Survey: CTV critical to reaching audiences
March 15, 2021
Research from advanced TV platform company Cadent reveals that connected TV (CTV), addressable, and advanced advertising are poised to play a major role in the next wave of growth in the TV advertising ecosystem, with 72 per cent of respondents saying in two to five years, CTV and other data-driven TV methods of advertising will be critical in reaching brand audiences. Sixty-six per cent of respondents said an audience-first TV buying approach will be table stakes in two to five years.
The study, TV’s New Wave: Marketers Take on the Shift to OTT, CTV, & Addressable, from Brand Innovators and TV[R]EV, explores marketer sentiment around emerging television mediums.
As consumers rapidly shift their viewing from linear TV to streaming and increase their overall time with screens, marketers and agencies understand the need to make CTV and other advanced advertising techniques a greater part of their overall marketing strategies, if they haven’t already. Fifty-nine per cent of marketers surveyed currently run CTV ads, with the top three reasons being wide audience reach, sophisticated targeting capabilities and “lighter ad loads keep audiences engaged”.
Other highlights included:
- Sixty-two per cent of respondents said they consider television, both traditional linear TV and CTV, to be a more premium advertising environment than web videos offering mid-roll or pre-roll advertising. Two key reasons these respondents saw CTV as superior to digital video were brand safety, saying “digital video could wind up on many sites that are not brand safe or next to content that is not brand safe”, and fraud, adding that “CTV has less ad fraud than online video”.
- There’s confusion around terminology. Four out of 10 respondents said OTT meant “ad-supported or subscription TV services delivered via an Internet connection to any device”—through a TV, laptop, or mobile device. Fourteen per cent said OTT referred to “any type or length of video programming”, and 5 per cent said it meant “live and/or on-demand video content from cable companies delivered via an Internet connection” Thirty-five per cent answered: “all of the above”, and 5 per cent said they weren’t sure what the term meant.
- Cost was viewed as the key limitation to CTV advertising, with 32 per cent of respondents flagging it as too expensive. Other challenges included too hard to buy at scale (27 per cent) and too hard to measure (28 per cent). Surprisingly, 32 per cent of respondents said they were “unsure” as to what the key disadvantages of CTV advertising were.
“As viewer behaviour rapidly shifts, advertisers are tasked with understanding the full benefits of CTV, OTT and addressable TV and introducing them into their media plans,” said Paul Alfieri, CMO, Cadent. “Technology partners have a responsibility to provide more clarity around these mediums so advertisers can take full advantage of them and reach audiences wherever they’re viewing today.”