Jeremy Steinberg

In a week jam-packed with M&A news, we’ve got it all covered, and we’ve sprinkled in some extra hot takes fueling our investments in the next gen of AdTech. The latest FirstPartyCapital newsletter, and our latest pod, are both out! In addition to the Publicis Groupe + Lotame deal announced today, this week has delivered some game changing AdTech M&A: - T-Mobile acquired Blis in a $175m+ all cash deal. On the back of acquiring Vistar Media, T-Mo is building a formidable location-based stack! - DoubleVerify acquired Rockerbox for $85m, providing the MMM and attribution layer needed to set the benchmark & train the models for the new iteration of DV. It isn’t the era of efficiency or effectiveness, quality or outcomes, it’s both. Rockerbox will square off the Scibids and OpenSlate acquisitions to make DV a true Signal Aggregator. - Viant Technology beat on earnings and acquired lockr, which provides an identity stitching, data collaboration backbone for their Household ID and Iris Data. Signal aggregation is only as good as your activation, and DSPs are in market to get ahead. We were lucky to have the lockr CEO and legend Keith Petri on the pod just hours after the acquisition. We went all the way back through Keith’s foray into VC investing, 6 exits and building a B2C email startup. Link in comments. We’ve also re-launched the Media Breakfast popularized by the indomitable Joanna Burton, with the FPC “Spotlight” series. Our first event is on Tuesday am in London, with the spotlight on Curation. We’ll hear from: 🎤 Austin Scott, CCO of Bedrock Platform 🎤James Leaver, CEO of Multilocal 🎤Pierce Cook-Anderson of Audigent, a part of Experian Links to the event below. AdTech FTW!

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Live events take streaming TV advertising to another level. Unlike on-demand, where viewership builds over time, live events hit programmatic systems with massive, simultaneous ad requests every commercial break. So how does ad tech keep up? In the latest Index Explains video, Rob Hazan, VP of Product, Streaming TV, breaks down how live event ad serving works—and what it takes to deliver seamless, high-impact programmatic ads in real time. Watch now: https://lnkd.in/ebsvgaZq

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After 200+ incrementality tests this year, we're seeing "reliable" channels get worse, and "experimental" channels get better. Over time, our median iROAS results across Meta -- our largest channel partner and the most common tactic in our 500+ clients' media mix -- has gone down from over $3.00 iROAS to now a $2.43 iROAS. Why might this be? • Meta itself is becoming less effective • Power is becoming less exceptional at execution • There are market forces at play I tend to think it is the third hypothesis. Here's why: Our average client went from growing 21% YOY (Jan-Jun) last year to only 15% YOY growth this year. Even clients we don't manage Meta ads or any media for. We're seeing that ad spends are on a decline, and that tariff pressures (both real and predicted) are causing financial strain and cashflow. • Brands are having to cut marketing and growth budgets • COGS are up significantly (often 30%+) • Most brands operate <15% EBITDA This creates a vicious cycle in which brands are more dependent on the "tried and true" channels, and they're actually spending MORE on those channels (like Meta) both in volume and in proportion of the media mix. Even though their total media spend is reduced (we estimate about 15% reduction YOY on average). So why does this have an impact on iROS? • More spend = higher likelihood to hit diminishing returns • A more diverse media mix creates synergistic reach • Budgets spread out allow for more testing Which leads to my second point. Our top iROAS channels right now are: • Pinterest (often a test channel) • TikTok (very high impact) • Google demand gen And we don't have enough tests to verify confidently, but we have a suspicion that reddit, CTV, and direct mail are also extremely incremental for traditionally DTC brands focused on Meta/Google (which we're seeing in our MMM). This is why it's so important for brands to consistently test and factor in external elements that have an impact on consumer behavior AS WELL AS competitive forces on shifting media mix. What to do here: • If you're seeing softer iROAS results, that's normal • Brands that are testing more are winning • More diverse media = better iROAS • Keep testing frequently If you're building forecasts or demand plans, you can't rely on the iROAS curves you generated months ago. Things are different and media is in a weird spot. Instead, re-run your tests, build out a more dynamic marketing mix model, and if all else fails put more conservative forecasts on your media ROI. #incrementality #mmm

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Huge news from Aperiam portfolio company tvScientific: they just raised a $25.5M Series B to accelerate the shift to Performance TV, a category they’ve been pioneering since 2020. There are a few reasons this fundraise is important: 1) What it means for CTV: The CTV ad market is $30B today, but it’s still largely approached like traditional TV: geared toward brand awareness rather than performance. Meanwhile, search + social advertising is a $500B+ market because it delivers measurable business outcomes. That’s where tvScientific is driving a massive shift. They’re making performance-driven, measurable advertising a reality for TV, unlocking a huge new market and positioning CTV as a true competitor to search and social. 2) What it signals for ad tech investment: New investors NewRoad and Second Alpha are joining existing sector-focused co-investors like S4S and Progress Ventures. Another sign that more investors are recognizing the massive opportunity in advertising and marketing technology. 3) And perhaps most exciting: Roku is doubling down on their ecosystem-centric approach by joining the round as well. Roku is one of the most exciting companies in CTV right now, and I can't wait to see what this strategic relationship brings. It's been a privilege working with Jason Fairchild and the tvScientific team over the past five years as they continue to lead the category and build a great business. Congrats to all! Links to coverage in the comments. Let's go!

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When complexity gets in the way, simplicity is the solution. At this week’s NAB Show, I had the pleasure of joining Jennifer Mock Donohue of Amazon Ads to talk about how we’re bringing together Spectrum Reach’s premium TV inventory, first-party data, and local expertise with Amazon’s powerful buying signals and premium streaming environments. The result? A simplified buying experience that delivers meaningful outcomes for local advertisers. Catch a couple highlights from our discussion to hear where this collaboration is heading next. And we are just getting started! #NABSHOW #SpectrumReach #AmazonAds #TVAdvertising #CTV #AddressableTV #LocalAdvertising 

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Agentic AI: What Is It and How Will It Change Advertising? I joined IAB's Chris Bruderle and Mark Avnet for a conversation on one of the biggest shifts happening in AI right now, the move from directing AI to letting it take the wheel. We get into: • What Agentic AI really is (and isn’t) • How it will reshape advertising • Why Agentic Search Optimization might be the new SEO This space is evolving fast and if you’re in marketing, advertising, media, or tech, it’s worth tuning in to this edition of IAB Pulse. Give it a listen and let us know if you've started thinking about agents OR have started using them. 👉 Add the episode to your calendar here: https://lnkd.in/eH4CpXdF #ai #AgenticAI #AIinadvertising #marketinginnovation #advertising

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Basis Technologies announced the appointment of Mark McEachran to VP of product - DSP. Mark will lead product strategy and development for Basis' DSP, leveraging his more than two decades of expertise in programmatic advertising, identity solutions, and machine learning. Read our announcement. Link is in the comments. #adtech #digitalmedia #programmaticadvertising

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Publishers are starting to realize that there are better ways to monetize their remnant ad inventory: media capital investments. Kari McMahon spoke with Diana Florescu from mediaforgrowth (MFG) and Andrew Schnell from Sinclair Inc. about this. #media https://lnkd.in/eYbKP5ph

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