Let’s get real for a moment. Kevin Krim is not your garden-variety executive. This is a man who took one long, hard look at the glacial pace of TV analytics and decided, nope, not on my watch.
With EDO Inc., Krim essentially decided to do for television metrics what Silicon Valley did for, well, everything else: disrupt the heck out of it. The ice age of TV measurement? Consider it officially melted under the searing heat of innovation.
So, who is Kevin Krim when he’s at home? Picture a man who cut his teeth on the digital transformation of none other than Bloomberg and CNBC. While others were content to watch traditional TV metrics lumber along like dinosaurs after a heavy meal, Krim was busy plotting revolution. His mantra? “Nah, we can do better.” And better he aimed to do, not with a whisper but with a roar.
Then there’s the moment Roku decided to stroll into Bloomberg like it owned the place, armed with streaming dreams and a little black puck that promised to change everything. That was more than a lightbulb moment; it was a full-on fireworks display for Krim. Streaming wasn’t just the future; it was the here and now, begging for the kind of analytics that could keep pace.
And as if the plot needed more intrigue, enter stage left: Edward Norton. Yes, that Edward Norton. Not content with being merely one of his generation’s finest actors, Norton had his own bone to pick with the status quo. Tired of watching movie marketing dollars evaporate like morning mist (and let’s be honest, who isn’t?), Norton was ripe for a change. The kind of seismic shift that only comes from shaking the very foundations of how things are done. Spoiler alert: This revolution would be powered by data, not dollars wasted on TV ads that missed the mark.
Together, Krim and Norton didn’t just set out to rewrite the rulebook; they threw the old one out and started afresh. This wasn’t just about changing the game. It was about creating an entirely new one where data reigned supreme, and traditional TV measurement tactics looked as outdated as a Blockbuster rental store.
Welcome to the genesis of EDO, where the unlikely became the blueprint for the future.
In the sprawling saga of Kevin Krim’s professional life, EDO is less a mere plot twist and more a cataclysmic event in the narrative of TV metrics—a veritable asteroid hurling towards the unsuspecting dinosaurs of traditional measurement methodologies. With a mission as audacious as it is precise, Krim and his band of data-driven revolutionaries are not just content to watch the old guard squirm; they’re aiming to replace it with something that doesn’t merely limp into the digital age but sprints. Krim, with the nonchalance of a tech prophet, shrugs off the past, remarking, “It’s, you know, I don’t know if they’re dinosaurs, but I will say what our meteor strike is.” This isn’t about the extinction of outdated systems; it’s about the dawn of an era where data science reigns supreme, and “survey says” becomes an archaic utterance found only in the dusty pages of marketing textbooks.
Enter the Peanut Butter Pickle conundrum, an analogy so wild it practically demands its own reality show. It’s the kind of odd culinary pairing that might stop you dead in your tracks, eyebrows raised, wondering if the chef has lost their marbles. But here’s Krim, chef de cuisine at EDO, serving up this bizarre dish with the confidence of a Michelin-starred maestro. “It was like suggesting that somebody should try a peanut butter and a peanut butter and tuna fish sandwich,” Krim admits, capturing the initial industry bafflement at EDO’s approach. The idea of mixing performance and brand marketing—two flavors as seemingly discordant as peanut butter and pickles—into a harmonious blend? Preposterous! And yet, with a dollop of creativity and a generous sprinkling of data analytics, EDO managed to create a gourmet dish that had the industry begging for seconds, proving once and for all that yes, you can have your peanut butter pickle sandwich and eat it too.
So, here’s the skinny on what EDO Inc. is cooking up in the ad-tech kitchen. This is high-octane, data-driven gourmet stuff. EDO is slicing and dicing the way we’ve always done TV ad measurement, turning it into something you can actually use—like, really use—to figure out if your ads are doing the cha-cha or just chilling in the background. Their secret sauce? It’s all about engagement metrics that tell advertisers not just who might have seen their ad, but who engaged with it. How? By tracking increases in online search activity immediately following an ad airing. That’s right, they’re connecting the dots between seeing an ad and taking action, which, let’s face it, is the whole point.
Now, you might be wondering, how does this magical mystery machine actually work? Imagine every time an ad hits the airwaves, EDO’s tech starts humming, tracking how many folks jump onto Google or wherever to look up more about what they just saw. It’s like having a crystal ball that says, “Yes, Kevin from Kentucky saw your ad for those snazzy sneakers, and you bet he Googled them right after.” This isn’t just counting eyeballs here; it’s measuring interest, intent, the whole enchilada. And they’re doing it with a level of precision that would make a Swiss watch blush. By leveraging big data analytics, EDO transforms passive viewing into active engagement insights, essentially offering a peek into the consumer’s brain post-ad exposure.
But here’s the kicker: EDO isn’t just stopping at, “Hey, look, your ad made people Google stuff.” They’re tying these insights back to real-world outcomes, like sales and brand lift, giving advertisers the intel they need to make smarter, not harder, decisions. This means no more throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks. With EDO, you know exactly which piece of spaghetti led to a sale, and which one just flopped on the floor. In a world where every marketing dollar has to justify its existence, EDO’s approach is like having a GPS system when everyone else is still using paper maps. It’s not just game-changing; it’s the new game.
In a twist worthy of a Hollywood screenplay, Krim finds an unexpected co-star in Nielsen, a company as traditionally synonymous with TV ratings as dinosaurs are with the pre-asteroid era. But here’s the kicker: together, they’re dynamite. Krim says it’s a “really good partnerships,” underscoring the synergy between EDO’s outcome measurement and Nielsen’s audience measurement prowess. This isn’t just a team-up; it’s a melding of minds and data, aimed at bridging the gaping chasm between what audiences watch and the outcomes advertisers crave.
This duo is on a mission, armed to the teeth with data and a mutual disdain for the status quo. Krim envisions a world where the dichotomies of marketing are collapsed into a unified field theory of brand impact, all powered by the predictive prowess of EDO’s data science. The message is clear: the old guards of survey-based metrics are out, and in their place stands a new order, ready to redefine the landscape.
In the brave new world of streaming, EDO has cracked the code, and guess what? “Lower ad loads generate more engagement with the ads,” as Krim puts it. This might come as a shocker to traditionalists who love bombarding viewers with ads like it’s free candy day. But Krim is not about that life. It’s not just slashing and burning the number of ads for the heck of it; it’s a strategic move to redefine what engagement really means in the age of streaming. With giants like Netflix and Amazon stepping into the ring, it’s clear that the future of ad-supported streaming is not just coming; it’s already here. These platforms offer a rich proving ground for EDO’s insights, turning what was once speculative into hard, actionable data. The relationship with streaming platforms, especially Netflix, has been a pioneering journey for EDO, innovating “a whole new approach to how we measure the impact of these ads” due to the stringent privacy stance Netflix upholds. This wasn’t just adapting; this was reinventing the wheel in a market that demands precision and respects privacy.
What happens when the digital world’s lifeblood, the internet, goes poof? “We’d have a lot of other problems,” Krim muses, hinting at a chaos much grander than an advertising hiccup. Yet, even as he jests about smoke signals and telepathy as potential fallbacks, the real focus shifts to human-computer interaction. It’s this frontier where Krim sees the future, possibly powered by Elon Musk’s Neuralink, where the challenge lies not in connectivity but in ensuring privacy and security in a world increasingly skeptical of digital intrusion. “But, you know, I mean, some of our comfort would, I think, be if it wasn’t purely connected to the internet, right? If it wasn’t hackable.” The quest for a post-apocalyptic advertising strategy isn’t about finding the next platform; it’s about reimagining how we connect, engage, and ultimately, how we influence in a world untethered from the internet as we know it.
So, there you have it, folks—the equivalent of dropping a truth bomb on the sleepy village of TV measurement, courtesy of Kevin Krim and his merry band of data disruptors at EDO. This isn’t just a story about shaking up an industry; it’s a real call to the old guard that the future is here, and it’s armed with better data, sharper insights, and a peanut butter pickle sandwich.
If your idea of a good time involves clinging to the remnants of a bygone era where surveys ruled supreme, then, by all means, carry on. But if you’re even remotely curious about how advertising is evolving in the age of streaming and digital savviness, then this interview isn’t just recommended viewing—it’s required.
Let’s be real: Missing out on the full Kevin Krim experience would be like refusing a front-row seat to the revolution. And who in their right mind would do that? Grab your popcorn (or, dare we say, your peanut butter pickle sandwiches) and dive into the full interview. Witness firsthand how Krim and EDO are writing the playbook for the next generation of ad measurement. It’s not just an interview; it’s a masterclass in disruption, a roadmap to the future of advertising, and quite possibly the best thing you’ll watch all week. Trust us; your metrics will thank you.
