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As Far As The Eye Can CTV
Connected TV feels like it has reached a critical threshold to become a major programmatic revenue driver.
But it hasn’t.
Industry consultant Mike Shields writes that an unnamed media exec recently threw cold water on CTV optimism.
For one thing, despite the unquestionable growth of streaming media consumption, there isn’t a corresponding bump in quality ad inventory. Even where ads are paired with content from the likes of Netflix, HBO and Disney+, it’s a cautious slow-roll and often executed directly with clients, which doesn’t create a supply rush for ad tech.
YouTube is the dark matter at the center of the CTV universe. It explains where billions of dollars land that are deemed CTV spend when that much money just can’t possibly go to Pluto TV and the Roku long tail.
With Disney+Hulu, Fox+Tubi, Paramount+Pluto and others tied up, how much is really out there for programmatic buyers?
Digital advertisers have absorbed the idea of infinite supply. What people should absorb is a healthy skepticism for any media channel claiming premium supply (the big screen on the wall!) and more than enough to go around.
À La Cart
NBCUniversal is taking viewers shopping.
In 2020, NBCU launched Checkout, which links QR codes on TV screens to its own payment processing. This week, NBCU is taking NBCUniversal Checkout in-person to prove a point about shoppable marketing.
NBCU built out a shoppable TV ad format specifically for the premiere of “Love Island USA” this summer. Now, the tech will be the center point of NBCU’s annual BravoCon event in New York City. The convention showcases merchandise from network shows like “Real Housewives” and “Below Deck,” and will feature NBCU QR codes attendees can scan to purchase.
Emphasizing QR codes also allows NBCU to accrue strategic first-party data. Checkout is a feature of One Platform, NBCU’s cross-platform advertising identity solution, and QR site activations give the media giant swaths of data about consumer shopping preferences and behaviors.
NBCUniversal Checkout is also a marketing opportunity for advertisers that typically can’t afford traditional broadcast ad spots.
Ninety-five percent of NBCUniversal Checkout advertisers are first-time NBCU partners, Evan Moore, SVP of commerce partnerships, tells Ad Age.
Down In The Data Mines
First-party data. It’s the wave of the future.
But you know the problem with riding a new wave: How far will it really take you?
Many small and midsize CPG, fashion and accessories companies fully bought into the first-party data revolution. But that doesn’t make first-party data easily available to them. Even for massive brands like Hershey’s and Kraft, it’s a huge grind to collect usable identity data like credit card or email info.
Large CPG brands or clothing manufacturers that bought into the DMP and CDP trend are shifting focus, “because they’ve got all this first-party data that’s great in terms of utility that it could bring but it’s just not relevant to their business model,” Ebiquity product chief Ruben Scheurs tells Digiday.
Getting serious about a data-driven DTC business with first-party data doesn’t change the fact that a chocolate bar or a tube of toothpaste is practically impossible to deliver profitably to someone’s door.
“Many are thinking, ‘We can’t invent a new way of doing our commerce [such as direct online sales] for the sake of fueling a database,’” Scheurs says.
But Wait, There’s More!
Netflix strikes measurement deals ahead of ad-supported rollout. [Ad Age]
Mike Gelber: What are data clean rooms and how are they used in ad tech? [blog]
How Microsoft expects to double its ad sales revenue. [Insider]
What’s going on in Horizon Worlds, Meta’s metaverse, every hour of the day? [NYT]
Hulu raises its prices. [TechCrunch]
You’re Hired!
Adam Singer joins AdQuick as VP of marketing. [tweet]
