Television was traditionally a one-to-all broadcasting platform that could raise awareness and drive action on a grand scale.
Audiences were selected and bought based on a limited number of BARB demographics and a limited number of channels and TV shows. So far, so broad.
Today, TV is a different medium - with more challenges for brands to reach and connect with viewers and with new ad opportunities that were once inconceivable.
Traditional terrestrial TV is still very popular but viewing has extended beyond linear: consumers are changing their habits and now also stream entertainment, on demand, across a proliferation of channels and a wide range of digital devices, including smart TVs, laptops, tablets and phones.
Today, TV is addressable. No longer confined to limited demographics, channels and programmes, it still delivers mass marketing, but direct to bespoke audiences via sophisticated targeting.
And smart media planning now means making sure that addressable TV - with its ability to reach a consistent audience across all devices and screens, whether OTT or linear - is front and centre.
The future is here
With addressable TV, advertisers can drill down to postcodes and households and are already taking advantage of it. Spend is pin-pointed at key audiences rather than the entire viewership of a particular show.
Together with addressable-TV specialists, brands are using sophisticated tools to analyse data sets and identify their key audiences, in an anonymised, GDPR-safe manner.
Both first-party and third-party data can be used: from a brand’s own CRM database; from data providers, such as payment and loyalty companies, and from TV channels and streaming services, where viewers can be recognised when logging on to watch a show, be that on a smart TV, set top box, laptop or mobile phone.
Armed with this information, advertisers can determine a precise view of what their target audience looks like. Smart use of data in addressable TV can drill down to a viewer’s life stage and lifestyle, as well as their levels of interest and intent towards a brand. If they fit the criteria of the ideal audience, the brand’s creative can be served to them.
Online auction brand eBay worked with addressable-TV specialist Finecast to reach parents aged between 25 and 44 as well as light TV viewers who may not otherwise be exposed to eBay content. Underpinning this was the need to ensure cost efficiency and also to control frequency to avoid saturating the channel.
For eBay, addressable was added to an already proven linear TV approach and gave the brand the ability to focus on that particular audience with powerful content.
“The new precision TV data capability as planned and activated through Finecast allowed us to hone in on our very specific target audience. We combined this new targeting capability with an addressable TV approach that meant we could reach our specific audience through high quality, emotive storytelling,” says Faisal Alani, Brand and Partnerships at eBay.
“A third party reach and frequency study proved that Finecast had a hugely positive impact on our business goals, demonstrating high incremental reach over TV and showing efficiencies we have created by adding Finecast to our media strategy.”
BMW also used Finecast’s data smarts; this time to create a highly defined audience of “hybrid intenders”. Among fierce competition to cut through and connect with people interested in more environmentally-friendly driving options, BMW was able to sharpen its targeting with addressable TV. The auto brand refined its audience from a wide cohort of potential buyers within a young, ABC1 audience to include proximity to its dealerships.
The result? A 31% lift in consideration and a 29% rise in purchase intent. What’s more, 49% of those shown the BMW ad searched for further information and 10% visited a showroom. Plus - BMW saved itself a six-figure sum on what it would have paid on traditional TV to reach its hybrid-interested audience in a broader, broadcast environment.
Addressable TV can still fulfil TV’s traditional advertising remit of boosting brand awareness and sales but it does so with less wastage. And targeting by audience can provide a better experience for both viewers and advertisers.
It’s clear: the audience-first TV future is already here, with pioneer brands proving its effectiveness and value.
For more information please visit Finecast.