Hosted by our president, TVSquared’s new podcast, TV Talk with Jo Kinsella, tackles the latest news, advice and real-world perspectives from innovative leaders across the evolving TV advertising business.
In our first episode, Jo speaks candidly with Tyler Marcum (Senior Marketing Manager at TVSquared) about how being part of a homebound economy is influencing TV advertisers and consumers. While the full episode is essential listening for anyone invested in the present and future of our transformative industry, some of Jo’s key insights are highlighted below.
How TVSquared and Our Clients Are Adjusting
As individuals, the fact that we’re all working from home (several of us with children and/or pets) has helped facilitate more genuine conversations during virtual meetings.
As a company, advertisers are asking for TV attribution more than ever. TV audiences - across platforms - are larger than before, and brands are under pressure to optimize costs during this time of uncertainty. It’s vital that brands make sure every ad dollar works in order to drive ROI—and they can’t do that without attribution.
COVID-19’s Impact on TV Ad Spend and Performance
Due to the coronavirus, several advertisers initially panicked, believing that the best course of action was to “go dark” on TV. Now, many are realizing that this would be a mistake. If a campaign goes dark on TV, its digital and social efforts will also tank; plus all of the awareness that a brand has built up (aka the halo effect) will also fade away. It is more necessary than ever for brands to make sure they’re visible to audiences and maintain meaningful connections with them.
TVSquared data from March 2020 revealed that the first full month of the homebound economy led to ad categories like online education (+250%) and DTC personal care (+160%) dominating TV-driven performance. Meanwhile, pharma (+44%) and CPG (+12%) had the highest increase in ad spend, while travel (-80%) and brick-and-mortar retail brands (-30%) had the greatest decrease in spend.
Tangible Strategies + Looking Ahead
To succeed during this unprecedented time, advertisers need real-time proof of performance to continually measure and optimize campaigns in order to gauge exactly which publishers, programs, creative lengths, etc. are delivering the highest levels of response, especially since TV viewing patterns are now in flux.
Every single campaign should be sold based on data-driven insights, and the current crisis will make this a long-term expectation and necessity. With the 2020 in-person upfronts cancelled, TV’s revolution—its move toward fully embracing performance and attribution—will happen even more rapidly than originally expected.
Click here to listen to the full episode.
