Future of Media: Mondelez shuns cookies, EA's social push, avoiding audio ad fraud

I zoned out during that paragraph a bit but you really just need the word CONTEXTUAL there. I made it bold for you. It'll be leaning on DoubleVerify’s Authentic Attention in particular.

You'll know by now if this is one for you. If so, it's here.

Working the Electronics Arts in social

Electronic Arts. E.A.SPORTS. It's in the game. Is now in social media. Sort of. The company is at the forefront of a huge shift that's occuring in gaming. The earning reports now sound like those of social networks. And there's a very good reason for that, because some of the top multiplayer video games are essentially social networks in their own right.

They are high-traffic digital spaces where people gather to experience things and the world with friends. They are building around engagement models. Games are becoming always-on and longer-lived. Fortnite's got about the same number of people signed up as Snap has monthyl active users. Fifa and Apex Legends topped 100m players in June. The scale is there and younger generations are increasingly gathering in game media, not social media.

That's the argument David Tinson, chief marketing officer of Electonic Arts put forward to me this week right here, and I'd be compelled to take it at face value, even if Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg didn't keep mentioning the metaverse...

Fraudio

Over in the US, David Zapletal, chief operating officer at Digital Remedy, laid out the rising problem of fraud in digital advertising.

He warns: "There’s little oversight for the relatively new channel. With no unified regulatory body, it’s just like the wild west of CTV that we saw three years ago."

Zapletal lists three ways marketers can avoid being fleeced. I know you lot love your podcasts, at least I think you do, if you're even real and not email engagement bots. Even if you are, all are welcome, check it out here.

Media Innovation Round-Up

Marek Wrobel's back again with another Media Innovation Round-Up. What's that you ask? Well it's sort of like this column but more focused on real cool media tech – the sort you'll win a Cannes Lion with in three years' time.

Don't believe me? The ideas are right here. He explains the potential of augmented reality ads in shopping malls this week. Blade Runner here we come.

Meet the Media Minds

I hope you've been enjoying the Meet the Media Minds column too. If not, I'm learning a lot writing it and like having an excuse to ask the best and the brightest in media just what the hell is happening right now.

In the hot seat this week is Paul Kelly, chief revenue officer of digital audio ad company Million Ads. If you're considering getting into the space and don't know where to start, he'll give you the perfect primer.

When I asked him his favourite digital audio campaign, he picked one of his own (they always bloody do that). But nonetheless. "My agency ran a campaign in the UK where poor weather prompted a smart speaker ad for a Vitamin C supplement. The ad concluded with an add-to-cart message that would register the user’s response and act accordingly. True shoppable audio. I’ll be honest, that was a Black Mirror moment for me."

It is a bit of a Black Mirror moment, and there will be more of those to come. Read it here.

Other Stuff

• The Economist reckons advertisers don't care about the Olympics ratings flop. [I think they get a free pass this time, and have one year to fix things for the Winter Olympics.]

• How to deliver a programmatic CTV ad campaign around a sports event [I'm unsure if there's a hunger for practical pieces like this but at the very least, I could buy such a campaign now. Might push the newsletter into your CTV.]

• Sonos on why it picked Liverpool FC for its first sports partnership

• YouTube taps The Weeknd, BTS, Doja Cat to promote its TikTok-style short-form videos

• KSI to throw a London-themed launch party on Roblox

• GumGum expands contextual ad chops with JustPremium acquisition

• Russian ad network linked to a failed Facebook anti-vaccine push

• Sainsbury’s ends GB News advertising amid fallout over Nigel Farage

• The fleeting nature of social media: the updates brands need to know about

• Waste offers indie gaming marketing in exchange for revenue share: ‘We’ve got skin in the game’

• CRM giant Salesforce debuts streaming service for all professionals [You'll be able to guess what it is named.]

That's you all caught up. If you missed the last installment, read it here. You can subscribe to our other briefings here. And if you want to talk to me, I'm on Twitter, Linkedin and email.