Yahoo! x Digital Upfronts: 4 things we learnt

Innovative technology and the value of quality content were both central themes at Yahoo!’s 2021 Digital Upfront with UK Managing Director Josh Partridge telling delegates that “our tech will help you to make the right connections” and allow “you to work at the edge of creativity with immersive storytelling capabilities”. Here are our key takeouts from the event…

1. New tech = new ways of connecting 

From the unique, unified tech stack that is allowing advertisers to target premium environments, to the creative technology that is allowing brands to break down boundaries between the physical and digital worlds, innovation is central to Yahoo!’s advertiser offering. Sam Field, Director of Creative Technology, discussed how brands and consumers are interacting in the burgeoning metaverse. “Consumers are demanding a more hybrid reality”, he explained, and immersive virtual experiences are catering to this. A great example is Electric/City, a virtual shopping experience from Selfridges, Pokémon GO and designer Charli Cohen.  

2. It’s time to get post-cookie ready 

With 2023 fast approaching, finding cookieless solutions is a huge priority for advertisers and Yahoo!’s Next-Gen Audiences tool is ready to test. Commercial Lead Mindy Basra put the challenge facing brands into perspective, explaining that “over 30% of ad opportunities are to unknown users”, a figure that Yahoo! expects to rise to 75% once third-party cookies are phased out. Yahoo!’s goal is to use technology to help its brand partners reach the right people and keep delivering KPIs. The solution?  “Leverage unique Yahoo! first-party data from real-time audiences in a privacy centric manner.”

3. Premium partnerships are delivering 

Alice Duggan from Compare the Market joined Yahoo!’s Ciara McGettrick to discuss the success of a partnership facilitated by Wavemaker. As a financial services brand, Compare the Market’s aim was to encourage people to take control of their finances, but they wanted to deliver the message in a fun and informative way. By leveraging data, Compare the Market and Yahoo! were able to reach audiences with smart and relevant messaging, smashing all the campaign’s KPIs and achieving an average dwell time of 2 minutes, 10 seconds. 

4. Quality original content is key 

From its Black & Beautiful in Britain video series in collaboration with digital publisher Black Ballad, to podcast ‘White Wine Question Time, with Kate Thornton’, At the heart of Yahoo!’s offering is quality, original content. As a result, 88% of the UK population can be reached via premium brand safe environments, according to Carina Moran, Senior Communications Planning Strategist. Bringing to life stories from Yahoo!’s ‘How to Raise an Olympian’ series, Gabby Logan sat down with Olympian Tom Daley, and Paralympian Kadeena Cox MBE for an inspiring talk about what it takes to achieve your goals. 

This Upfront is available to watch on-demand here.