Media Companies Will Reinvent Themselves with Technology

The significant shift in media consumption habits in the past couple of years has compressed the timeline for technological development. As people spend more time with on-demand content from streaming companies, advertisers are seeking ways to improve cross-platform measurement as they shift billions in media spending out of linear television.

Streaming services are “pumping out premium-quality content, trying to amass data around their audiences and then putting walls in place to protect that,” Domenic Venuto, chief operating officer of merchant bank Progress Partners, said in this interview with Beet.TV. He joined the firm last summer.

The proliferation of walled-garden media environments that only provide aggregated data about their audiences has driven a need for new ways to help marketers with their ad targeting and measurement.

“We solve that and then we lubricate commerce, and the money starts flowing because now we are able to value and test whether the ad dollars we spend are actually having an impact,” Venuto said.

The use of voice technology in advertising and consumer adoption of streaming audio are promising areas of growth, he said. Media companies will need to continue to reinvent themselves and expand their brands into other parts of the experience economy. Venuto cited his firm’s work to help the publisher of Outside magazine delve further into ancillary products and services for outdoor enthusiasts.

“We’re advising as well as building a portfolio of assets around the consumer and providing more experiences, whether it be commerce and extending brands off of a core brand,” he said.