Broadcasters: Got cake? Eat cake
A zero-rating but still loved: Cake Wars on Food Network
Addressable TV might be fiendishly complex, but it’s also a win-win, writes Videology’s John Tigg
Last Monday morning, the first sleepy week back after the break, I followed my usual ritual. Get to the office, ignore everyone and head straight to the kitchen for a coffee. All was well until I was rudely awakened by a colleague, who insisted on talking at me for five very long minutes about his latest TV guilty pleasure – Cake Wars. Clearly someone had a productive holiday weekend.
Now, I can’t say I’m a fan, but we all know those kind of TV shows, often broadcast in daytime on a channel at the bottom of the EPG – guilty pleasures we all have. It’s the kind of content that its fans (you) love but official ratings bodies all too frequently fail to measure.
Traditional panel-based measurement surveys mean that such shows, mostly scheduled out of peak time and in the far reaches of the EPG, are often zero rated on linear TV, simply because not enough people on the panel can tune in to every show to give all of them a reliable rating.
That means that no matter how much my very honourable friend may love Cake Wars, the broadcaster ultimately earns no revenue from ads against its linear broadcasting because these same measurement ratings are also used as a trading currency for TV. The opportunity, therefore, seems obvious. Figure out a way to measure these audiences effectively, and the ad revenue will follow.
The one area, of course, where such shows do earn money is from digital (IP-enabled) viewing in the form of catch-up TV, where measurement metrics are different and which can also serve as a weighted marker for the potential size of the linear audience.
An addressable TV solution would enable broadcasters to prove not only that the audience very much existed but also that it had value for the right advertiser looking to reach those consumers.
At the Future of TV ads conference in December last year, the debate about Addressable TV seemed to follow a familiar path. As several of my learned peers pointed out, TV is the most effective mass reach advertising vehicle ever created. No argument there. However, the assumption seemed to be, therefore, that addressability would only ever be of interest in TV when applied to lower-funnel, acquisition led strategies.
I disagree.
[advert position=”left”]
One of the key arguments in favour of TV is that it is a great way to build mass reach quickly. But wouldn’t you be able to build that same reach even more quickly, if you applied data and proper targeting? Wouldn’t that then eliminate the ‘wasted’ impacts inherent to panel based solutions, freeing up the broadcaster to sell them to an advertiser that actually wants them?
The use of data in TV is not going to follow the same path as it did in digital display. 100% addressability in TV is about having the empirical data to prove that it works – not just for micro-targeting and ‘cherry picking’ impacts. That, of course, would be a self-defeating approach to any reach driven media strategy, which is TVs fundamental strength.
Addressability in upper funnel advertising is all about getting an understanding of the quality of the impact. The data that is available to TV buyers and sellers today simply cannot perform that role in the granular way required.
One of the most fascinating journeys over the last few years in advertising has been the adoption of programmatic technology by broadcasters. It has moved from being perceived as an existential threat to their business five years ago, to now being widely adopted by broadcasters worldwide.
Channel 4 recently revealed that it expects 50% of its digitally viewed ads to be sold programmatically in 2017. Make no mistake, Addressable Linear TV is next.
The key point here is that the opportunity of addressable TV is just as applicable to broad reach, widely transmitted campaigns as it is to those looking for very refined target audiences. It allows you to know more, learn more and be more accountable. And like the story of programmatic in TV – It’s not a risk, it’s not a threat. It’s a reality. We must embrace it.
So, to finish where we started, and of course to my esteemed colleague and his love of Cake Wars. Addressability can provide better data on such shows, allowing brands and their agencies to finally discover exactly how many households were tuned in when their ad was shown, and measure the real impact. If we are looking for a proving ground for addressable technology, then surely that is it?
Broadcasters already know about the power of data to add value to their digital viewership, and now addressable TV allows them to do the same for those who watch on the big set in the living room. Advertisers are set to cash in.
The benefit to the viewer, an often-overlooked part of this equation, is quite simple.
Relevant advertising.
Perhaps broadcasters can have their cake and eat it?
John Tigg is SVP enterprise solutions EMEA at Videology