Omnicom, Rembrand rethink streaming ads

The collaboration introduces a data-driven approach that allows advertisers to identify relevant scenes and programming, bringing in-content advertising into the broader media planning process.

Omnicom Media has partnered with in-content advertising platform Rembrand to help brands plan and activate placements within premium streaming content across multiple media companies.

The capability gives Omnicom Media’s Content Collective, its branded content centre of excellence, early access to Rembrand’s AI-powered VISTA platform. Combined with Acxiom RealID and direct integrations with major streaming services, the technology matches audience data with suitable content and available advertising opportunities.

Omnicom Media makes in-content advertising scalable

Traditionally, in-content advertising has relied on bespoke agreements and individual integrations with content owners. The partnership aims to establish a common planning framework, allowing media teams to assess opportunities across participating publishers and consider placements alongside other media investments.

Rembrand’s VISTA platform scans publisher content to identify scenes suitable for advertising integrations. Audience insights from Acxiom RealID help brands identify shows, films and genres that align with their target consumers, creating a more systematic route to activation across participating streaming partners.

Omnicom Media targets consumers beyond traditional ads

The partnership responds to changing consumer attitudes towards advertising. Omnicom Media’s research, From Tuned Out to Leaned In: How to Combat Ad Avoidance, found that 65 per cent of US consumers avoid advertising to some degree through behaviours such as skipping, scrolling, muting or ignoring ads.

Separate research commissioned by Omnicom Media’s Partner Intelligence team in collaboration with Rembrand examined the effectiveness of in-content advertising. It found that pairing these placements with traditional video ads increased message recall by 5.5 times and purchase intent and perceptions of the brand as premium by four times.

Megan Pagliuca, Chief Product Officer, Omnicom Media: "Our research identified how quickly consumers actively or passively disengage when advertising feels intrusive or overly repetitive. To address this, we have launched new capabilities in streaming to address negative reach, improve relevance and measurability of traditional brand experiences, and now we are complementing these with a first of its kind data driven, scalable approach to in-content advertising."

Four stages connect audience data with streaming inventory

The capability links audience insights with available placements through four stages:

Audience matching: Acxiom audience segments are matched with streaming viewership data to identify relevant programmes, films and genres.
Inventory mapping: Suitable content is matched with in-content advertising opportunities identified by VISTA.
Inventory expansion: Additional programming can be onboarded through established processes with participating streaming partners when relevant placements are unavailable.
Activation: Brands deploy placements against selected audiences and programming across participating publishers.

The approach allows advertisers to integrate their brands into content consumers have actively chosen to watch, while improving visibility into available inventory across streaming platforms.

Rembrand and Omnicom Media expand brand integration

John Sedlak, Chief Revenue Officer, Rembrand: "In-content advertising has always offered brands the opportunity to show up within content people have actively chosen to watch. Our collaboration with Omnicom Media makes those opportunities easier to identify, plan and activate across premium streaming, bringing a new level of scale and consistency to the category."

Potential applications include automotive brands placing vehicles in relevant programming to reach consumers shopping for cars, beverage brands targeting seasonal content and retailers using in-content placements to connect brand exposure with purchasing journeys.

Jillian Davis, Director of Marketing Technology at Cox Automotive, the parent company of Auto Trader and Kelley Blue Book: "We’re always eager to leverage new, scalable and organic ways to reach our customers within premium content."

The partnership reflects a broader effort to integrate in-content advertising into established media planning and buying processes. By combining audience data, AI-powered content analysis and streaming integrations, Omnicom Media and Rembrand aim to make these placements more accessible to advertisers seeking alternatives to conventional interruptive formats.

www.omnicommedia.com

www.rembrand.com

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