Where are you watching?


Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/crobgun/6182263954

Where are you watching?

By Dillon Tedesco, October 15, 2020

The consumer journey has changed dramatically over the last decade. Not too long ago, consumers watched appointment television for entertainment and hailed taxis in order to go to a meeting, the airport, or for a night out. Today, consumer habits are very different. The options for entertainment are limitless, and summoning a car to get to your destination happens at the click of a button. 

This massive transition has opened up an entirely new world for premium video advertising and content. Advertiser dollars continue to flow to video and consumers continue to respond more favorably to it than other forms of media.  According to an eMarketer study, video ad spend (TV+Digital Video) continues to grow from 106B in 2019 to a projected 127B in the US in 2023. Virtually all of this growth is driven by digital video while linear TV spend remains flat. 

The new challenge for marketers is finding their target audience in a new, fragmented and low-ad-load world. The success of subscription services like Netflix and Amazon Prime means that today’s most important and valuable consumers are not reachable in the traditional TV environment. Even in a CTV dominated world, with the fragmentation of SVOD, AVOD and virtual MVPD services, reaching a targeted audience requires complex buys across many different players. The ability to reach the sought after 18-49 year old demographic with premium video via traditional means is harder than ever before.

What can brands do? How do they reach their desired audience with their most impactful creative messaging if that group isn’t watching ad-supported TV?

Brands should focus on where these people are going throughout the day and how they are getting there. Sitting at home in one’s living room is no longer the only way to experience premium video. There are more and more places where screens are part of the experience. The combination of an extended dwell time and the ability to have a digital screen present has opened up an entirely new set of ways to reach consumers with premium video ads in nontraditional locations. Bars, amusement centers, gyms, salons & barbershops and transit all now have screens incorporated. They are part of the experience. Each of these physical spaces has new demographics, and many of them attract audiences that are eschewing more traditional media channels. If you are a brand and want to reach a cord-cutter or cord-never with an effective video message, these new channels may be the only way.  

These new screen integrations can actually afford brands new features or functionalities that aren’t available when delivering video through the traditional TV screen. Being integrated with gym equipment affords brands the opportunity to reward users for crushing their workouts. Delivering premium video content in the back of an Uber or Lyft creates opportunities for the experience to be influenced by the passengers’ destination, creating a curated journey with unique opportunities for brands. Get the high score of the day at an amusement center? A special dynamic video can run just for you. These experiences are not just possibilities, they are happening now.  

New opportunities for premium video warrant serious consideration in any media mix. If you think about one of marketing’s foundational concepts, the Rule of 7, coupled with the proven effectiveness of video, then the opportunity to reach and engage today’s consumer at multiple points throughout their journey with powerful tailored video content, maybe the most pivotal change in media since the advent of cable.