Shifts in viewership, proliferation of screens and audience fragmentation have led us to where we are today: living in the age of “converged TV". Advertisers, traditionally known for keeping linear and digital video budgets and planning in silos, are recognizing the need to bring all forms of TV into one view.
This convergence of linear and streaming has already had a profound impact on the advertising industry – from finding audiences across screens and adapting campaign strategies, to the need for real-time, holistic measurement and modern currencies. In turn, converged TV has also put the spotlight on legacy practices that have not kept up with the pace of change.
To get an industry-first view on the state of converged TV, TVSquared partnered with third-party research firms, Advertiser Perceptions and Dynata, to survey nearly 1,000 buyers across Australia, the UK, Germany and U.S. The end result – The State of Converged TV: A Look at Global Trends & Adoption –revealed the challenges, barriers and opportunities aligned with converged TV and an advertising industry in the midst of transformation.
A Seismic Shift in Thinking …
Among Australian buyers surveyed, 91% agreed that TV is now defined as both linear and streaming, and 88% believed that all forms of TV should be sold on impressions, marking a seismic shift in industry thinking.
Additionally, there is a growing demand for a more flexible TV ecosystem to empower a greater majority of advertisers to manage all forms of TV holistically. For Australian respondents, 94% recognize the need for TV to be more flexible and easier to transact across linear and streaming. More than 95% also say the ability to holistically manage linear and streaming campaigns is a top factor when investing in converged TV.
… and a Shift in Action
The growth of CTV in Australia is a strong indicator that not only has the industry had a shift in thinking, but it’s also taken action. Currently, 40% of Australian respondents allocate 16-25% of advertising budget to CTV, with 40% also running streaming campaigns across three-to-five platforms. Advertisers are also planning to lean into streaming even more in 2022, as the number of advertisers on six-to-10 platforms is projected to increase by 91%.
Converged TV Campaigns Today
When asked to identify the most important metrics or KPIs, Australian advertising running converged TV campaigns today identified “optimizing reach” (45%), “brand awareness & maximum exposure” (44%) and “incremental audience reach” (42%) ranked as the top three.
The top data sources leveraged for converged TV campaigns by Australian marketers were also found to be online data for attribution (58%), first-party customer data (39%) and offline data for attribution (35%).
What It All Means
The current state of converged TV shows that there is still a ton of opportunity to leverage streaming and linear together to create the optimal media mix that builds reach and drives outcomes.
Reliable, transparent measurement across campaigns, combined with more transact-able currencies and the right set of metrics, can power converged TV and ensure marketers’ total TV investments and impression allocations are effective at achieving audience reach and outcomes across TV everywhere. The possibilities are endless.
To read more about these finding and more download a copy of The State of Converged TV: A Look at Global Trends & Adoption.
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