Recent discussions among industry leaders have raised significant points regarding the measurement and optimisation of connected TV (CTV) advertising, as advertisers seek more effective ways to evaluate the impact of their campaigns. At the Digiday Programmatic Marketing Summit, Harry Browne, Vice President of TV, Audio, and Display Innovation at Tinuiti, highlighted the critical need for improved incrementality testing across all channels, particularly CTV. “There is just an under-leveraging of incrementality testing across the board, across channels. This is not just a CTV issue; this is across everything. But for CTV, it’s certainly relevant. Incrementality testing is critical,” he explained.
Browne's insights pointed towards the unique challenges presented by CTV as a non-click-based medium, where ad responses might manifest later on different devices. This complicates the measurement of ad effectiveness. He advocated for the usage of media mix models, which allow comparative performance analysis of CTV against other media channels—traditional television, search, social, and display. “You need some sort of framework to say, ‘CTV gave this above and beyond what my investments on search and social and commerce and display and everything else gave me,’” Browne added.
Alongside Browne, Kara Manatt, Executive VP of Intelligence Solutions at Magna, underscored the importance of pre-campaign testing. Manatt mentioned that advertisers often overlook this phase, which is essential for tailoring ads to resonate with their intended audience and can substantially influence brand recall and purchase intent. A recent study conducted by Magna and ad tech firm Nexxen involving 943 adults suggested that optimised ads can significantly improve key performance metrics. According to Manatt, “When you get that higher relevance, we see how much more impact that we actually get on search intent, purchase intent, those transactional metrics that we care about most,” indicating a 76% lift in search intent for optimised ads, compared to a 47% lift for non-optimised ones.
As CTV continues to mature as a medium, it is evident that advertisers are seeking traditional methodologies to enhance campaign performance and ascertain the incremental benefits of their investments. This shift towards integrating established techniques with innovative platforms may pave the way for greater efficacy in digital advertising.
In related industry trends, November saw a peak in streaming's share of TV watch time, noted in Nielsen's latest report. Streaming surpassed prior records, although individual platform shares, such as YouTube holding its lead over Netflix, have remained relatively unchanged. Hulu recorded a modest month-over-month increase, whereas Disney+ experienced a decline.
Furthermore, predictions indicate that streaming revenue is expected to surpass linear TV revenue by 2029. GroupM's 2024 Global End-of-Year Forecast posits this shift, reflecting changing viewing habits and the growing dominance of streaming platforms in the entertainment landscape.
As these trends unfold, industry stakeholders will continue to navigate the balance between innovative advertising strategies and established measurement practices, reflecting the evolving dynamics of consumer engagement and media consumption.
Source: Noah Wire Services