FreeWheel Council for Premium Video Calls for Industry Adoption of Universal Ad ID

The advocacy group, along with support from the 4As, ANA, NBCU and A+E Networks, is urging for the support of a unified standard for advertising metadata as a way to optimize workflow, improve campaign delivery and enhance reporting.

New York(11 Nov 2019)

The FreeWheel Council for Premium Video (FWC) today issued a call for industry-wide adoption of a universal ad ID as a means of better meeting the demands of cross-platform media management.

Representing 26 premium video providers and 45 globally, the FWC provides advertisers and their agency partners with information to overcome some of the legacy challenges that viewing fragmentation has created. 

The advocacy group says that increased fragmentation of TV and video viewing has resulted in an urgent need for universal creative standards. By implementing universal ad ID standards, the industry can overcome the challenges of managing multiple versions of creative for an individual campaign, according to the FWC. 

The group advocates use of Ad-ID, owned jointly by the ANA and 4As, as the preferred industry standard for identifying advertising assets across all media platforms.

“Establishing a universal standard through Ad-ID is one of the most effective improvements that can be done to drive scale in a converged world of premium video,” says James Rothwell, VP, Global Agency, Brand and Industry Relations at FreeWheel. “This single step can have hugely positive implications on downstream processes and the performance of cross-screen campaigns and the FWC urges the industry to embrace this standard as soon as possible.” 

The FWC says adoption of Ad-ID will have multiple benefits, including: 

• Overall workflow efficiencies: By creating a persistent ID across fragmented channels and supporting vendors, the need to re-identify the asset is reduced as is the chance of human error. 
• Deduplicated storage of ads: Demand- and supply-side vendors hosting and storing creative can avoid unnecessary storage of duplicate source media files.
• Addresses ad quality & collision: Use of mezzanine and ready-to-serve files ensures quality rendering and a common identifier enables multiple systems to prevent the same ad or competitor from running back to back.
• Improved campaign delivery: Using a common identifier allows for the efficient use of advertising inventory, ensuring all restrictions are observed and the right message gets delivered to the right consumer at the right frequency.
• Improved post-delivery reporting: Knowing exactly where an ad ran and when is key to post-campaign reporting. More detailed information on the performance of creative assets brings improved analysis and planning for subsequent campaigns.

“Ad-ID is important to both the linear television and the digital ecosystem, and its adoption is a decisive step in the right direction.” said Peter Olsen, EVP, Ad Sales, A+E Networks. “Including Ad-ID in digital creative will improve our viewers’ experience and create greater transparency for our clients and agencies, ensuring that their ads will be presented in a clutter-free, brand safe environment. It’s a win-win for all – marketers, buyers, sellers and, most importantly, the consumer – delivering a better advertising user experience across hundreds of ad delivery end points. “

“As the future of advertising becomes more complex, we must have a unified standard for advertising metadata. The Universal Ad-ID makes it easier for the buy side and the sell side to navigate the commercial workflow,” said Brad Epperson, SVP, Sales Operations, NBCUniversal. ”We’re proud to join Ad-ID and FreeWheel to move the industry one step closer to reflecting our all-screen world.”

According to Bob Liodice, CEO of the ANA: “By using Ad-ID, brands can deliver their vital advertising messages in a more efficient and accountable way, relieving friction and creating insights on performance that will allow them to adjust their investments.”

Marla Kaplowitz, president and CEO of the 4As, added, “When agencies use this simple mechanism, the management of today’s array of creative executions is instantly streamlined across all channels, freeing up more time for campaign strategy and optimization.”

To assist industry partners in support of this effort, the FWC created a guide to summarize the benefits and actions companies can take.

About the FreeWheel Council for Premium Video (FWC)

The FreeWheel Council for Premium Video (FWC) serves the interest of those in the premium video industry through leadership positions, research and advocacy to promote the premium video economy. The FWC operates as an educational and organizing resource to assist marketers to reach desired audiences in premium video environments, conduct research documenting the benefits of premium video and represent the interests of member publishers and the market. The FWC is comprised of today’s leading premium video publishers including A+E Networks, Comcast, Discovery Communications, Fox, NBC Universal, Turner Broadcasting System and Univision Communications.

About FreeWheel

FreeWheel, A Comcast Company, empowers all segments of The New TV Ecosystem. We are structured to provide the full breadth of solutions the advertising industry needs to achieve their goals. We power the technology, data enablement, and convergent marketplaces required to ensure buyers and sellers can transact across all screens, across all data types, and all sales channels, in order to ensure the ultimate goal – results for marketers.

With offices in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, London, Paris, Beijing, and across the globe, FreeWheel, A Comcast Company, stands to advocate for the entire industry through the FreeWheel Council for Premium Video. For more information please visit freewheel.tv, and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

About Ad-ID

Ad-ID is the industry standard for identifying advertising assets across all media platforms (broadcast, online, mobile, over-the-top, print and audio). The web-based system is a central, secure source for the industry’s asset identification information and ensures that all assets are delivered correctly to media and consumers. Ad-ID is a joint venture of the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s) and the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) and serves more than 2,600 advertisers of all sizes and most advertising agencies in the United States. For more information visit www.ad-id.org.