Digital Innovations Awesome List

At Centro, we know that keeping up with the trade pubs and latest trends can be tough and time consuming. To make that easier, we’ve compiled all the articles, reports, and other bits of awesomeness you may have missed, but should definitely read. Enjoy our latest list below!

What the heck is the difference between ad tech and marketing tech?

What is advertising technology? What is marketing technology? Do the terms overlap and why should ad (or marketing) professionals care? This article has all the answers you need.

Buzzfeed + NBC + American Express = Massive Branded Content Play on TV

This past Leap Day, Amex, with the help of Buzzfeed, created sponsored content that ran on NBC. Supplemental content was added to The Today Show, Blindspot, The Voice and Late Night with Seth Meyers. Buzzfeed is focusing on building its video creative, so adding a major network to their rolodex only helps to bolster their reputation as the leader of branded content creation. The deal came in at a cool $200M, though early reports are unclear about what Amex plans to do with all of those credit card points.

Facebook Reactions Are Here

After years of users asking for a dislike button, they now have a variety of emoji reactions that will allow them to expand their emotional range beyond a thumbs up. Users were quick to adapt and the reaction tally on posts is growing daily. For advertisers, it’s another metric to consider. As of now, all reactions count as a “like” on Sponsored Post (yes, even the negative ones) but Facebook has said that their “Reactions team will continue to learn and iterate, and may incorporate Reactions signals into News Feed Ranking in the future.” This is another reason why brands need to keep creative top of mind when approaching the social space.

Facebook is Now Offering Automatic Captions

Another change comes down the pipeline, as Facebook continues its growth in video. Now, brands posting videos will be offered automated captions, at no additional cost. The intention is for the caption to encourage users to watch brand videos instead of just scrolling past them. Cue the clapping and cheering from marketers everywhere!

Facebook's Atlas Struggles To Serve Its Market

Have you heard about the promise that Facebook’s new Atlas is the next big thing, from a multiscreen attribution standpoint? AdExchanger provides an update highlighting some of the key struggles that marketers have been facing from the highly-touted first-to-market attribution product.

Snapchat Will Use Nielsen’s Digital Ad Ratings

Though the details of the new partnership between Snapchat and Nielsen have yet to be shared, it’s a clear sign of Snapchat recognizing the need to provide more targeting data for its growing advertising offerings.

2016 IAB Video Advertising Glossary

The IAB recently released its 2016 Video Advertising Glossary to provide clarity and consistency in video terminology for buyers and sellers alike. Be sure to check out the IAB’s first Digital Out-of-Home buyer’s guide, designed to provide highlights on the strengths of this video, format distinctions, buying practices, and more. If that wasn’t enough, the IAB also released a new guide on collecting Mobile Location Data for publishers, providing a solid perspective on what pubs must consider when collecting this increasingly important data set.

Unacast Partners With Opera to Let Marketers Retarget Consumers Using Beacon Data

A new partnership between beacon proximity network, Unacast, and mobile network, Opera Mediaworks, will now enable Opera to offer targeting based on beacon data instead of GPS data. According to the agreement between the two companies, advertisers will be able to target by segmenting groups of mobile users, based on the locations that they frequent, at an in-store or even a -department level.

ThinkGoogle: From Search to Store

Google latest report provides some useful insights on consumers’ evolving purchase behaviors, specifically how quickly users are shifting from a search on their mobile phones to taking an action. “Near me” searches are on the rise, where convenience trumps brand loyalty in the moment.  The weekends are especially heavy times for brands to take advantage. Restaurants and hotels are have been early movers to experience success.

Thanks for tuning in and be sure to look out for next month’s Digital Innovations Awesome List!