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Television, long a static piece of furniture, is off the couch and following the consumer, changing the whole game as consumption habits evolve and audiences migrate to mobile devices, watch streaming media using catchup apps and binge watching their weekends away.
The changes bring opportunity, making addressable TV possible, delivering more targeted and personalised ads to specific groups in precise geographic areas.
And the launch of a better audience measuring method, VOZ, and its window into BVOD (broadcast video-on-demand) promises to add a younger demographic, simplify what can be a complex exercise and present all screen consumption in one report.
Last year was a tough one for television, and this year will likely be similar, with the added impact of the bushfires and the coronavirus on an already soft advertising market.
But all agree that television is an essential ingredient of a brand campaign.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re a new media like Facebook, or you’re more traditional media like telly, it is an absolute fact that sight, sound, and movement is very powerful for brands,” says Ben Willee, general manager and media director, at Spinach.
“Against a lot of target audiences and especially those that target mass brands, TV is a really essential component and there’s a lot of evidence that tells you it’s working just as effectively as it always has, albeit in a challenging reach environment.
“The problem is we’ve got these hustle-preneurs spouting the mentality that you do new media or old media. That’s just a really one dimensional, over-simplified point of view.
“In most cases, it’s an AND not an OR. As long as you have good teams that understand the role of each of the channels and what they add to the advertising and comm strategy, TV can still deliver really well on objectives.
“We’re really looking forward to the VOZ measurement to help us better understand the relationship between catch-up, connected TV and traditional linear TV. I think that’ll be a really helpful metric.
“The short answer on BVOD is that it’s likely that in the future it will mean a lot of TV money and that’s an opportunity for big TV companies to supplement their revenue, and put that back into great quality content.
“Personally, I think there’s a massive role for BVOD to play in the coming years. And what will be really interesting is what impact the streaming wars have, and if any of those subscription video-on-demand players decide to add an advertising element. When you look at something like Hulu in the US, approximately 80% of their users have some kind of ad-funded model.
“A challenge for media planners and buyers is we have to remind ourselves that our own media consumption behaviours aren’t necessarily identical to our target audience.
“You’ve got to look at independent data about what their habits are, and not just assume because you check Instagram five times a day, that everyone else does.
“And that’s where we say, ‘Hey, look, we’re agnostic. I don’t mind where you put your money. You can have your own opinion, but you can’t have your own facts about media consumption’.
“And there is a lot of independent research that tells you what people are viewing and how they’re consuming media.
“I often say to some of my clients that their target audience doesn’t necessarily catch Ubers to rooftop bars to drink cocktails in mason jars, and then Instagram about it.”
TV is still powerful but the question from advertisers: Is it still relevant?
“When we run TV for brand campaigns, the metrics across the funnel are still improving. So, it’s absolutely still powerful for total campaigns,” says Mark Echo, national planning director at Bohemia.
“The definition of the medium is changing and TVs are getting bigger in the house so it’s still powerful and engaging.
“But how relevant is it to the new audiences that are coming through, is what we’re getting asked more and more from clients.”
Echo says TV is a part of everything a younger audience does.
For example, a younger audience is spending an hour each day on TikTok. It’s still film content but the hour spent is not watching news or another program.
“They’re watching one-minute clips that they’re engaging with for an hour,” he says. “That time has been shifted away from television.
“As a medium itself at a macro level, TV is still powerful and engaging and relevant. But it’s when you start getting into the nuances that we’ve got to start talking about relevancy.”
When it comes to advising clients, Echo says it’s not a case whether online is better or not. It’s whether the channel is right or not for the objectives and whether or not TV or online will earn the attention of the target audience.
“Our job is to agnostically assess ALL channels against the audience and our objectives and once we have landed on ‘screens’ as a channel we then work through the specific formats within that and the share required to hit our objectives,” he says.
Echo agrees that 2019 was a tough year for the entire ad market in Australia and TV was not immune to this.
“TV is faced with declining audiences which means that media planners/buyers could potentially shift spend across different formats/channels,” says Echo.
“It is important for the networks to be both agile and relevant. Agile in the way that they sell/price their inventory but also in how they look to create different opportunities through consolidating their buying platforms to help ‘grow the pie’.”
Softer market
Victor Corones, managing director of MAGNAGLOBAL (part of IPG Mediabrands) in Australia, says a softer market doesn’t directly translate into improved buying efficiencies in the television market.
“A softer ad market sharpens our focus on value, how we better impact audiences and driving better outcomes for our clients, rather than a pure focus on reducing CPMs; a metric that is increasingly becoming irrelevant,” he says.
“An acceleration of audience movement away from linear TV to digital streaming services places pressure on an underpinning pricing agreed with a TV network.
“Agencies will make every effort to secure pricing reflective of current demand dynamics as well as overlaying potential audience movements in the future; that’s the reality.”
He’s also seeing increased demand for the best, reach-driving programs, or the most efficient areas of a program format.
Poorly priced or underperforming programs will experience lower demand.
“A consequence of this is the growing need to trade short-term rather than lock into cumbersome annual commitments where a lot can change across the TV market and for media owners,” says Corones.
“So, the trade-off becomes understanding your strategic imperatives (such as sponsorships, critical reach building programming or environments) which generally require more long-term commitments, versus securing audience-based reach buys which require greater flexibility to pivot to where audiences are at any point in time.”
“The focus is now shifting away from media metrics, which are often disparate and not comparable, to direct attribution client-based outcomes. To maximise outcomes, the importance of platform-first creative ensures the user experience is at the heart.”
Corones also cautions against thinking digital versus broadcast.
“With consumers at the heart of a media owner’s eco-system it should mean, by default, seamless delivery of great content, talent and experiences across all touch points,” he says.
“Siloed thinking, such as online versus broadcast, truly inhibits a media owner from growing and thriving. Consumers don’t see the distinction, nor should media owners.
“Media companies need to focus on compelling content delivered easily and conveniently to any device, any time, any place.”
That starts with exclusive, engaging content.
“Without it, you can’t attract audiences,” he says. “So, there has to be continued, significant investment to ensure a viable, thriving business.
“Broadcasters need to focus on the user experience for BVOD, understand factors like ad load acceptability, get better at managing frequency and resist the temptation to recreate the linear ad experience for BVOD viewers.
“Beyond content, it’s continuing to build data capabilities that allow agencies and clients to identify audiences across a media owner’s eco-system, but do it at scale.”
Xandr, a platform selling consumer-centric digital advertising, expects advertising budgets in Australia will, like the US, start to converge - TV and digital - as consumption patterns shift.
“Over the next 12 months, we expect media consumption will increasingly fragment across devices and formats, underlining the idea that the TV and digital video ecosystems could converge advertising planning, buying, measurement and attribution across screens,” says Samuel Tan, Xandr’s JAPAC senior director, market development.
“Having an industry currency that can be trusted, such as VOZ, could help to accelerate this convergence.
“A defining feature of the local industry is the genuine collaboration we see between the major TV players which goes beyond measurement.
“We expect to see continuing efforts to reinforce the narrative that TV, whether it be linear or BVOD, is a far more effective option at building brands and delivering sales than social video platforms such as YouTube.
“As traditional TV viewership continues to decline, the industry will increasingly shift to addressable TV and digital video to improve monetisation, extend reach and find difficult to reach audiences.
“The last piece is the potential development of innovative advertising formats such as pause ads which can help drive greater consumer engagement while still respecting the content experience.”
Philippa Noilea-Tani, Wavemaker’s national head of investment, says the proven brand building prowess of television remains unrivalled no matter how you cut your ROI data.
“Television works and works incredibly well at that,” she says. “There are, of course, nuances by category. However, there is no other paid media touchpoint that ranks so consistently high, in building priming stage bias.”
Cost
One of the challenges is the cost of television advertising keeps rising.
“The market remains inflationary as advertiser demand remains,” says Noilea-Tani.
“Unlike print, where the downward trajectory of advertiser demand outpaced readership declines, demand for television remains strong, despite audience fragmentation and linear TV audience declines.”
She says media investment strategies must continue to evolve.
“Change to the market will continue and brands will be left behind if they don’t find an effective way to adapt in the new world of television,” she says.
Agencies and marketers are now very aware that consumers watch what they want, when they want, where they want and on any device they choose.
And the industry itself has evolved.
“Australian broadcasters have banded together and the impact of their collaboration and the work from ThinkTV can’t be undervalued,” she says. “Gone are the days of House Rules and The Block battling it out each night for ratings glory, and never before has the importance of premium, brand safe, viewable content been communicated so consistently across the industry.”
The ability for brands to tell their stories on the big screen is more accessible than ever before.
“The launch of addressable television has paved the way for brands that could never before afford sufficient weights on TV,” she says.
“By leveraging the rapid growth of connected TVs in Australian households, we can reduce wastage and enhance targeting, to stretch marketing budgets further.
“Imagine a high-end luxury retailer, with the most beautifully produced, high-quality video assets coming down the pipeline, that due to budget pressures, can only find a home on a small screen as a six-second bumper.
“Addressable TV comes along and suddenly it’s possible to place that beautiful brand message on the big screen, only in postcodes that over-index against the core target segment (e.g. Vaucluse, Toorak) for a fraction of the cost, rather than needing to invest in the entire market of Sydney or Melbourne.
“The increase in online audiences can’t be ignored and will remain a key growth driver, so it’s fantastic to see the BVOD section integrated seamlessly within the new MFA Television Foundations course, ensuring emerging talent in the industry have strong foundation TV planning and buying knowledge that spans across devices.”
Addressable TV
Finecast is 100% focused on the development of addressable TV in Australia. This is delivering ads to finely defined groups of people via apps and TV catch-up services operated by the main players: Seven, Nine, 10, SBS and Foxtel.
“It helps new advertisers come into TV who wouldn’t have had to budget for it,” says Brett Poole, Finecast’s local managing director. We’ve been in the market for our first full year with 2019 and we have learned a lot.”
The viewership is changing from one of linear TV guides to catching up, to on demand viewing, the back catalogue and live streaming.
“We provide the best postcodes in Australia that you want to show your TV ad to,” he says. “That way you don’t experience that much wastage of TV when you show your ad to everybody in Sydney. You can actually just zero in on the areas and be more efficient with your buy. Postcodes are where we are at the minute, which provides a huge advantage over city or metro buying.
"If you are selling luxury watches it might be more efficient to only target more affluent areas in Sydney’s North Shore or Eastern Suburbs.
“We can run a campaign around auto dealerships for example, and change the creative on those TV ads, saying, for example, pop down to your local dealer in Parramatta.
“Usually a national marketing manager will work to promote the cars on a brand level. Now, a dealer can see TV as an option.
“You can run a really specific campaign somewhere. Think of retail outlets with a store opening. They really weren’t able to do TV before. So it’s become a lot more interesting for more tactical stuff but obviously it’s TV if you still want to do the awareness.”
This isn’t a replacement for TV.
“Huge amounts of advertising spend to still go through there for reach purposes. But it’s an amazing companion to TV where you can zero in on areas where increased frequency is needed. You can use a whole range of tactics such as changing the creative depending on where you are in Australia.”
Amobee, which unifies advertising channels, says TV is very effective but the challenge is that how people consume TV is changing.
“As the share of viewers across a range of formats changes, BVOD grows,” says Liam Walsh, managing director ANZ.
“The challenge and opportunity for the industry is to deliver a BVOD consumer experience that can attract to the scale linear has. If we can achieve that then the infrastructure pieces such as measurement can be delivered relatively easily.”
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