Seven Questions For Amy Leifer, Chief Ad Sales Officer At DIRECTV

Amy Leifer is Chief Advertising Sales Officer at DirecTV, responsible for leading the advertising sales business enterprise wide. Amy has over 25 years of experience across sales, operations, and technology, and is recognized as a problem solver who drives results and a winning culture through teamwork and collaboration.

Prior to joining DIRECTV Advertising, Amy held leadership roles at Xandr as Executive Vice President of Operations and Services, and WarnerMedia as Executive Vice President of Pricing, Planning, and Operations. With a strong background on the tech and content side of the business, we emailed Amy to get her thoughts on a wide range of topics, including; addressable advertising, the ad sales upfront, measurement and AI.

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Last month you were at the Cannes Lions Festival. What were your biggest takeaways from the event?

Leifer: Cannes is always such a great opportunity to engage in important conversations, establish new connections, and nurture existing partnerships. Despite the long travels, what I appreciate most is being able to focus on the big-picture and drive opportunities without some of the day-to-day considerations that come when we are all back at home.

This year, I’d say the biggest takeaways were:

● CTV’s growth is undisputed, and there is only more opportunity for brands and advertisers to leverage CTV and converged TV offerings to reach their total audience no matter how they are consuming TV content.

● Data, data, data. From conversations around currency and measurement, to the applications of data clean rooms, and impending privacy considerations, we’ve finally reached the point where marketers have robust data assets at their disposal and both tech platforms and publishers have solutions to allow for better cross-platform audience planning, optimization and measurement. Audience-based buying is no longer an afterthought, even in the TV space, but rather the primary way advertisers can reach their audience in the most efficient and effective way possible.

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● AI is the new buzzword, and for good reason. From optimizing certain tasks, to enhancing ad campaigns and generating creative, there are many applications within the media and advertising space. Largely everyone agrees that generative AI will transform our industry, but we need to go in with eyes wide open ensuring we have the proper guardrails and guidelines in place.

This year’s upfront, your second at DIRECTV Advertising, appears to be a buyer’s market with pricing rollbacks in non-sports programming. What’s your assessment of the ad marketplace?

Leifer: There are several factors contributing to a complex Upfront market. The WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes along with intensifying audience fragmentation and declining TV ratings are having an impact on the marketplace. But even with everything going on, we know that viewers are still going to consume premium TV content.

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That’s why it’s so important for brands and advertisers to implement converged audience-based solutions to reach consumers wherever they are watching. Video providers with access to a robust library of diversified content are well-positioned to attract audiences — there’s a particular emphasis on live sports and unscripted series right now.

One of the biggest issues in TV/video has been audience measurement. With a number of ad tech companies challenging Nielsen as the currency for negotiating ad time. What is DIRECTV Advertising’s position?

Leifer: We know that audience measurement is top of mind for every stakeholder within the advertising space. It’s instrumental to the success of both brands and publishers, and DIRECTV Advertising has successfully enabled multiple currencies for years. While we have seen more alternative currency options emerge, what has become clear is that there is no single winner at this point, so collaboration will be critical in navigating a multi-currency reality for the foreseeable future.

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That being said, measurement is a much broader topic than just currency. What we are primarily focused on with our addressable and streaming offerings is providing insights and attribution that can tie media exposure back to an advertiser’s real business KPIs like sales, website visitation, or brand health. This helps prove the real impact their media investment has had on their business, beyond looking at how many impressions were delivered to the audience.

DIRECTV has made a significant investment in addressable advertising. With cable operators, DISH and connected TV companies also offering addressable advertising, how does DIRECTV differ from competitors? How have advertisers responded to DIRECTV’s addressable advertising offering?

Leifer: DIRECTV has been laser-focused on addressable for over a decade, and has been leading the charge in addressable advancements, helping advertisers to leverage it in new and innovative ways. More and more marketers are using addressable technology and viewership data to better manage the reach and frequency of their campaigns, including digital and CTV buyers who may not have purchased TV in the past. In fact, we found that in 2022 nearly 3-in-5 CTV buyers reported buying linear addressable from MVPD/vMVPD distributors like DIRECTV, with 82% of those planning to spend the same or more on linear addressable this year.

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We are unique in that we offer addressable campaigns across premium linear TV, streaming, and even innovative ad formats like Pause Ads within a single campaign, built on our deterministic identity across the entirety of our subscriber base. That means an advertiser can define their audience once and reach that audience across 100+ networks within live and VOD while managing for reach and frequency holistically. Additionally, we provide robust analytics on the backend and work with over 30+ data vendors across all key verticals to ensure that an advertiser knows if the message is resonating and if it is driving results for their business.

Pay-TV has been a core business for DIRECTV for 25 years — is this a viable business going forward?

Leifer: There is no denying that the entire TV and media industry is going through a transformational period, and that linear TV is declining as audiences are shifting viewership to digital and streaming platforms. That being said, consumers still love TV content and want easier ways to access that content on their own terms. Through DIRECTV and DIRECTV Stream, we provide viewers with options no matter how they want to access their content, whether that is through satellite or streaming.

DIRECTV just announced they are partnering with the inaugural Soccer Champions Tour. Can we expect similar sports partnerships in the future?

Leifer: We are really excited about this partnership and where the sports space is at right now in general. As we observe the continued growth of live-streamed sports – 67% of US customers report watching live TV every day across any platform – we are proud to have been a leader in bringing that premium content to our consumers for years. In fact, 47% of DIRECTV STREAM viewers spend at least half of their time watching live sports.

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Consumers are particularly engaged while watching sports, so it’s ideal real estate for brands looking to reach passionate viewers in a stress-free and brand-safe environment.

Where do you see AI fitting in the media/advertising industries?

Leifer: AI is undoubtedly having its moment. And though it might seem like another fleeting topic, AI is an exciting prospect that has the potential to make a real impact on the TV and advertising industries. While many of us have been using AI and machine learning to power our businesses for years, generative AI in particular has the ability to provide our industry with deep insights and improve efficiency at a rate that can help us move forward in a meaningful way.

Brands shouldn’t be afraid to embrace AI conversations both internally and with their trusted partners, as long as they are implementing the right safeguards and guidelines. When done in a strategic way, AI and other machine learning capabilities can ensure brands and agencies are setting themselves up for future success.

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