Cannes has wrapped and, if you’re like us, it was a whirlwind of meetings, interviews, and exciting panels. What topped agendas? Where the future of measurement is headed, how to optimize campaigns for actionable business-based outcomes, and strategies to reach audiences in meaningful ways across screens. 

With TV becoming increasingly like digital, the potential for far more addressable and measurable outcomes is here. That means it is also time for our industry to collectively break free of the past legacy measurement mindset and embrace all of the insights and data we have at our disposal.

Below is a snapshot of the Samba Team’s week on the French coast:

A Room with a View 

With a decked-out suite overlooking the bustling Palais des Festivals, Samba TV enjoyed hosting clients and partners in between a bustling schedule of thought-provoking panels and interviews.

The Future of Measurement, Currency, and Media Trading

“It’s no longer effective to accurately measure the signals of the future using methodologies of the past” - Samba TV Founder and CEO Ashwin Navin

Kicking things off, the Beet TV CIMM Summit panel centered on the question hot on everyone’s minds at Cannes: where is the future of measurement, currency, and media trading headed? Behind the discussion was Samba TV Founder and CEO Ashwin Navin joined by Nielsen CPO Dierdre Thomas, iSpot Founder and CEO Sean Muller, EDO CEO Kevin Krim, and Omnicom Media Group Managing Director Kelly Metz. The industry leaders discussed the exciting shift that has taken place in measurement with Ashwin spotlighting the question of the day: with the world of TV advertising and measurement opening entirely new capabilities to us, why would we try to force old thinking into the exciting new world we are building together? 

Performance Marketing in OTT is a Must

With OTT usage continuing to rise across platforms and TV becoming increasingly like digital, the potential to enable more addressable and measurable outcomes has never been better. Samba TV VP of Measurement Products Cole Strain sat down with Horizon Media SVP of Digital Morgan Correa, Roku Head of US Sales Julian Mintz, Moloco CBO Sunil Rayanon, and moderator Evan Shapiro to dig into the importance of applying actionable business-based performance marketing outcomes in OTT.  

If You’re Not Engaging Audiences of Women’s Sports, You’re Missing Out

In a week filled with discussions on how to reach audiences grappling with an abundance of content options, Samba TV CMO Meredith Brace moderated an impactful discussion put together by The Female Quotient on the power of women's sports and why it's the story everyone is missing. Samba TV data showed that year-over-year the WNBA finals and NWSL championship alone were up by triple digits, +171% and +453% respectively. Meredith dug into the draw behind women’s sports with some of the industry’s leading voices, Indiana Fever's Allison Barber, Angel City Football Club's Jess Smith, Disney Advertising's Danielle Brown, and McDonald's Jennifer DelVecchio.

For Incremental Audiences, Data is the Key to Finding Them

Heading over to Microsoft Beach to discuss the power of first-party data to find and reach incremental omniscreen audiences, Samba TV VP and Head of Agency and Publisher Solutions Kris Magel stepped on stage with McDonald’s Senior Director of Global Media Anne Enright, Havas Media Group Canada President Noah Vardon, and moderator Microsoft Advertising Director of Enterprise Sales and Partnerships Tom Koch. Kris dug into how comprehensive datasets like Samba TV’s offer a way to tear down the silos between television and all of the other content that audiences engage with today, so brands can have one clear view of the consumer.

How Some of the Biggest Brands Earn Engagement with Disruptive Creativity

When it comes to pushing innovative marketing forward to reach key audiences, look no further than the expertise of PepsiCo CMO Greg Lyons, TBWA Global CEO Troy Ruhanen, and Samba TV CMO Meredith Brace. The trio joined together at the Brand Innovators’ Marketing Leadership Summit for a look at how cutting-edge creative can capture and retain fragmented audiences. watch on demand here.

The Drum Talks with Samba TV on Harnessing the Power of Digital in TV

We could think of no better way to round out our Cannes recap than with Ashwin’s interview with The Drum where he spoke about the exciting shift we’re seeing in TV measurement and the unique potential agencies and brands have to leverage the medium to engage audiences and yield strong ROAS. 

“You should have a tight relationship between TV ad exposure and business outcomes… Why shouldn’t TV exist with the same level of robustness [as] digital with true outcome-based measurement?” - Samba TV Founder and CEO Ashwin Navin