Cannes Conversations: Charlie Weiss of News Corp

The amp8220Cannes Conversationsamp8221 will continue at two events at Cannes Lions Festival hosted by Rubicon Project the 2nd Annual Agency Trading Desk Panel on Le Rooftop on Tuesday June 17 2014 at 6001000pm and the 1st Annual Publisher Automation Panel on the Rubicon Project Yacht the Antisan Wednesday June 18 2014 at 6001000pm Guests must RSVP hereYour Name Charlie WeissYour Company News CorpYour Title VP Ad MarketplacesSEARS Whatamp8217s your favorite candy barWEISS KitKatSEARS On average out of each 100 of advertising revenue received by your company how much today is from automated or programmatic channels WEISS It varies by business unit across News Corp We have some business units where itamp8217s very limited and we have others that I think will be a good percentage this yearSEARS What was this number in 2012WEISS Nominal in any currencySEARS What will this number be in 2016WEISS I think it will grow in the next few yearsSEARS Describe how most media all media digital nondigital nonprogrammatic media is sold by your company todayWEISS The processes vary from unit to unit The majority of our media in both print and digital is sold via insertion orders through traditional order management systems We are working on evolving into new and innovative ways to help workflow management with tools like RelateIQSEARS Tell us about News CorpWEISS News Corp comprises businesses across a range of media including news and information services cable network programming in Australia digital real estate book publishing digital education and payTV in Australia We also have Storyful which sources verifies and monetizes social content as well as our latest venture BallBall in Southeast Asia which delivers nearlive highlights of the worldamp8217s leading football leagues and other exclusive content in Japan Indonesia and VietnamSEARS PLEASE TELL USSEARS Percentage increase advertising revenue via automated systems expected in 2014 vs 2013WEISS I think it will grow but canamp8217t shareSEARS How many employees do you have globallyWEISSWorldwide Roughly 24000Europe amp8211 4000 in the UKThe United States amp8211 9000Asia amp8211 9000 in AustraliaOther amp8211 About another 2000 or so across the rest of the worldSEARS What are New Corpamp8217s three biggest initiatives for 2014WEISS1 Launch a global programmatic video offering in our key markets as well as Japan and Southeast Asia2 Continue to promote cooperation among our business units in the programmatic space3 Viewability and pagelevel data available in our private exchangeSEARS By 2016 what percentage of total advertising sales across your company will be from an automated or programmatic channelWEISS I anticipate growth in the next few years This doesnamp8217t necessarily mean it will all be digitalSEARS To reach a higher adoption of direct order automation also known as programmatic premium and use of the programmatic channel what are the major impediments to overcome Rank these in numerical order WEISS3 Operational or workforce issues inside the holding companies or operating agencies1 Premium direct deal inventory availability via programmatic4 Lack of proper ad technology5 Alignment of agency compensation modelsWEISS1 Marketplace is still largely a remnant play need to elevate this to automating direct orders and more brand dollars2 Problem with fees across the space3 I think this is improving but still an issue of how organizations are setupSEARS Tell us about your first party data strategy do you currently have a DMP data management platform for your first party dataWEISS Yes we have a global DMP in place Initial impact resulted in some businesses immediately capitalizing on the opportunity to a slow on ramp process The impact is higher CPMs and better resultsproducts that we can offer our clientsWhen we build out packages around first party data in Rubicon Project Orders the big thing we want to get down is what is important in each of our primary markets for data as well as what should we look to leverage globally vs locallySEARS Salesforce compensation Do you compensate your salespeople for every dollar or local currency equivalent sold regardless if the media is sold via insertion order IO manually or via an automated channel WEISS Local businesses handle compensation but we promote compensating sales people on dollars from programmatic I think this is important in terms of adoption and promoting sales people to want to learn about programmatic advertisingSEARS Direct sold inventory is often sold three to 12 months in advance Which of the following choices best describe how you use direct order automation and Rubicon Project Ordersamp8212check all that apply WEISS 1 X We use direct order automation and Rubicon Project Orders to make available an amp8220electronic versionamp8221 of our media kit and related editorial calendar inventory packages example holiday or backtoschool themed packages to buyers2 X We use direct order automation and Rubicon Project Orders to make available premium placements such as home page section pages and other opportunities that are not available in the open market3 X We use direct order automation and Rubicon Project Orders to make available IAB Rising Star ad units and rich media ad unitsWEISS Our programmatic offering is focused on the automation of ad dollars whether it comes through real time bidding or a direct IO We want our offering in Rubicon Project Orders to reflect that goal as well as the value of our audience and inventorySEARS What advertising opportunities will never be sold via advertising automation WEISS Very custom opportunities that utilize the strongest thing we offer creating content I canamp8217t see our Custom Studios at the New York Post or Wall Street Journal ever automating because of the amount of detail and personalization needed for each campaignSEARS Have you received amp8220Programmatic RFPsamp8221 for your inventory What do these look like and how are they different than traditional RFPsWEISS We have had a couple but they are more informal or part of a larger plan The ones we have seen donamp8217t look that different from a traditional RFP as they still focus on client objectivesSEARS What should top publisher chief revenue officers CROs do to build their direct order automation also known as programmatic premium and programmatic selling business with trading desks and operating agencies WEISS The key thing is to work at your own speed and what makes sense for your business Itamp8217s critical that launching programmatic comes with a lot of education and talking about the goals behind it When we launched the global exchange we had clear objectives and goals for both the short and long termSEARS Why is direct deal automation also known as programmatic premium so important Is it importantWEISS Itamp8217s definitely important I think automating a lot of the work that can take account managers and media planners hours will allow us to focus on providing more value to our clients Workflow automation will hopefully reduce a lot of the headaches with billing and inventory availabilitySEARS What global markets are the leaders and laggards in programmaticWEISS I think the Australian and US marketplaces are most advanced I think the UK and Europe are leading as well but programmatic is very different by each country I think in a few years Japan and SE Asia will also be huge marketplaces Iamp8217m eager to launch programmatic in China but itamp8217s a very small part of the marketTell us a bit more about youSEARS Who was one of your first mentors as a child WEISS Family my dad Still serves that role It never hurts to have a lawyeramp8217s point of viewSEARS Whatamp8217s your favorite movieWEISS Iamp8217d have to say two both with Ed Norton Either amp8220Roundersamp8221 or amp8220The 25th Houramp8221SEARS Money is not a concern You no longer work in advertising or technology What would you choose to do for workWEISS Become a boat captain in the south of France or Marthaamp8217s VineyardSEARS What is your favorite restaurant in the worldWEISS Ianamp8217s Pizza in Madison WisconsinThanks CharlieThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaBizBloggerscom management or associated bloggers MediaBizBloggers is an open thought leadership platform and readers may share their comments and opinions in response to all commentaries

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