M+E Connections

By Chris Tribbey

Adobe used its Las Vegas Adobe Summit event to make several major announcements March 22, including a new partnership with online tracking firm comScore, one that Adobe hopes will offer new insights into how digital consumers watch content across devices.

The partnership has comScore incorporating Adobe Certified Metrics (standardized digital census data using Adobe’s analytics and cloud platform) into its Cross Media, Audience and Advertising Product Suites, while Adobe will integrate comScore audience data, into Adobe Marketing Cloud for its customers.

“With the world’s largest brands, including 10 of the 10 largest media companies relying on Adobe Marketing Cloud, Adobe is at the center of audience measurement and in a unique position to help solve one of the industry’s greatest friction points,” said Jeremy Helfand, VP of Adobe Primetime. “This partnership will enable smarter buying and selling of advertising and establish the trust and credibility needed to support the convergence of linear and digital experiences.”

ComScore CEO Serge Matta added: “comScore is redefining cross-platform measurement to deliver the independent, trusted metrics that content owners and advertisers have long been asking for. Massive, census-level data is critical to providing actionable and granular measurement across screens.

“This partnership with Adobe helps us to deliver even more precise insights to our clients about how, when and where consumers are interacting with content and ads. This will enable clients to make smarter buying decisions based not just on age and gender, but on advanced demographics.”

The partnership garnered praise from several media companies, with Colleen Fahey Rush, EVP and chief research officer for Viacom Media Networks, calling it a “win for the entire industry,” while Marc DeBevoise, EVP and GM of CBS Digital Media, saying the partnership gets everyone closer to accurate and unified cross-platform measurement.

“We need to be able to show advertisers where our engaged multiscreen audiences are consuming content in order to effectively monetize our premium content everywhere,” said Greg Dinsmore, director of digital insights and cross-platform measurement for Rogers Communications. “Adobe and comScore is a great global collaboration and we are looking forward to working with them together to better measure and monetize our audiences across screens.”

Additionally, Adobe announced a new end-to-end offering with Adobe Primetime, geared toward OTT companies, one that aims to offer a more personalized content experience across devices.

“TV networks and pay TV providers are eager to capitalize on OTT, but need a comprehensive platform to effectively acquire, engage and monetize viewers,” Helfand said. “By integrating Adobe’s advertising, analytics, data management, ad campaign and personalization engines with the video playback, ad insertion and DRM capabilities of Adobe Primetime, media companies are transforming their businesses with more personalized and engaging viewing experiences across screens.”

The new Adobe Marketing Cloud and Adobe Primetime offering will better target viewers by identifying consumption patterns and automating ad campaigns across displays. The new offering includes a video personalization engine — Adobe Primetime Recommendations — that gathers viewer engagement and viewing time data, learning from more than 200 billion online video consumption points.

“Every company should be obsessed with the quality of the experiences they are delivering to their customers,” said Brad Rencher, EVP and GM of digital marketing business at Adobe. “Adobe is laser-focused on enabling our customers to create consistent, personalized stand-out experiences for their customers.”

Adobe also announced a new network that will let brands identify consumers as they move between devices. Dubbed “Adobe Marketing Cloud Device Co-op,” the service will offer brands a way to deliver personalized consumer experiences across apps and devices.