New York -- With the proliferation of nontraditional
viewing, some in the industry fear that the rise in the digital ad business
will displace television as ad dollars continue to move.
Dani Benowitz, executive VP, managing partner, integrated
investment for Universal McCann argues one benefits the other.
"They work hand in hand. I wouldn't say one is going to
cannibalize the other," she said during a keynote discussion with Multichannel
News' technology editor Todd Spangler at B&C/Multichannel News'
advanced advertising event on Wednesday.
"Our media partners are certainly embracing both,"
Benowitz continued. "Ultimately, it's about content and finding the best
place and the right time to reach consumers."
She admitted however, that consumers are "not sitting
in front of the TV live anymore," but did say "we've seen people from
a ratings standpoint go from the smaller screen back to the larger screen to
watch more TV." She argued the bigger need is to learn what the right
format and sizes are to best reach consumers.
"Digital is continuing to grow double digits," she
said of UM's clients. "A lot of that growth is fueled from local
[advertising]." She lamented the current state of dynamic ad insertion
within the On Demand space. "The ad experience in [that] environment is
not great."
While Benowitz says interest in advertising across second
screen operations is high, accurate measurement has been a slow process, which
is one of the reasons she thinks TV ads will always have a place in the market.
"Clients are talking to us a lot about social and Twitter and how does
that fit into ratings," she said. She added that she's looking forward to
Nielsen's proposed plan on measuring social TV.
With Netflix getting into the content game with House
of Cards, Benowitz was asked if she could ever see some sort of advertising
there. As long as it was done in the right way, she thinks it could be
possible, but diplomatically said that it would be up to Netflix.
"We've seen people don't mind watching ads when they're
getting what they want," she said. "You don't want to invade the
space."
