Mark Zuckerberg’s “move fast and break things” mantra may have suited the early days of Facebook, but it’s a risky strategy for companies in high-trust environments like media platforms. Today, advertisers depend on the trustworthiness of their media partners, DSPs and platforms to communicate authentically.
A recent breach of this trust has jeopardized two valuable mediums – connected TV (CTV) and digital out-of-home (DOOH) – exposing the need for clearer industry distinctions.
While CTV has emerged as a powerful and unique advertising medium, particularly with the rise of in-home streaming during the pandemic, venue-based DOOH streaming is distinct and requires its own marketplace to fully realize its potential.
Some companies misclassify video streaming services in restaurants and bars as CTV, leading to confusion when advertisers expect ads to be shown in people’s homes. Due to the reliance on self-identification and reporting in the digital environment, this deception went unnoticed by advertisers for some time.
The motivation behind this misrepresentation varied; some sought to capitalize on the CTV hype, while others found it challenging to educate the marketplace on the unique value of venue-based streaming, opting instead to label it as CTV. This has led to significant frustration, resulting in many DSPs and agencies blocking the worst offenders – a major obstacle to the adoption of DOOH.
Although they shouldn’t be sold as CTV, in-venue screens hold genuine value for advertisers. But buyers need transparency and accurate categorization to restore confidence and foster effective collaboration in the marketplace.
The importance of differentiation and specificity
DOOH encompasses many different platforms, such as highway billboards, urban panels, digital walls and TV screens. While the latter is an important component of DOOH, it would be better served if it broke into its own category. To avoid further confusion with in-home CTV, we need specific terminology for this content: venue-based streaming.
The location of the viewer is important to note. The keyword “venue” makes it clear that the content is being shown in a place someone goes for a specific purpose, and definitely not inside their living room.
Context matters. Someone at home watching their favorite program on a couch is in a completely different environment than that same person watching a TV screen in a bar.
The reality is that the second scenario is actually a captive audience in a “commerce” frame of mind. That is a very valuable placement.
A fin tech company targeting homeowners experienced a 21% jump in web conversion rate when it worked with venue-based streaming platform Taiv to run ads at restaurants located in residential neighborhoods.
BMW, locked out of traditional TV broadcast sponsorship of the NBA playoffs due to Kia owning the rights, reached basketball enthusiasts through venue-based streaming and experienced five times more efficiency than CTV advertisements.
Here’s some advice for marketers looking to capitalize on similar opportunities:
Understand your audiences
Advertisers should adapt their targeting strategy to connect with CTV audiences in shared spaces, extending brand reach beyond personal screens.
Imagine a bar at 8 pm during an important sporting event. An advertiser and its agency partners can make some broad decisions about who might be at the bar, what narratives they would be receptive to and which products would make sense to promote – and how those might differ from home audiences.
Alternatively, imagine an elevator in a major business hub at 9 am. That audience is wildly different from the same audience watching CTV at home at the same time.
Appreciate the power of context
Venue-based streaming is a valuable medium for reaching in-market audiences, such as supermarket shoppers. Its biggest strength is that the audience is in a consumption frame of mind. Someone watching in a mall or restaurant is already in the process of purchasing something.
Audit your current media spend
Advertisers need to understand what percentage (if any) of venue-based streaming is bucketed in their CTV budgets. If you’re not sure, have your agency partners do a full accounting. No winning campaign strategy begins from duplicity.
Demand accountability
Venue-based streaming, while powerful, must realize its limitations. No longer being lumped in with CTV will have to lead to pricing adjustments. With its unique ability to capture attention in public spaces, venue-based streaming deserves a pricing model that reflects its distinct value, separate from the immersive experience of CTV.
With clear communication and transparency, venue-based streaming has a bright future as a crucial component of media strategies. But the industry has to get real about its unique value and how it differs from CTV.
“On TV & Video” is a column exploring opportunities and challenges in advanced TV and video.
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