Over the last few years, numerous improvements and innovations have been taking place in the world of Connected TV advertising. Some of them have been about data while others have been about measurement. Some folks have been getting creative and others have focused on the ad tech that underpins the whole show.
But here's the kicker - while all of that has been happening, the things we cannot control or invent have also very quietly (and occasionally loudly) been falling into place for us. What do I mean?
I mean viewership.
I mean the willingness by the 'old guard of Madison Ave' to start accepting the uncomfortable fact that the world isn't so much changing around them, but that it has changed.
I mean the realization by brands who have become used to seeing strong returns in their digital investments on smaller screens and want to start seeing their CTV budgets deliver more than 'just' awareness.
Without going into too much detail, here is a simple breakdown of 8 factors that between them are set to create the perfect storm in 2022.
EIGHT REASONS
DATA - Beyond the established data benchmarks that we have been using until now, solutions such as Iris.TV empower brands to run their campaigns within contextually relevant content.
MEASUREMENT - Measuring the success and effectiveness of a CTV ad campaign in 'the living room' is challenging. Thankfully, not only have survey solutions such as LoopMe and Lucid made CTV a strong focus, but companies such as TVision have added a new dimension to measurement that has allowed brands to gauge how much actual attention is being paid to their ad when it comes on.
CREATIVE AGILITY & THE END OF 'ONE AD FITS ALL' - Yes, this is where we come in. At Origin, we have completely reimagined the 'ad format' by enabling brands to use the spots around their ads to prime viewers mentally & emotionally for their ad, send a highly personalized or timely message, extend their social marketing strategies into the living room and more. Most importantly, we have fundamentally challenged the concept that distributing a single generic message to every demographic being targeted is enough.
TECHNOLOGY - An area that has arguably had most of the focus up until now, the ad tech that underpins pretty much every single ad that gets served has allowed streaming services platforms to combat ad repetition, frequency, competitive separation, fill rates and much more. Basically, ad tech has helped us clean up the ad break and improve the ad experience.
SHOPPABLE CTV - Significant efforts have been made in the last 12 months to turn living room viewing into a 'shoppable CTV experience' through use of the humble QR code - a 30 year old invention that finally took center stage around the world because of the pandemic. While most attempts to use QR Codes in CTV advertising have failed until now, it is through failure that we get to observe and learn. At Origin we have spent almost 2 years watching how they have been used, established what we believe to be the reasons why they have not been successful and developed a new method that marries into our unique capabilities.
BRAND EXPECTATIONS & THE NEED FOR PERFORMANCE - When you're not being pushed and your toes aren't up against the fire, it is hard to innovate. But that is not the case anymore, least of all for CTV. Rightly or wrongly, brands have witnessed the power and gains that can be made from 'digital advertising' and have started to see Connected TV as being no exception. Simply ticking the 'brand awareness' box isn't good enough anymore - brands expect to see a lift in consideration and even performance.
VIEWERSHIP - in 2021, eyeballs passed a tipping point that means advertisers now have the audience reach they need.
BUDGETS - Just as racing car drivers require fuel to win, Connected TV requires cash. While the growth in ad budgets is growing disproportionally slowly compared to viewership - it is growing. The shift by marketers to put their budgets from traditional TV to CTV is happening and the pot they have slowly been dipping into is deep. Beyond this, several of the above factors are starting to see 'direct response' budgets slowly eek into play.
The emergence of Connected TV as a mainstream method of 'watching TV' combined with the technology that underpins it has enabled us to imagine, test and bring to market new ad formats which, while requiring brands who want more to take the occasional leap of faith, is about to change the game forever.
Put another way - it's a playground for complete and utter disruption and 2022 could just be the year that all of that disruption takes shape.
ABOUT ORIGIN
Origin is a pioneering media and technology company whose first to market native advertising solutions are reshaping the way brands engage and activate consumers on Connected TV.
The architects of ‘Native CTV’, Origin fuses in-house video production with proprietary ad serving technology to create highly engaging native content that is engineered to capture the attention of a room during an ad break and enhance the connection a viewer feels towards a particular brand.
Origin was founded by media veterans Fred Godfrey and Stephen Strong whose careers have been shaped by their relentless commitment to enraging the status quo. Learn more at www.originmedia.tv.