This increasingly common behavior could render traditional sponsorships dead on arrival. A brand purchases an incredibly expensive broadcast commercial, only for it to air to a room of bowed heads—invisible the moment the referee blows the whistle.

Brands fix this disconnect when they meet fans precisely where their thumbs are. They engineer living marketing systems that plug directly into the specific apps, influencer streams, and cultural moments commanding actual attention. In fact, this is how brands have dominated this summer’s global tournament by catching fans mid-scroll. Here’s a handful of proven, winning strategies to inspire your next fan engagement.

High-Velocity Asset Engines 

To capture everyday sports fans and cord-cutters, FOX One needed to be inescapable. They anchored their campaign on a single, uncompromising mandate: “The World Cup comes first.”

Executing that message required an operational model built for massive scale and relentless speed. FOX One transformed major transit and cultural hubs into brand moments that stopped audiences in their tracks: travelers in LAX and JFK terminals, pedestrians passing glowing digital kiosks in West Hollywood, and crowds standing under the towering screens of Times Square in New York and The Reef in Los Angeles all confronted the same bold directive.

This physical takeover demanded a digital infrastructure capable of matching its footprint. We deployed a high-volume, tier-three production model to fuel a robust programmatic media strategy, pushing rapid-turnaround assets across paid social feeds, web channels, and O&O digital displays to catch casual fans the second they opened their apps.

To close the loop, we brought the message straight into the living room through a comprehensive Connected TV (CTV) takeover of the Vizio smart TV platform. The instant a fan grabbed their remote and powered on the screen, the official streaming destination was already waiting for them, making the choice to sign up frictionless.

Benching Owned IP

When the global gaze locks onto the pitch, Netflix recognized that some cultural moments aren't meant to be competed with, but celebrated. They solved this by giving their own content library a vacation.

The brand bypassed standard promotional strategies to launch a cheeky, brutally honest out-of-home and social campaign acknowledging the fact that everyone—including the characters of famous Netflix series—just wanted to watch the games. They swapped out the official artwork for their biggest shows, replacing iconic show leads across billboards, social channels and the Netflix platform itself with handwritten, paper “out to lunch” signs. For a few weeks, Mexican viewers logged onto the platform to find an entire row of local titles in the library displaying these signs. The posters declared “We're out”-style messages that were highly contextual to the specific title, making references to the charters’ storylines.

We anchored this physical and digital takeover with a hero film featuring an entire roster of iconic show characters taking a well-deserved break. What truly resonated with audiences were the unlikely crossovers between these different worlds, topped off with a surprise cameo from the real-life VP of Content for Latin America, Francisco Ramos—the actual boss. The platform leaned completely into the cultural obsession, capturing attention by humorously admitting they didn’t have it. Ironically, both the film and the OOH pieces closed with the same sentiment: “Some moments can wait, this one cannot. See you soon.”

Engineering Modern Lore

When YouTube set out to kick off a massive cultural conversation ahead of the summer’s biggest soccer tournament, a standard announcement wouldn't suffice. The primary objective was to actively drive and become part of a cultural phenomenon before the first whistle even blew. We solved this by anchoring their message to two simultaneous national obsessions: the country's feverish hope for a sixth title—the “Hexa”—and the massive success of the recent Brazilian film The Secret Agent.

The resulting campaign, “A Agente do Hexa,” starred 80-year-old Tânia Maria, a main cast member from the film. Her age meant she had naturally lived through every single one of Brazil’s past world championship victories. The creative team utilized Gemini to seamlessly insert her into grainy, archival footage of those historic moments. The campaign film also playfully depicted her performing a bit of witchcraft, framing the actress as the country’s secret lucky charm pulling the strings behind every championship win.

This approach transformed a pre-tournament brand moment into a piece of highly shareable cultural lore, driving 1.4 million earned views and generated over 51,000 positive engagements. It proved that merging artificial intelligence with deep-rooted cultural nostalgia can successfully ignite a cultural phenomenon that resonates far beyond a standard commercial spot.

Once the tournament began, we expanded the strategy to capture the live momentum. We launched a separate, social-first campaign aimed at boosting community engagement alongside Casa CazéTV. Through a dedicated paid creators program, we pushed responsive, tune-in content that earned more than 60% positive sentiment and over 90M views.

Continuous, Living Marketing Systems

The brands that dominated the games discarded the linear broadcast mentality entirely. They refused to wait for a designated commercial break; instead, they synchronized their campaigns with the raw momentum of the tournament itself. These responsive layers wrap directly around the fan experience, no matter where and how they watch. 

So, the winning play next major sporting event? Engineer active, continuous marketing systems capable of capturing intent the second a fan reaches for their smartphone.

And that means rethinking how we orchestrate discovery and conversion. The traditional commercial break pauses the entertainment, creating instant friction that drives audiences away. Meanwhile, feeds bombard them with an abundance of content competing for their attention—and while I don’t suggest putting pause on your social strategy, I do recommend seamlessly weaving your presence into the content the audience tuned in to see.

Live commerce, particularly when driven by the creator economy, provides a compelling blueprint. Brands can successfully collapse the marketing funnel when they align retail mechanics perfectly with native platform behaviors, transforming passive viewership into an active, contextual marketing experience that fans flock to.

Move Beyond the Digital Infomercial

Early live commerce simply transported the traditional home shopping broadcast model onto social platforms, relying on presenters to pitch products and prompt viewers to click a purchase link. While this approach reliably drives conversions, it leaves the interactive potential of digital communities largely untapped. The next evolution of social shopping requires engineering retail mechanics that feel entirely native to the platform's culture 

Pringles’ “Stranger Prices” activation from last fall demonstrates how brands can gamify social shopping without interrupting the audience. Promoting the brand’s Upside Down Edition in partnership with Netflix, creators hosted live watch parties of the new Stranger Things season, and a custom facial recognition model monitored their physiological reactions in real-time. The software aggregated micro-expressions of fear and surprise to generate a live, fluctuating “Fear Score” of the streamers’ reactions. This biometric data then dynamically dictated the discount offered to the viewing audience.

The campaign gamified the viewing experience based on the exact content the audience came to see, eliminating the friction of a traditional sales pitch. The brand built a natural path to purchase because the activation turned a core genre expectation—the jump scare—into a dynamic pricing mechanism that rewarded fan anticipation.

Engineer Seamless Discovery

When we really take the time to learn the unspoken rules and obsessions of a specific community, we can build a shopping experience that feels like second nature to them. It comes down to answering the questions the audience is already asking.

Streamers are the new cultural icons, and they act as major influencers who dictate streetwear trends to millions of fans who follow them on streaming platforms. Within this specific digital culture, sneakers operate as the ultimate status symbol. However, the standard streaming format relies on a fixed, chest-up camera angle, keeping the creators' most prized fashion assets permanently hidden off-screen. This limitation forced fans to constantly flood chat rooms trying to identify the footwear their favorite streamers were wearing.

Mercado Libre recognized this social tension and developed a surprisingly simple solution: installing a secondary camera dedicated entirely to the creators' sneakers, broadcasting a live feed of their footwear directly onto the stream. The brand didn't force a conversation about shoes; they facilitated a behavior that was already happening naturally. The activation transformed the creator's existing aesthetic choices into an immediate commerce opportunity, directly satisfying the audience's innate curiosity without interrupting the flow of the broadcast.

Play by Their Rules

Surviving the ad-blind generation means playing by their rules. Before diving into the next live commerce idea, take a hard look at the platform you're targeting. How are creators and fans already talking? What are the inside jokes? What questions do viewers keep asking in the chat? When you figure out those natural rhythms and build a retail experience that rewards them, you stop being an interruption. Instead, you turn the audience from passive viewers into active participants who actually want to engage.

At a glance:

The democratization of streaming TV advertising now enables mid-sized, non-endemic brands to leverage Prime Video’s premium inventory to drive proven performance. Here’s how this creates a competitive edge:

• Premium access for all: Amazon Ads has leveled the playing field, granting independent agencies and mid-sized brands access to massive reach—covering 82% of UK households—that was previously reserved for massive budgets.
• Attention over CPM: While Prime Video inventory may carry a higher initial cost (CPM), it delivers superior value by generating 3x the attention of social video platforms among a younger, affluent demographic.
• Proven efficiency: Real-world case studies validate this high-quality approach, demonstrating that despite higher upfront costs, premium streaming placements can reduce Cost Per Action (CPA) by 26% while driving significant lifts in brand awareness.

Amazon Ads has democratized premium reach.

The event discussions centered on Amazon Ads' evolution into a “one-stop shop” for all advertisers, regardless of their retail presence. The strategy hinges on the massive reach of Amazon in 82% of UK households and Prime Video’s 22 million viewers monthly.

Speakers highlighted that the right partnership now levels the playing field for mid-sized non-endemic brands. Monks helps reduce three core barriers discussed at the event: making access and budget work through consolidated spend; handling the technical heavy lifting of DSP setup; and empowering teams with strategic knowledge. As noted during the session, this direct access allows independent agencies to compete for premium attention previously out of reach.

Prime Video delivers value through attention.

During a standout presentation, Joe Hayes, Senior Video Sales Specialist at Amazon, offered a deep dive into the value of the Prime Video audience, typically younger and more affluent viewers who subscribe to Prime. Accessing such a premium demographic often leads to additional audience fees in typical CTV media buys. On Prime Video, this is the core audience. 

Hayes argued that judging media efficiency solely by initial impression cost is a trap. The real metric to watch is attention. He cited research from Lumen indicating that Prime Video delivers 3X the attention compared to social video platforms, showing how paying for an affluent, engaged audience in a lower ad-load environment ultimately drives better efficiency.

Real-world data proves value of investment.

To prove that this strategy isn't just theory, we shared a case study from a recent partnership with a non-endemic entertainment brand focused on sign-ups and brand awareness. The data presented was stark: despite a 14% higher CPM versus a popular programmatic video provider, the campaign delivered a 26% lower Cost Per Action (CPA). These high-attention placements also drove a 5PP lift in brand awareness and a 3PP lift in favorability. The case study reinforced the event's core message: high-quality, high-attention inventory is a clear path to driving both brand building and lower-funnel efficiency when media is properly orchestrated.

Embrace a new competitive edge.

The gathering at Principal Place served as a signal that the playing field has been leveled. World-class attention and audience data are now available to engaged independent agencies.

However, the consensus was that access is only the starting point. The competitive advantage now rests with specialists capable of turning complex Amazon data signals into clear, measurable ROI. As the presentations concluded, it was clear that the future of media for non-endemic brands is being written on the largest screen in the house, streaming TV.

Just a few years ago, the conversation was about pushing large, endemic brands (brands who sell products on Amazon’s marketplace) to consider Amazon’s DSP for upper-funnel activations. The argument was functional but limited, with owned and operated (O&O) video largely confined to Twitch. The introduction of Prime Video advertising flipped the script entirely: today, Prime Video's ad inventory is dominated by large, non-endemic advertisers, like BYD, Morrisons and Uber Eats. Major non-endemic advertisers have been drawn by the promise of massive, engaged audiences, now reaching over 22 million monthly viewers in the UK.

Amazon's full-funnel message has pivoted to compelling new, top-of-funnel advertisers to engage further down the funnel. The strategy leverages Amazon's entire ecosystem to drive mid- and lower-funnel activations.  It’s a culture shift that has happened in less than three years, transforming Amazon Ads from a retail media network into a comprehensive media powerhouse.

Amazon is applying its 'everything store' principle to advertising.

Amazon’s strategic evolution in advertising mirrors the DNA of its marketplace, resulting in an  "everything store" for advertisers. 

The 2025 UK Upfront made this most evident through the sheer diversity of its original content slate.  From the reality-comedy of Last One Laughing and the high-stakes thriller Steal, to Riz Ahmed’s decade-in-the-making project, Bait, Amazon is serving every genre and niche of the entertainment landscape simultaneously. In the original ecommerce marketplace, unparalleled selection is key; Amazon is now applying that same principle to content. The significant number of actor-, writer-, and director-led projects brings fresh perspectives that might not find a home within traditional broadcast frameworks. This commitment is underscored by a promised £40 billion investment in UK content, signaling an ambition to outmatch competitors on content diversity by several magnitudes. The wider the audiences Amazon can attract with this programming, the more firepower they have to entice both endemic and non-endemic advertisers.

Beyond O&O, Amazon’s recent partnership announcements reflect an “everything store” approach to buying ad inventory as well. With recent integrations with platforms like Spotify, Netflix, and Disney, Amazon is embedding its marketplace DNA into its media offering. If an advertiser’s ideal inventory isn’t on an Amazon property, Amazon Ads can act as the trusted pathfinder to connect them, all powered by the first-party data collected across the marketplace and O&O properties. The announcement at Upfront UK that Amazon DSP can now reach eight out of ten UK households underscores this immense scale.

New ad formats signal a shift from engagement to orchestration.

All of the announcements at the Upfront UK signal that engagement and customer centricity are top of mind. The introduction of interactive pause and video ads, which their data shows have already proven to lift orders by 36% in the US, was deliberately timed. By allowing competitors to introduce the initial friction of new ad formats, Amazon aims to follow with a superior, data-driven version that enhances rather than disrupts the consumer experience. 

The Upfront programming also highlighted the effectiveness of engaging consumers in high-attention cultural moments. For example, the Morrisons sponsorship of Clarkson's Farm stood out, having driven a 17% increase in brand favorability.  Prime Video is one of many content subscriptions for consumers, but Amazon’s roadmap makes it clear they’re capturing attention share in a way that advertisers can’t ignore.

This year’s Upfront UK marked a turning point. Amazon's business has evolved from selling media into building an orchestration system where content, commerce and technology converge to deliver full-funnel advertising at scale. The future of advertising now hinges on choosing a comprehensive platform over individual channels, and Amazon is making a compelling case to be the only one marketers need.

Want to learn more about these updates and how Monks can help you maximize your Amazon Ads strategy? Learn more about our Amazon Ads capabilities by following the link below. 

But talk of agility is easy. The real challenge, and the focus of the conversation in Amsterdam, was how to ground these ideas in reality. How can broadcasters break free from decades-old production models? Where are the real revenue opportunities in vast, dormant media archives? And how can businesses adopt powerful new technologies without being crippled by cost and complexity? The discussion needed to shift from conceptual promises to tangible solutions, with many on display throughout the conference.

Decades old broadcasting models are evolving to meet modern audience demands.

For decades, the broadcast industry has stood on what seemed like solid ground, but that foundation has irrevocably shifted. As Lewis Smithingham, EVP MEGS at Monks, noted on stage, “Media production has been done effectively the same way for something like 58 to 59 years.” But that traditional model is breaking under the strain of a new reality where audiences are no longer a monolith, but a diverse collection of interests scattered across countless platforms. To reach them, he explained, “We can't deliver with a straight line of sight anymore, because there isn't a straight line, and there is no primary platform. It's all over the place.”

This new landscape demands a new approach that breaks free from the institutional inertia of how things have always been done. Reaching modern audiences requires the agility of cloud-native production, which is more a fundamental change in mindset than merely a technological upgrade. It means letting go of old “golden rules,” such as never turning off a generator for fear of a system collapse, and instead embracing an agile, software-defined approach that manages systems through adaptable software rather than rigid, physical hardware.

Nowhere is this shift more apparent than in the evolving role of the media archive. For too long, valuable content has been locked away in dusty vaults. Now, AI is rewriting that playbook, transforming stagnant libraries into living, breathing performance archives. 

This evolution means moving beyond thinking about rights on a per-title basis and seeing the monetization opportunities in the underlying IP. For a sports broadcaster, this could mean using AI to instantly find and package player highlights following a high profile trade—a process that would traditionally take significant manual effort. For a studio, it means transforming a classic radio show into an animated series for social media. By democratizing archives with AI-powered tools, we give editors, producers, and even fans the ability to unearth new value, create new stories, and generate novel revenue streams from content that was once forgotten.

Ultimately, these technological shifts point to a single imperative. As Smithingham simply put it: in today's environment, “if you're not real time, you’re history.” Success now comes from using technology to transform dormant IP into the dynamic, personalized experiences that connect with audiences in real time. This is the new frontier of broadcasting, and it's a future we are actively building.

AI-powered tools empower teams to deliver better viewer experiences.

The ultimate goal of all this innovation is to deliver a better, more personal experience for the audience. One of the central themes of the talks throughout the show was the need to empower creators with agile, real-time tools that make this possible. Our LiveVision™ demo illustrated this point in action.

LiveVision™ is an AI-powered tool that operates within live production workflows. Built to run on a full stack of NVIDIA hardware and software technologies including NVIDIA RTX PRO Server, Video Search and Summarization Agent, and Holoscan for Media , LiveVision™ can be deployed on edge, in the cloud, or in a hybrid environment. It brings real-time intelligence to the broadcast by analyzing multiple camera feeds simultaneously, introducing object detection and analysis into the broadcast pipeline for shot prioritization, scene description, and audio transcription. This frees up production teams for the creative process and provides end-of-day summarizations.

New tools are turning dormant media archives into new revenue streams.

Our Time Addressable Media Storage (TAMS) demo offered a powerful solution to the challenge discussed above of unlocking value in dormant media archives. This demo showcased a practical application of the industry's shift from static storage to “performance archives”—systems that actively surface valuable content.

TAMS tackles the time-intensive process of manual search by using AI to analyze and index the content itself, making footage searchable by actions, objects or people within seconds. This provides instant, frame-accurate access to massive media libraries, transforming a dormant archive into a dynamic, monetizable asset. For example, a sports rights owner could use TAMS to instantly pull clips of a specific player's key moments to create a personalized highlight reel for fans, or quickly curate footage for live betting markets.

The industry’s future depends on a fundamental shift in mindset.

Ultimately, conversations at IBC 2025 painted a clear picture of an industry at a crossroads. It's clear that the transition to a real-time, AI-driven world requires more than simply adopting new tools and platforms. The real challenge is to overcome the inertia of legacy workflows and embrace a more agile, experimental and software-defined approach to creating and monetizing content.

Success in this new era requires orchestrating creativity and technology to build systems that are not just innovative, but deeply relevant, efficient and profitable. It’s this synthesis of vision and execution that will define the next chapter of media.

StreamSearch.Flow is an advanced AI technology tailored for live broadcast environments, enabling broadcasters to pinpoint and segment particular objects, brand logos, keywords and more as they appear in content in real time. It isn’t just visuals that StreamSearch.Flow picks up; it can also recognize designated words within the audio stream, ensuring content—like real-time highlights, post-event recaps and more—is curated with precision.

Effortlessly capture and segment the content your fans crave.

While content segmentation itself isn't entirely new, StreamSearch.Flow stands out by offering broadcasters the capability to perform these tasks instantaneously during a broadcast. This means broadcasters are no longer limited to curating highlights post-broadcast, but can instead enhance viewer experience dynamically as events unfold, seamlessly delivering the output to live audiences across streaming channels.

This unique functionality is powered by NVIDIA Holoscan for Media, an AI-enabled, software-defined platform for live media. Additionally, StreamSearch.Flow integrates seamlessly with Monks.Flow, our professional managed AI service, providing broadcasters with a robust and comprehensive AI solution that enhances live broadcast operations effortlessly.

Why does this matter? Well, imagine being able to compile highlight reels based on precise criteria, such as capturing every slam dunk made by a basketball player wearing a specific brand's shoes. Or using real-time content segmentation to manage brand safety by instantly censoring inappropriate content, such as foul language, whether it's spoken or displayed on signs in crowd shots.

Similarly, StreamSearch.Flow can be used to verify how long a brand is featured for product placement or other sponsorship opportunities. For instance, during a morning show cooking segment, it can measure and verify the screen time devoted to a branded cooking product, ensuring that it receives the intended exposure in alignment with the brand's marketing goals. Similarly, in the context of a sponsored event, you could track the duration that a brand's logo is displayed on screen—confirming that it meets the agreed-upon airtime in the sponsorship agreement and, thus enhancing accountability and trust between sponsors and the broadcast team.

Each of these above use cases are possible, whether you’re streaming over the airwaves or on platforms like TikTok, Facebook Live, YouTube Live, Twitch and more. So, how does it all come together? Let’s look under the hood.

Software-defined production paves the path for AI transformation in broadcast.

StreamSearch.Flow uses a highly adaptable large language model that can be tailored to meet the specific needs of a brand. By training the model to recognize keywords, logos or other content, broadcasters can ensure that their (or their audience’s) unique objectives are captured with ease. And because the model is trained specifically for their needs, brands mitigate the risk of sharing data with a publicly trained model, ensuring that sensitive information remains protected and proprietary.

AI tools like this thrive on software-defined production pipelines, which involve software to control and manage production processes in a way that is both flexible and automated. This replaces the traditional single-use hardware found in control rooms with versatile software applications. By integrating digital technologies instead—on premises or in the cloud—broadcasters can optimize their manufacturing and production workflows while reducing their physical footprint.

Traditionally, software-defined production involves using multiple virtual machines in the cloud, with each machine running a single software application due to the individual CPU requirements. Holoscan for Media enhances this approach through containerization, allowing multiple applications to share compute resources such as GPUs, CPUs, and RAM. This not only reduces the overall resources required but also facilitates lower latency and higher video quality. The efficiency of shared resources translates directly into superior performance and cost savings.

Holoscan for Media’s repertoire of applications for containerization is continuously expanding, with a substantial amount of software already containerized for broadcast pipelines. This makes it an ideal choice for us and our clients, supporting our vision that containerization will define the future of broadcasting by enabling functionality like StreamSearch.Flow.

Keep ahead of emerging viewing habits and cultural affinities.

The ability to segment content in real time opens a new world of possibilities for enhancing viewer engagement. For example, broadcasters can move beyond traditional demographic categorizations, curating content that resonates with viewer interests and cultural affinities. This personalized approach ensures that the content delivered aligns more closely with what audiences truly care about, such as the sneaker-themed basketball highlights mentioned above, thereby offering new and exciting advertising opportunities for brands looking to sponsor tailored content.

Additionally, streaming platforms can act on the consumption data they have collected from viewers to provide highly targeted and personalized viewing experiences that reflect individual preferences. This level of customization not only enhances viewer satisfaction but also helps validate viewer identities, accommodating interests that might not traditionally fit within traditional broadcast contexts—like the intersection of fashion or music with sports.

As viewing patterns and demographics shift, particularly among audiences who prefer social platforms for viewing highlights rather than live events on TV, StreamSearch.Flow enables broadcasters to adapt seamlessly and maintain relevance with their younger, more digitally savvy fans.

The broadcast landscape is evolving. Are you ready for it?

Software-defined production is revolutionizing the broadcast industry, enabling broadcasters to work more efficiently and effectively than ever before. With the growing adoption of Holoscan for Media, broadcasters are empowered to take greater control of their workflows, enhancing their ability to deliver new and engaging viewing experiences to their audiences.

StreamSearch.Flow exemplifies the seamless integration of AI technology into broadcasting, helping broadcasters provide hyper-relevant content that resonates deeply with viewers. As the developer of one of many innovative technologies driving this transformation, we seek to demonstrate the potential of AI to reshape how content is curated and consumed.

We’ll continue to push the boundaries of what's possible in broadcasting, leveraging the latest technology from partners like NVIDIA to bring about the next wave of technological advancement—all to deliver cutting-edge solutions that meet the evolving needs of broadcasters and their audiences.

Here's what Google announced onstage.

The introduction of ad units within AI Overviews, the generative AI-powered section of the SERP, had long been speculated. These ad units were the missing component from Google I/O’s rollout of AI Overviews (formerly known as the Search Generative Experience, SGE) the prior week. AI Overview ads will integrate the power of Google's Gemini to deliver highly relevant ads based on user intent. Because the ad experience will be dynamic, this rollout is particularly impactful for verticals that can leverage product feeds like shopping and travel. We’re especially excited about the potential of AI Overview Ads when combined with complex search and visual search ads.

Google also announced several enhancements to Performance Max (PMax) campaigns, specifically asset and placement reporting. This long-awaited functionality allows advertisers to gain critical insights into how specific creative elements and YouTube video placements are performing in campaigns that previously did not have this transparency. Alicia Pachucki, Director of Search at Monks, mentioned: "The announcement of new Performance Max reporting by asset and by YouTube placement was met with huge cheers at the NYC event; clearly marketers were thrilled."

These insights will not only empower iterative creative learnings but also enhance the potency of hyper-personalized asset generation; with the potential to pair with generative AI workflows, such as those within Monks.Flow, this update will propel the scaled creation of high-performing, compelling assets. From there, performance marketers can do what performance marketers do best: test rapidly, with greater precision. Rob Shultz, Sr. Director of Ecommerce at Monks, added, "Asset-level reporting is a win for performance marketers everywhere. We’ve all been begging for more layers of the PMax black box to be unveiled to aid with optimization and creative strategy, and this is a massive step in that direction."

The introduction of profit optimization bidding for PMax, allowing advertisers to bid against product margins from their product data feed, is a “game changer” to Ezra Sackett, Associate Director of Search. “These columns have existed in Google Ads for a few years, but accurately uploading data to work with them has been out of reach for most ecommerce advertisers in the past.” Our team has seen positive success with the New Customer acquisition objective for PMax, and this complementing option caters to broader business needs for many ecommerce businesses. “It’s great to see that Google is bringing the algorithm closer and closer to the actual bottom line for the advertiser. This step from ROAS to POAS optimization has the potential to drive even more significant performance gains than the transition from CPA to ROAS bidding a few years ago,” says Sackett.

Several other PMax/Shopping features were announced, including:

• Loyalty Promotions and New Customer Pricing, for personalized promotions in Shopping results based on a user’s prior purchasing status
• Shopping ads in Lens Search results, fueled by the fact that “25% of Lens searches have commercial intent,” according to Google
• Merchant Center Next auto-generated reporting/insights, to save marketers time

Several new visual and experiential features were unveiled, including Image-to-Video, Virtual Try-On, Automated Product Highlights, and Visual Brand Profiles, all of which are powered by Google Gemini. These tools help ecommerce brands create more immersive shopping experiences and better convey the real-life look and feel of their products—without the need for costly and time-consuming physical product shoots. “Especially in my work with midmarket brands, the high costs of live product shoots can hold them back from producing enough motion and visual assets to effectively leverage YouTube ads and Demand Generation campaigns,” says Lauren Weisel, Sr. Director of Search. “Since the algorithm thrives off of more asset options, this can unlock great opportunities for performance, as well as differentiation in a competitive SERP environment.”

Other engaging ecommerce ad features that were announced include: 

• Visual brand profile on Google Search, an image-forward companion to Google Business profiles to help brands stand out and differentiate. (Notably, Google shared that “more than 40% of Shopping searches mention a brand or retailer” in the query.)
• More engaging ads on YouTube Shorts, including stickers, interactive gestures, and animated image ads generated from your product feed
• Improved image generation for Performance Max and Demand Gen campaigns
• Affiliate and Partnership program expansions for YouTube Shorts (powered by a Shopify integration and Google’s BrandConnect, respectively)

New updates to the Ads Data Manager are being made accessible to all advertisers, equipping them with the capability to organize and activate against disparate first-party data sources. The updated Data Manager capabilities will allow automated connection, transformation, and import of first-party data, making it easier to input the most up-to-date data with as little manual intervention as possible. Importantly, this is one of the few announcements from GML 2024 that is likely to have immediate impact beyond the ecommerce vertical—B2Bs and other brands with lead generation or signup objectives should take note. Since the ultimate goal of these updates is to enrich audience insights and targeting effectiveness by enhancing the quality of data inputs for AI-based bidding, B2Bs may stand to gain the most in the long run.

Other data features that were announced include:

• Improvements in Lookalike segments for Demand Gen campaigns
• Incorporation of AI Essentials into account optimization scores and recommendations

Monks Takeaway: User behavior is shifting.

At a macro level, search behavior is evolving to favor longer, more complex search queries. During the GML keynote, Google highlighted that "search queries with 5+ words are growing 1.5x faster than shorter queries.” They also repeated that their long-touted statistic—that 15% of search queries every day are new to Google—still holds true today. It’s telling that even as the algorithm’s predictive capabilities evolve so drastically, users continue to seek information in unprecedented ways. There’s an interesting “what came first, the chicken or the egg” aspect to this: are users asking longer questions of search engines because it mirrors how they ask questions of humans (prompting Google to keep up) or are users’ queries more complex because the SERP results for shorter head terms are no longer meeting their needs? 

Advertiser Action Item: Optimize your keyword strategy for themes, not queries.

Regardless, the evolving SERP necessitates that advertisers pivot their keyword strategies to fit the changes in the product experience. Google’s discussion of the “Power Pair” of Performance Max and Broad match keywords is key here: Google recommends that brands lean into Broad Match to enhance relevance. This is true, but even beyond this: we believe advertisers must also incorporate long-tail terms as Broad match variations too, rather than just use Broad to pick up variants of head terms. Rob Shultz notes that moving forward, “keyword strategies will likely focus on Exact match for Brand terms and broad ‘themes’ everywhere else” to maintain relevance and effectiveness in search ads. Performance marketers must test into new best practices for Broad match variations, to determine ideal keyword lengths and clustering strategies to increase the relevancy of where we are trying to serve.

Monks Takeaway: We’ve arrived at the AI-powered SERP.

Through the keynote’s emphasis on the "Power Pair," Demand Gen campaigns, and ad placements within AI Overviews, it’s clear that automation will soon be the backbone of the entire SERP experience. The keywordless future is not a new concept, but GML 2024 does reinforce the inevitability of a future dominated by fully-automated campaigns. The role of marketers will shift to focus on managing the overlap between multiple black boxes (currently, Performance Max and Demand Gen with Feeds), rather than tweaking tactics ourselves. The verticals with the most to gain in the short term include ecommerce/retail and travel/hospitality; they’ll be the bellwethers marketers should monitor to understand what performs and what doesn’t in the AI-powered SERP.

Advertiser Action Item: Invest in improving the data you feed the algorithm.

Google’s sustained drive towards a dynamic, personalized, and AI-powered SERP experience will be underpinned by marketers’ inputs: product feeds, audience data, brand website content, and high-quality photography and video assets. The further brands can optimize the quality of these assets now, the better positioned they will be to be aiming the algorithm in the right direction to hit your goals. More importantly, as Google continues to incorporate more variations of optimization settings that are attuned to different business objectives (such as the ability to optimize to profit, as described above), advertisers who can build processes and data strategies to learn how to fuel the algorithm now will be best positioned to take advantage of more customized or relevant features down the line. There has never been a better time to invest in:

• Optimizing your product feed for high-traffic terms and detailed product segmentation
• A/B testing product images and testing generative AI and digital twin technology to get new images in market faster
• Conversion-rate optimization, to balance out for potential decreases in site traffic
• Enhanced 1P data strategies, both from a conversion tracking standpoint (server-side tracking, offline conversion imports, etc.) to audience data augmentation and segmentation (including CDPs and data integration tools)

If needed, brands should fund these initiatives by re-allocating from working ad dollars, using incrementality experimentation to identify non-incremental media spend that can be pulled away with little risk to the bottom line. Investing now in learning how to fuel the algorithms effectively will be one of the largest possible competitive advantages for brands as we continue moving forward into this AI-powered SERP.

Fans have new expectations.

• They demand streaming options & a diverse media ecosystem, completely bypassing traditional sports coverage.
• They are seeking increased avenues for interaction with the games themselves, desiring immersive experiences that go beyond mere spectatorship.
• They also crave more opportunities to engage directly with their favorite players, fostering a sense of connection and intimacy. A dunk isn’t enough, they want to get to know Lebron.

We’ve identified key changes in Gen Z sports preferences in the areas of Consumption, Participation, and Human Values. And we’ve added recommendations and real-world examples for each from McLaren Racing, the NBA and more.

We’re Experience.Monks.

As experts in brand experience design, we work to elevate and innovate your brand through every single consumer touchpoint. We are your consultancy, agency and production arm all in one, specifically designed to help modern brands looking to disrupt, differentiate, and innovate everywhere customers interact with them.

59% of Gen Z watch longer videos they discovered on short-form video apps, demonstrating the need for broadcast rights-holders to embrace ecosystem-level thinking. We’ve worked alongside brands like Meta, Hasbro, TikTok and Verizon to evolve their broadcasting approach and meet the habits of today’s viewers through experiences that are immersive, interactive, and reach audiences where they are. Now, we’re developing an AI solution that will further revolutionize this next-generation broadcast workflow to create more engaging, personalized content for consumers with Fan-Focused AI Highlights.

Fan-Focused AI Highlights clips hyper-relevant content at speed and scale.

Fan-Focused AI Highlights, currently in development, uses AI and machine learning to instantly clip highlights in live broadcasts. The AI model is capable of segmenting individual people and objects in live broadcasts and effectively eliminates the need for manual selection and editing, a typically time-intensive process.

The speed and volume of content unlocked by Fan-Focused AI Highlights is crucial to delivering the snackable content today’s sports viewers crave. Gen Z now consumes more highlights (50%) than live content (35%), validating the appetite for a moment-based approach to content delivery that is also more personalized.

EVP, Global Head of Experience at Media.Monks and former NCAA player Jordan Cuddy offers one example of how this trend is impacting the world of sports. “With Lionel Messi now signed onto Inter Miami, many of his fans may not care to watch American soccer,” she says. “Rather than sit through a 90-minute game, they just want to see the eight minutes where he’s touching the ball.” Her point is backed up by the fact that 80% of Gen Z fans not only follow a professional athlete online but seek to watch the events those athletes participate in, as well as follow the brands they engage with. With Fan-Focused AI Highlights, you could automatically clip together a reel of the game focused on Messi’s—or any athlete’s—best plays with ease.

Deliver on the hunger for affinity-based content.

The same approach above could apply to even more niche content and viewer interests. Imagine a basketball game that AI automatically slices into social media content focused on footwear worn by the athletes, then pushed out to an audience of sneakerheads by an athletic apparel brand. This is easily achieved with Fan-Focused AI Highlights—helping brands and broadcast rights holders alike reach audiences in more relevant ways, while also expanding the quantity and value of your broadcast rights.

We’re in a new era where people are no longer defined by demographics broken up by where they live; now it’s about identity groups. Rather than carve up territories on a map, broadcasters can creatively package up content for numerous subcultures simultaneously, leveraging the power of AI and machine learning to distribute custom highlight content to tailored interest-based audiences more accurately and effectively. This is a massive opportunity for rights holders, as 73% of sports viewers perceive rights owners’ use of fan data as “disappointing” (23.4%) or “below expectations, but catching up” (49.7%).

Adapt broadcast content to fit today’s viewing habits.

Fan-Focused AI Highlights is the latest solution within our software-defined production offering, which effectively eliminates the need for a large physical plant—like large control rooms or OB trucks that cost tens of thousands to rent per day or the dozens of crew members to maintain them—in favor of versatile, nimble broadcast workstreams. Single-use appliances designed for one task alone make way for NVIDIA GPUs in the cloud (or a server rack), adding additional efficiency, flexibility and reduced cost, while remote teams allow rights holders to hire the best talent for the job regardless of their proximity to the event.

Software-defined production has even enabled us to do what was never done before. Working with UNC Blue Sky Innovations, we streamed the first sporting event in stereoscopic 3D at 60 frames per second and an 8K resolution, directly to VR headsets. The custom-designed pipeline features a RED Digital Cinema camera; RED CPUs that decode, color correct and de-warp footage directly from that camera; a Blackmagic controller for live switching and encoding (from NVIDIA GPUs for a high-quality bitrate); and a 1GB network to deliver the feed to an AWS instance on its way to VR headsets.

All this equipment took up the modest space of a standard foldout table—a small footprint for an innovative pipeline and history-making broadcast. Still, broadcast professionals are a traditionally superstitious bunch, and it’s easy to see why moving much of the equipment and processes to software could leave them wary: what if you run into connectivity issues or a data center goes down? The same data centers that AWS uses also host banks and other extremely sensitive operations, meaning there are multiple safeguards in place to ensure service isn’t interrupted. And if one does go down, we can spin it up on another one. With multiple redundancies in place, any technical difficulty with software is faster and easier to fix than if your truck generator went down.

A sustainable approach to innovation.

In addition to reduced risk and additional flexibility, software-defined production offers another important benefit: sustainability. Media.Monks won a Sustainability in Leadership award at NAB Show by greatly reducing the carbon footprint of broadcasts with AWS. In addition to avoiding travel-related emissions, the software-defined production workstream is powered by 95%+ renewable energy, further reducing environmental impact.

With Fan-Focused AI Highlights added to the mix, brands can continue to deliver even more personalized, relevant content designed for today’s audiences with less emissions, risk, cost and people on the ground.  As viewers crave a more moment-based approach to the media and entertainment they consume, this revolutionary broadcast model helps brands expand the value of their broadcast rights in innovative new ways.

It’s not a coincidence that the platform attracts these audiences and also humanizes brands by encouraging them to show a more genuine side. To put it simply, TikTok stands out among other platforms by not only connecting with younger audiences but also providing brands with unique opportunities to establish emotional connections, showcase their authenticity and effectively reach new potential customers in creative ways. Moreover, it serves as a fertile ground for creating trending content and attaining viral status within seconds—resulting in the highly sought-after “sold out” scenario that every brand aspires to achieve.

In a marketing landscape that is constantly evolving, having a presence on TikTok is not just an option, but a wise decision for brands aiming to differentiate themselves and stay relevant in the face of an increasingly demanding digital audience. Surprisingly, though, many have yet to fully tap into its potential. Worry not—whether you’ve tested the waters already or are just thinking about dipping your toes into the platform, this guide will help you succeed in your TikTok campaigns.

Stage 1: Initial Preparation

Before venturing into TikTok from a brand perspective, it is essential to actively engage on the platform as a user. Becoming familiar with the language and dynamics of TikTok is the first step toward achieving success. Whether you are a brand owner, employee or part of an agency, absorbing the essence of TikTok is crucial.

Success on TikTok requires synergizing a distinctive tone of voice with the unique social essence of the platform. The brand voice, which may be cautious and dependable elsewhere, can (and likely should) become inspiring, lighthearted and humorous on TikTok. That’s the only way to break down barriers and establish a relationship with consumers that’s built on trust. Ultimately, TikTok provides the ideal environment to unravel untapped aspects of the brand.

Some of the ways brands can actively participate on TikTok include:

1. Creating an organic profile on TikTok:
   
   This strategy involves building a brand profile on the platform and consistently sharing organic content. It requires meticulous planning, as the videos should resonate with TikTok’s audience and align with their interests. 
   
   
   
   While it demands a high level of dedication, the benefits outweigh the effort. By having an organic presence, the brand’s profile becomes a testing ground, enabling the brand to extract valuable insights from videos, explore topics that intersect with diverse niches within TikTok and receive real-time feedback from users. These learnings can then be applied to paid content, ensuring its effectiveness is maximized.
   
    
2. Using TikTok ads:
   
   Another alternative is to invest in paid ads on TikTok.These ads can appear in the discovery feed, just like organic videos, but there are also special formats that provide a prominent position on the homepage, as well as sponsored challenges. The lack of an organic account doesn’t necessarily affect the performance of these ads, making this a great choice for brands that want to test the platform without fully committing to it yet. It’s also an effective tactic to amplify seasonal campaigns.
   
    
3. Partnering with TikTok creators:
   
   Partnering with creators not only serves as an alternative for those unable to choose one of the previous options but also acts as a complementary strategy that can and should be combined with the others. Content creators on TikTok are native to the platform, meaning they possess expertise in producing content that truly resonates with audiences. By partnering with the right ones, you can gain an intermediary that effectively translates the brand’s message while also attracting potential customers from their trusted follower base.

There’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to collaborating with creators. Instead, it’s important to avoid a cookie-cutter style and focus on customizing strategies to accommodate individual differences and cater to specific needs. More often than not, creators complement brands’ strategies through dark posts, but increasingly, they are involved in the early stages of the campaign, helping to determine the best way to introduce it on the platform.

Stage 2: Beyond the Top of the Funnel

Recognizing that TikTok isn’t just restricted to the initial phase of the marketing funnel opens up space to plan a comprehensive strategy with videos that address all stages of the customer journey, which can be even more effective. 

When we think about TikTok, it’s not uncommon to associate it with the awareness stage, in which brands can leverage the viral nature of the app to capture the attention of a wide audience. However, it doesn’t end there. In the conversion stage, brands can incorporate clear call-to-actions within the videos or in the captions, directing users to visit a website, make a purchase or sign up for a newsletter. 

To drive ad communication, though, it is crucial to have a clear understanding of campaign objectives and key performance indicators (KPIs). What is the core message we aim to convey? What will be the call to action (CTA)? These considerations will guide the development of an effective campaign.

Stage 3: Detailed Research

Research is a powerful ally in shaping a TikTok strategy. It is crucial to collect and save relevant references, templates and resources for future adaptations. Analyzing consumer-generated content, both from the brand and others in the industry, provides valuable insights into what resonates with the audience.

By exploring the different hashtags and trends that are closely related to the campaign theme, you can join the conversations that organically align with the strategy. Attentively listening to customer feedback, identifying recurring themes and evaluating overall brand perception will guide the path to success. 

Stage 4: Key Considerations for Planning

During the planning phase, brainstorming with the team is key to selecting the best ideas. From there, it is necessary to identify the required resources—including roles such as store employees, content creators or celebrities—as well as materials such as sets, props and products. These resources will be used in filming, adapting existing content, or recording videos at home.

Not long ago, we successfully brought Kopenhagen’s Easter campaign to TikTok. The Topview announcement in particular had an impressive reach of 4.1 million people, exceeding expectations. In addition, the click-through rate (CTR) was 35% higher than the standard benchmark. The impact was even more remarkable as the proportion of new users visiting the brand’s website increased by over 60% during the period when this format was utilized. In short, this broad visibility, coupled with a significant CTR, resulted in a notable growth in the number of potential customers during one of the most important dates for the brand.

Another crucial aspect is the development of a well-defined timeline, encompassing the entire process from the initial creation to the launch of the TikTok campaign. In doing so, it’s necessary to dedicate enough time to each step, ensuring they are properly distributed within the available time frame. This helps avoid last-minute planning for seasonal campaigns.

Stage 5: Creating Impactful Content

When it comes to creating content for TikTok, every second counts. Unlike other platforms, where longer videos are favored, TikTok is all about agility and action, which means that the first three seconds are particularly crucial in capturing the user’s attention. That’s when you should be highlighting offers, promotions, coupons and even free shipping—maximizing efforts to attract and engage the audience effectively.

By understanding the language and trends, conducting comprehensive research, carefully planning and creating relevant content, brands can achieve outstanding results on TikTok. While harnessing its full potential may not be as easy as it seems, when executed effectively, it becomes a formidable marketing tool. The platform’s evolution has made it essential for successful campaigns. Let’s embrace creativity, innovation and strategy to fully unleash its power.