Samsung Ads Makes ‘CTV First’ Campaign Planning Pitch
‘Saturday Night Live’ commercial parody from 1976.
As we celebrate the 50th year of Saturday Night Live, you might recall a commercial parody featuring original Not Ready For Primetime players Gilda Radner, Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase. The product was Shimmer. Was it a floor wax or a dessert topping? Chevy insisted it was both.
Flash forward to a new era of television. SNL is still booming, but linear TV networks like NBC are losing viewers and more people are streaming with connected TV.
Many advertisers still start their campaign planning with linear TV, trying to achieve reach and then use CTV as a way to target viewers likely to buy their product–and unlikely to have been exposed to their campaign over broadcast and cable. Also in play is the chicken and egg issue of whether or not you can increase sales without first building a brand image with people who don’t already buy your product.
A new report from Samsung Ads, titled “Ahead of the Curve,” argues that its time to start buying CTV first, echoing Roku’s streaming first pitch from the last few upfronts. The report is based mostly upon interviews with media buyers, brand marketers, researchers and experts on advanced media.
On first blush, CTV offers the best of TV and digital media. The sound, sight and motion that have made TV commercials the world’s most powerful mass-media brand-building tool. CTV also offers the data-based targeting and addressability of digital. It also claims a stronger ability to tie ad exposure to results–be it web visits, store traffic or sales. Samsung Ads cites a WARC study that found that 40% of marketers surveyed say they expect to increase their ad spend against media that delivers measurable return on investment and real-time insights. So it could be both a floor wax and a dessert topping.
And yet despite these sterling attributes, the report says, adoption of CTV by advertisers lags usage by viewers as they shift from traditional TV to streaming. The report cites a stat from eMarketer showing that by 2026, ad spend on CTV will under-index viewer time spent by 60%.
How can that be? Several reasons are mentioned in the report. For one, marketers view CTV as an incremental, lower-funnel platform. There are also difficulties with measurement and cross-media planning.
When advertisers use CTV to target narrow audiences, it limits the number of viewers reached while simultaneously increasing the cost-per-thousand viewers (CPM).
Despite those problems, Samsung argues that with the right approach, CTV is still superior to traditional TV.
Traditional TV is bought based on predicting the number of viewers who will watch a program and stick around during ad pods. Some of those viewers will not be part of the target audience the advertiser is hoping to reach. If the actual viewership is lower than expects, the advertisers gets make goods which, again, might not reach their intended audiences.
Here’s what the Samsung report says about CTV: “CTV allows marketers to combine the demographic targets of traditional linear buys with more dynamic, advanced ad placements that add relevance for viewers. Addressable (audience-based) buying delivers the audience regardless of what they choose to watch. Machine learning allows sellers to find audiences that fit an advertiser's target based on viewing and purchase behaviors to optimize delivery. By broadening their CTV targets, marketers can reach lighter category and brand users who don’t fall into traditionally targeted segments but who represent significant growth potential.”
It adds that while traditional TV is limited in terms of ad formats, CTV enables more customization and personalization, creative virginity, interactivity and shoppable elements.
Is the ascendance of CTV inevitable?
“Video media planning is hurtling toward a CTV-first paradigm, in which traditional linear is no longer the cornerstone of reach and brand building,” the report concludes.
It says that brands and marketers that prioritize scale with addressable video can achieve longevity and growth.
“While traditional linear planning measurement stagnates and viewership declines, CTV partners are developing meaningful reach measurement across lean-back video platforms. As measurement continues to advance, brands are better able to gain an understanding of where their audiences are watching to maximize reach and frequency and minimize duplicated efforts. Marketers are also able to balance performance marketing with brand awareness across campaigns, driving short-term and long-term business outcomes,” according to the report.
We’ll see how that works out.