appears so ripe that expectations have gotten out of control – the promise might need recalibration. An apt metaphor might be the Brazil maxim: it’s the country of the future and always will be.  

The goal line, the benchmark, whatever connotes undeniable triumph could always be moving. Simply because advanced advertising tactics seem to offer unending, exceedingly alluring possibilities ...

Neighbors receiving different ads because they have different interests (addressable advertising). A Papa John’s ad leading to free pizza coupons emailed immediately after just a few clicks of the remote (known as RFI). Paramount swapping ads in and out of video-on-demand content to plug new film openings or DVD releases (dynamic ad insertion or DAI).

So, amid the hoopla, perhaps Comcast should be anointed as the advanced advertising scorekeeper. When a top executive there says campaigns are driving meaningful, company-wide revenues, white smoke can go up signaling sustainable, scalable success has been found.

Why Comcast and not Time Warner Cable, Cablevision or another operator that’s been a staunch supporter and laid solid groundwork? Why not one of the tech providers facilitating RFI or DAI spots? Why not an advertiser or agency with multiple case studies about a national campaign reaching tens of millions of homes? Why not a data collector?

Commentary and metrics from any of those should not be dismissed. Rentrak, for example, said Wednesday it can provide viewership data for DAI initiatives on VOD. That’s a crucial step towards monetization.

Rentrak was involved in an effort to move the ball downfield with entities from all precincts of a DAI ecosystem, including among others: tech provider BlackArrow; the Entertainment ID Registry (which tracks content); Canoe Ventures (now focused on VOD DAI after failing in other forms of advanced advertising); and NBC, which provided the content that was used.

All of the above parties have visibility into various parts of the advanced advertising workflow and progress. But none have the vantage point Comcast has.

With NBCUniversal and its cable service with 20 million-plus subscribers, it has the assets on the programming side to drum up advertiser interest and infrastructure (or basis for one) to deliver the ads at scale. To be sure, it’s a big company. But with all that under one roof, it would seem to be able to speed development along faster than anyone.

CFO Michael Angelakis noted this week “it’s complicated,” but Comcast is committed and “uniquely positioned to benefit” from a groundswell in DAI, addressable ads, etc. At an investor event, he said the company is investing in the technology and working with Canoe. And it has a dedicated team charged with bringing NBCU and cable ops together to build the business.

Maybe the most compelling reason, however, to let Comcast serve as the barometer for industry success was Angelakis steering clear of the bullishness that accompanies the space. It would have been easy to tell investors how ripe and close big money is, but he resisted. He's seen Canoe largely sink and prospects with it.

“I don’t want to set false expectations,” he said. “I’d rather just say we understand the opportunity. We understand how both sides of our organization need to work together to have that opportunity materialize.”

And ... “I’d rather let us continue to press on and then we’ll let the numbers speak for themselves as we go forward.”

Angelakis may have been going with the underpromise-and-overdeliver tack. But he’s ushered in a solid measuring stick for advanced advertising: his company. And, as the CFO, maybe himself.