• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, May 20, 2024

Skai has been working to build its streaming and connected television (CTV) services. The company has traditionally offered advertising products related to search, social media, and retail media -- not only the advertising side of the services, but measurement as well.

Its expansion of digital services into streaming and CTV is being driven by retailers. Now it has become important to determine how to measure media when linking the traditional digital services with CTV.

“When there isn’t a solution, we create and build one,” says Noa Reikhav, vice president of product management at Skai, to examine how to "view the measurement in tandem with the advertising program.”

She acknowledges that there is much more data when linking CTV to traditional digital. The industry has metrics to measure CTV ads, but the main challenge for Skai has become the ability to tie it to other media.

CTV typically is measured in terms of frequency and reach. Media that is more performance-based media, such as search, is measured by return on ad spend. The question becomes whether or not it makes sense to develop a new metric and what that would look like.

“Developing analytical frameworks might include new metrics,” Reikhav says. This is a unique opportunity, she says, as the only time to develop a new metric or standard "is when you have all these types of data from all the different channels.”

Skai, which is supported by about 600 employees worldwide, sits on numerous retail media networks and a variety of media channels, giving the company insight into how to create this cross metric.

It has partnerships with major advertising platforms such as Google Ads, Amazon Ads, Microsoft Advertising, Instacart, Walmart Connect, and Target.

Skai is also looking to create other partnerships in the CTV space, although Reikhav did not provide names.

It has become increasingly difficult to manage the more than 100 retail platforms Skai is in partnership with -- either through direct API connections or third-party connections through companies like Criteo.

Questions range from how much of the budget should be spent on media to what is performing well and how to optimize. “They want to know where to spend their next $100,000,” says Michelle Urwin, vice president of marketing at Skai.

Advertisers are looking for a complete integrated ad system. There are just too many platforms, including social platforms like Facebook, and TikTok. The company in April unveiled a suite of full-funnel products supported by generative artificial intelligence (GAI) and Microsoft Copilot.

With 65% of advertisers incorporating social commerce into their retail media strategy and 60% using offsite ads, Skai believes that the tools for decisioning, activation, and optimization will amplify success.

The new tools include Commerce Display, Social Commerce, Commerce Incrementality, Next-Generation Commerce Optimization and Executive Copilot.