AOL and the Publicis Groupe announced yesterday that they would be expanding their comprehensive six-year partnership into programmatic video and linear TV in a move that will provide all agencies within the Publicis Groupe with greater access to AOL's video environments. This will include premium reserved and non-reserved environments, including private marketplaces. The announcement was made at the onset of New York's Advertising Week, and just prior to AOL's second annual Programmatic Upfront, which will urge the digital advertising industry to actively embrace programmatic buying.
The move will provide all agencies within the Publicis Groupe with greater access to AOL's video environments
The announcement arrives at a time of significant growth in the digital video sector. According to eMarketer its growing between 30% and 40% every year and is expected to be worth $7.77 billion by 2015. The Publicis Groupe's video spend has been increasing steadily of late as audiences continue to use more digitally connected devices. The group's VivaKi digital agency, has also anticipated that there will be an increase in programmatic spending next year, with platforms such as AOL's ONE, expected to become more commonplace.
Tim Armstrong will be holding a one-on-one live conversation at 9am EDT this Thursday (the 2nd of October) at the Times Centre Stage with Publicis Groupe chairman and CEO Maurice Levy
Tim Armstrong, AOL's chairman and CEO, believes that “Video is fundamentally changing the Internet into sight, sound, and motion,” and feels that the partnership with Publicis “Is the start of enabling global video advertising to scale to global consumers,” both offline and online. He adds that “AOL is transforming as a company and as a partner into a programmatic advertising platform,” and says the partnership is just the latest big step in this strategy. Armstrong will be holding a one-on-one live conversation at 9am EDT this Thursday (the 2nd of October) at the Times Centre Stage with Publicis Groupe chairman and CEO Maurice Levy. Levy adds that Publicis “Have developed a very strong partnership with AOL” under Armstrong's leadership, and says he is extremely pleased with how the partnership has affected their clients. He feels the expansion will enhance the group's ability to serve their clients “In the very important growth area of video,” by allowing them to “Benefit first hand from the innovations created by AOL."
Maurice Levy says that Publicis “Have developed a very strong partnership with AOL” under Tim Armstrong's leadership and is pleased with how the partnership has affected their clients
Stephan Beringer, VivaKi's CEO and global president of Audience on Demand, underlines just how fast the ascent of connected digital platforms has been by stating that “Just two years ago, there were 54.7 million connected TV users, and that number will more than double in 2014.” He says that “The numbers prove the dramatic change in consumers’ video consumption habits,” and believes that as a result, their “Escalation of video content has to be just as dramatic” to match up to demand. That's why he feels the AOL partnership is so valuable, because “It requires true collaboration to deliver value for consumers and advertisers by creating a video marketplace that wins the attention and engagement of the consumer.”
Official Publicis Groupe Website
Benjamin Hiorns is a freelance writer and musician from Kidderminster in the UK who hasn't used AOL for more than a decade, but admires their staying power!
