John Partilla of Screenvision on Video Everywhere and Automation

(The Video Everywhere program at Advertising Week New York. Pictured left to right: Jay Sears; Brendan Condon of AdMore; Scott Stansfield of Centriply; Scott Wells of Clear Channel Outdoor; John Partilla, and Michael Strober of Turner Broadcasting. Follow the link to read Jay's interview with Scott.)

JAY SEARS: What do you read to keep up with politics, art and culture?

JOHN PARTILLA:The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The New York Post, Politico.com and CNN.com are great resources for politics, art and culture news.

SEARS: What do you read to keep up with friends?

PARTILLA: I keep up with colleagues and friends on both LinkedIn and Facebook, but also enjoy catching up in person.

SEARS: What do you read to keep up with the media and advertising technology industries?

PARTILLA: I read a variety of things to keep up with media and advertising technology, including Adweek, Advertising Age, The Wall Street Journal, All Things Digital and MediaVillage.com.  I also keep up with these outlets and relevant players within the industries on LinkedIn and Twitter.

SEARS: What’s your favorite commercial of all time?The Nike "Greatness" commercial.

SEARS: When you speak about “video everywhere” ad automation (including TV, out of home and cinema), how widely or narrowly do you define this?

PARTILLA: It all starts with the story. We look for video everywhere, including the technologies needed to enable storytelling, to happen in the right place, at the right time, to create meaningful context and to influence people both emotionally and financially. We are continually evaluating our work on the biggest storytelling platform in media, the 40-foot screen, and strategically deploying alliances that help us connect people to the story through cinema.

SEARS: With regards to advertising automation impacting “video everywhere,” what are the three biggest trends you expect to impact companies in 2016 and 2017?

PARTILLA:

1. Proximity-based technology will continue to increase and improve.
2. The use of proximity-based technology will move more from simply serving ads to providing useful information to users. Mobile phones will be operating in a “video everywhere” fashion to deliver information that matters to consumers instead of simply showing an advertisement.
3. Advertising automation will continue to create access to inventory for a broader set of advertisers.

SEARS: With regards to advertising automation impacting “video everywhere,” what are the three most overblown topics that you wish would just go away?

PARTILLA:

1. Automated buying will replace people.
2. Automated buying will solve inventory utilization issues.
3. Big data gathered from automated buying is the holy grail – big data is not useful unless you can create insights and utility around it.

SEARS: Describe your company or division and then tell us the top three opportunities you are working on to advance “video everywhere.”

PARTILLA: Screenvision Media is a leading cinema advertising company at its core. Within the fast-paced, ever-changing media landscape, we are seeing ourselves more and more as a complete media company.

Top three opportunities:

1. We are continuing to fuel demand for time on the biggest screen with the highest impact in media.
2. We are continuing to be thoughtful about how we optimize the physical locations of our exhibitors (e.g. lobbies).
3. We are continuing to align with third parties that help extend the powerful message and story we’re telling on the big screen.

SEARS: Will Nielsen (and Geopath FKA TAB for OOH) remain the standard for media currency? Will the innovations be primarily in audience definition and measurement, with these innovations being “translated back” to Nielsen as the currency?

PARTILLA: In any emerging, fast-moving category, there is a real need to have a standardized currency. There appear to be some significant advances in that category, and we all know that standardization is an important element for businesses take hold and grow.

SEARS: Do we live in a “tale of two cities” where Google and Facebook win almost everything, advertisers are dictated to and other media companies fight for the scraps? What do you expect the impact of Google and Facebook to be in “video everywhere”/TV?

PARTILLA: Today, that probably is true. But like in many industries, innovation is spurred on by companies and individuals looking for opportunities. Google and Facebook provide tremendous scale but they may not be the right fit for everyone, creating opportunities for other companies to develop solutions that meet the needs of advertisers and clients across the spectrum, large and small. Both Google and Facebook are major players that have proven themselves to be at the forefront of innovation. As such, they will have a major impact on “video everywhere,” which we’ve seen as Facebook Live has really started to gain some traction.

SEARS: Transparency -- on media costs, on data, on inventory -- continues to be a lightning rod issue. Should transparency be a negotiated benefit for the advertiser client, yes or no?

PARTILLA: Transparency should always be at the forefront of every relationship with a client. Whether or not media costs, data and inventory are negotiated items in a contract depending on the nature of the deal, it is paramount that agencies continue to increase transparency of deliverables and data across the board. Media companies and agencies need to continue to raise the bar in order to reaffirm and maintain clients’ confidence in inventory that’s being developed through an automated process.

SEARS: Please answer the following statements yes or no.

PARTILLA:

SEARS: If you had your own TV talk show, what would you name it?

PARTILLA: Walking and Talking. I very much enjoy talking to people while walking as much as I can, as I find that face-to-face interactions in today’s world are often lost. I relish my time walking around cities and getting some fresh air, which really opens up my creative thought-process. On the show, I’d be able to curate my walks and align them some with my personal passion points, including film, technology, art, culture and sports. I’m not sure everyone would jump to watch it but with “video everywhere,” I’m sure I could get it distributed. J

SEARS: A young family member has come to you seeking career advice. They must choose one of the following careers: ad agency executive, media company executive, ad technology executive or company marketing executive. Which career path do you recommend and why?

PARTILLA: I would recommend a position as either a media company executive or an ad agency executive. Both careers hold equal levels of opportunity, as they both offer the chance to interact with a variety of industries, something that certainly benefitted my career. Within these positions, you are also exposed to a lot of varying business challenges. These two jobs probably give the broadest sets of business learnings, and as today’s marketplace moves forward, whether you work in advertising technology or at an ad agency or media company, you need to be up to speed on advertising technology. In my opinion, there is something special about being involved in providing client solutions at an ad agency or media company that could include elements of advertising technology, which will continue to be an increasing part of everyone’s job in the future.

SEARS: What is your favorite restaurant in the world?

PARTILLA: I really enjoy Keen’s Steakhouse!

SEARS: Thanks, John!

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