The AdNews end of year Perspectives, looking back at 2024 and forward to next year.
Karen Halligan, CEO, OzTAM
A Year of Disruption
2024 has been defined by disruption. Amid a national cost-of-living crisis and ongoing interest rate rises, our industry has undergone seismic shifts: changing consumer media habits, transitions in senior leadership, reduced and fragmented marketing budgets, and increasing pressure for marketers to demonstrate measurable ROI.
The video sector, especially in measurement, is no exception. Marketers have more digital channels and more measurement tools than ever, and this abundance presents new challenges. This trend will only accelerate in 2025, particularly as global markets embrace projects like the UK’s Origin cross-media measurement project where we are seeing clients step into measurement.
Broadcast, VOD, FAST channels, CTV, OTT, video-sharing platforms and social media are all evolving, but there’s a critical distinction: available inventory doesn't guarantee reach, efficiency, or brand safety. The key question for marketers is: which platforms best align with their goals? How do they navigate the labyrinth of data sources and varying metrics? Ensuring marketing spend is driven by true engagement, rather than inventory volume or sales-driven hype, will be essential in the face of overwhelming choices.
Not All Impressions Are Equal
The answer is clear: Not every impression is the same. It's not just about inventory. Time spent, engagement, targeting, sound/no sound, and reach capping all play pivotal roles in evaluating effectiveness.
For example, YouTube (a funding contributor to Origin) counts a video impression after just two seconds of viewing, arguably too brief for meaningful brand messaging. By contrast, BVOD requires at least 15 seconds to be captured in VOZ’s reach numbers. Both play an important role in the advertising ecosystem, but understanding the measurement nuances is crucial, particularly with YouTube positioning itself as "more TV-like” and the battle for ad dollars intensifying. The Origin project itself has faced challenges and incurred tailoring to allow for the inclusion of the UK’s BARB TV currency data over this very issue
Beyond baseline metrics, the rise of ad supported models in streaming services further complicates measurement. The reality is that subscription numbers and available inventory do not always correlate to reach and/or audience. For example, to reference recent numbers published by the AFR, "Netflix remains the dominant player in Australia, with an estimated 6.2 million subscribers”, however the reach potential for advertisers is limited as only some of these subscribers are on an ad supported plan. In contrast, “Amazon Prime Video platform, which expanded 7% to 4.8 million” subscribers, includes a higher percentage of users on ad supported plans.
Data from OzTAM’s Streaming Television Meters (STVM), however, reveals that only 2% of Total People viewing minutes are spent on Amazon Prime Video, compared to 7% for Netflix. And the age-old rhetoric that “no one watches free to air (FTA) content” continues to not be supported by data. From January to June 2024, 63% of all viewing minutes in Australia were spent on FTA television, both broadcast (linear) TV and BVOD. While viewing patterns are evolving, FTA content remains a key player in the landscape. These insights are vital for making informed decisions about where to allocate advertising spend.
Navigating Complexity in 2025
As we move into 2025, the sheer volume of options will continue to challenge marketers aiming to deliver both scale and meaningful client outcomes. With programmatic and transactional advertising becoming more embedded, agencies will play a key role in ensuring marketing spend is both efficient and effective.
Tools like OzTAM’s newly launched VOZ Streaming - a data enablement service that facilitates the trading of multi-broadcaster programmatic BVOD - will help agencies optimise budgets, cap frequency across platforms and increase workflow efficiencies, however marketers still face a “Pandora’s Box” of options to sift through, distil and activate.
The Path Forward
In 2025, knowledge will define success. Data-driven decision-making and understanding consumer video behaviour will be more critical than ever.
At OzTAM, our investment in STVMs has seen them now reach critical mass. These meters apply demographic profiling for streamed content on connected TVs and provide total in-home video viewing measurement across broadcast, BVOD, AVOD and SVOD - by demographic and by device. These meters open up valuable new insights into viewing behaviours and offer agencies a new level of data to guide their strategies. We look forward to sharing this intelligence in 2025.
As we enter this data-rich era, it’s clear that it’s not just about inventory or impressions. It's about precision and actionable insights. Data will be the compass guiding us through the increasingly complex and fragmented video ecosystem, helping marketers make informed decisions that drive real, measurable results.
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.