Since long before Covid and our familiarity with pandemics, this industry has been struck down with an even more pervasive disease: Shiny Object Syndrome. Quick to chase the next big advancement that will change our world forevermore, only to realise it didn’t, and then move onto the next distraction.

Instinctively, we blame the tech for not meeting our expectations, but the truth is, it is we who are to blame.

You see we buy into the promise of the tech, and not the reality. What could be done is what excites us but before it has the chance to scale, we move onto the next shiny object, like a cat chasing a laser, without ever fully realising the opportunity that was.

Mostly, these opportunities fall by the wayside. But some quietly grow in the background, awaiting their moment. The recent resurgence of QR codes is one example, however I believe Connected TVs are perhaps the best, and most powerful.

The rise of CTV
 

Connected TV (CTV) consumption has grown significantly over the past 18 months, with total time spent up 40 per cent since early 2020. Fast-forward to 2021 and nearly 70 per cent of premium broadcast content streamed online is consumed on a CTV¹. 

This exponential increase of on-demand viewing on the largest screen in the house has provided marketers an opportunity to bring together the power of TV with the dynamics of digital. TV advertising environments have always been recognised as one of the most effective marketing channels that precipitate consumer action.  

Marketers have an enormous opportunity to lean in, learn and iterate on how to take advantage of everything CTV has to offer. It is for this reason that we believe CTV is the most under-utilised marketing weapon in the country – and not just because of the growth in audience.  

The slower rise of advertising
 

Two years ago, it was fair to assume CTV did not provide the same consumer experience as linear. But today, advancements in technology have significantly enhanced both the advertiser and viewer experience. However, it is not only the technology improvements, the increase in targeting options, measurement and transparency, or the ability to trade programmatically that is garnering excitement.  

The real opportunity exists for those brands that can successfully bring together creativity, data and commerce to engage consumers in more meaningful ways than has previously been available.

We know connected TV has typically been bought either using a TV budget, to help increase reach of linear, or from a digital video budget, to reach known targetable audiences. These channels have been bought separately because the buyers are generally looking to achieve different outcomes. 

TV buyers are looking to insert their brand into the most premium environment, with the most engaged and relevant consumer and build the fastest relevant reach to either drive an immediate or long-term effect.

Digital buyers have to-date been less concerned with environment, but more focused on finding the right audience to push them further down the funnel and enticing them to click on a brand’s owned assets. 

Apply creativity to win
 

Until now we have often seen the same creative being used across both linear and connected TV, creative that tells beautiful brand stories measured by its ability to impact brand metrics. But we know TV offers more than just brand awareness, it drives inspiration and introduces new products to consumers either direct from the content or surrounding ad formats. 

What we haven’t provided is a seamless way to help close the loop by offering audiences a path to purchase within our environment.  We are going to change that by re-engineering our ecosystem to ensure we can offer inspiration all the way to action.  

This started recently with announcement of 7ACT our shoppable ad format – used by brands such as Officeworks – and will quickly continue with a suite of new interactive solutions that will enable our users to get closer to your brand right from the largest screen in the house.

We believe it’s time to explore how you can leverage the scale and technological capability of digital platforms to deliver conversion outcomes for clients and position CTV as the platform to help solve for objectives beyond media metrics. Brands like Menulog are doing exactly that – and driving strong double-digit conversion improvements.

We want to re-imagine the viewing experience to create an engaging, intuitive, interactive and relevant commerce eco-system for consumers – that delivers measurable full funnel results for brands.  

Fusing consumer loyalty, content and commerce
 

We believe we can service our community with more than just content. We can deliver an end-to-end entertainment experience that brings retail and product information to the fore, leveraging our trusted one-on-one relationship with viewers, and bringing more value to their regular interaction with Seven and the 7plus brand.   

In return, we are happy to help CMOs, brand owners, creative and media agencies to build a stronger, sharper CTV strategy.

To understand how to get the best out of connected TV, come and connect with us.

 

¹Source: Oztam VPM 3.1 Live and VOD , Total Minutes, All Publishers, Jan-Feb 2020, May-June 20 2021