Research: Addressable TV ads key for young adults
August 16, 2024
Go Addressable, a trade organisation dedicated to furthering the growth of addressable TV, has published research that highlights the value of addressable TV advertising, or the ability to serve targeted ads to specific households or users based on deterministic identifiers, amid signal loss and evolving viewership habits.
Advertisers today can at times face difficulties reaching audiences as viewership fragments across devices and platforms. While time spent with streaming has grown, analysis from Go Addressable and MRI-Simmons found that 80 per cent of US adults 18-34 watch both linear and streaming TV. This data further highlights the importance of using addressable TV as a tool to reach an extremely valuable audience in multiscreen environments.
“While we know TV consumption is changing, this research shows how adults 18-34 are still viewing linear TV as well as streaming. Advertisers need to be able to easily find viewers across all forms of TV, in one buy where it can be managed holistically,” said Molly Finnerty, Chief Investment Officer, Zenith. “There have been many significant advancements in addressable TV and today, it is a scalable tool that utilises reliable data to power precise targeting and audience-based buying strategies. We continue to educate our advertiser clients that addressable TV is a valuable solution that is available to help them effectively reach audiences in premium environments.”
In addition to challenges caused by fragmentation, advertisers are also searching for solutions to address identity. Research on identity, in partnership with Advertiser Perceptions, found that 65 per cent, or two-thirds, of advertisers agreed they would be more likely to consider addressable TV as a key component of their media mix to overcome ongoing cookie deprecation. With identity becoming more important for advertising due to the loss in data quality, it was also found that half of advertisers have used a data service to provide identified first-party audiences in the past year.
“Google’s recent announcement to no longer deprecate the cookie has caused quite a stir across the industry, however the loss of cookies and identifiers was a major topic in conversations at this year’s Cannes Lions and is still a critical concern for advertisers. While third-party cookies remain in Google for now, many are looking for alternatives, including investing in tools or partners to better leverage their own first-party and zero-party data,” said Larry Allen, Board Chair, Go Addressable and VP & GM, Data and Addressable Enablement, Comcast Advertising. “Addressable TV is a powerful medium that offers data and tech to enable advertisers to serve relevant TV ads to authenticated audiences across US households, which offers more cost-effective reach and frequency, while respecting consumers’ privacy options. With addressable, advertisers can more confidently know they are reaching valuable audiences in brand safe, premium environments across linear and streaming.”
As addressable TV advertising becomes more widely adopted, Go Addressable has expanded its list of member companies with the recent addition of AMC Networks, which joined in April. The addition of AMC along with Paramount in 2023 increased the number of content and programming distributor members, further showcasing the importance of the medium and the work that the organisation is doing to educate the industry.
“We’ve been leaders in the addressable space for many years, and today offer fully addressable spots in every hour of programming across all of our linear networks. We understand the value that this advanced and privacy compliant targeting offers advertisers looking to reach valuable audiences wherever they are watching TV, especially as viewing habits become more fragmented,” said Marisa Simon, SVP, Linear & Addressable Operations, AMC Networks. “We have seen how Go Addressable’s work has furthered industry education and enabled advertisers to adopt addressable TV advertising and implement it as part of their media strategies more easily. We’re excited to officially be part of this organisation and to help bring about a more addressable TV landscape.”