Joseph Lospalluto, Country Manager, US, ShowHeroes Group shares his thoughts on the evolution of digital ad practices and the importance of CTV:

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Welcome to this MarTech Series chat Joseph, tell us about yourself and your role at ShowHeroes? 

Thank you for having me. My role at ShowHeroes is the Country Manager of the US. I am responsible for all revenue and operations within the region. Prior to ShowHeroes, I held various executive roles across the ad tech landscape, spanning from my start in the industry on the direct response marketing side and evolving through data, mobile rich media, CTV and various ad serving and programmatic technologies. My interest has always been in the ever-changing marketing landscape and how technologies can help enterprise businesses evolve.

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How have you been seeing AdTech innovations/trends evolve over the years and in today’s market, what are some of the core AdTech features that you feel are gaining prominence? 

The one thing that is constant in this industry is change, change that comes in the form of waves. The first wave consisted of testing and maximizing the potential of desktop. The second wave involved mobile WAP and mobile web/SDK environments. The third wave has been the emergence of connected television. We’re now experiencing the fourth wave, and this is all about the user experience and control. This wave started to take form a few years ago, when Apple/Safari blocked 3rd-party cookies. Largely ignored at the time, it was the true beginning of the consumer era.  Now, empowered by consumer data privacy laws,  and compounded by Google and other browser ecosystems constricting the use of 3rd-party data, the “user” finally has a seat at the table. This wave is also giving much greater prominence to 1st-party data, which for publishers and marketers alike, will need to focus on the value they provide to the consumer first.

Can you talk about some of the most interesting ways in which you’ve seen leading worldwide brands use ad technology to power their digital ad experiences?

Adtech history is filled with stories of aiding brands to reach and engage their prospective customers in interesting ways. One of the most interesting recent examples for me, was the now infamous QR code in CoinBase’s SuperBowl commercial.  Simple in execution, nostalgic for the play on the bouncing DVD logo, it generated over 20 million scans in a minute, crashing Coinbase’s site. It allowed the QR code, discarded back in the early days of mobile, to take a new form and drive further engagement. For me, it’s a reflection of the current wave we are in, where the consumer has become omnichannel, and advertising technologies are a force that can enable brands to bind them together. 

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When it comes to video and CTV opportunities, what trends are you seeing today and what near-future predictions do you have? 

I believe in the near-future, CTV as a standalone construct will go away and what will matter more is omnichannel planning, buying and creative executions to reach audiences wherever they consume, utilizing different creatives for the relative strength of the platform being delivered upon. In the future, we will see CTV leveraging digitally-driven tactics beyond just video alone – for example, the use of QR codes, interactive elements to drive engagement and mobile shopping experiences.

Why is CTV going to be more important to the overall ad mix over time?

CTV, like TV, is always held in high regard as it is the largest screen in the room. The user is in lean-back mode when they experience CTV and is more receptive to commercial storytelling, which offers 100% share of voice. CTV, as part of an omnichannel plan, enables brands to engage a consumer when they are at their most receptive. Couple this with mobile (which is always within easy reach, or in a user’s hand while watching TV) and you have a very powerful combination to tell a story and drive an immediate action (e.g. scan a QR code to visit a landing page).

We’d love to hear a few predictions you have in mind for the future of Adtech? 

A few predictions: DSP and SSP constructs will go away and will evolve into exchanges. We are already seeing this movement with The Trade Desk’s OpenPath. Consolidation in adtech will leave only those that provide true value to the marketing equation and allow the bigger players to provide multiple generalist tool sets to advertisers. Lastly, the customer and their 1st-party data is king and the king demands respect.  Those that can provide value to the user will be rewarded with more loyalty.

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