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Welcome to the Vertical 76 podcast! Each week, host Austin Krell will take you through the latest with the Philadelphia 76ers, breaking down the game, diving into the biggest storylines and looking ahead to what’s next.
In our first episode, NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Amy Fadool joins to preview the season ahead, from Nick Nurse’s ever-evolving offense to how high a healthy Joel Embiid can raise the team’s ceiling.
The 76ers are entering the season with optimism. Coming off a 45-37 season and a first-round playoff exit, the team was rejuvenated in the offseason with the additions of LeBron James and Jaylen Brown. But how will the pieces fit together?
If Philadelphia’s preseason slate is any indication, there’s reason for optimism.
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Home furniture brand Blu Dot blew up on CTV with help from Roku Ads Manager. Here’s how:
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The results speak for themselves. As Blu Dot increased their investment by 10x, ROAS jumped to 2,308% and more page-view conversions surpassed 50,000.
“For CTV campaigns, Roku has been a top performer,” said Claire Folkestad, Paid Media Strategist, Blu Dot. “Comping to our other platforms, we have seen really strong ROAS… and highly efficient CPMs, lower than any other CTV partner we've worked with.”
Using Roku Ads Manager, the campaign moved from a pilot to a permanent performance engine for the brand.
“There was a certain smoothness to some of the plays when they were all playing together against the Nets, and I know it's the Nets and I know it's the preseason, but you need to see some semblance of that,” Fadool said. “You need to see that everybody knows exactly where to go and it doesn't look clunky. There was times last year even when they had their full complement, the ball would just get stuck, it would just not move.”
But that’s only a preview of what’s to come. Fadool added that she is excited to see the inbounds plays and halfcourt sets that Nurse comes up with, particularly with the size that Embiid and James provide.
“I think when you have Joel and LeBron out there, those two big bodies, I would think there's going to be a couple more options,” she said.
Krell agreed, saying that in the preseason he has seen more cutting variation on offense.
“They have a bunch of different things that I was like, ‘oh, that’s kind of new,’” he said. “Usually, when they throw the ball back to the top of the key, it's Joel catching it for a DHO of Tyrese [Maxey]…But like this was like, ‘oh, they're like mixing and matching who does this at the top of the key,’ and and they're making the pass, and then they get hammered with the screen. It’s really hard to defend.”
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