Turning Competitors into Partners to Solve Streaming TV Attribution at Scale with Carson Henry

[radically candid]

🎧 Episode Highlights

In this first installment of the [radically candid] podcast, Tim Rowe sits down with Carson Henry CEO @ [cognition] to talk about how a strategic pivot from competing with agencies has led to transformative ad tech for streaming TV advertising attribution.

⏱️ Quick Takeaways (2-min read)

1. The Pivot: How Cognition originally aimed to disrupt agencies but instead became their technology partner
2. The Discovery: 30% of search traffic should actually be attributed to video campaigns
3. The Game-Changer: Pixel-based CTV attribution that shows exactly which traffic, sales, and conversions came from streaming TV
4. The Scale Strategy: Finding one world-class partner per industry rather than many mediocre ones

🚀 Genesis & Pivot (03:15)

• Started in automotive retail, connecting with Amazon Ads
• Built automation tools for Amazon's ecosystem
• Key realization: "We solved more pain on the agency side than for dealerships"
• Pivoted to exclusive agency partnerships: "Where we were trying to dethrone them originally, now we were partnering with them"

🛠️ Key Technology Breakthroughs (07:00)

• Creative Suite: Zero to 60-second spots in an hour with real-time inventory
• Third-party ad server approval with Amazon DSP for dynamic creative updates
• Advanced attribution: Dropping cookies on CTV exposures to track the complete user journey

📊 The 30% Attribution Revelation (10:15)

"Roughly 30% of any search traffic is actually video, should be attributed to video."

• When viewers see a TV ad then search for the brand, traditional attribution gives all credit to search
• cognition's platform can identify and correct this misattribution
• Provides name-specific lead tracking from impression to conversion

🔍 The Ideal Partner Profile (15:00)

"If you want to do something that's not been done, and you're not afraid to do that, then you're probably a good fit."

• Agencies with "the spirit of innovation"
• Those ready to "go to battle" in a competitive space
• Partners who value truth and transparency in a "gold rush" environment

🤝 The Freewheel Partnership (17:45)

• Directly negotiates inventory deals with premium publishers (Disney+, ESPN+, Hulu, Roku)
• Overcomes minimum spend requirements that typically block smaller advertisers
• Enables custom-curated deals for specific agency clients

🔮 Looking Ahead (24:00)

• New UI/UX interface launching soon
• Focus on democratizing access to walled gardens
• Expansion beyond automotive into verticals with larger inventory feeds

🎬 Listen to the Full Episode