While many marketers who have worked on linear channels may believe they have the experience to advertise on streaming platforms, James Toney, chief strategy officer at advertising platform MNTN
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
While many marketers who have worked on linear channels may believe they have the experience to advertise on streaming platforms, James Toney, chief strategy officer at advertising platform MNTN, believes that’s a misconception. In conversation with Variety’s NY digital editor Todd Spangler at the Variety Entertainment Marketing Summit sponsored by MNTN, Toney likened the linear-streaming transition to the social media revolution.
“All of a sudden, people started building teams in-house that thought super critically about data, thought really critically about performance on a post-by-post basis,” Toney said. “Let’s do that with television, if we give you the tools.”
As streamers also begin to transition away from subscriptions and into the ad-supported TV realm, Toney recommended not taking the process too seriously. He believes that will make the marketing more appealing to consumers.
“Everyone knows that we’re making an ad,” Toney said. “We are delivering an ad during an ad break — it’s an ad. The best thing that we can do is let people in on the joke and make it a little bit of fun.”
Toney cited research that indicates streaming consumers are more likely to want to pay less and watch more ads, rather than paying more for less ads. He said this revelation means “nothing but opportunity” in the “underdeveloped” landscape of FAST (free, ad-supported streaming TV) channels, and advertisers should think about the social impact of their ads in that context.
“We’re trying to participate in a cultural moment,” Toney said. “The more we fall in love with us as mini-storytellers as opposed to maker of ads, the better the ads are gonna be and the more enjoyable they’re gonna be to watch.”
Watch the full conversation in the video above.
