NBCU Merging TV, Digital Ad Buying

Tuesday at CES, NBCUniversal announced its new go-to-market offering, One Platform, which it claims “establishes a new industry standard for buying and selling premium video.”

Through this new structure, advertisers will be able to “leverage the full power of NBCUniversal’s extensive content and expansive scale,” the company said. In 2020 alone, NBCUniversal added, it will offer more than 110,000 hours of new original content and reach 97% of people in the U.S. as well as half a billion people around the world in partnership with Sky.

Linda Yaccarino, chairman, advertising and partnerships, NBCUniversal, said: “The future of our business is simple: it’s our audience. People are the center of everything we do. We know that viewers do not differentiate content by network, time or screen; instead, our fans see NBCUniversal as one giant home to the best stories, so that’s the mindset we’ll go to market with in 2020.

“With One Platform, we’re following our viewers’ lead. Rather than rejecting the changes in consumer behavior, we’re reflecting it. And rather than pushing back on disruption, we will use it to power our business and redefine the entire marketplace.”

As a next phase of its one portfolio strategy, NBCUniversal said its One Platform “will rebuild the premium video marketplace and transform the industry to match a future that viewers have already created. One Platform is being built in service of its audiences and marketers alike, creating a more relevant advertising experience for viewers while delivering meaningful engagement and impact for brands.”

All Audiences, All Screens

The adults 18-49 demo was introduced in 1962 when the U.S was half the population size and only three networks existed. Today, consumers are free to view content, buy products, and interact with brands across any screen at any time — and premium video buying models must reflect that freedom too.

With One Platform, NBCUniversal said it will “leverage its unrivaled scale — an incredible 211 million adults 18-plus every month — to help advertisers to reach all audiences that matter. NBCUniversal will offer advertisers its best content across any screen, helping to simplify the buying process and deliver better results for brands.”

One Platform, All Solutions

Over the next three years, NBCUniversal said it will “continue to double-down on its investment in technology to build one unified platform that can optimize, plan, deliver, and measure audiences across all video distribution points. NBCUniversal’s One Platform includes:

One Optimizer: Audiences seek out the best stories across any network, and advertisers need to easily, efficiently, and effectively target them. NBCUniversal will expand its optimization capabilities to provide a unified cross-platform optimizer based on reach/frequency objectives. Whether its traditional demos or more advanced custom audiences, this new offering “will help advertisers extend the reach of their campaigns through more effective planning and delivery across NBCUniversal’s complete portfolio of linear and digital properties.”

One Plan: By optimizing across all-screens and all content, advertisers can now work with NBCUniversal to create one simple and streamlined plan for their media investment that ensures they are reaching the right audiences and creates more efficiency across every investment. New planning tools “will enable NBCUniversal to deliver the strongest and clearest proposals possible for its partners.”

One Delivery: From ideas to action, marketers’ messages need to reach consumers at the right place at the right time. NBCUniversal’s new system “will unify the scheduling and trafficking of campaigns across linear and digital platforms concurrently, enabling more effective pacing and delivery at unparalleled scale.”

One Measurement: Plans and execution must be backed up by measurement to prove the impact of an investment. CFlight unified impressions across all screens, providing advertisers a single metric to measure consumption behavior. Now, NBCUniversal “will unveil a new in-campaign and post-campaign measurement dashboard to show brands how each impression drove impact.”