Global technology and marketing company tms named Preet Michelson as Chief People Officer. 

The company focuses on brand growth and interaction, upping visibility for customers. Clients include T-Mobile, McDonald's and adidas.

Michelson reports to tms Mark Landolt, tms president. She will oversee the company’s global talent acquisition, development and retention programs.  

Prior to joining tms, she worked as VP Human Resources at CVS Health, responsible for driving multiple strategic initiatives, launching leadership development systems.

Michelson has also worked for United Airlines, Molson Coors and PepsiCo.

Based out of tms’ Chicago office, she said she wanted to "build on tms' rich culture, fostering collaboration, growth and inclusivity."

Headquartered in Chicago, tms has offices worldwide.

More than a dozen NHL partners and licensees are activating around the 2024 Discover NHL Winter Classic fan festival. 

The event serves as a preview of the 2024 Discover NHL Winter Classic, an outdoor game between the Seattle Kraken and Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Park on Jan. 1.

A game ticket is not required for entry into Enterprise NHL Fan Village, but all fans will be required to enroll for free at NHL.com/FanVillage before entering.

The event “offers a tremendous marketing platform for our incredibly loyal and creative partners to activate around to generate memorable moments for our fans,” says Evin Dobson, NHL senior vice president, partnership marketing.

“This year, we have many blue-chip partners activating,” Dobson tells Marketing Daily. “Our job at the League from a partnership marketing perspective is to help create unique fan engagement activation ideas, such as the Enterprise NHL Fan Village, so that our partners can reach our fans in meaningful ways that leave a major impact on them."

Brands with activations include Discover, Enterprise, Honda, Fanatics, Great Clips, Jersey Mike's,  New Amsterdam Vodka and Verizon. 

Discover has been NHL Winter Classic title sponsor for the past three years and an official U.S. NHL partner since 2010. Discover is the official credit card and official bank of the NHL in the U.S. 

The event is one of the league’s most highly anticipated events of the season, says Jennifer Murillo, chief marketing officer at Discover.

“This year, the Discover Starting Lineup Experience will feature a photo opportunity allowing fans to place their face on a custom digital Discover collectable, as well as our oversized Air Hockey Table where fans can challenge their friends and family to a unique version of the classic game,” Murillo tells Marketing Daily. “We’re also looking forward to engaging with the NHL’s passionate fan base, with our new co-branded commercial with Warner Brothers Discovery which captures the excitement that comes with being a fan of the league.”

WBD Sports produced a custom spot in-house in partnership with Discover and the NHL, featuring NHL on TNT talent Jackie Redmond and Wayne Gretzky.

The event attracts NHL fans from across the country, says Kyle Sanborn, vice president of global brand strategy and marketing activation at Enterprise Mobility. 

Last year, one family’s trip to the Winter Classic in Boston was in jeopardy due to a series of airline cancellations. Enterprise provided the Maher family with a vehicle, and the family embarked on an epic 3,000-mile road trip from Phoenix to Boston.·  

Enterprise stayed in touch with the family over the past year and provided tickets for them to attend the 2024 Winter Classic in Seattle. Enterprise was surprised to hear that the Mahers intended to repeat their road trip rather than flying to Seattle. 

The rental car company once again provided the family a vehicle and will be sharing highlights from the drive and experience.

Amazon and Google this year invested millions in a San Francisco startup that develops large-scale artificial intelligence (AI) systems. Its name is Anthropic, and this week it told investors to expect more than $850 million in annualized revenue by end of 2024.

That is more than an eightfold increase in monthly revenue compared with the $500 million predicted in September of this year, according to an investor memo reviewed by The Information. The media company said the projection comes during a fundraising round led by Menlo Ventures, which could land the company around $750 million in capital at a $15 billion pre-investment valuation.

Anthropic's Claude AI platform uses large language models (LLM) to return conversational-type text and analyze documents. The company generates revenue from selling access to Claude, its large language model (LLM).

Unconfirmed reports put Notion, Quora, and DuckDuckGo on the list of customers.

Last month, during a five-day online conference on decoding artificial intelligence chatbots hosted by the Mobile Marketing Association and presented by Caleb Briggs and Rex Briggs, Claude was demonstrated to be one of the best chatbots in its ability to summarize a very large PDF file.

Claude 2, which launched in August, is available to customers running on Amazon Bedrock, an Amazon Web Services (AWS) product. Customers using this include LexisNexis, Lonely Planet, and Ricoh USA.

Anthropic is undergoing a hiring frenzy, with more than a few dozen job openings, but like other AI companies, it faces challenges as well as the responsibility to develop the technology without harm.

Reportedly, its leadership team left OpenAI over disagreements related to AI safety.

Last week, Anthropic introduced a “simplified Commercial Terms of Service with an expanded copyright indemnity.” It also introduced an improved developer experience with the launch of a beta Messages API.

Its Commercial Terms of Service enable customers to retain ownership rights for any output “they generate through their use of our services and protect them from copyright infringement claims,” which has been a controversial topic in the news of late.

The updated terms are intended to defend Anthropic customers from any copyright infringement claim made against them for their authorized use of its services or their content outputs.

Anthropic also said it will pay for any approved settlements or judgments that result. These new terms go into effect on January 1, 2024 for Claude API customers and January 2, 2024 for those using Claude through Amazon Bedrock.

Premium streaming owners -- especially those that are behind in the race to be profitable and competitive with the biggest players (Hello Netflix) -- keep talking about streaming bundling. We may be getting a glimpse of how it might work.

But one question remains. What third-party company, or other entity, will be in control of operations to do all that?

Historically, there has been a TV network partnership of sorts with a digital streaming platform like Hulu -- all with a separate operating team. 

How does this happen with new streaming platforms? Increasingly, we are getting the bigger picture -- that it could be those already in the business. 

It was recently reported that Verizon Wireless is offering a combo package of Netflix and Max for their ad-supported options at $10 a month. Separately, it would be $17 a month. 

For Max, especially, all this seems like a boost -- riding on the back of the "must-have" Netflix platform. Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav has been pushing for more bundling of all streaming platforms.

Now we hear that Apple TV+ and Paramount+ might be working on a similar deal. So far no third-party company -- a legacy pay TV provider (cable, satellite, virtual, or telco) -- has been revealed. 

For a while now, communications-centric companies like T-Mobile have been packaging subscription streaming services in promotional deals -- with mobile and home broadband/internet services. Many of these are short-lived, expiring after a year or so in many cases.

Then there is Charter Communications and its new deal with Walt Disney, which will allow them to sell a full-service ESPN streaming app when it becomes available -- so Charter can package it in with its traditional cable TV networks.

To a great extent, this comes at the expense of Disney removing from Charter many low-producing, lesser-viewed cable TV networks in its stable.

This trend -- whittling down some lower-performing networks -- is one that analysts believe will continue, with future deals coming from other pay TV providers.

Let's not leave out existing players -- digital-first streaming app distributions (Roku and Amazon) or new distribution systems for legacy pay TV players -- Xumo (from Comcast/Charter).

Now the question you've been waiting for: Will there still be blackouts when those testy contract negotiations come due every couple of years or so? Yes.

But right now everyone will be happy that legacy pay TV providers/mobile-first communications companies still have a good way to keep their customers happy.

Traditional media companies with crucial still-young premium streaming services will get a strong distribution boost.

This column was previously published in TV Watch on December 7, 2023.

It's been years since Josh Lovison released one of his annual technology trends forecasts for people in the advertising, media and marketing industries, but it's been years since Lovison had a good reason to. Back in his days as a futurist advising big marketers and tech platforms as part of Interpublic's vaunted Media Lab, Lovison was on the bleeding edge of predicting seismic shifts in mobile, social and other now common place disruptors.

The main reason for his hiatus wasn't just that he left the ad business, putting his focus into his own business, Bidscape, where he is CTO and founder, but that he just didn't see any materially new technological change weighing in with his time on.

That's changed, he says in a recently-posted YouTube video version of his trends presentation. In fact, Lovison characterizes it as a "tsunami" of technological change, largely surrounding the rapid evolution of AI, which is progressing much faster than even he would have thought.

I recommend anyone involved in media tech -- or in any part of business that can be disrupted by rapid advances in media tech -- watch it.

Of for know better reason than learning why your next boss may not even be human. And he doesn't even mean that in a dystopian way.

Full-disclosure: Josh Lovison got his start in the media business at MediaPost. He's also my nephew.

With AI accelerating and a newly cookie-less environment, buy-side, sell-side and ad-tech executives foresee major developments for connected and addressable TV in 2024. Here are excerpts from a few.  

Elizabeth Herbst-Brady, chief revenue officer, Yahoo: While we must continue to solidify foundations around identity and quality inventory, it’s creative that will drive performance, engagement, and brand awareness in programmatic advertising. Creative will be top-of-mind for all advertisers, but particularly for CTV advertisers, with the convergence of generative AI, the need to manage the cost of creative development and the addressability of CTV. AI will embolden advertisers to develop an array of creative variations for their campaigns, and to deliver personalization like never before. This will allow them to engage audiences across geographical areas, languages and viewing environments without incurring sky-high production costs. But it will also reduce ad fatigue by varying the creative viewers see in their households. 

Dina Roman, SVP, global ad sales, Fubo: Fragmentation across streaming, and especially sports content, has reached an inflection point. Consumers have grown frustrated with the increasing number of subscriptions required to watch all of their programming and advertisers are challenged with reaching their strategic target audiences across a growing number of media partners and devices. Aggregation will show its value and we will see a return to bundling across streaming. We have to continue to work as an industry to make life easier for consumers and, by extension, advertisers. Measurement continues to be a hot topic in streaming and we will see certain metrics come to the forefront, including analyzing viewers' cross-channel engagement and attention to demonstrate CTV campaign outcomes and the value of CTV for advertisers. 

Andrea Kwiatek, director, strategic partnerships, Goodway Group: The CTV landscape is poised for significant growth and transformation due to a convergence of advancements in data-driven targeting, measurement capabilities and automation, and major global events. New metrics such as co-viewing and attention will provide advertisers with more nuanced insights into viewer engagement. The upcoming election cycle will be a key catalyst, as political candidates leverage first-party data to precisely target and connect with their core audiences on CTV platforms. The Paris Olympics will present a unique opportunity for premium demand, fostering a surge in CTV viewership as audiences tune in for live and immersive coverage. 2024 may also bring mergers between major broadcast companies. The anticipated launch of an Apple DSP and Apple’s entry into the advertising space are expected to have substantial impacts, influencing how brands leverage data and target audiences across Apple’s ecosystem, including CTV. Amazon Prime Video’s launch of an ad-supported tier will introduce a new avenue for advertisers to engage with audiences on one of the world's largest e-commerce platforms. And in the live events sphere, the evolving landscape presents exciting prospects for programmatic opportunities, enabling more precise targeting and real-time adjustments during broadcasts. 

Mark Jung, VP of product, Dstillery: Programmatic CTV ad buying will continue to gain momentum. Reflecting programmatic’s ability to find the right person at the right time, more budgets are flowing into CTV, and The Trade Desk and other DSPs are going all-in on it. One of the biggest challenges in CTV is not having a third-party identifier that works across all players in the space. But the industry is moving more toward authentication-based IDs as a replacement for third-party cookies, and that plays well in CTV, since most devices require logging in. Content gateways’ crackdowns on sharing accounts will also help. One of the biggest advantages of programmatic is the speed at which we can understand and solve problems. While CTV may not have a clean KPI, such as CTR, folding CTV into programmatic buying platforms and leveraging clean room data matching will allow a much better understanding of the impacts of CTV versus linear advertising. And with programmatic-like hands-on keyboard capabilities, advertisers will be able to leverage their programmatic experience and plan to get the most of their CTV buys. 

Will Lapointe, CEO, Pathlabs:  In 2024, CTV advertising will focus on robust planning, accurate measurement, and effective data activation. Issues like inventory quality and the complexity of programmatic CTV campaigns will be central, as the space attracts more publishers and advertisers. AI will continue to grow in advertising, enhancing efficiency and innovation, but the need for human oversight in managing AI-generated advertising content will be crucial. The shift away from cookies will lead to a more 'opt-in' internet, changing how online advertising is monetized and targeted. This transition is expected to impact both publishers’ revenue models and advertisers' strategies, possibly leading to a greater emphasis on subscription models. The advertising industry will continue to navigate challenges due to retail media expansion, privacy regulations, and attention fragmentation. Success in this complex landscape will require advertisers to adeptly handle legal, targeting, and reporting shifts in a rapidly evolving environment.

Lindsey Kurland, VP buyer demand, Index Exchange: Streaming TV advertising will reach a pivotal point in 2024, fueled by the maturity of key standards like OpenRTB 2.6 and app-ads.txt. These standards will continue to drive scale, efficiency and transparency to programmatic streaming TV advertising and as a result, play an essential role in boosting media buyers' confidence and attracting more advertising investments to the channel. OpenRTB 2.6 introduces features like ad podding that bring the same inventory granularity as linear to streaming TV, enabling more accurate and efficient ad placement. Its widespread adoption will enhance the viewer experience, help ‌media owners monetize their inventory, enable the targeting and transparency capabilities that buyers need, and help reduce carbon emissions across the supply chain. Having already demonstrated its effectiveness in combating ad fraud in web and mobile app environments, app-ads.txt will be instrumental in bringing more transparency and trust to the streaming TV supply chain. Together, these standards are essential in scaling streaming TV, providing the industry with the common foundation needed to accelerate innovation and move the industry forward. 

Mark McKee, general manager, FreeWheel: 2024 will see a renewed focus on premium video: what it is and what factors buyers and sellers should consider when engaging in video transactions. This issue is timely as premium video continues to grow and content proliferates across platforms and screens. In today’s complex and fast-moving media landscape, buyers want and deserve to know that the ad inventory they’re purchasing is high-quality and brand-safe. Holding premium video to a higher standard is a win-win for the industry, as such efforts will help drive an enhanced viewer experience. 

Justin Rosen SVP Data & Insights, Ampersand:  Viewers are flocking to streaming environments, including FASTs and vMVPDs, but they also remain engaged with linear TV and broadband and video MVPD services. So marketers must be everywhere. The most successful will holistically plan and unify across every environment, including unduplicated post campaign measurement. Without a well-thought out strategy that combines media planning with data and analytics, bringing this all back together will not be possible… On another front, as the cable bundle did originally, a re-bundling of services across new streaming channels will help consumers navigate the proliferation of services to find their favorite content and afford multiple subscriptions. Many of these services will be ad-supported — a good thing for marketers, as more high-quality, targetable, accountable inventory comes back into the ecosystem. With recent announcements such as Comcast and Charter’s XUMO box, we are already beginning to see this shift.  

Cathy Oh, head of marketing, Samsung Electronics America: As CTV ad capabilities continue to improve and evolve, digital screens get more dynamic, and retail media ecosystems explode, it will be critical for advertisers to shift their ad campaigns beyond the living room. Targeted multi-screen experiences will be key in 2024 to reaching consumers with messages that move with the medium. Expect retailers to get smarter with their in-store screens, and expect brands to start to bring their CTV campaigns out of the home, onto mobile and into retail and other out-of-home locations in 2024. 

Larry Allen, VP and GM, data and addressable enablement, Comcast Advertising:  Following the 2023 breakthrough of the launch of AMC Networks’ programmatic addressable capability, we can expect to see a major increase in addressable ad inventory available programmatically in 2024. This, tied with a stronger push and emphasis on authenticated identity, will help pave the way for even more accurate audience targeting and measurement innovation across the TV ad ecosystem. We’re also in the midst of an inflection point in the U.S. as the measurement sector moves toward a multi-currency world, with new entrants emerging and players on both sides calling for advancements in solutions. Buyers and sellers are seeking diversity to measure ad views across linear and streaming platforms accurately and consistently. Innovation will be key in bringing the greatest possible reliability and accuracy to cross-screen measurement.

Chris Vail, VP, Political Sales, Effectv: We’ll see even more advertisers experimenting with or upping their investments in addressable TV advertising — particularly in the political sector, during an election year. This is where addressable’s superpower — the ability to reach and target specific voter segments, including at the local level, where votes can go a long way — really comes into play. This is an area we’re watching closely, especially in today’s audience-first ad/media landscape.” 

Angelina Eng, VP Measurement, Addressability & Data Center, IAB: Advertisers are moving away from cookie-based metrics and prioritizing meaningful engagement over quantity. The IAB and MRC plan to establish standardized guidelines for attention measurement, ensuring consistency and transparency in measuring user engagement…  With a focus on privacy and data usage, the landscape is shifting toward private marketplaces and direct buys for more controlled ad placements. Emphasis on user experience and high-quality content will become pivotal for engagement and trust… Achieving a unified view of the customer journey across multiple platforms remains a substantial hurdle. Privacy regulations and initiatives like Google's Privacy Sandbox pose ongoing challenges, leading to intermittent progress in cross-channel measurement. As cookies decline, measuring consumer behavior and attributing actions to campaigns become more complex. AI-driven tools are emerging to develop sophisticated attribution models using synthetic data, derived from ad-tech and martech sources. AI solutions can offer new insights into consumer behavior while maintaining privacy standards.

Dan Slivjanovski, CMO, DoubleVerify: The IAB released OM SDK for Android TV, Apple TV and Amazon Fire CTV environments last year, and we expect early adopters to begin supporting this in 2024...  Top publishers and distributors will finally respond to advertiser demand and begin providing video-level data to buy-side partners... Attention measurement, which is gaining traction for its ability to better measure and optimize performance across environments, will become more widely available in CTV next year.

Genesis unveiled three immersive activations earlier this month featuring partners including Boston Dynamics and the Council of Fashion Designers of America.

The activations from the Hyundai Motor Group luxury brand are at the brand’s dedicated 46,000-plus square foot public-facing space in New York’s Meatpacking  District neighborhood, which opened in November 2021.

Genesis and Boston Dynamics, also part of Hyundai Motor Group, have teamed up for an interactive showcase that celebrates innovation through exploration against a distinctly Korean backdrop. 

“Innovation Playlab at Genesis House” allows visitors to interact with Boston Dynamics’ pioneering robots. Genesis House will host the mobile robot, Spot, for an interactive experience within the Cellar Stage. Spot’s cutting-edge technology will be demonstrated through a series of touchpoints, including a live vehicle diagnostic during which Spot will showcase the real-life quality control and details of a Genesis vehicle. 

“Spot’s Terrace” will feature Spot demonstrating his mobility capabilities on a stage with an LED light display, as a nod to Genesis House’s Winter Lights installation on the second floor Terrace. 

In another activation, the Genesis House Terrace allows visitors to view Winter Lights, an illuminating experience alongside New York City’s High Line inspired by Genesis electric vehicles’ vehicle-to-load capabilities.

“Featuring the GV60 as the focal point of the installation, Winter Lights will pay homage to the design principle of tension and balance with two interactive LED screens for visitors to discover their own meanings behind each,” according to a release. 

Finally, Genesis and the Council of Fashion Designers of America are continuing their partnership by bringing designer creations to life utilizing Genesis vehicles. 

Designers including Adam Lippes, Alice & Olivia, Altuzarra, Carolina Herrera, Christopher John Rogers and Rosie Assoulin will showcase their designs wrapped across the full Genesis vehicle lineup. 

Each vehicle will feature a custom display showcasing the design inspirations and runway debut as part of a limited-time installation on the first floor showroom level.