This year’s Future of TV Advertising conference featured vibrant discussions and debates, with key themes consistently emerging. Among them was the industry’s pressing need to embrace collaboration, simplification, accountability, and transparency to effectively integrate new technologies and capabilities.
JAA’s Head of Digital Innovation & Operations, Georgia Izon, joined the panel ‘Bringing new money and new content to connected TV’ at this year’s Future of TV Advertising Global in London, powered by The Media Leader UK. Georgia has been a driving force leading JAA’s expansion in CTV, and brought some key insights to the panel on Day 2 of the event:
We’re seeing CTV spend come from various places, including digital and new test budgets. However, the majority is coming from AV budgets. We look at AV budgets holistically and decide where best to spend our client’s budget across the three environments: linear, BVOD and CTV.
The term ‘CTV’ is misleading as the IAB definition refers to the devices, rather than the inventory, making statistics misleading and education challenging. Specifically, not everyone who watches a CTV is reachable by CTV content as they use their CTV to either stream linear or BVOD, or only watch in ad-free SVOD environments, however they are still included in CTV reachability stats.
These definitions are one of the things holding the CTV market back. Better definitions would help us to better education the industry, which in turn should improve the uptake of CTV buying. More education is needed to help buyers and clients feel confident in buying CTV.
While most of our CTV buying to date has been focused in the brand space, we do have a DR test live which is showing promising initial results, and we’re excited to test this more in the future.
Our AV Director Daniel Denman attended Day 1 of the event, coming back with some key takeaways from the conference:
1. Panel: Moving TV to Outcomes with Effectiveness at the Heart
The panel covered multiple themes, with Kate Waters of ITV emphasising a critical industry challenge: the overwhelming abundance of data and its inconsistencies. She highlighted the need for standardised third-party measurement, a cornerstone for ensuring meaningful outcomes in TV advertising.
2. Stephane Coruble, RTL AdAlliance: The Rebirth of Media’s Virtuous Circle
Coruble called for unity, urging industry stakeholders to “bury the hatchet and move forward together” as they confront shared challenges. His message underscored the need for collaboration in driving the industry forward.
3. Alex Mahon, Channel 4: BVOD’s Vital Role for Advertisers in the Age of Fragmentation
Mahon explored the changing dynamics of TV viewership, underlining the importance of broadcasters adapting to shifts in audience behaviour. She championed the role of Broadcaster Video-On-Demand (BVOD) as a critical tool for advertisers navigating an increasingly fragmented media landscape.
4. ‘Married Couple in the Garden’ James Rooke, Comcast: Simplifying the Complex – How TV Wins in the Fragmenting World of Streams
Rooke highlighted the importance of accountability, choice, and transparency as cornerstones of TV’s next phase. He emphasised the potential of premium content, combined with streamlined and efficient ad-buying processes to deliver superior outcomes for brands and audiences alike.
5. Peter Field & Adam Morgan: Why Boring Advertising Must Die – and What You Can Do to Defeat Dull
Field and Morgan examined the detrimental impact of uninspired advertising on brand building. They offered a compelling analysis of the commercial cost of dullness, urging advertisers to prioritise creativity and meaningful storytelling in their campaigns.
Moving Forward
The Future of TV Advertising conference showcased the industry’s determination to adapt and evolve. By fostering collaboration, embracing simplification, ensuring accountability, and championing creativity, the TV advertising ecosystem is poised to address challenges and seize new opportunities in an era of rapid technological change.
