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If any sector or industry could be considered to have ‘had a good pandemic’ then television is definitely in that category.
Stuck at home, we watched hours and hours of televised content and much of it streamed or on-demand, broadcast (BVOD) or subscription (SVOD). Viewership increased and so did TV ad revenues. There have been significant technological shifts – some unintended like the halving of advanced-booking deadlines – that have created opportunities for advertisers. Smart TV ownership increased while the industry search for more meaningful, and unifying, measurement tools have borne fruit in the form of Project Origin and CFlight.
For a brand like Cazoo, the online start-up car sales platform, people’s increased digital capability and reliance was a help. “It’s hard to judge but most likely a much higher proportion of people considered buying a car online than they might otherwise,” explained Lucas Bergmans, brand marketing director at Cazoo, during a panel discussion at the Campaign TV Advertising Summit. “So there’s no doubt that helped our business in terms of convincing people to try a very different way of buying a car.
At healthcare giant GSK, though, they had to assess unusual changes in demand. The emergence of Covid-19 notwithstanding, the customary seasonal demand for cold and flu remedies dipped as lockdowns and social distancing drastically reduced our contact with fellow human beings. “We had to think carefully about the continued levels of investment in TV and the roles for other channels, particularly digital channels, to be more targeted and respond to those changes in the consumer landscape,” said Sam Gaunt, EMEA media strategy director at GSK.
Gaunt particularly enjoyed the shortening of the AB deadlines from eight weeks to four which “allowed us to be more dynamic in the way in which we redistributed money across our categories – long may they continue”.
Stefan Jansen, business development director at Finecast, observed an increase in clients wanting their total TV solution – combining linear and addressable – in their ongoing search for reach. “This wasn't just a short-term play,” he said. “Linear TV is still really important, but there is a point where it no longer becomes cost effective.”
But as viewing habits change, the technology fights hard to keep up, and with TV ad costs expected to rise by as much as 30% in 2022, there is as much uncertainty as opportunity out in the marketplace.
Out of reach – why all TV is not equal
Reach per se isn’t the goal – it’s the quality of that reach. Sam Taylor, head of commercial marketing at Direct Line, explained the background to research his company co-authored to “compare what’s the most cost effective way to drive incremental reach, taking into account attention or viewability attention – because we couldn’t get that information anywhere else”. Taylor believes that there is “momentum” towards a “level playing field” of measurement.
For Gaunt this has been a particular frustration. “We lack insight into the quality of the reach that each of the platforms delivers,” he said but acknowledges: “We’re getting close to it. At GSK this year, we’re really trying to understand the drivers of attention, and the correlation between cost of attention and ROI. It's the incremental benefit you can get from using measurement that is going to drive that competitive advantage.”
Measurement, data, insight – how to justify that spend
Finance directors are getting jittery about ad cost inflation. “It’s an educational job,” said Taylor. “Even though the inflation comes from a low base, I’ve had to map out how the station average price was calculated to explain why we get inflation at 30-odd percent in the first place.”
“There needs to be some reassurance about plans to mitigate [inflation] not only through the commercial trading arrangements, but also through general strategy,” said Gaunt. “We want to avoid unnecessarily cutting media budgets as a result of inflation. The more data you’ve got at your disposal in order to defend media spend, the better and econometrics can have a huge role. We need constant testing and learning about the effectiveness of different media channels.
Bergmans agreed, saying: “We’re moving past the phase of scaling up and driving high levels of awareness to more of a focus on profit and efficiency. We can only do that if we really understand measurement.”
Change can’t come quickly enough
Gaunt won’t be the only advertiser who enjoyed the flexibility of the pandemic-fuelled four-week AB deadlines but he wants more change. “We’re seeing the evolution of the marketplace and we need to adapt,” he said. “But the TV industry needs to adapt as well. The trading model, which is still prevalent, is incredibly old fashioned. And while four weeks is better than eight weeks, it's still four weeks while I can log on to DV360 and set a campaign live almost instantly. The whole way in which TV is traded is ripe for modernising.”
Advanced notice: is ATV the holy grail?
“Advanced TV holds a lot of promise particularly in the lower funnel,” said Gaunt. “But I’m sceptical about how quickly, as an industry, we will get to personalisation at scale. The issue is data quality.” He also cited the way that household data can be skewed by different users – say, a middle-aged dad and teenage daughter – using the same devices.
Bergman explained that Cazoo don’t use ATV currently but might in the future as they seek to target “the hottest prospects”. He added: “It’s similar to other digital channels – delivering a relevant message to the right person at the right time. That is quite difficult to do right now in TV.”
