• by Tyler Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_tyler, April 30, 2015

How have several large publishers changed the conversation when it comes to getting advertisers and agencies to use their data? A high-profile group of publishers was asked this question at the Publishing Insider Summit in Key Largo, FL, this morning, consisting of representatives from Politico, Conde Nast, AOL and Tribune Media.

“How have you changed the conversation, so that advertisers and agencies begin to use your data in combination with theirs?” an audience member asked.

Dennis Colon, executive director of revenue and advertising operations at Conde Nast, said that conversation had been going on for years, but the publisher “never had the data to back it up.” But once Conde Nast got its hands on presumed unbiased audience data, they “armed” their sales team with it, “and that’s when we saw the pivot of folks really accepting what we were saying and trying this out.”

Peter Cherukuri, EVP of advertising and business development at Politico, noted the conversation for them really shifted when Politico decided to balance programmatic and direct selling -- even blending both.

He said Politico decided to blend programmatic and direct to avoid being “squeezed” at both ends (an analogy made by AOL’s Tim Armstrong). “That’s how we were able to change the conversation,” said Cherukuri.