Mumbai: A new golden age of TV advertising is emerging thanks to technology breakthroughs in addressable advertising. In the same way that the internet opened up advertising to small businesses, now the days of ‘spray and pray’ are over. Anyone wanting to reach a specific audience through TV and video services can do so.
Video service providers stand to gain with a new revenue stream now that advertisers can reach their target audience with absolute precision. Solutions such as Synamedia Iris can be used to create advertising propositions that reach specific TV audience segments of any size and makeup across all services, devices and screens.
TV and OTT providers have a brand and audience reach that online alternatives can only dream of. Combining that reach with the data richness of online advertising means not just keeping pace with online advertising but offering something better.
Opening the door to new advertisers
The opportunity for addressable advertising is huge. Synamedia collaborated with Sky, the leading pay-TV platform in the UK, on the development of the pioneering AdSmart platform eight years ago. The results after deploying AdSmart were impressive. Sky found that addressable advertising can boost ad engagement by 35 per cent and cut channel switching in half. Other benefits at Sky included an influx of 70 per cent new advertisers who’d previously not advertised on TV or Sky; a Ford dealership that saw a 100 per cent rise in sales following a single campaign; and Audi found its addressable audiences twice as likely to buy as generic viewers.
This matters because video service providers are under pressure from shareholders to create new revenues, and reverse the flow of advertising to Google, Facebook and other online giants.
Another benefit is increased revenue from reduced waste. Up to now, ad space is booked upfront and any inventory that hasn’t been sold ahead of time is considered waste. But with addressable advertising, every slot can be filled on demand using a real time digital trading model. While this requires a change of cultural mindset across the advertising ecosystem, it presents new opportunities.
New industry collaborations
While a number of video service providers are already experimenting with addressable advertising, including Synamedia Iris, maximising this opportunity requires a new model of collaboration in the industry. Broadcasters and pay-TV operators need to develop a solid, symbiotic business case that makes operators willing to share their audience data and broadcasters willing to share ad revenues.
Operators hold the balance of power with their reams of data about audiences and viewer behaviour - the key to addressability. And there is an incentive to trade data with broadcasters for a share of pay-TV addressable advertising revenues.
Data and ad revenue sharing is already underway on VOD platforms, and now this needs to be extended to linear TV and hybrid services. The good news is that the tide has already started to turn as pay-TV operators and broadcasters rethink how this revenue-sharing will ensure their long-term viability.
Once the technology is in place, the easiest way for operators to get started is to work with those broadcasters who have both linear TV and OTT services because they are best placed to start selling addressable advertising slots alongside their traditional TV advertising space. By collaborating, operators and broadcasters can aggregate their advertising inventories and increase the size of addressable audiences, thereby creating a compelling proposition for big brands.
The benefit for operators and broadcasters is that these advertising slots with larger addressable audiences will command higher CPMs (Cost Per 1000 impressions).
Moving from quantity to quality
All the addressability in the world won’t translate into revenues unless it’s possible to provide accurate measurements that allow advertisers to validate ad impressions and improve future marketing campaigns. To achieve this and compete against big tech’s muscle in online advertising and analytics, real-time campaign measurement is key.
Addressable advertising’s model depends on audience quality rather than the audience volumes that are associated with traditional channel-based TV advertising. To measure and analyse in this new way, operators can use new analytics technologies to demonstrate the value of slots and audience engagement and determine a campaign’s impact and ROI.
For example, if viewers are fast-forwarding or channel-hopping during ads, this indicates a need to further refine viewer profiles or optimise the placement of ad breaks. After all, a few well-timed ad breaks are infinitely better than several ill-thought-out ones.
Unify
One requirement is a unified approach to campaign management, with a single interface to manage multiple campaigns across multiple devices and platforms. Such tools also have the openness and flexibility to support third party services, evolving business models and ecosystems.
Having a unified, insight-driven solution that helps manage inventory, assets, planning, and segments, will ultimately enable video service providers to deliver a better, less disruptive experience for their audience. And advertisers will be able to run more efficient, successful campaigns. An end-to-end solution, Synamedia Iris removes the friction points that characterise traditional piecemeal addressable advertising products. A single platform, Iris supports unified campaign management, delivery, and measurement to multiple screens across apps and live, linear and catch- up services.
Now, big brands and new advertisers alike can reach their target audiences cost effectively without wasting impressions; advertising revenues are increased consistently across all services, devices and screens; and consumers can enjoy a more relevant viewing experience. Welcome to the world of addressable advertising.
(Deepak Bhatia is director, sales & general manager for Synamedia India. The views expressed in the column are personal and Indiantelevision.com may not subscribe to them.)
