Omnicom Media Group and Roku partner on viewer search data, wrapping the holdco’s CES moves

Say a consumer searches for Hugh Jackman. Those results will likely yield as much song-and-dance films like The Greatest Showman or time-travel works like Kate & Leopold as it will Wolverine films. That immediately opens the door to insights that can inform spend and content decisioning from sponsorships, tailored creative messaging or even contextual optimization. 

In some ways, the deal struck with Roku is similar to a partnership OMG cut with Uber back in 2023, noted Megan Pagliuca, chief product officer for OMG. “This is really a difference in our data strategy than the other holding companies,” said Pagliuca. “Because even though we have the data assets that [Omni’s managing unit] Annalect has built out, we also enrich our data with companies like Uber. I’d say this is very analogous to our Uber data relationship, where we can enrich our data with Roku’s data set.”

Given that there were 1.2 billion searches on Roku in 2023, according to a Roku blog, there’s a trove of audience insights to be gained, said Ryan Eusanio, OMG’s svp of video and programmatic. “Those are insights we’re able to tease out from this kind of data that’s really niche, but provides really outsized value for clients based on what they’re specifically looking to do,” said Eusanio. “And then using that data to empower investment decisions, creative decisions, and segmentation — so we can understand, here’s the holiday watchers, here’s the reality TV show watchers, etc.  We can think about messaging differently and targeting differently.”

For its part, Roku is glad to be generating value for its search data, given it can help attract more advertiser dollars. “Consumers are using Roku to search for content and entertainment at unprecedented rates, giving us deep insight into their interests and preferences,” said Sal Candela, Roku’s vp of global agency partnerships. “Omnicom’s integration into our search insights marks a first-of-its-kind opportunity for brands to leverage this unique and untapped data set to deliver better campaigns on our platform.”

Matt Harker, vp of consumer experience transformation at OMG client The Clorox Company, believes search information indicates intent, which can be an effective guide to media planning and investment.

“As consumers continue to expand how, where and when they search beyond classic search engines to CTV, social and commerce platforms, we need a more holistic approach,” said Harker. “This collaboration between Omnicom and Roku will add a whole new dimension to more effectively connect individual consumers with our brands they love.” 

Because the volume of search data is so huge, OMG is leveraging AI help in the form of Omni Assist, a virtual assistant within Omni that helps teams “to go from analyzing data to analyzing insights,” said Clarissa Season, chief experience officer at Annalect. “The reason a partner will share this kind of data with us is because of our really unique take on how to use it … The consumer insights you get about people based on what they’re searching for really helps us to have that tighter connection with our [clients’] consumers, and to take this data beyond activation all the way through the planning process and the workflow.”