The hottest new trend in TV tech is “addressable” ads, or TV ads that can be targeted to specific households via user data. By the end of this year, almost every major TV network and provider will have rolled out their version of an addressable ad product.
Why Advertisers Bullish On Addressable TV
Andy Sippel: “Addressable TV is poised to make a big leap in adoption and spending. It’s a simple trial and repeat equation. When advertisers know it, they use it. When they use it, they love it. And then they want more.”
At a time when brands, agencies and the media talk up the value of a consumer’s experience with advertising in an increasingly cluttered world, a number of “addressable” TV players claim they can finally do that with Madison Avenue’s apex medium, enabling brands to target and control their ad messages down to the household — maybe even the user — level.
Political data firms on both sides of the aisle have bolstered their addressable TV capabilities. Today, Democratic data firm TargetSmart and Republican data outfit Data Trust each announced new partnerships with TV data providers. The outcome should be even more TV spots, especially from congressional campaigns, targeted to households of key voter segments than ever before.
Addressable TV ad spending is estimated to be $890 million this year, growing by over 120% from $400 million in 2015, according to eMarketer. In 2016, it will represent 1.3% of all TV advertising spending.
Addressable TV ad spending is estimated to be $890 million this year, growing by over 120% from $400 million in 2015, according to eMarketer. In 2016, it will represent 1.3% of all TV advertising spending.
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Putting Addressable TV To Work For Clients
It allows advertisers to place ads only where target demos will see them, making campaigns more efficient and improving response rates. Raphael Rivilla, partner for media and connections planning at Marcus Thomas, talks about how to buy and plan such a campaign, why addressable advertising is worth the buy for certain audiences, and how it has changed over the years.
The largest U.S. cable operator, Comcast Corp., continues to acquired advanced advertising technology companies — now with the purchase of Visible World, one of the bigger platforms and proponents of addressable TV advertising.
Addressable TV is an emerging technology that allows advertisers — Senate hopefuls and insurance companies alike — to pay some broadcasters to pinpoint specific homes. Advertisers have long bought ads knowing that only a fraction of the audience was likely to respond to them. Allowing campaigns — political or not — to finely hone their TV pitches to individuals could let them more efficiently spend their advertising dollars.
While addressable TV technology has been around for years, efforts to get marketers to use it have moved slowly..That’s because the technology involved can vary by multichannel provider, making it difficult and expensive to deliver an addressable ad across multiple providers.
DirecTV has an agreement with Starcom MediaVest Group, which plans to sell household-addressable ads for the No. 1 satellite TV operator that will be delivered to 10 million subscribers with DVRs, based on demographic data and other criteria.
