Amazon Has A Data Advantage On CTV; US Ad Spend Set To Fall To 2018 Levels

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Amazon’s CTV Boom

Amazon may be a little late to the CTV advertising game, but it’s catching up quick thanks to its troves of shopper data and the built-in base of brands already selling on its platform, The Drum reports. Most of Amazon’s CTV ad inventory comes from content on Amazon’s Fire TV device and through its IMDB TV platform (rather than Prime Video), and industry watchers predict that advertiser interest in it is only going to grow. Amazon’s purview into the shopping world means that it knows, and in an identifiable way, what specific shows and products people and households are watching and buying. These factors are “especially compelling” to advertisers that are already selling on Amazon, and these are the buyers have have already leaned into Amazon’s CTV product, says Will Margaritis, senior VP of ecommerce at IPG’s Reprise Digital, who notes that packaged goods, electronics and DTC brands, in particular, are all pretty keen to buy Amazon CTV ads. [Related in AdExchanger: “Amazon Advertising Surges, And Plans Upgrades Around Twitch, Video And Platform Usability.”]

Spending Freefall

So much for a rebound. With the United States currently being rocked by a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, advertising and marketing spending will fall 7.1% this year to $494.23 billion, according to a new forecast released today by market researcher PQ Media. That’s a steeper rate of decline than the 6.8% downward spiral that global advertising and marketing spend is projected to sustain, MediaPost reports. But wait, what’s that? There’s a bit of light at the end of the tunnel. “While the economic damage wrought by the pandemic,” says PQ Media CEO Patrick Quinn, “will squelch a decade-long expansion of the media economy this year,” don’t forget about the emergence of new advertising and marketing opportunities. There’s streaming video, audio, mobile gaming and apps, social media and influencer marketing, digital product placement, content marketing and virtual events – all of which are expected to hasten the industry’s recovery going forward. Even so, PQ Media projects that the global advertising and marketing economy will fall to $1.278 trillion this year, its lowest volume since 2017.

DTC Turns To Texting

DTC startups are adding texting to their marketing mix as a way to stand out in the email clutter that piles up in inboxes around Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Digiday writes. But this is no regular start to the shopping season. It’ll be harder than ever to make a mark with the recent and massive shift toward online shopping. This week, email inboxes will be flooded with marketing messages from brands advertising their deals. Savvy DTC brands have been actively capturing phone numbers from customers to build out their lists for the past 18 months or so with an eye on using texting as an acquisition channel, while other marketers have been hurrying to build out their lists in preparation for the holidays. For many brands, texting is an extension of their email strategy. “It’s definitely different this year,” says Katya Constantine, CEO of performance marketing agency Digishop Girl, adding that roughly 70% of her clients now use SMS marketing. “Paid digital is becoming more expensive and brands are looking for new ways to reach customers without paying as much. There’s also a lot of noise in email and not as much engagement. SMS offers a place to reach customers that isn’t as busy.”

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