As the TV landscape rapidly evolves, media agencies need to support brands in revamping their media planning processes.
Hybrid SVOD-AVOD models, as offered by Netflix and Disney+, has further fragmented the viewing ecosystem.
Despite premature talk of its demise, linear TV remains the most trusted media channel in the household.
However, addressable TV attracts greater attention, with viewers paying 20% more active attention per second to OTT ads than linear.
Why it matters
By reshaping and revamping their TV planning process to address and align with the current climate, brands can unlock new opportunities and stay ahead of competition.
Takeaways
Depending on a campaign’s KPIs, objectives and target audience, brands and agencies need to decide how to optimise budget between linear and addressable TV advertising.
By unlocking household-level targeting, addressable TV advertising helps to maximise the effectiveness, especially in the case of those with small budgets.
Brands can addressable TV advertising to deliver smarter creative executions that elevate the capabilities inherent to the channel, and make ads even more relevant.
Brands and advertisers are facing an increasingly challenging TV landscape. Hybrid SVOD-AVOD models, like Netflix and Disney+, have augmented the fragmentation of the viewing ecosystem. And the cost-of-living crisis is having a significant impact on budgets – meaning advertisers will face increased scrutiny over their spend for the foreseeable future.
To navigate this rapidly evolving TV market and maximise the effectiveness of their advertising campaigns, brands must revamp their TV planning process based on four key considerations.
KPIs must be at the heart of TV planning
At the outset of each campaign, brands should establish clear goals and KPIs in collaboration with their partner agencies. Everything else, from the most appropriate media channels to the creative, will follow.
Depending on a campaign’s KPIs, objectives and target audience, brands and agencies need to decide how to optimise budget between linear and addressable TV advertising. The latter is not an easy fix to TV budget cuts, but it is critical to adding incremental reach to a linear ad strategy and helps focus on a more specific customer base.
The goals of a campaign also determine the most suitable partners. Because of the increased competition in the connected TV (CTV) space, selecting suppliers offering unique advantages and inventory is crucial. To best support their clients, media agencies need to establish solid relationships with partners that stand out for their ability to provide cutting-edge targeting capabilities, which will then be directed towards the specific objectives of each campaign.
The benefits of combining linear and addressable TV advertising
Despite premature talk of its demise, linear TV advertising is still a powerful media channel, for two main reasons. First, it enables advertisers to deliver unbeatable mass reach at an enviable rate. Second, linear TV remains the most trusted media channel in the household. By running linear TV ads, brands inspire trust from viewers and enhance their credibility.
It goes without saying that brands should appear in the ‘right’ shows, meaning shows that deliver a social proof effect besides driving mass audiences, unique reach and talkability.
This impact can be built on by adding an addressable layer to a linear ad buying strategy, which enables advertisers to shift from standard audiences to custom audiences. In other words, addressable TV advertising allows to target and reach well-defined audiences with tailored messages that truly resonate with them.
By unlocking household-level targeting, addressable TV advertising also helps maximise the effectiveness of budgets. This is especially true in the case of small budgets, which might underperform in linear TV due to limited share of voice and affordability of top programmes.
Last, but not least, addressable TV advertising is instrumental in winning viewers’ attention. Recent research from Finecast revealed addressable TV attracts greater attention than its linear counterpart, with viewers paying 20% more active attention per second to OTT ads than linear.
Because of the numerous advantages it brings, addressable TV advertising has started to form a large part of omnichannel solutions. New technologies are emerging that convey the feeling of a national campaign for a fraction of the budget. One example is GroupM’s ‘Unmissable’, a data-driven solution that enables hyperlocal targeting at mass scale across different platforms.
Brands and agencies should keep experimenting with addressable advertising and combine it with linear to reach an increasingly fragmented audience in a cost-effective way.
The 30-second ad era is over: creative is evolving
As part of a comprehensive TV planning strategy, advertisers need to ensure they have the right creative in the right media environment. For too long, brands have used the same 30-second television commercial regardless of the specifics of each channel. Instead, brands should leverage the possibilities offered by addressable TV advertising to deliver smarter creative executions that elevate the capabilities inherent to the channel to make ads even more relevant.
Embedding a call-to-action within the creative is highly recommended. QR codes, for example, are effective tools helping advertisers increase engagement with users. Coinbase and its Super Bowl ad in February 2022 proved this. The company launched a 60-second ad featuring a QR code directing viewers to sign up for a Coinbase account to receive $15 in Bitcoin. Its website crashed due to the traffic.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be part of this process, by matching the capabilities of addressable TV with highly personalised creative. Soon, the savviest addressable TV partners will use AI to gain deeper insights on viewers’ mood and preferences and better capture their attention through truly dynamic creative.
From measurement to a test-and-learn culture
Measurement must become an integral part of the TV planning cycle, especially in challenging times. With ad budgets under the spotlight, agencies are under mounting pressure to prove the value of their work. To do this effectively, linear and addressable campaigns should be measured on their own terms. Rather than looking at general media metrics, brands should focus on the features that are specific to both types of campaigns.
From brand lift studies and econometrics to incrementality testing, a range of techniques can help measure the impact of campaigns. Brands and agencies should make the most of the measurement tools available on the market, including industry-led solutions such as CFlight’s reach and frequency visibility solution and ISBA’s Origin cross media measurement across digital platforms and broadcast TV.
By implementing regular and consistent measurement, agencies can build a robust test-and-learn culture leading to better outcomes. Not only does this approach help manage stakeholder expectations, it also empowers advertisers to keep pace with rapidly changing consumer habits. When a crisis strikes, consumers often deviate from their usual viewing patterns. For example, cancelling subscriptions that are seen as a luxury.
Leveraging the latest insights and incorporating granular learnings from previous campaigns into the TV planning process are major components of success and navigating an evolving landscape.
Embracing change to thrive
There is no doubt there are challenges for brands and advertisers. But it is also true that they can still deliver truly impactful TV advertising campaigns when adequately supported by their partner agencies.
By reshaping and revamping their TV planning process to address and align with the current climate, brands will unlock new opportunities and stay ahead of competition. It’s all about embracing the change and adapting to new trends and marketplace forces.