By: George Musi, Head of Cross-Media Analytics, DG
Brand advertising is really about two things: reach (how many people see advertising) and frequency (how often they were exposed to it).
In order for advertisers to achieve the most effective brand advertising and the holy grail of advertising, they need to:
• Reach the right person (target audience)
• With the right tone and message (advertising creative with high relevance, receptivity, stopping power and likability — so they’ll see, like and engage with the ad)
• At the right time
• In the right media placement
• At an optimum and effective frequency
With the mass TV audiences of yesteryear, advertisers could rely on reaching a large, stable audience at a given time and place. That made assessing reach and frequency a relative no-brainer. But with the proliferation and fragmentation of devices, platforms and channels – and the expansion of consumer viewing habits across TV and digital — this simple formula has gotten a lot more complex.
Now, audiences are dispersed across PCs, netbooks, smartphones, mobile, tablets, connected TVs, over-the-pop boxes or gaming consoles, video-on-demand systems and even internet-enabled cars. And they are viewing when and where they choose.
Fragmentation also means marketers have fewer constraints on how and when they engage. Advances in media and technology and given that time and place are no longer constraints when it comes to engaging with media, marketers have an enormous opportunity and expanded value proposition — reaching and engaging their audiences more often and via more touch-points. It’s why a fragmented advertising marketplace presents more of an opportunity than a challenge, if managed efficiently.
Despite media fragmentation, TV still has a dominant leadership position among media for delivering massive reach and frequency against consumer audiences in a short period of time. No other medium compares. But clearly what has happened, through the development of new digital technologies and platforms, is that TV now lives and breathes in a multi-screen environment.
Therefore, as other mediums come into play and as audiences continue to fragment across devices, it becomes increasingly difficult — but at the same time very critical — for an advertiser to reach the right consumer at scale in an efficient and effective manner at optimal levels of exposure (i.e. effective frequency) for its message to achieve the desired brand communication objectives.
TV advertising ultimately reaches a point of diminishing returns, where it becomes more and more difficult and expensive to build incremental reach against a target audience — at this point investing more dollars mainly increases frequency of exposure. In fact, advertisers can leverage digital channels to extend the reach of TV campaigns to viewers who have not seen specific ads and thus expand messaging frequency to target audiences. Success in the multi-screen universe, however, is a matter of efficient management.
Effective video advertising campaigns necessitate an approach to targeting consumers across all screens and that combines content, audience and data. TV and online media planners and buyers must understand their audiences better than ever, using demographics, psychographics/attitudes and behaviors to optimize allocation and spend across TV and online.
Data-driven segmentation is thus more vital than ever to maximize reach and frequency with levels of precision and confidence. Advertisers must present a relevant and consistent message that appeals to consumers, delivered on the right channel at the right time.
Online, of course, strategic targeting can be accomplished in multiple ways. And now it’s possible on TV. Newer technologies enable advertisers to selectively segment (or categorize) TV audiences into distinct, mutually exclusive clusters or sub-groups and serve different ads or ad pods within a common program or navigation screen. Through cable, satellite and Internet Protocol television (IPTV) delivery systems and set-top boxes (STBs).
Using addressable ads, marketers can predetermine the type of consumer who will see their commercials. Marketers can now combine widely available third-party data sources such as Nielsen PRIZM segments, TargusInfo, Acxiom, Experian, Epsilon, Datalogix and/or Polk with subscriber information from delivery providers like Dish and DirecTV to pinpoint niche audiences. Addressable advertising means two people watching the same show in different homes will see different ads based on their individual consumer profile (a combination of demographic, geographic, psychographic, and other information).
In a world of fragmented platforms, devices and audiences and new marketing paradigms, advertisers and agencies overarching goals remain unchanged: maximize persuasive effectiveness and reach, and optimize frequency levels to garner the greatest ROI from their ad dollars.
Managing reach (incremental and duplication) and effective frequency distribution levels requires more sophisticated thinking. But with the right use of creative elements and messaging, targeting and retargeting data, data science, advanced analytics and technology, this new landscape also provides far more opportunity to reach and engage consumers in relevant and personalized ways.
