Insights

A-Z of Addressable TV: E is for Ecosystem

  • 5 minutes read
  • Global
  • 26/01/2022
E Is For Ecosystem

In the A-Z of Addressable TV series we will introduce some of the key terminology, technical aspects, and target audiences involved in addressable TV, and explain how they enable advertisers to discover and reach new audiences. From ‘addressable’ to ‘Gen Z’, we’ve got you covered.

E is for Ecosystem

What is the Addressable TV ecosystem?

The addressable TV ecosystem encapsulates all the different stakeholders who play a part in making the industry run. It has expanded in recent years to incorporate and embrace the range of platforms and devices on which people consume television.

Essentially, it is made up of content owners and distributors, data providers, agencies, advertisers, and various technology vendors that are all engaged in some element of the TV advertising network.

And much like a biological ecosystem, the ecosystem functions by all these stakeholders working together, interacting, and interconnecting to create the best viewing experience.

What does an expanding addressable TV ecosystem mean for advertising?

As things evolve, this expanded ecosystem has fragmented the TV viewing landscape across media, broadcasters, platforms, and providers. In the 2020 lockdown (between March-October) alone, there was a 71% YoY increase in VOD and SVOD and the latter was a close second to linear TV when our Thinking Inside the Box asked people to choose just one viewing method. But, crucially, the audience remains the same.

This shift provides opportunities and challenges for brands who want to reach their target audience. It may seem expensive and complex for advertisers to run campaigns and use unique creatives across multiple platforms as well as going to each individual broadcaster to reach on-demand audiences, or access meaningful insights. But addressable TV through Finecast makes it possible to be cost-effective through a targeted approach that uses precision data so that brands can reach the audience they want, collect valuable measurement insights, and leverage the ‘power of fragmentation’.

What is Finecast’s role in this ecosystem?

Finecast sits in the middle of the addressable TV ecosystem. By working with partners across the spectrum – from national broadcasters and leading data providers, to specialised tech platforms and new-to-TV brands – we pair world-class data with our precision and measurement frameworks to take TV forward faster.

Ultimately, people come first, and our solutions allow viewers to see high-quality content that resonates with them. Meanwhile, the single point of access enables brands to take advantage of the Total TV approach and advertise to defined audiences across all major UK TV platforms with maximum impact.

Options for consuming content range from the traditional ‘big screen TV’, mobile devices and tablets, to Broadcaster Video on Demand (BVOD), Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD), Connected TV (CTV), Over the Top (OTT) services, and even game consoles. As a result, audiences are diverging.  One recent study looking at how different demographics used commercial media during the 2020 lockdown found just an 8% similarity between 16-34-year-olds and those 55+.

Finecast clients can turn this diverging audience into an advantage by creating bespoke segmentations that reach specific audiences regardless of platform or screen size. Because Finecast pairs best in class data with the best content and distribution partners, brands can precision target viewers across multiple broadcasters and on-demand video platforms, optimise reach, and accurately measure results to deliver seamless campaigns.

By unlocking targeting at a more granular audience level, ‘New to TV’ advertisers can run campaigns that may not have previously been possible in the ‘old ecosystem’ due to prohibitive cost and budget required. Meanwhile, long-time linear TV advertisers can explore new ways to utilise, and measure, the medium at a new scale.

Partnering with media owners and data providers, we aim to support continued collaboration within the industry so that brands of all sizes can thrive in the modern TV ecosystem and audiences receive the best – and most appropriate – experience that supports growth through brand and sales effectiveness.

Let’s look at an example…

eBay, the world’s leading auction site, worked with Finecast to add addressable to a linear TV campaign approach to increase audience reach and quality of reach across this fragmented TV ecosystem.

eBay wanted to reach parents aged 25-44 and light TV viewers who weren’t typically exposed to the brand. These specific segments weren’t readily available via linear TV. Finecast devised a data-driven campaign plan that used proprietary technology and access to an unrivalled data supply to actively target these hard-to-reach audiences, incorporating frequency management to avoid over-exposing viewers to their message. This result was high-quality, emotive storytelling that delivered additional incremental reach on top of linear TV for their target audience at a frequency that prevented saturation and maintained brand perception.

Finecast’s targeted and data-led addressable approach increased the effectiveness of the overall campaign without breaking the bank and helped eBay plan future campaign planning and investment strategies that can maximise the potential of the new TV ecosystem.

For more information on how addressable TV can work for you, get in touch via the form below. And catch up on the full A-Z series to date here.

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