The new-wave opportunity to precision-target TV ads at individual households may be novel and may be plagued by operational inefficiencies – but that doesn’t mean ad buyers should sit on their hands.
In this video interview with Beet.TV, ViacomCBS’ advanced and addressable ads SVP Mike Dean explains addressable TV is worth a shot, and why operators are ready to help them through the complexity.
Addressable’s awkward growth
Dean was speaking after the release of The Era Of Addressable, a survey of 522 ad-buying decision makers commissioned from Forrester by DISH Media, Cadent, Canoe, Comscore, INVIDI Technologies, LiveRamp, Verizon Media, ViacomCBS and WarnerMedia.
It found:
- Addressable TV is a key priority for brands’ media strategies.
- But operational complexity and lack of education is holding back buyer demand for addressable TV.
- To help them, ecosystem partners must collaborate.
According to eMarketer, addressable TV advertising spend is expected to increase 75% to $3.6 billion by 2022 – around 5% of total US TV ad spending.
Use those dollars
“I really think we need a call to action for more buy-side participation – we can’t have media dollars stay on the sidelines,” Dean says.
“Until addressable TV is perfect, we need buyers to support and agencies to support these test-and-learn efforts so that we can continue to move forward, continue to make the solution better. Otherwise it will, it will never grow. (We need) the buyers, helping along in that journey.”
Despite happiness that the ecosystem has improved in recent years, Dean’s comments suggest an underlying worry that there are still too many bottlenecks.
For instance, buyers are calling for standardized measurement solutions, across a segment that is plagued by a proliferating number of viewing services, buying methods and measurement options.
TV is TV
Dean wants to reassure media buyers that addressable TV represents something familiar.
“It’s TV,” he says. “It’s creative on TV glass in TV content to TV viewers. It is still TV and has all of the benefits of TV with the power of the best of digital.
“It has the relevance of audience targeting and the ability to understand, reach and frequency on duplication and tie exposure to conversion without the worries of fraud and waste or inattention from other types of buying mediums.”
You are watching “The Transformation of Television: Embracing the Era of Addressable TV,” a Beet.TV leadership series presented by Dish Media. For more videos, please visit this page.