“On TV & Video” is a column exploring opportunities and challenges in advanced TV and video.
Today’s column is by Dan Meehan, Founder and CEO at PadSquad.
As if marketers didn’t have a hard enough time breaking through to humans, they’re facing an increasingly cavalier group of FANGs (Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Google) restricting or eliminating advertising opportunities for certain categories of products.
For its entire existence, Netflix hasn’t allowed advertising—although that’s changed in November.
Google took away third-party ad tech’s access to YouTube inventory.
And between Amazon blocking beer ads during NFL Thursday Night Football and Meta’s newly introduced restrictions on pharmaceutical advertising, marketers are running into all sorts of unexpected (and perhaps anti-competitive) obstacles.
Let’s unpack one of these restrictions for a moment: Watching a NFL game without a beer ad is extremely uncommon. In September, 70% of beer brand spending on TV commercials went to NFL programming, according to iSpot.tv.
One must wonder how the NFL feels about Amazon restricting ad opportunities for a category of brands that fills its pockets with cash.
Add to this the fact that 42% of consumers watch sports games in bars.
Amazon: What are we doing here?
It’s one thing for platforms to dominate audience attention, dictate CPMs, and limit opportunities. But it’s another matter entirely for platforms to downright eliminate advertising opportunities.
4 ways to push the envelope
Savvy marketers already know they can no longer take a one-size-fits-all approach across platforms from a creative perspective. But now they must be conscious of each platform’s restrictions and come up with ways to overcome them.
If you’re a marketer having a tough time, try running bullish campaigns on other platforms, criticizing the social players’ decisions and even challenging the limitations.
Here are some creative ideas:
- Buy ads during games
If you’re Coors Light, consider running a mobile ad campaign during Thursday Night Football across popular sites and apps like Yahoo and ESPN. Your ad shouldn’t mince words. Have fun with it. Bring some personality to the table.
The ad copy can say: “Hey I’m a beer ad. You’d have seen me on the Amazon broadcast, but they’re blocking beer ads right now.”
- Use petition CTAs
Go beyond marketing the problem. If you can’t be on TV during the big game, lean on the interactive capability of mobile to create a high impact ad that aims to elicit response.
Have a call to action that asks people to sign a petition urging Amazon to stop restricting ads. It doesn’t matter if the petition works. The press and engagement could be largely valuable.
- Approach restrictions with a creative mindset
When in doubt, rely on that good-ole right brained mentality. Is there a component of your business you can market?
For example, cannabis brands should consider marketing their 100% CBD products. Then, have some fun with the copy: “Yeah, we have the other stuff too.”
- Be the “brought to you by” sponsor of a charity or non-profit TV ad
Rather than promote your product, consider underwriting (and publicizing your support of) a TV ad from a charity or non-profit.
For example, offer to buy a string of Thursday Night Football TV ads for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. See if you can get your brand featured in an overlay as a “brought to you by” partner.
You’ll win either way
Test the limits. Even if you can’t get your TV ad workarounds approved, you can still publicize your attempts. Companies like Weedmaps, 84 Lumber, and many more have secured all sorts of free earned press from publicizing their rejected Super Bowl ads.
The big takeaway here is that creativity can be a real catalyst to flipping the script on the FANGs’ ad restrictions. From beer brands to pharma and cannabis companies, you can spin the narrative in your favor with a little imagination.
Most importantly, don’t get discouraged. Try your hand at multiple approaches and remember that creativity is your most dangerous weapon.
Follow PadSquad (@PadSquadMedia) and AdExchanger (@AdExchanger) on Twitter.
