Prime, Election Season From any vantage point, October has a lot going on. This is especially true when talking Ad Spend. That is not a value statement; it’s just an objective fact. The run-up to the US presidential election, Amazon Prime Day, and the start of Q4 will be a force multiplier. It is going ...continue reading
September to Remember If you only cared about Digital Ad Spend, and not (gesturing broadly at everything) anything else, well, this has been an amazing end to the summer and Q3. At this point, Ad Spend is outperforming our expectations. In my last newsletter, we talked about getting past flat. Well, we got past it ...continue reading
Getting Past Flat We took a longer than normal break between newsletters. With the summer quickly coming to an end and folks away on holiday, it felt like a good time to step away from industry analysis. I thought by virtue of living in some kind of time soup this summer would feel longer than ...continue reading
The Blue Jean Committee By design, this newsletter is positive. With so much uncertainty and challenging circumstances, I think it’s important to focus on the good out there. And while there is plenty of it, there is a limit to my positivity. And its video conferencing. It is an energy vampire. I don’t care if you ...continue reading
This is Today. Today is Yesterday. And Tomorrow is also Today. It’s official. Our new normal is no longer new. It’s just normal. If you have an internet connection, or cable television, you have heard those words more in the past few months than your own name. “The New Normal” will be the Time Magazine ...continue reading
Keep on Keeping On Momentum is important. You don’t realise how important it is until you lose it. In this business, we like to talk about momentum using expressions like “tailwinds”, “flywheel effects”, and the crown jewel of them all – “growth”. In a world where flat felt like progress, forward movement feels like a ...continue reading
Pretty, Pretty, Pretty… Good While the COVID curve flattens, ad spend is starting to pick back up. Before anyone starts doing cartwheels, ad spend is still down compared to pre-COVID levels but the trend lines are starting to move in our favour. This ain’t no disco, but it ain’t fooling around either… it’s good news. ...continue reading
It’s Gonna Be May We are about to cross the finish line of the first full calendar month in quarantine. Congratulations — getting out of April is a notable milestone. Back in January when China decided to shut down Wuhan and other dense population centres, I remember thinking I didn’t know if it was possible ...continue reading
First Change, Then Innovation The capacity for people and industry to change is as remarkable as much for its scope as its predictability. When challenges, constraints, and structural changes are introduced, people and society adapt quickly. In just over one month, an entire global economy has voluntarily paused. Despite some intermittent ill-advised protests, people have ...continue reading
Hope Springs Eternal (in Programmatic) Thank you all for the feedback to my weekly Marketplace Pulse update. We are getting great suggestions, but most importantly, it’s just been nice to hear from so many of you. One of the things I miss most since shifting to WFH is spending time with our Buyers and Publishers ...continue reading
Flat is the New Up – Marketplace Pulse Insights It’s now Q2, and everyone is in the process of adjusting their expectations. What does that mean in simple terms? Flat is the new up. Growth is an unlikely prospect while the global economy is still in a voluntary shutdown, but flat is good. Flat is ...continue reading
Is April the New January? – Marketplace Pulse Insights Thanks to everyone who read, and provided feedback on, last week’s first edition of “IX Marketplace Pulse.” If you have any items you’d like us to consider for our next edition, please email MarketplacePulse@indexexchange.com. Stay safe, happy and healthy. Will Doherty EVP, Global Marketplace Development Subscribe ...continue reading