"Buy the Way…" Insights on Integrated Marketing Communication

As the Christmas season rolls around, I look forward to all the festivities and especially playing Christmas music endlessly for three weeks. I sit at my desk at work with my earplugs in blasting Pandora’s list of artists playing favorites like Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire, Let It Snow, Jingle Bell Rock, and so on.

Recently there has been controversy over the song, Baby, It’s Cold Outside. The MeToo Movement has asked local radio stations to stop playing the song because it is sexist. In the lyrics, the man is asking the lady to stay and she is telling him no and if you listen to the song and watch the clip it does look a bit suggestive and the man is very persistent. The song was written by Frank Loesser in 1944, featured in the film Neptune’s Daughter in 1949 and went on to win an Oscar for the best original song (Held, 2018). This was at the time when Franklin Delano Roosevelt was president which means none of us were around. Definitely a sign of the times.

Many radio stations have honored the request of the MeToo Movement but one of the local Bay Area stations, KOIT received backlash from listeners (hundreds of emails) demanding the song be put back in the rotation (Sanchez, 2018). The program directors have decided to leave it up to the popular vote of their listeners who mainly want the song back on the air for nostalgic reasons (Sanchez, 2018). This is putting the radio station in a bit of a dilemma and the issue of the song being sexist will draw awareness as to the message the radio station is communicating.

Radio still reaches a large demographic audience and is extremely effective for advertising campaigns (Tortorice, 2017). It would be awful if the station’s ad sponsors pulled their ads due to the wrong decision on whether to keep playing the song or not to play the song. Many radio stations today use the power of social media and app-driven technology which reflect on local towns and cities and their uniqueness thus feeding directly into the community (Tortorice, 2017).  Nielsen Research claims 90% of the Americans listen to the radio each week due to the vast number of people who commute to work (Tortorice, 2017). Can you imagine people calling in while stuck in traffic to voice their opinion? It could be total chaos. I hope the radio station, in the end, makes a conscious decision on behalf of their audience.

Reference

Held, A. 2018. ‘Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” Seen As Sexist, Frozen Out By Radio Stations. National Public Radio. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2018/12/05/673770902/baby-it-s-cold-outside-seen-as-sexist-frozen-out-by-radio-stations

Sanchez, R. (2018). Cleveland radio station bans “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”. CNN. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/01/us/baby-its-cold-outside-cleveland-radio-trnd/index.html

Tortorice, M. (2017). Why Would You Use Radio Advertising? Infront Webworks. Retrieved from https://www.infront.com/blog/the-blog/why-would-you-use-radio-advertising

This article appeared in today’s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and I had to share because it talks a little bit about the creative process surrounding what has become an iconic ad for a western Pennsylvania chain of family restaurants called Eat ‘n Park. (Yeah, I know it makes more sense today as Park ‘n Eat, but it started as one of those carhop joints.) This ad first aired in 1982, and Eat ‘n Park still uses it every holiday season.

Here’s the commercial:

Here’s the link to the article, which talks about the creative people behind the spot: https://www.post-gazette.com/ae/2018/12/05/Eat-N-Park-Christmas-star-tree-special-lift-TV-commercial-holiday-Pittsburgh/stories/201811280144

It is no secret that social media has impacted nearly every avenue of communication from education to business. Social platforms have even helped American’s register to vote in recent elections. However, some are campaigning for a new social media test that would determine whether or not users would qualify to purchase firearms.

The creative concept has come after several horrific mass shootings that have taken place at concerts and schools. In some cases, the shooter has shown signs of outburst on their personal social media platforms which was ignored until it was too late. The bill for this law was birthed by a New York lawmaker and states that the police would be able to identify handgun license applicants by searching their social media pages and searches and disqualify those who post or search for violent or hate-filled posts.

As with most items in the political realm, there are those who disagree with this law, should it be passed. Gun-control advocates around the U.S. have already voiced concern for the bill, stating that these circumstances would be violating the free-speech rights of the American people… even though most social media platforms are already checked in order to be hired for most basic jobs.

Now, more than ever, people are concerned about another shooting that could cost American lives to be lost. While the bill may not be passed, it has caused discussion for the future safety of American people.

Where would the line be drawn? How do you determine who is prejudice and who is hateful? These questions are buzzing around our nations capital and only time will tell if they will be answered. But one thing is for sure, shootings are relevant in today’s America and people are pushing the discussion to help prevent them.

-Joseph Ross

Every year before the holiday shopping commences, Victoria Secret holds their annual show to debut their collection. The beautiful girls of the show and a celebrity music guest are announced in hopes that the whole world will stop to view it. Now, Victoria Secret may be considered just a thing to watch of the past due to new up and comers. The changes are occurring because of like Third Love and Adore Me thrown into the mix that have subscriptions to purchase women’s lingerie. The days of purchasing a 40-dollar bra and 15 dollar underwear are coming to a halt. Sure, Adriana Lima, Kendall Jenner, and Gigi Hadid might be top influencers in the “Pink” department, but real women and different interests are starting to come to the forefront. Victoria Secret has been missing the mark for a while with its plus size market and the cost of its lingerie (Thomas, 2018).

Adore Me places advertising in their social media outlets such as Instagram, Facebook, and has plus size models. Women today are more interested in seeing “real women” in what they would like to purchase. Think back to the Dove Real Beauty Campaign, where beauty is defined as everyone versus the rail-thin models we are used to seeing in those Victoria Secret advertisements.

Another tool that the company was so successful in is its marketing where it made 100 million in 2017 through its idea of email, text messaging, and other forms of social media. The company divided its messaging customers through four different areas such as new customer, active, and had not made a purchase in a while (Milnes, Parisi, McDowell, 2017).

Adore Me has also stepped up with the subscription purchase that debits 34.95 out of your account and allows you to pick from items that you would like to purchase. If you do not use your credits, you are able to save it and have it credited to your account. In the future, there will be more Adore Me retail stores available to compete with the retail giant Victoria’s Secret and possibly even overtake it.

Milnes, H., Parisi, D., & McDowell, M. (2017, July 12). How Adore Me used AI to double its active customers. Retrieved from https://digiday.com/marketing/adore-used-ai-double-active-customers/

Thomas, L. (2018, June 13). These brands are benefiting from fumbles at Victoria’s Secret. Retrieved December 4, 2018, from https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/13/victorias-secret-fumbles-open-the-door-for-thirdlove-adore-me.html

It is late at night, my family is asleep, and I am finally free to do as I please. So what do I do? At the first chance I get, I log onto Facebook and Instagram to mindlessly sift through endless news feeds and update the statuses on my personal and business pages. Usually, I am ready to go to bed early but my scrolling and updating cause me to remain awake through an unnecessary amount of hours. I am frustrated. Madness! Why do I let social media consume what precious little time I have. I used to read books, clean, call friends and family, go outside…sleep!

Instead, I chose to be on Facebook watching the latest on-trend shared videos and lifestyle milestones among friends. I share the videos and congratulate the friends. But, wouldn’t my friend appreciate it more if I called them? Why (as in the amount of time to send an impersonal post) don’t I call them? Sure, it is more comfortable, but what about the connectivity? What happened to the times where we visited a friend’s home over visiting a friend’s page? Not long ago, social media giants praised their efforts in “connecting the world.”

However, should we consider the possibility that in trying to connect the world digitally is actually severing ties? Not only with each other, but with ourselves. Undoubtedly, social media is an impactful and essential tool for retail conglomerates to boost their brands among the masses. But, how much longer will we continue to allow these brands to infiltrate our private lives? Sometimes, even against our own will as we unwilling and unknowingly are tagged by friends…or friends of friends, maybe distant relatives?

Christina Farr (2018) wrote an article regarding her journey of the through her personal experience (and goals) of detaching and, as she described, “social media detoxing.” Per Farr, her reference of a former Google tech suggesting “social media is hijacking our minds.” I find this all to be true and accurate. Again, madness! We have to reprogram our brains to adapt to living without social media.

Farr wrote of the first several weeks (with the help of a “grounding camp”) spent conditioning her mind to refrain from using select social media outlets; i.e. Facebook and Instagram. For instance, at times she would find herself typing “F” for Facebook (Farr, 2018). Or, searching your iPhone app only to realize the Instagram app is included. Farr mentions she was not too keen on Snapchat. But, she kept LinkedIn and Twitter for work purposes; again, unwillingly. Otherwise, she would remove connections to those apps as well. On the upside, since Farr took her break and overcame her barriers, she said she’s lived a more blissful life and claims she will never go back.

Farr mentioned numbers of users breaking from social media have substantially threatened social media giants (Farr, 2018). Especially regarding Facebooks’ recent political debacle resulting in the #deleteFacebook campaign (Farr, 2018). However, suppose we all decided to forego social media? Members of Gen Y (or Gen C) will be unfamiliar with life without social media as this is the group most conditioned and exposed. As such, Farr explained that her profound new attitude–like potentially many new others that overcome their addition–disrupts the flow of major social media companies.

But, ultimately, when one is spending at least 5 hours a week on social media, they should consider how their time is spent (Farr, 2018). So the challenge for social media companies is competing against the time users can gain back from their utilization of social media. Their time is priceless and more valuable than any new status update or cute post of heart hands can give.

As such, I am confident (more so, would not be surprised) this generation group would fall as the greatest victims of a social media withdrawal. What would that look like? But, I often wonder this because as a millennial mother, I’ve grown through a time when social media was emerging but virtually unheard of. Alternatively, at what point of the “social media detox program” is for marketers of the social media companies and their affiliates going to kick it into high gear to retain their users?

Reference
Farr, C. (2018 December 1). I quit Instagram and Facebook and it made me a lot happier–and that’s a big problem for social media companies. CNBC. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/01/social-media-detox-christina-farr-quits-instagram-facebook.html

Since the release of Instagram Stories last June, Instagram has added many features to easily engage and be approachable with your followers.  One of these features is the Instagram Stories Q & A sticker. Many brands have been using this feature to conduct market research in a less evasive way and engage with their community in a fun manner, and it also another way for brands to easily share user-generated content.

Example of Airbnb using the questions sticker to engage with their audience.

A few weeks ago, I decided to try it out with my Instagram account that I use for my lifestyle blog/shop Earl Grey Style.  While I already have a small community of people that I’ve engaged with over the years, I haven’t been as active over the past month.  The focus of my account is tea, nature, travel and eco-beauty. I have used the questions sticker in the past, but this time I wanted to genuinely find out what type of tea my followers like to drink.  I typed out the question “What is your favorite tea?”, added a photo that relates to my blog and shared it on my Instagram stories.  Users are then able to just type their answer in the sticker box and instantly send it.

My question sticker box shared on Instagram Stories

I initially had a few responses from a few close friends, which I expected.  One of the great features with this is being able to immediately share users’ responses in stories.  I shared my first three responses to the question and added a tea-related photo from my photos as the background photo.  One thing I noticed is that as I started to share more people’s responses, more people replied to my question sticker.  As my followers saw the other people’s responses to the tea question, they were motivated to share theirs as well and also have their content shared back.  Since stories expire after 24 hours, I posted the same question again and labeled it as Round 2.

Responses from Instagram questions sticker. By hitting reply, you are able to re-share the content or send a direct message to the users.

Below are examples of the question sticker replies that I shared on my stories.

I added my own tea-related photos from my collection to add more character to the story replies.

Another great feature with Instagram Stories is being able to save your stories and create a highlight on the profile page. I saved all the responses and labeled it Fave Tea? Overall, I was able to easily find out what my followers favorite tea to drink is and this gave me a better understanding of what type of tea to carry in my online shop.  I also ended up doing a spontaneous giveaway with the people who replied, and the winner received a box of their favorite tea!

Story highlights on profile and more examples of story replies that I shared.

I’m definitely going to be using this feature again to get a better insight of what my followers likes and interests are. Keeping the question simple and relatable makes it easy for followers to answer quickly as they are scrolling through all their daily faves. My next question will be “What’s your favorite city?”

I was curious to see if Starbucks uses this feature to find out what type of beverages their followers like and surprisingly, they are on board with the Instagram Stories game! Below are a few examples from their Story Highlights Coffee 101.

What questions would you like to see from your favorite Instagram Business accounts?

Patagonia made headlines this week announcing that it will distribute all of their Trump Tax savings, approximately $10 million dollars, to conservation and environmentally focused groups (Roston, 2018). Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a common practice among businesses and often associated with organizations who donate a portion of their profits or provide volunteers to local initiatives. Patagonia takes this concept of CSR one step further by aligning its mission and company values with integrating social responsibility into its entire business (Patagonia, 2018).

Why is this important? Well, Forbes reports that 63% of American consumers report wanting to see businesses take a leadership role in social and environmental changes (Elsey, 2018). In addition, 87% would consider buying a product or service based on social advocacy of a brand (Elsey, 2018). Likewise, 76% of American consumers would decline to support a company if the views supported by a brand didn’t align with their own personal belief system (Elsey, 2018). In addition, the same report suggests that the next generation of employees are looking for a triple bottom line of “people, planet, and revenue (Elsey, 2018).”

There are a few things that Patagonia can teach us about CSR and the marketing of a brand’s value system that promotes growth in profits and in loyalty.

1. Double-down on the company mission and values

Patagonia knows itself and understands that walking the walk is more powerful than just talking the talk. Donations to environmental groups have been the company’s CSR practice since 1973, now boasting a total of $185 million donated to environmental and conservation groups, since it was founded (Zurn, 2018). The company dedicates pages on its website to outline its activism, sustainability mission, and vision, as well as how it incorporates corporate partnerships, activism with its employees, and its support of environmental change campaigns (Patagonia, 2018).

In building this transparency, the brand gains trust over time. That trust has turned out to be quite profitable, with the company achieving nearly $1 billion in annual revenue for 2017 (Bhasind & Mosendz, 2017).  Patagonia has learned how to re-invest where it matters and will donate large sums of money from Black Friday sales or tax savings into grassroots networks dedicated to an aligned mission of conservation (Beer, 2018).

2. Grow in alignment to the brand values

The present CEO, Rose Marcario moved the company into a new expansion of sustainably in 2008 by revising their supply chain methods and encouraging response from production to point of purchase (Beer, 2018). New growth in the brand is always aligned with considerations of transparency, sustainability, and reduction of the company’s carbon footprint (Zurn, 2017).

A new initiative focuses on recycled wear knowns as Worn Wear, which is referred to by Patagonia as a new frontier in re-commerce (Beers, 2018). Customers are encouraged to trade in old gear, in return for a gift certificate, which the company will repair or repurpose and sell as “used”(Beers, 2018). The alignment to reusing and recycling is not only authentic to the brand, but it also brings in a new customer base with its affordability. These “entry pieces” are helping to grow their brand by opening the door to younger and more cost-effective shoppers.

3. Aligning marketing channels for outreach and transparency

The social media marketing strategy doubles down on aligning to the brand’s commitment to climate change and conservation work by sharing images of their supply chain as well as their social advocacy and activism through various social media channels (Zurn, 2017). Transparency is provided through sharing each location of production mills, a breakdown of all their expenditures related to CSR, as well as a summary of their Environmental and Social Initiative Report (Zurn, 2017). Their Instagram and Facebook page not only promote a product, but they are key in sharing initiatives like Worn Wear and their activism, like #savetheblueheart, #midtermsmatter, and the infamous #protectbearsears, with their consumers.

In summary, CSR is becoming more than just a give-back opportunity or a tax-incentive for businesses. CSR is the new wave of customer engagement through advocacy and/or activism. This kind of outreach is accomplished through revealing authenticity, sharing mission and vision in social media posts, and creating new growth initiatives that connect back to the brand identity. Patagonia’s corporate social resistance has certainly elevated its popularity but it has also cemented credibility for its existing and future consumer base.

References:

Beer, J. (2018, March 15). How Patagonia Grows Every Time It Amplifies Its Social Mission. Retrieved from https://www.fastcompany.com/40525452/how-patagonia-grows-every-time-it-amplifies-its-social-mission

Bhasin, K., & Mosendz, P. (2017, December 8). Patagonia and the Big Business of Fighting Trump. Retrieved from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-08/patagonia-and-the-big-business-of-fighting-trump

Elsey, W. (2018, May 30). Why Your Company Should Be More Socially Responsible. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinessdevelopmentcouncil/2018/05/30/why-your-company-should-be-more-socially-responsible/#6488e63d2c32

Patagonia. (2018). The Activist Company. Retrieved from https://www.patagonia.com/corporate-responsibility.html

Roston, E. (2018, November 28). Patagonia Donates $10 Million Trump Tax Savings to Green Groups. Retrieved from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-11-28/patagonia-donates-10-million-trump-tax-savings-to-green-groups

Zurn, L. (2017, May 17). How Patagonia Became a Pioneer of Corporate Social Responsibility. Retrieved from https://www.chuckjoe.co/patagonia-corporate-social-responsibility/

I don’t know if you all have heard but “Daredevil” on Netflix has been cancelled and I’m super sad. With genius high-stakes situations, witty dialogue, and some of the best action scenes I’ve watched since taking a class in my undergrad called Hong Kong Action Cinema, I was feeling like I was in the “Show Hole”. I had just finished watching season 3 on the 28th, only for them to announce its cancellation the next day. I read an article by Newsweek to see why they cancelled it as season 3 ended on a high note, but since Netflix doesn’t share its ratings, its hard to put that in numbers. However, the article mentioned because it ended on a high note they wanted to cancel it as they’ve done with “Luke Cage” and “Iron Fist”.

I suppose this makes sense, as some shows tend to go sour if they air for too long. However, Daredevil will live on in other crossover series like “The Defenders” (should it come back for season 2) with other superheroes like Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist and maybe The Punisher which got me thinking about viewership and literally moving the audiences attention. I’ve never seen it done with an entirely new show, but leave it to Netflix to make things new and interesting. As a viewer of all these Marvel Cinematic Universe shows (besides “Iron Fist”), I can say that Daredevil was consistently the strongest in its narrative, cinematography and acting. While we’re all still interested in Daredevil, maybe it is a smart move to go onto another show that will essentially be an ensemble of superheroes. Either way, it feels like Netflix is doing something big and it got me thinking about other shows that do crossovers.

To compete, DC shows “Supergirl”, “The Flash”, “Legends of Tomorrow” and “Arrow” do crossovers in the middle of the season, influencing viewers to watch all of the shows that week if not forever. Shonda Rhimes does it with “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Station 19”, and she used to have “Private Practice” in the mix before it was cancelled. Rhimes also does it with “How to Get Away with Murder” and “Scandal” just as it was going off air.

For market researchers and advertisers, it’s important to keep up with these crossovers and completely new shows with the same characters to know when you can expose that same viewer with the same advertisement or product. Although Netflix does not advertise anything but their own shows, its clever how they’ve decided to approach marketing for their other seemingly less popular MCU shows. I’ll admit it’s a good move as I will be watching the upcoming seasons of “Jessica Jones” and “The Punisher” looking for Daredevil.

What other crossover shows can you all think of?

References:

Kelly, A.N. (2018, Nov 29). Netflix cancels Marvel’s ‘Daredevil’, only ‘Jessica Jones’ and ‘The Puisher’ left, Newsweek, Retrieved from https://www.newsweek.com/netflix-daredevil-canceled-marvel-jessica-jones-punisher-1237949

In so many marketing campaigns, the use of social media is stressed: engaging target audiences with opportunities to create genuine and authentic content, creating community, communicating with peers, even branded gaming. It reminded me of an Association of National Advertisers (ANA) Masters of Marketing convention I attended in 2005 or 2006 where then VP and CMO of Motorola Geoffrey Frost held up a Razr flip phone and said, “This is not a phone. It’s the tool formerly referred to as the cell phone. But it’s so much more….” He was a visionary with regards to how cell phones would be used, although I doubt he had any idea just how much impact the smart phone would have on the world. Mr. Frost sadly passed away in 2005. His legacy of the “Hello Moto” ad campaign and resurgence of the Motorola brand during that time pay tribute to his creative genius (Chief Marketer, 2005). From the Razr to the iPhone X and beyond, the smart phone has definitely changed the world – but at what expense?

I recently received a notification on my iPhone X that told me my “average screen time” had gone down to just two hours and 50 minutes average per day! JUST 2h50m! On my phone!  I had no idea I looked at it so long in the course of a day. That little fact sparked a thought about the average screen time of these millennials we are all trying so desperately to engage. And to what effect? According to Rally Health (Pandika, 2016), adults log an average of up to 11 hours a day in front of a screen. That includes computers, phones, televisions, and tablets. The positives of connection and community not-withstanding, the negative ramifications are huge: Decreased and damaged vision, loss of sleep, addiction and reward-seeking behaviors, weight gain and the increase of other health risks like diabetes, heart disease and some types of cancer.

Teens (under 18) have other issues to deal with from extended screen time. Beyond the lack of activity and health concerns, the lack of actual personal interaction affects self-confidence and social skills (Pandika, 2016). Additionally, emotional and personalities are deeply affected – both positively and negativity. On the plus side, video games can lower stress, boost mood and promote positive engagement. The minuses for teens include higher psychological difficulties, increased aggression and a shrinking of regions in the brain responsible for planning and executive functions including empathy, compassion, and impulse control. In short – it can be a real problem.

So, ethically, as we create plans to engage on social media and in front of screens, are we responsible for increased additions?  Is there a way to engage while encouraging face-to-face communication? Ultimately, while a campaign is not dictating behavior (positive or negative), we are trying to influence and persuade some sort of action – so where is the line?  Is it our problem or is it a personal choice? I don’t have the answers, but I do think that a healthy consideration of what we are really trying to do is worth some time in the planning stages. Being attentive to our target audience and their needs can pay dividends in the future.

References:

Pandika, M. (2017, September 26). The Unexpected Effects of All That Screen Time. Rally Health, Retrieved from https://www.rallyhealth.com/health/unexpected-effects-screen-time

The Unexpected Effects of All That Screen Time. (2005, November 22). Chief Marketer, Retrieved from https://www.chiefmarketer.com/geoffrey-frost-motorola-vp-and-cmo-dies-at-56/

It has been 10 years since video advertising started in the internet. The standards that were introduced at that time to have consistency across the interweb are now dated. With increased technology in mobile, tablet and over the top devices (Roku, Amazon Fire Stick etc.) it is time for an update. The video ad ecosystem is running on outdated standards that limit accurate measurement and scale for agencies and publishers.

Background: VAST (Video Ad Serving Template) 2.0 and VPAID (Video Player Ad-Serving Interface Definition) 1.0 launched almost a decade ago. The video ad standards initially aimed to standardize compatibility between ad servers and video players to allow publishers to scale. The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) released VAST 4.0, however, adoption was slow due to limitations with verification and interactivity. The new VAST 4.1 delivers improved viewability measurement, provides better delivery across over the top (OTT) and mobile devices, standardizes macro support and offers closed captioning options.

Viewability and Measurement: Viewability measurement required VPAID, which often required tags to be wrapped by an additional verification provider such as DoubleVerify or Integral Ad Science. Now VAST 4.1 is compatible with the Open Measurement Interface Definition (OMID) which enables VAST inventory measurement without using a VPAID wrapper. Video assets no longer need to be wrapped in code to capture viewability metrics making VPAID obsolete. VAST 4.1 will be the standard format.

VAST 4.1 would generate a unique ID every time an ad is served to be included on outgoing pixels to improve discrepancies and troubleshooting. In addition, VAST 4.1 introduces the concept of interactive templates for mobile and OTT environments. Lastly, macros are typically used to pass data from the publishers to the ad server, however, they’re not standardize across publishers. VAST 4.1 proposes to solve this issue. The new format will also get rid of flash being used in ads, as flash has been slowly fading away and is no longer supported in certain environments.

Recommendation & Next Steps: The adoption to VAST 4.1 is gradual and changes will roll out in a phased approach. Agencies should work with all partners to provide timely updates. It will behoove publishers to generate VAST inventory that is measurable to increase demand in premium inventory.

Teams that are focused in buying more mobile video inventory now have the benefit of receiving performance and engagement metrics in VAST inventory and can start to get data right way from the player by pushing vendors to adopt VAST 4.1. A standardize version for video will streamline day-to-day digital ad trafficking and supports multi-device measurement across the board. This is important to your clients because you want to be able to provide robust metrics and make media recommendations based on what video creative is the most effective. You can have 3 different videos for example, for your client at Kia, with this new measurement you will have more data to support which of the 3 creative versions resonates more with your target audience.

It will be up to publishers to adopt VAST 4.1. We expect that there will be immediate adoption by some of the big publishers, but more widespread adoption will take some time similar to the demise of flash.

Resources

IAB Tech Lab Releases VAST 4.1 for Public Comment

https://martechtoday.com/iab-tech-lab-releases-final-version-of-vast-4-1-that-incorporates-unprecedented-level-of-feedback-227528
https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/327797/iab-tech-lab-releases-final-version-of-vast-41.html