Connected TV set to command greater marketer spend
The shift in spend to connected TV is likely to impact ad dollars currently directed at other TV activity and digital media, according to a new survey.
Spend on connected TV - a television device connected to the Internet including smart TVs and OTT boxes such as Amazon Fire or Apple TV – is set to increase, as almost half of current connected advertisers plan to allocate more funds to the medium in the coming year.
The findings came from an the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) survey of 215 client-side marketers with an average 15 years’ experience, of which 51 percent were at director level and above and 49 percent are manager level and below.
Currently, around half of all US homes (56 percent) have a connected TV device with viewing on streaming devices such as Amazon Fire TV growing 380 percent year-over-year in the first quarter of 2015.
However, advertiser budgets remain modest with 46 percent or respondents saying they allocate just one percent or less of their total TV advertising budget to connected TV.
For the coming year, those that do currently advertise via connected TV (48 percent) plan to allocate more budget and are likely to shift ad spend from other TV activity (71 percent) and digital media (37 percent).
Half of respondents cited audience targeting as the top benefit of connected TV but the lack of reliable measurement metrics and small-scale audience penetration is preventing a greater shift of budgets.
Bob Liodice, president and chief executive of the ANA, explained: "Connected TV is a great opportunity for the television advertising industry, as it leverages current consumer viewing behaviour and provides digital-like targeting. But measurement issues need to be addressed to optimize future growth."
The study of ANA members took place in June 2015.