OpenSlate CEO Mike Henry on Measuring TV Inventory in the Digital Space

Charlene Weisler: What type of measurement do you use?

Mike Henry: OpenSlate has a proprietary metric called the SlateScore that quantifies the value of content for advertisers by measuring a channel's engagement, consistency, influence and momentum. We also have metrics on content quality, brand safety and subject matter expertise and which creators are the most proficient in developing content in a certain genre. In addition to content metrics, we have demographic data from YouTube such as age, gender, device and geography.

Charlene: Age and gender? Are all 18 year olds alike?

Mike: No, I am sure that they are not. But advertisers still buy on age and gender. OpenSlate data can help advertisers reach their target audiences for sure.  What makes us different is that we ensure that advertisers reach that key demo within the highest quality, brand-safe content on YouTube.  We have the ability to drill down to targeted content as well -- not just Beauty and Fitness, but Fitness specifically -- and within Fitness, Yoga and Pilates.  This gives advertisers the ability to target the best environment for their message and provides additional data points for optimization.  You can learn more about the different viewing habits of key demos in our latest report, How Content Powers Share Shift.

Charlene: What is your company's role in moving TV ads to digital?

Mike: Advertisers are moving from TV to digital anyway, especially to keep up with younger audiences. They are using OpenSlate to understand how to best access these audiences and develop creative in order to engage more with these viewers.

Charlene: What advice can you give regarding creative development?

Mike: Our data shows what content your audience likes. An example might be 13-18 year-old boys viewing sports. They may prefer extreme sports to professional sports, which would definitely impact messaging strategy.

Charlene: What data do you collect?

Mike: We collect data on more than a million YouTube channels, 200 million videos and billions of daily aggregate data points. We also cull data from Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as well as performance data for campaigns. We also look at ad completion and cost-per-view to see what is more effective for an advertiser.

Charlene: OpenSlate has been around for six years. Have you seen any changes in your business in those years?

Mike: Over the last two years, we have seen more agencies and clients interested in spending in online video. We might have been ahead of the curve six years ago; it might have been a little too soon. However, the last two years have been active on all fronts.

Charlene: Can you give me some predictions on your business for the next five years?

Mike: Facebook and Snapchat will become more video-centric and usable for advertisers. Online video will offer even more programming but all media will be in each platform's own sandbox and advertisers will need to treat each individually. Finally, video influencers will become even more important and the industry will produce more content with them.

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