Data Takes Center Stage At Advertising Week 2019
Until a few years ago, the only data most TV networks had available came from Nielsen, whose ratings divided audiences up by age and gender and projected how many were watching the various programs the networks were showing in real time.
That lack of granularity caused advertisers to shift larger and larger pieces of their budgets over to digital, which had data in spades, but, as brands discovered, also had ad fraud, brand safety issues, placement issues and ad blocking software issues.
Not to mention the fact that online banner ads didn’t even come close to packing the emotional punch of a well-made TV commercial.
But fortunately for TV, just as brands were starting to give the medium a second look, programmers were able to up their data game thanks to a shift to digitally delivered viewing, also known alternately as “OTT” (“over the top”) or “CTV” (connected TV.) While the two terms are frequently used interchangeably, “OTT” technically refers to viewing on any device, while "CTV" refers to viewing on an actual TV set.
As a result, data, and how to use it, was such a big topic of conversation during Advertising Week this year.
One issue that got a lot of attention was where the data was coming from. Digital platforms have a great deal of data on their viewers. If they are subscription services, they have the viewer’s credit card data which, stripped of any PII (Personally Identifiable Information) they can match with Experian data in order to determine what the viewer actually bought.
So, as one panel explained, if they’re Target, they can take SKU-level data from stores and match it to customer loyalty data and then compare that data to viewership data in order to determine the effect retail ads were having on sales for a wide range of brands who sell their wares at Target.
The only players in the television industry who don’t have data these days are the broadcast networks, as they have no direct connection to their customers—viewing either happens over the air, via antennas or via MVPDs, who don’t share their data.
Which is why other panels at Advertising Week addressed how companies like Nielsen and consortiums like Project OAR are working on ways to allow broadcasters to use ACR data (automatic content recognition data from smart TVs) to overlay addressable ads onto programming in close to real time.
The final piece of the data puzzle is how to use data to effectively automate ad placement—how do you make sure that programmatic systems have the correct data in order to make efficient buys?
Companies like Videa, an online marketplace for automated television advertising, are even taking years of this kind of data, like that of Nielsen or Comscore, to launch features for its platform like a forecasted ratings tool to streamline processes for media buyers, sellers and researchers.
While panelists acknowledged that privacy was a concern, the overall feeling was that the actual data was anonymized and that the benefit to consumers—relevant TV commercials—would be worth the privacy concessions for most viewers, and that those who disagreed retained the ability to opt out.
By harnessing the vast stores of available data, TV should soon be able to achieve the Holy Grail of fewer better targeted ads that consumers won’t mind watching and that brands will pay a premium for.