Boom!

Daylight Savings Time is over, Halloween is but a faint memory and holiday shopping season is upon us.

That means that brands—retailers in particular— are going to be doing their best to attract shoppers. We asked our TVREV Thought Leaders Circle members what trends they were seeing this year.

Mediaocean’s Chief Product Officer, Anupam Gupta, is seeing a move to what he calls “omnichannel first” optimization—campaigns that eschew the big single platform launch for one simultaneously aimed at multiple channels.

We’ve seen a migration of campaigns over the years from TV-first to digital-first to mobile-first to social-first. Of course the “first” refers to which platform advertises are prioritizing in terms of media placement and creative. 

This year as the holiday ad push nears we’re seeing a different kind of “first” – and no it’s not CTV-first. Advertisers are planning omnichannel-first. Rather than focusing on a big launch with one particular platform, brands are are creating assets that can be deployed simultaneous across multiple channels. 

We’re enabling this through Flashtalking by Mediaocean with dynamic creative optimization as part of primary ad serving. So brands and agencies can load up all their assets and create thousands of ad variations for everything from open web to social to CTV – all in one place through an independent and unbiased provider. From there, our automation and intelligence kicks in to serve, verify, analyze, and optimize every impression. 

MadHive CEO Adam Helfgott is seeing advertisers focus on the flexibility of locally-targeted campaigns along with increased use of the QR code, which really did come into its own during the pandemic.

When it comes to CTV, advertisers are rapidly gravitating towards locally-targeted campaigns because they offer flexibility to tailor creative messaging based on regional demand and overall availability. In addition, we’re seeing brands and retailers incorporate tools like QR codes to bridge the gap between TV and mobile, creating a full-funnel marketing experience where consumers can shop either from the comfort of their couch or in-store.

LG Ads Head of Research Justin Fromm sees shopping ramping up early due to fears of supply chain-related shortages, with advertisers turning to CTV as a way to reach and better target shoppers brands are missing on linear.

The holidays bring families together - and in front of the TV. During Thanksgiving week last year, LG households increased time spent in front of the TV by 25% with a 30% increase in the number of those households streaming content compared to the average. This holiday season is shaping up to be another unlike any we've seen before and regular holiday advertisers will need to be nimble and prepared to react in real time. Supply chain issues mean we'll see both more early ecommerce shopping as well as more in-store traffic as shoppers who bump up against "out of stock" messages search for gifts. This is happening as pent-up demand peaks. After the pandemic put a damper on last year's holidays, more Americans will travel to see loved ones and be looking to bring more gifts to their loved ones. With linear TV ratings continuing to decline, holiday advertisers will likely run into inventory issues and should look to CTV as an opportunity to build on linear reach and deliver targeted messaging to their consumers.

Samsung Ads Head of Partnership Solutions, North America, April Denn also sees brands turning to CTV as a way to better target audiences.

With ecommerce sales sluggish heading into the holidays, advertisers should set their sights on CTV. In addition to offering the emotional impact of sight, sound and motion, smart TV OEMs can now offer new tools like the Samsung Audience Advisor to help advertisers better target the audiences they want to reach.

IRIS.TV COO and Co-Founder Richie Hyden is also seeing brands turning to CTV…but only if they can understand what shows their ads are running on to ensure brand safety.

The market is definitely trending to more holiday programmatic CTV buying. However, for this to really take off, marketers need more confidence that they have access to insights that can tell them what content they’re running adjacent to. Otherwise brand safety concerns may hold them back.

Our TVREV Take: CTV is still hot and the best way to reach those elusive consumers brands are missing on linear. But if there’s one present we can give to consumers this year, it’s not forcing them to sit through the same commercial five times an hour. That’s where smart TV OEMs come into play with their ability to monitor everything on the glass and impose frequency caps as a result.. Context is important too—while programmatic buys can be cost effective, that all goes out the window if the ad runs on a show that is antithetical to the brand’s image.

Finally, there’s a lot to be said for not putting all your eggs in one basket and looking at an omnichannel approach: depending on your audience, different segments gravitate to different platforms, and your goal should be to reach them with a consistent message across all of them.