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Ad:Tech New York Panel, ‘Ad-Tech and Content Collide: Producing in the Programmatic Era,’ Packs the House

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The revivified Ad:Tech New York 2016 show featured a rollicking panel that the Producers Guild of America (PGA) produced on Thursday, November 3rd, Day 2 of the show, in which leading New York agency producers (all but one PGA members) discussed the trends that are shifting behaviors among brands and consumers alike.

Produced and moderated by Chris Pfaff, one of the founders of the PGA New Media Council, and head of consultancy Chris Pfaff Tech Media LLC, the panel, ‘Ad-Tech and Content Collide: Producing in the Programmatic Era,’ featured Jason Jercinovic, global head of marketing innovation and global brand director for Havas; Cindy Pound, executive direct, R/GA; Tom Goodwin, executive vice president, head of innovation, ZenithOptimedia, and Raoul Didisheim, consultant with Mariana Media.

A packed house filled the “Titan Hall” in the Javits Center, listening to a discussion that focused on various topics, including:

  • AI and automation are dominating discussions among producers. How do we harness machine learning and real-time technologies for greater storytelling?
  • “Conversational content” is now part of the lexicon. How are these devices and platforms – from Amazon Alexa to Cortana to Siri and Google Talk – part of the “targeted consumer?”
  • Chatbots are the rage now; everyone’s mother seems to have a chatbot. Every VC is talking about chatbots. Is this another fad, like Pokemon Go, or are chatbots going to be a sustained part of the producer’s world?
  • The luxury sector of the economy is still robust.  The whole premise of the luxury relationship is to have a bespoke experience. How do you deliver that in an era of commoditized personalization?
  • The “cognitive” era may be upon us, but can we deliver truly “real-time” experiences that swing with societal trends, fast-moving news, or even more granular data on consumers? How does human creativity catch up to the massive technological capabilities comingout of our research labs?
  • “Targeted advertising” has reared its head again, largely from AT&T. How do you see this playing into the mix of platforms you leverage for reaching consumers?
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(From l to r): Cindy Pound, R/GA; Tom Goodwin, ZenithOptimedia; Jason Jercinovic, Havas; Chris Pfaff, Chris Pfaff Tech Media LLC; Raoul Didisheim, Mariana Media
Tom Goodwin talked about how AI has created a new set of expectations, for brands and agencies, and that the industry has to manage these expectations carefully.
img_7618Tom Goodwin discusses agency expectations for AI
Jason Jercinovic iscussed the “humans behind AI” and how cognitive computing – namely, IBM Watson – has helped generate better decision-making for clients such as TD Ameritrade, where customers were more likely to honestly interact with machines than with their human counterparts.
20161103_144241Jason Jercinovic discusses the cognitive era of producing
Cindy Pound mentioned the Pumpkin Spice Latte chatbot that Starbucks set up in October, 2016, where more than 500,000 interactions yielded impressive engagement for the coffee company.
20161103_152320Cindy Pound discuses the chatbot phenomenon
Raoul Didisheim outlined the challenge that luxury brands still have with new technology, and said that the integration of human high-touch retail experiences must be delicate and seamless in order not to offend luxury customers. He said that “any email list of a luxury brand would show that a large percentage of their consumers still have AOL addresses.”
20161103_144612Raoul Didisheim discusses the luxury sector 
The audience discussed opportunities that have been seized upon – such as the smart integration of brands in NetFlix’s ‘Luke Cage’ – and possibly missed – such as Game 7 of the World Series, where no “Dunk in the Dark” moments emerged on social media (despite, as an audience member indicated, the success of Twitter’s Hashtag World Series).
Ad:Tech New York 2016 was a milestone for the digital media industry: the 20th anniversary of a show that used to be mostly about platforms and technologies, but has now recognized that th content creators are still behind what is sold to consumers. Kudos to Lori Schwartz, Kendall Allen, and the team that produced the show. It brought in many firt-time visitors to Ad:Tech, and that in itself will help shape the future of this vital industry sector.
img_4885 A view from the audience.