Six mega trends in TV

From real-time optimisation, to storylines that progress across different screens, Ipsos Connect’s Beckie Goodfield examines the game-changing developments for TV and its advertising.

Television has proven itself a master of reinvention; from the black and white box in the corner of the living room, it has grown in stature, got connected, gone digital and embraced on demand. Far from being supplanted, the TV screen is going nowhere, and demand for a more harmonised, multi-screen content experience looks set to continually grow.

TV companies are already investing heavily in optimising both content and ads for multiple devices. In the ad space, ITV’s AdSync+ enables TV advertising to be served to online audiences across multiple devices, based on their likes and behaviours, and Sky AdVance uses audience data to identify who has (or hasn’t) been exposed to specific campaigns across different platforms so that advertising can be targeted with incredible specificity.

These are exceptionally powerful developments for TV advertising, allowing better targeting of relevant audiences to reduce wastage and drive better engagement.

Ipsos Connect’s six predicted mega trends in TV are all an evolution of this:

1) Content that follows you

Imagine a home where you leave your living room for your bedroom and the television automatically switches on as you enter, identifying you personally as the viewer and fixing on the channel you were watching before.

Perhaps it isn’t even a television set, but a connected screen integrated within your household furniture or white goods. The technology is already in testing and has incredible potential to enhance the viewing experience, reduce interruption and create more advertising opportunities.

2) The right content in the right context

Ads which can be delivered to individuals based on demographics, preferences or previous exposure are already a reality. The inevitable next step is content that is targeted, relevant and optimised to location, personal schedule, and device.

My phone knows I wake up every morning at 7am and take the train to work, always stopping at the same well-known coffee shop on the way. It can tell I’m in a hurry, as I walk there pretty fast!

I’ve already been introduced to the benefits of a key competitor through highly visual advertising on my TV; the great smell, the delicious taste. I’m starting to wonder if I should give it a try but old habits die hard.

Then one morning, as I’m rushing to the station (but, obviously, still managing to catch-up on my social networking on my phone) their ad pops up on my mobile, just as I’m running past. The message is short and to the point; for one morning only I can jump the queue and try their coffee. I’m sold. And even better than that, I don’t miss my train.

3) Immersive experiences

Multi-screening will provide opportunities for complementary and bonus content across different screens, both in programming and advertising.

In programming this could mean storylines progressing across different screens; for example, following scenes in a crime drama across different locations taking place at the same time, or finding out more about products or brands on your TV screen by questioning characters on another device.

On the whole, TV will become a more immersive, connected experience which is tailored to the individual viewer.

4) Putting the personal into programmatic

Programmatic is already on the rise, and will play an increasingly important role in TV advertising in the future. As TV becomes more immersive and the interplay between different screens continues to evolve, advertisers will gain more opportunity to communicate brand messages to audiences via video as part of multi-platform campaigns.

This also means evaluating campaigns will become more challenging, particularly when it comes to understanding whether ads meet audience needs, both at that that particular time and on that device. Consumer research will need to become more targeted.

For example, using mobile phone diaries, where audiences can be reached via their smartphones at the moments when advertising is consumed. This can give advertisers an in-depth perspective on whether an advertisement has fulfilled or tuned into the audience’s needs effectively.

5) Reaching the individual – not the device

As content moves across devices (which are often shared with other people in a household), keeping track of who is exposed to what version of an ad, and where will become increasingly complex. With the rise of programmatic this is particularly challenging as it means that a tailored brand message might not be reaching the intended target.

This is where passive measurement tools are going to play a bigger role in evaluating campaigns.

Ipsos’ MediaCell for Advertisers (MFA) utilises smartphones, the device most likely to be with us at all times, to passively identify and measure what advertisement we are exposed to via what screens, and when, moving away from reliance on audience recall.

6) Real-time optimisation

As TV content becomes more immersive, consumers will come to expect the same from advertisements, so advertisers need to be constantly innovative in their approach to communicating a brand message and personalising that message.

It will become important to be able test whether a brand message has been effectively put across to the individual in that moment and in the context. Using tools like MFA, brands will be able to contact their consumers in the moment – during or straight after they have been exposed to an advertisement – allowing them to get more accurate feedback after they have been exposed to an ad in their real environment.

Beckie Goodfield is research director at Ipsos Connect