The Unruly Blog

As live sport continues to return to screens around the world, so have the sports ads, with spots from the likes of Nike, adidas and Coca-Cola all playing on fans’ nostalgia and excitement for the return of their favourite competitions. We’ve put some of these spots through their paces by testing them on UK audiences, using our emotional targeting and testing tool UnrulyEQ, to see who made it to the finish line and who was left at the starting blocks. On your marks – get set, go! BT Sport fails to score with Unlimited subs This spot from BT TV showcases the recent return of the UK Premier League by featuring several famous footballers and their reactions to a new fictional ‘unlimited subs’ rule. Our analysis shows this

Pluto TV — one of the fastest growing advertiser-supported video on demand (AVOD) services in the world — joined the UnrulyX premium publisher line-up at the start of the year. We spoke to their Head of Programmatic Partnerships, Jeff Quandt, on the success the service has seen since lockdown, which kinds of content are resonating with viewers during the pandemic and his predictions on where he thinks the CTV space is headed. Enjoy! Q: How have you been working with Unruly? We really kicked things off with Unruly around the time of the Tremor International acquisition, at the start of the year. We’ve seen tremendous growth in 2020 and I attribute a lot of this to our partnership. Unruly is our biggest success story in terms of new

With a new law on the number of people meeting together in the UK coming into force today, strict lockdown restrictions still in place across many parts of Australia and widespread economic uncertainty around the globe, the 2020 holiday period is going to be very different — and retailers are going to need to be prepared for it. Speaking to Fashion Magazine Drapers, the MD of retail research for GlobalData, Neil Saunders, said: “Retailers hoping for a cracking Christmas to offset a difficult year are likely to be disappointed, although their fate will hinge on what kind of lockdown restrictions – if any – are in place.” US retail giant Walmart recently announced its decision to close on Thanksgiving, ending a long tradition of kicking off its Black

Many brands (especially ones with smaller ad budgets) do not even consider TV advertising when planning their marketing strategies. That’s because traditionally TV spots = $$$$$$! But that has all changed now thanks to the rise of connected TV (CTV). CTV viewing — in other words, watching TV using devices connected to the internet — is on the rise across the globe, with many markets seeing accelerated growth due to global lockdown restrictions, brought about by the spread of COVID-19. Recent research we carried out found that 82% of the UK and 80% of the US population now have access to CTV content. Streaming into the future According to EMarketer’s Q2 2020 Video Trends report, for the first time, more than half of US consumers’ digital video time

The spread of COVID-19 and continued lockdown restrictions mean many of us are spending a lot more time at home in front of our TV screens. The arrival of new streaming services from media giants including Disney and HBO, mean accessing connected TV (CTV) content has never been more appealing. CTV content has also never been more easily accessible, with most new TVs arriving with built-in streaming services, and some available for under £100 in the UK. And even if you don’t want to replace your TV, cheap streaming media devices are now available that you can plug into your TV to make it smart. This has led to 82% of the UK and 80% of the US population now having access to CTV content in their homes,

Last week the antitrust subcommittee held a hearing for the four biggest leaders in tech; Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Tim Cook of Apple, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, and Sundar Pichai of Google. Millions of viewers live-streamed the six-hour hearing, keen to finally hear about the internal workings of four of the biggest, and most secretive, tech companies in the world. The hearing was called to ultimately address the fact that these four companies have too much power, with lockdown making them even stronger, as consumers spend more time online due to lockdown restrictions. The committee began by outlining that a single action from any of these companies can affect hundreds of millions of us in profound and lasting ways, with the ability to wipe out entire companies and

There’s no doubt that the global spread of COVID-19 has created widespread disruption across the ad industry. Many brands have struggled to adapt, unsure of which approach to take in response to such an unprecedented situation. Should they continue to advertise as normal? How much do they need to change their messaging? How has consumer attitudes to advertising changed? To help, we ran a global study back in March to find out how consumers were reacting to advertising during the Coronavirus. One key takeaway, which resonated around the globe, was that most respondents said they expected to still hear from brands during lockdown. To take this a step further, we wanted to find out whether attitudes towards advertising had changed during the COVID pandemic. So we conducted a

From the spread of COVID-19 and the exposure of racial injustices to the devastating effects of climate change, our world is in a constant state of flux. But how do brands navigate such an ever-changing world? How do companies deal with sensitive issues? By having a strong brand purpose at their core, says Contagious’s Editor-At-Large, Katrina Dodd, and Unruly’s Global VP Insight and Solutions, Rebecca Waring. Speaking at yesterday’s ‘Cannes Reconstructed’ event, Katrina emphasised that “having a strong brand purpose helps you navigate difficult times and sensitive issues, allowing your brand to take an active role and become part of the conversation naturally”. Rebecca added, “having strong brand purpose is key in giving your brand a voice and helping people to feel connected to it on an emotional