TV Year in Review: Scott Ferber, Chairman and CEO of Videology

This year, we saw marketers continuing to struggle with audience fragmentation due to the rise new distribution and content channels. As consumers watch more video on more screens, advertisers’ ability to reach targeted consumers with adequate scale is a challenge.

It’s evident that the antidote to fragmentation is advertising convergence. And, of course, the keystone of convergence is the ability connect media consumption across devices, allowing advertisers to build reach and frequency holistically, rather than being confined to media siloes.

While we’ve seen a lot of progress in this area over the last few years, it’s primarily been focused on the digital ecosystem, connecting consumers across PC, Smartphone or tablet. Companies like Tapad, Drawbridge and LiveRamp built out data models to determine multiple devices belonging to a single user. The industry giants, Facebook and Google, developed huge sets of deterministic, log-in data for cross-device understanding. And major cloud platforms like Adobe and Oracle access a wide variety of touch points for understanding and de-duplicating audiences.

2015, however, saw significant progress in bringing TV into the cross-screen mix. While there is still work to be done, we are seeing huge updates in two big areas:

Multiple Solutions to Next-level Cross-screen data:

The call for cross-screen measurement has never been greater. And while Nielsen has provided both TV and digital ad ratings for several years – in fact, Videology executed a direct integration with Nielsen to allow advertisers to plan and measure advertising campaigns across linear television and online video in 2014 –this year the pending merger of comScore and Rentrak offers another great example of just how important cross-screen measurement has become. The fact that two of the industry’s biggest measurement players are merging highlights the importance of a holistic understanding of viewing behavior, regardless of where it happens—desktop, mobile, linear or time-shifted TV, video on demand or over-the-top. Additionally, many vendors are now leveraging ACR technology to better understand the cross-channel connection of consumer viewing habits, another significant advancement.

Increased Availability of Next generation TV data:

We all know that the definition of TV has changed. OTT applications delivering ‘TV everywhere’ capabilities from the major networks and MVPDs have spread like wildfire. This is also true for the major streaming subscription services like Netflix and Hulu, available on a variety of devices.

This year, Adobe made huge strides in this market with the launch of their Primetime TV Media Management platform (full disclosure – we’re working with them on this product). Through the platform, advertisers and media companies can deliver linear content through OTT channels with authentication of who the viewer is. This gives the MVPDs and publishers a new channel for promoting their content while giving the advertiser that much-needed, de-duplicated consumer view, as well as deeper audience insights.

The ability to plan and buy TV and video advertising more holistically also resulted in another development this year:

Realization that RTB is Not Enough:

Technology is the backbone of cross-screen planning and buying. When “cross-screen” consisted primarily of digital channels, the RTB buying models that arose from the world digital display seemed to do an adequate job at the basic level. However, when you incorporate TV or premium TV content into the mix, it quickly becomes clear that RTB is merely one execution method, not a programmatic cross-screen solution. Over the last decade, the digital advertising industry became very accustomed to an RTB model. So, naturally, many thought the same approach should apply to video inventory. Marketers have begun to learn, however, that while this system works for long-tail, widely available video inventory, it fails to deliver the guarantees needed for premium video and TV content. Due to its scarce availability, TV inventory will continue to be purchased in an upfront, reserved system. As this inventory becomes available in the programmatic mix, new approaches to campaign planning and delivery are needed -- including both planned and RTB capabilities.

So what’s next?

2016 will be the year of hard questions. No longer will advertisers be interested in using all the latest technology. They will be interested in using the best technologies, and weeding out the rest, resulting in more technology consolidation. I believe we’re going to move back to what matters most—results. Advertising technology in the video space has now been around long enough that advertisers have all tested the water. They know the difference between ad technologies with great marketing, and ad technologies that produce great marketing results. The solutions that can produce the greatest brand results in accordance with an advertiser’s KPIs will stand apart and lead the industry’s evolution.

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