Survey: Media buyers demand unified platforms
January 4, 2018
According to findings from VideoAmp, a specialist in software and data services for optimising ad buys across TV and digital platforms, 60 per cent of media buyers believe that campaigns executed through a Cross-Screen Platform (CSP) for the execution of both digital video and linear TV advertising outperform conventional, non-integrated campaigns, with 74 per cent citing accuracy in planning and execution across both channels as core benefits.
The 1st Annual Buyers Survey, conducted by independent market researcher Industry Index, set out to identify how Advertisers are navigating the rapidly converging TV and video landscape, from laptops, tablets and smartphones to IP-connected TVs, OTT platforms and set-top boxes – and how those learnings are impacting their conventional, ‘upfront’, linear TV advertising buys. Both brand and agency-based media buyers were asked how they plan and buy video in the world of Advanced, Connected and Addressable TV, their understanding of the benefits of using a CSP for TV and video advertising, and their intent to use such a unified advertising platform in the future.
The survey found that, already, 66 per cent of buyers are leveraging digital data in their linear TV buys and 57 per cent are targeting TV viewers across digital screens and devices. Additionally, more than half of buyers surveyed will also try a Cross-Screen Platform for linear TV and digital video advertising this year; with 58 per cent likely to increase usage and 63 per cent likely to increase spend on such platforms in 2018.
“Brands and agencies are tasked with planning, buying, and measuring precise audiences across linear TV, VoD, OTT, desktop, and mobile content,” said Jay Prasad, Chief Strategy Officer, VideoAmp. “Our research reveals that trying to meet cross-screen needs in well-orchestrated campaigns – against separate linear TV and digital video platforms – is broken. The time has come for the industry to catch-up with consumers’ media consumptions habits with entirely new data models and truly unified platforms.”
“Premium video, especially when delivered to a TV set, is TV — and TV is the highest-impact, highest-velocity, and highest-cost opportunity in advertising,” said Jonathan Steuer, Chief Research Officer, Omnicom Media Group. “VideoAmp’s Buyer Survey illustrates the growing industry consensus around the importance of cross-screen platforms to aggregate TV viewership and digital video audience data, and thereby to enable the efficient planning, cost-effective buying and accurate measurement of TV and video advertising that are essential to brands’ successes.”