A Media Buyer’s Guide to Understanding Convergent TV
Since the introduction of streaming services and connected television, the way people watch television has changed dramatically. This means the way advertising works within the television sphere has also had to adapt. This seminar, hosted by Beachfront Media and non-profit organization 212 NYC, features a panel of expert media buyers and growth strategists. The seminar explains how convergent TV patterns are shaping advertising strategies, and how to drive more efficient, impactful television ads that are beneficial to both the advertiser and the viewer.
Based on patterns in viewership in the last few years, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic, David Clutter, the Vice-President and Head of Demand at Beachfront, says we have seen a convergence of connected TV and traditional pay TV viewership. The future will likely maintain a balance of both and media agencies will need to do the same—advertise and buy across both. Connected TV is growing but pay TV still represents much of the market and it’s not expected to go anywhere anytime soon. Clutter notes that unified buying across both environments is becoming imperative. “As convergence happens, look to unify all of your TV campaigns and really unlock strategic applications.”
For purchasing and activating campaigns, media buyers need to understand how advertising works on various types of television, like connected TV and traditional pay TV. Daniel Church, Head of Advanced TV Product at Beachfront, says it is important to test out ads and strategies today, and to use different platforms to reach disparate audiences with whomt media buyers wouldn’t otherwise be able to connect. The goal of convergent television advertising is to drive more tailored and efficient marketing across all TV screens, \, while empowering advertisers to strategically reach key groups of viewers This type of interoperable, cross-screen addressability signals the future will be made up of both traditional pay TV and connected TVadvertising.
“Addressable linear allows the best of traditional TV and the best of streaming to combine. Unifying multiple different addressable standards will be key to unlocking scale as well as the full potential for brands and advertisers,” said Church. “We take a technology-first approach to these challenges at Beachfront, so rather than pushing for a single industry standard, we’re working closely with major TV players and consortiums to support all key standards within one, unified platform, to ultimately unlock seamless executions for the buy-side.”
Corinne Casagrande, Senior Vice-President of Strategy & Growth at Broadbeam Media, says their market research studies show how differently viewers consume pay TV versus streaming services. This directly affects how advertisers should market to their audience. Ritu Trivedi, Executive Director at Mindshare New York, notes how linear television allows for 16 minutes of commercial time per hour and as we move forward, this time will be reduced to only three minutes through connected TV, making it much more difficult to reach the consumer through traditional advertising strategies.
Akhil Parekh, Senior Vice-President of MediaOcean, suggests advertising agencies evaluate where their ad dollars were spent last year and in which areas they performed best. Marketers have to be able to shift their ad dollars to wherever their target audience is moving forward. This may involve testing ads across multiple platforms to facilitate advertising as well as make it easier for the buyer to get the information they want.
The addressability of television is still very new, but there is a lot of room for growth with targeted advertising. Addressability includes dynamic ads delivered tot individual households, much in the same way social media ads work. The value of addressable TV is very appealing from a marketing standpoint according to Casagrande. With key information (like credit card spending habits), associated with a specific household, addressable advertising can be a real game-changer. It is essentially buyer-driven, personalized marketing, delivered on the largest screen in the home. In the past, Casagrande says this option wasn’t too favorable because it took too long to collect the data. However, we now have this data and things are moving forward quicker now than they did in the past.
Cross-channel buying in the era of convergent TV is still developing but marketing agencies are making strides in this area. Moderator Laura Wu asks the panel how we preserve creative excellence? The challenge is not to inundate the buyer with too many ads for one specific thing. For example, if someone is interested in buying a car, they shouldn’t receive only car ads every time they watch TV as this will become very tiresome for the buyer. It can even turn them off completely. The challenge will be presenting households with relevant ads, while controlling for things like frequency and competitive separation to avoid overexposing audiences to the same ads over and over.
The future likely holds a balance of traditional linear TV and connected TV viewing, and advertising will have to shift accordingly. Addressability in television advertising is evolving, and has the potential to radically change the way advertisers spend their ad dollars and how viewers engage. As viewership changes, advertising must change with it.Does the future mean only addressable advertising? No. There will still be a mix of both broad-reach and addressable commercials, at least for the next several years. The convergent TV landscape offers new opportunities for media buyers to connect with consumers, and delivered a more successful ad campaigns that are beneficial to both advertisers and viewers alike.
The discussion included a lively Q&A where participants asked:
What metrics or dimensions do most advertisers optimize against to make sure their OTT investments perform? curious in general but i represent a more direct response advertiser thanks!
I have clients who are reticent or uncertain about jumping into (and putting budget against) CTV and addressable TV advertising. How can I encourage them to take the leap?
Are there any differences or advantages to advertising on OTT content on CTV devices v.s. OTT content on digital platforms (desktop/mobile)?
How do you account for bot views on OTT?
Has anyone experimented with ID resolution from CTV to mobile device (in room) to drive asynchronous cross screen experiences?
Do you think advertisers are getting sick of needing to swivel chair between multiple DSPs to accommodate the walled gardens of Amazon, Roku, etc.? Or are they seeing it as a necessary evil? Or do they not care at all?
What criteria is used to determine if a device is part of that household?
Tune into the replay for answers.
