Comcast is kind of crushing it on the adtech side lately, no?
Earlier this week, the company announced that its audience data division, Effectv, is partnering with Clarivoy, a sales measurement and attribution vendor focused on the auto industry. The partnership, according to the press release, works to help auto brands better understand attribution across the increasingly fragmented, multi-screen TV landscape.
“Given the unique challenges auto dealers face in delivering the optimal ad experience in today’s multiscreen TV ecosystem,” says the release, “this partnership will give auto advertisers the ability to map a customer’s purchase journey from first touch to last.”
Effectv describes itself as an “audience delivery company” that uses first-party deterministic data from Comcast’s 30 million households, including subscription and IP addresses, aggregated viewership, and ad exposure. The company can also supplement this with probabilistic audience modeling and lookalike targeting.
Effectv also has access to Comcast’s inventory across linear TV, streaming, and VOD. That includes 11,000 programs and 170-plus networks. All of this is activated through its relationship with Comcast’s sister company, Freewheel. (It’s unclear, at least to us, if Effectv integrates with other vendors.)
Why This Matters:
Auto advertisers are hungry for better measurement. From January to August 2024, national TV ad spend across top auto brands dropped over 5% compared to the same period in 2023—$1.4 billion vs. $1.5 billion, according to iSpot.tv. Improved attribution could justify increased ad spend in the category, or at least safeguard the status quo.
Clarivoy, which tracks over 160 million automotive online shopping sessions every month, will help Effectv connect the dots between website visits, leads, and car sales. Aggregated and anonymized data from Effectv—spanning TV, addressable, and streaming—is matched with Clarivoy’s measurement of consumer activity on auto marketplaces and dealership websites.
Experts React:
“Clarivoy has set the standard for the auto industry when it comes to clear, timely and unbiased measurement metrics,” says Effectv’s Head of Local Automotive Strategy, Anthony Jingoli. “By combining their measurement capabilities with Effectv’s insights and scale, we’re ensuring that auto advertisers can trust they’re getting the most impact out of their media investment with demonstrated performance throughout the funnel.”
Our Take:
Effectv isn’t a household name, but it’s an interesting player that adds a lot of depth to Comcast’s adtech stack/business. Deals like this, along with Comcast’s moves on Universal Ads and Freewheel, highlight the untapped potential for legacy companies—is T-Mobile and Vistar a comparable example?—to capitalize on their data, inventory, and technology for adtech. It feels like they’re still just scratching the surface of what’s possible.
