Marketing Insight: kicking off the partnership

As League Two football club, Stevenage’s, home fixtures saw on average 3,000 fans take to the stands, the club wanted to develop an idea that would not only generate additional revenue but also increase reputation for the lower league club.

The start of 2019/2020 football season saw the beginning of a two-year partnership between Stevenage and the fast-food giant Burger King. FIFA,  (now called EAFC) is also known for its realistic video game simulation with millions of people playing globally having the ability to choose their leagues and team. The shirt sponsors are visible throughout the video game and, with a main target audience of young males ages 12-30, this opportunity perfectly aligned with Burger King’s target audience.

Media Innovation: bringing the partnership to life and overcoming booing fans

The partnership was brought to life with the first campaign ‘The Stevenage Challenge’. Everyone loves a freebie, so for the campaign Burger King and Stevenage encouraged FIFA players to share footage of goals scored, repping the Stevenage home or away kits to win Burger King rewards. The two-week competition resulted in 25,000 goals hitting the back of the net being shared across social media!

Despite some initial backlash when the partnership was announced and home kits were revealed, Stevenage was the most frequently used team within the game for the campaign period. FIFA streamers and influencers also got involved on Twitch and YouTube, both playing as Stevenage in-game, but also wearing the home kit live on stream. Alongside this, high profile TV presenters such as Gary Lineker praised the campaign, leading to further exposure.

It’s believed that Burger King paid around £50,000 for the shirt sponsorship for the season, which is a fraction of the price you’d likely have to pay for a campaign that has reached so many individuals within their target audience on a global scale. Stevenage’s Chief Executive Alex Tunbridge told BBC News, “It’s PR that you couldn’t buy as a League Two Club, unless you reach the third or fourth round of the FA Cup.”

Accelerating Growth: building on campaign success to achieve brand goals

The campaign led to a huge increase in website impressions (1.2 billion) which generated value for both brands. Due to the success of the initial campaign, Burger King and Stevenage launched further campaigns, one being the Burger Queen with the Stevenage Women’s team to help promote and build awareness for the Women’s game.

The incredible success of the campaign was recognised in the industry, winning the Grand Prix in both the Direct and Social & Influencer categories at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

This campaign goes to show that for a low-level budget, you can really place your brand in front of the right eyes, whilst receiving huge engagement from your target audience. It shows the value a successful partnership can create for the partnered brands. For Stevenage, despite being a lower league club it was able to affordably increase shirt sales which generated revenue and exposure. And for Burger King, it delivered huge numbers of impressions for a fraction of the normal cost. Great success for all!

MI Media was brought to life in 2008 and from the get-go, our independent media agency has accelerated growth for challenger brands through media strategy, planning and buying. We value the importance of relationships with substance and due to our independent nature, we are able to fully focus on clients’ interests and objectives. When business challenges arise, we are here to build the most effective strategy and put media to work, which is exactly what we did for our shortlisted client, JML.

A core pillar of growth for MI Media this year, has been our data offering and the end of 2023 saw our very own data product, MIDAS come to life. Whilst our data centric approach is beneficial to client campaigns, it is only as strong as the team analysing it and we were thrilled that last year we could bring both elements of this together for the challenge at hand.

In 2023, our client JML had seen a downturn in its sales, revenue and profit due to the disruption in the retail landscape and it needed to focus harder on its digital sales channels. Our primary objective was to optimise JML’s digital accounts across PPC, Shopping and Amazon to capitalise on a crucial sales period and ultimately turn around what had been a challenging year. By the end of the campaign, we had managed to fully transform the client’s account and the results speak for themselves.

Our team got under the skin of JML’s business objectives and went over and above to execute on this. To make it to the podium would really be the cherry on top for our small but mighty digital team.

Client satisfaction is what we strive for, which shines through in our response from JML’s Group Marketing Director: MI supported us through a critical digital transformation period where sales growth was central to business stability during turbulent market conditions. The MI team’s strategic management has revolutionised how we run our digital sales channels; it’s been hugely impactful work. They’ve provided deep knowledge of the digital space in PPC and granular-level data management across our entire product portfolio and digital estates, to give us comprehensive SKU-level profitability visibility, which has given us complete confidence in their work and provided impressive results. MI Media’s incredible passion for its high-quality work and its approachable personability with its clients is what make MI so remarkable and unique for an independent agency of its size. We’ve loved working with them from day one”.

Whilst it is hugely rewarding to receive positive feedback from clients, it is also important to us as an agency that our teams are passionate about the work that they do. The team working on JML are thrilled that their hard work has been recognised.

George Hobday, Head of Digital & Data at MI Media comments “We are consistently striving to work hand-in-hand with our clients to scale their business and being shortlisted for the PPC Campaign of the Year (B2C) Award for this year’s UK Digital Growth Awards 2024 is a true reflection of our team’s hard work, dedication and commitment to achieving and exceeding our clients’ goals and objectives.”

Testimonials

Jamie Gibbins, an Account Manager here at MI comments “MI’s approach to campaign planning and strategy allows so much opportunity for success. We work alongside the business and not for them which makes data collaboration so easy. We are able to take real insights from the clients back end and apply this to our campaigns to deliver whichever KPI is necessary for the account.”

Our Account Director on the account, Jamie Walsh, highlights what it means to be shortlisted to this award “Being at MI for 5 years, it is clear that when working across biddable campaigns, we are always focused on driving the best performance for clients. It is always a great feeling when we see campaigns perform well and the direct impact of our optimisations on client business. I feel that these campaigns often go unrecognised, so it means the world to be shortlisted for the award. Getting recognition for our achievements really means a great deal to the team.”

What led you to a career in media?

Well, as I am not one to beat around the bush, ultimately, I needed a job. But, if we were to rewind back to pre-University days, I was in fact introduced to the industry through an internship with MediaCom which focused heavily on PPC. On reflection, my degree was a tell-tale sign that I was drawn to the world of data. Whilst studying Archaeology and Ancient History, I spent a lot of time using physical data to back up theoretical hypotheses, combining an art form with a science. Like many following their degree, I was unsure exactly what I wanted to do after university. But I had a niggle to continue my development within the media space as I not only knew that I understood the various aspects of the role, but I also enjoyed it which is often half the battle.

What really led me to having a long-standing career in media is my passion for digital media and the results of my work. I get a huge buzz out of knowing my work has not only led to evident positive results, but that it also has had a meaningful impact on the businesses that I have worked for. I find that to be incredibly rewarding.

What is your proudest / most memorable moment at MI?

Wow, 13 years at MI, let me have a think. I suppose one thing that stands out for me is a challenge that I faced and overcame for a client. The client was wanting to integrate both its large management tool and its CRM system. Whilst its internal team had been struggling to create this, I managed to solve the issue. This meant that as an agency we could have full visibility on both our actions on the account and the impact of our work on the client’s internal system. In this case, the account grew and so did the client’s business. Problem solving is something that I thrive from, and I guess it was from this momentous task that saw the creation of my pride and joy…MIDAS.

MIDAS is simply our live reporting dashboard that enables us to monitor delivery versus growth metrics. The dashboard provides more than just reporting, MIDAS’ advanced analysis using machine learning provides insights to guide media budget optimisation. Whilst we feel that MIDAS is the ultimate reporting suite (we may be slightly biased) our data and analytics capabilities go much further. Our data team can align with web developers, CRM teams and other media agencies to enrich clients’ internal data and connect media buying to business outcomes. This is hugely beneficial for reporting purposes as the more information on customer conversion pathways and media touchpoints that we can connect with a client’s CRM, the more insights we can gather to inform future campaigns.

What advice would you give to someone looking to go into the world of digital and data led marketing?

Simply, keep learning. You are never going to know everything that you need to know, so don’t stress or worry about not knowing it all to begin with. Remember to learn from every branch and remember that both soft and technical skills are just as important as each other. Oh, and keep asking questions.

What mistakes have you learnt from the most?

I have learnt from each and every one of my mistakes, and I try not to repeat the same one twice. The best thing about making mistakes is that you can gain multiple learnings from them. I have come to realise that the mistakes you learn the most from, are often the mistakes that are the hardest to fix. Nitty gritty mistakes are sometimes easier to overcome. Actually, it is the ‘people based’ mistakes that provide the best learnings. Whether it’s misreading a client’s wants and needs, or making mistakes with the people you work alongside. In my managerial roles over the years, I have learnt that not all outcomes and approaches suit everyone, as a manager it is vital to find out the various ways that keep the different people on your team on track and engaged.

Do you have a dream client or an ad campaign you particularly love?

A client like Gousto or Mindful Chef would be great to work with. Their business models really appeal to my data scene. The success of their models will be driven by the more insightful data based on the food products suited to consumers. What is also very attractive about these brands is that they can appear in almost all channels. Their chance for growth is only really limited by their ambition.

This month we reflect on May trends which include advertisers that are making headlines based on building ESG into their marketing strategy, how subscriptions services across retail are remaining a strong choice for consumers and how media owners in display are hyper-targeting as they prepare to navigate a post-cookie world.

A brand leading sustainably by example

If you want to see a brand prioritising ESG in its marketing strategy, look no further than Giffgaff. It’s a forward-thinking brand which leads by example and this recent article in Marketing Week  highlights that. Giffgaff not only works on its on its own ESG deliverables but also challenges its agencies, partners and suppliers to work harder towards joint sustainability goals. As an agency, it’s interesting to see a brand leaning so strongly into this and comparatively how we can encourage brands to take more of this approach if it’s slightly more unfamiliar territory.

Giffgaff’s marketing strategy director, George Bramall, emphasises the importance of incorporating carbon impact into media planning; alongside reach, frequency, and cost. Over the past year, Giffgaff has reduced its carbon footprint by a whopping 52 tonnes, 14% of its annual media plan, by considering carbon impact in its media strategy. This includes taking bold decisions such as potentially diversifying from major digital players like Facebook and Google to newer suppliers with better carbon reduction practices.

Achieving B Corp accreditation, Giffgaff launched the “Up To Good Collective Fund” to support carbon reduction efforts. The company prioritises decarbonising at the source of its advertising and collaborates with partners to ensure responsible reach, such as turning off out-of-home sites after midnight. Initiatives like providing 250 refurbished phones to Big Issue vendors underline Giffgaff’s commitment to sustainability. Bramall notes the challenge and reward of achieving B Corp status and balancing people, planet and profit. Giffgaff’s digital-only approach aids sustainability by minimising its physical footprint. Looking ahead, the company aims to enhance its responsible reach principles and leverage its sustainability ethos to attract top talent.

What a display! Soaking up insights from our media owners

In May we hosted the experts from MiQ, TapTap Digital and Teads who shared insights into their latest innovations within the display space. The team from programmatic media partner MiQ, detailed their approach which centred around the pillars of Identify, Activate and Measure. They showcased the transition from cookie-based targeting to advanced geo-contextual targeting. These contextual methods using cookieless datasets, leverage MiQ’s privacy-centric Airgrid technology to build personas and create audiences based on browsing behaviour. MiQ’s measurement solutions include display metrics, brand uplift and sustainability indicators, moving away from traditional brand metrics and offering a comprehensive, risk-free solution aligned with diverse business objectives.

Location, location, location: TapTap Digital highlighted the power of location-based data in a post-cookie world, demonstrating how it defines and discovers ideal customers through geo-referenced Mastercard data and extensive postcode-level insights. With a mind-boggling 200,000+ geohashes in the UK, TapTap offers real-time geo-fencing, mobile retargeting and location-adaptive solutions across display, mobile, digital OOH, DOOH and CTV, ensuring precise audience engagement and adaptability to time and weather.

The team from Teads shared their in-feed display advertising solutions across premium publishers, emphasising a readiness for a cookieless future with advanced accidental click removal technology and creative optimisations. They highlighted the platform’s ability to provide comprehensive insights on audience behaviour, attention, conversions and carbon output, boasting a 99% higher carbon efficiency compared to other in-feed publishers.

All three share a common goal of leveraging advanced, privacy-centric technologies to effectively engage and measure audiences in a post-cookie world as well as a commitment to sustainability and operational efficiency.

For years Charities have been honing in on “signature” or “flagship” events in order to amplify  the strength of brand and fundraising efforts. Due to the size and scale of such events, they are hugely impactful for both brand awareness and the all-important fundraising targets.

Sophie Tallyn, Head of Marketing, Association for Project Management said, “We’re thrilled to be partnering with MI Media to advance our strategic marketing efforts. Their expertise in targeted advertising and data-driven campaigns is perfectly aligned with our need to enhance visibility and engagement among our diverse professional community. This partnership marks a pivotal step to not only grow our membership base but also strengthen our positioning as the leading voice for the project profession.” 

George Hobday, Head of Digital & Data said, “The challenge set by APM represents clients’ growing interest in using their data to understand the nuances of their different audiences in order to target them more effectively and ultimately, drive business growth.” 

1. Your subscribers are your biggest champions

Opening up the conference, Wild co-founder, Charlie Bowes-Lyon, said that the biggest thing the brand has benefitted from is its 1,000+ wide online community, using Typeform to gather instant data from its most engaged customers across CRM and socials. “We have customers that are obsessed with the brand. There’s a feeling of loyalty, of being part of the brand. All the products we’ve launched in the past year have been chosen by our customers.”

Bowes-Lyon admitted that there’s always going to be some existing customer bias that you have to take into account. But customers who subscribe, “tend to follow the brand more closely and get involved with our products,” meaning that Wild can gather thousands of engaged responders to inform business decisions.

A later panel moderated by Internet Retailing underlined the need to capture customer data and monetise loyalty and membership. It’s not only about launching new products but understanding how your products satisfy a consumer need. Subscription brands must provide value to their customers if they want them to continue wanting their product to land on their doorstep.

This approach pays off as Wild shared, “when you compare subscription customers to non-subscribers, the lifetime value is 50% higher in under a year. In two, three, four years, it really starts to grow.”

3. Partnerships can fulfil different requirements

Finally, a panel combining speakers from Mindful Chef, Craft Gin Club and Peloton discussed the merits of partnerships for subscription businesses. Each speaker noted that they had different types of partnerships to fulfil different needs.

Mindful Chef’s CMO, Vineeta Anuj, explained that when the brand launched, it didn’t have budgets for above-the-line media so it began looking into three types of partnerships. The first is brand awareness which brings in about 5-7% if Mindful Chef’s customer mix, with Vitality currently making the most impact for the brand. Next, the brand looks for retention partners that can provide added value products. Anuj conducted tests to see if surprise & delight gifts were going to waste and to analyse the impact of a premium vs average gift on retention. She found that they improved both retention and overall customer spend. Finally, Mindful Chef turns to menu collaborations to keep excitement and variety alive in its offering. These partners are a great driver for increased customer spend, retention and bringing customers back. In fact, Mindful Chef wins back 20% of lapsed customers when it has recipe partners.

Craft Gin Club also turns to partnerships to fulfil a variety of needs, though it takes a different approach, as Tom Hurst, Head of Acquisition explained, “historically we were reliant on paid social but off the back of the pandemic, it became a rocky road to manage base size. Partnerships allow us to tap into other closed groups at a lower risk.” The three types of partner Craft Gin Club looks for are:

• Commercial: The vast majority of subscribers are to the brand’s Gin of the Month box which comes with products that complement the gins. Partners allow the brand to add surprise and delight gifts into the box
• Acquisition: partnerships with brands such as Mindful Chef or Gousto provide Craft Gin Club with the opportunity to tap into their audiences to run offers and acquire new customers
• Card link offers: similarly, partnerships with the likes of AMEX and Santander broaden the brand’s reach into new audiences

When looking to build your own mix of partners, the panellists agreed that it’s important to be clear on the role that partnerships play. Peloton’s ex- Business Development Director, Richard Sale, admitted that they, “first thought that direct media is targeting a direct audience, so we looked at targeting different sets of customers with partnership. However, we found that this often didn’t work. Instead, partnerships became more about targeting the same customers but in a different way.”

Challenging assumptions was a point echoed by Hurst who explained that they had initially thought that their offering would fit an audience of 30+ women. However, they undertook a lot of work to profile their customer base from DM and door drop campaigns to understand behaviours and buying habits. They instead found that they had a much older audience. The brand is now running successful partnership activity with the likes of the RHS and the Caravan Club.

Anuj agreed with this approach, saying, “you should keep your gut feel, but back it up with data and science and get better metrics in place to understand success.”

 “Dream Big”

Timo Boldt, Founder of Gousto shared his inspirational journey and summed up the challenges the subscription sector faces when he said, “scaling a subscription business is ridiculously hard… Gousto has been a twelve-year overnight success.” However, across the board you could see the passion and excitement every speaker had for their brand and, with customer demand on the rise, we’re certain that the subscription sector is one to watch for accelerated growth over the next year!

Media strategy agony aunts: Ask me anything!

Whilst questions and concerns were raised regarding the AV landscape, the panel offered some great insights into new opportunities in this space. Panellists discussed new opportunities that the changing landscape offers; from introducing attention metrics as standard practice, to the importance of using the correct formats to boost attention. For example, opting for reels over feeds and adapting creative to the platform it’s going to be delivered on, can enable brands to get the most out of what channels such as Instagram and TikTok have to offer.

For larger brands that regularly invest in AV, there were also great pointers around how CTV can be used strategically for its targeting potential. For example, whilst running national linear campaigns, we can look at where the campaigns will under & over index against target audiences regionally and effectively use CTV to fill in the gaps for areas of light coverage.

Key takeout: the AV landscape is increasingly complex but if you approach it with an open and questioning mindset you will probably find relevant solutions that add genuine value.

Breaking down silos and harnessing the potential of a data-rich TV landscape

Samsung presented data showcasing its ability to provide robust insights into TV audiences; highlighting what they are watching, the linear ads they are consuming and how they are using the different streaming apps. Despite some skew towards younger demographics, its data on app usage sheds light on the dominance of new VOD platforms over BVOD (BVOD 9% share vs. AVOD 40% and SVOD 51%), although the inclusion of YouTube does the muddy the water here.

Challenges in unified planning and measurement across AV platforms were discussed, indicating the need for greater collaboration and standardisation within the industry. It was clear the ISBA origin project is making progress but still has some way to go here! This session also touched upon the issues we face with CTV planning, highlighting that despite some AV departments taking on limited planning involvement, there is generally very little unified planning within agencies. Instead, 80% of CTV is managed through programmatic teams that are taking a planning approach based on audience only, with little consideration to content and incremental reach. Equally AV planners need to consider the targeting potential of CTV rather than only CTV as a function of incremental reach.

Key takeout: there is still a long way to go to get to standardised measurement across the full AV landscape and there are shortcomings in how agencies are currently approaching CTV in their planning process. Agencies should be getting cross-departmental insight to plan AV effectively – something we champion at MI!

How Brands can make an impact for charities (and how charities can find the right partners!)

Partnerships are often hugely important to charities. When aims and values align, they can prove hugely successful. Simon Gunning from Calm spoke about the crucial elements of a charity’s corporate partnership, referencing its partnership with Money Supermarket. Gunning outlined how, to make a partnership successful, a good fit is an important starting point and that charities need to find partners that don’t shy away from confronting the difficult subjects that they want to address. In Calm’s case, there was a huge amount of research to show why the Cost-of-Living Crisis and related money worries were a major issue in relation to suicide, making Money Supermarket the right choice for a partner.

Beyond this, clear objectives are key. In Calm’s case, it wanted to assist people in overcoming the feeling of entrapment that are often provoked by money issues. Finding a partner who provides dedicated effort, adds genuine value and supportive offerings (in this case contributing useful guides and advice) enabled the partnership to flourish.

Partnerships can allow a brand to borrow the reach of its partner to project issues on the agenda to broader or specific audiences. Whilst the monetary benefits that a corporate organisation can offer charity brands is hugely beneficial, it was clear that finding the right fit was the key ingredient for the full partnership value to be realised.

Key takeout: Charities can see major gains through finding the right brand partners. However, they have to be confident that they have a partner who understands and is genuinely committed to the cause, as well as being able to bring genuine added value to help achieve core goals.

There was plenty of great food for thought beyond these sessions, whether it was more progressive ways to measure the impact of campaigns or the increasing benefits of premium digital placements in age of growing click bait and misinformation. There was also some compelling evidence on the potential gains from brands acting more responsibly; both in terms of running more efficient digital and considering the value of more diverse audiences.

These sessions provided valuable insights into the current challenges and opportunities in both media and brand strategy, paving the way for innovative approaches and collaborative solutions within the industry.

What led you to a career in media?

The truth is, media was never in the grand plan. After my philosophy degree, I went travelling and enrolled in my law conversion course. But, with six months to kill before embarking on the course, I decided to start a marketing internship in London with The Fork (previously known as Book a Table). You may be wondering why I am not in a court room defending clients? The reason is, after three years at The Fork and three deferrals of the course, I faced the music and decided that I had found my real passion and it was time to put the law idea to bed. My time at The Fork allowed me to progress and develop my skills & knowledge within a constantly evolving scale-up company. Being a foodie, it also had great wine and dine perks as I was often out and about reviewing restaurants.

I then went on to secure a role as Marketing Manager at 7thingsmedia, then on to a creative agency in Marlow before returning to the hustle and bustle of London working in roles at Accord, Under The Doormat and Triptease. Whilst I had a mix of experience across in-house marketing, media and creative, I was attracted to the role at MI as I was drawn towards purely media planning and buying, working for an independent agency with ambitious clients from various industries who are open to trying new media approaches. It ticked all the boxes for my next challenge.

What is your proudest moment at MI?

It has to be winning Real Techniques and launching its first ever OOH advertising activity. It was great to be fully immersed in this new media journey with the brand from start to finish. It is always so rewarding seeing a brief being brought to life  and to see the activity light up central London was the icing on the cake. I also really enjoy working on Simply Business (a business insurance client for SMEs) and seeing the growth journey that it’s been on since being becoming a client of ours back in 2022.

What are you looking forward to the most for the rest of 2024?

The topic that is on the tip of everyone’s tongues…ESG. MI has been making a lot of progress within this space and there is a real motivation to keep driving this forward. This is something I am really excited to be taking over and driving forward with various members of the MI team. It is great to see how passionate people within MI are about this hot topic. Our CEO David Sequeira especially understands that, despite being a small agency, we will continuously aim to punch above our weight as its important for us as a business, our clients and the world in which we live in. With our upcoming panel event on the topic taking place shortly, our very own ESG report launching and the work we are undertaking with clients, it’s a very exciting time to be involved.

What advice would you give to someone thinking about a career in media? 

Curiosity is key! There are various elements within the media industry offering roles in which you can tap into either your left or right brain, where you can be creative or analytical. The options are (almost) endless, so aim to get as much exposure across as many different avenues as possible whilst remembering that there is something to be learnt from every single person within a company. Release your inner sponge and get absorbing.

What mistakes have you learnt from?

I have not one, but two mistakes in which I have learnt from. Rewinding back to my time at The Fork, it had a B2B arm and one Christmas as many companies do, we planned to send out some client Christmas cards. I should’ve known I was doomed from the get-go when the delivery was proving difficult and whilst I overcame this it got a whole lot worse. The 5,000 Christmas cards arrived, each of which were signed off from ‘live bookongs’. 5,000 cards, with our misspelt company name printed on each and every one. It is fair to say that the guillotine was my best friend that day, snipping off the bottom of the card and creating a postcard for our clients instead. That year I actually won the Marketing Award, maybe it was for always thinking outside of the box?!

Who is your role model and why?

Its cliché but it’s my Mum. At the age of 75 she has returned to the world of work and has started working as a freelance solicitor. She has always been a driven women who is passionate about what she does, so much so that when she was 20, she trained racehorses before it was even legal for women to do so. Whilst I thought my “out of the box” thinking with the Christmas cards was great, Mum topped that by putting all of 20 racehorses under the license of her Dad so she could continue to do what she loved, without getting caught. All whilst studying for her law degree.

I have always admired my Mum, but I think it was only until a few weeks ago when running the London Marathon that I really took a moment to appreciate all that she does and her pure resilience. Mile three wasn’t the right time to be getting emotional about how I have the best Mum around, but I guess it really spurred me on. (Annabelle won’t shout about her immense achievement, so we will do it for her, but with her time of 3hr 12mins, she has qualified for the Championship pen for London Marathon 2025!)

In April we focused on good news, bad news, debatable news and the news brands themselves. From sector booms in the market provoking us to think about.

CTV landscape: pros and cons 

In 2023, CTV penetration soared to 73%, a remarkable increase from just 11% in 2014. GroupM projects a 13.8% growth in CTV ad revenue for 2024, building on a 10.9% rise in 2023. An article from Samsung  Ads underscores five key factors shaping the CTV landscape:  

• Broadcasters remain pivotal players, with BVOD and SVOD consumption peaking during prime time, presenting opportunities for other streaming market entrants to capitalise on this time band.  
• CTV has guided in new ad formats like interactive and shoppable ads, offering novel ways to engage audiences on television screens.  
• Binge-watching has become commonplace, reflecting the abundance of available content, as indicated by Samsung Ads’ data.  
• The sustained integration of machine learning across CTV platforms enhances user experience and content discoverability, catering to the demand for personalised content. 
• Privacy emerges as a crucial consideration, with CTV partners forging alliances with third parties to prioritise user consent and data control while delivering personalised content. Samsung Ads anticipates further partnerships in 2024 to uphold data integrity while ensuring tailored content delivery. 

It is an interesting article that highlights the positives of VOD and other streaming services. However, it fails to mention a few key aspects that we’ve seen with our own clients, that may prove to hinder the growth of CTV. Firstly, measurement isn’t there yet for CTV, which is something we know all our clients want. You’re unable to go into granular detail about what programmes or content impressions were served against, something that is available across VOD. Furthermore, you’re unable to directly attribute any CTV activity, something that is also a struggle across other forms of online video. We have run CTV previously for clients and in most instances, we found the impact this had on incremental reach, on top of our linear TV and VOD, was minimal. Additionally, the content on CTV isn’t necessarily premium and it’s a challenge to meet this premium bar, given that the TV giants such as Sky, ITVX and Channel 4 still dominate this space. 

One positive that can be drawn from CTV is the high level of targeting (something which isn’t available on TV apart from platforms such as Sky AdSmart). However it raises the question, what use is this targeting when you can’t necessarily measure it? CTV is definitely something that will grow once some of the issues with it are ironed out and it’s a good medium for a client that is less interested in direct response, but wants to ensure they’re hitting a specific audience. 

News to us!  

Over the past month, our team has dedicated significant attention to exploring opportunities within news brands to drive growth for our clients. We engaged with Ozone, Mail Metro Media, The Knowledge and The Guardian; participating in insightful sessions that unveiled their offerings in terms of reach, available platforms and advertising strategies, leaving us with valuable insights to ponder. All media owners shed light on consumer trends and delved into how brands can tap into these to accelerate their growth, from The Guardian’s charitable readership habits, Reach highlighting its consumers community growth since the pandemic to The Knowledge living by its ‘less is more’ mobile-first approach in aim to stand out within a crowded media landscape.  

Similarly, we soaked up some insight from the publishing event of the year, The PPA Festival, hearing how publishers are elevating journalistic standards to foster growth. In today’s bustling media landscape, consumers are inundated with content, making trust and truth paramount to navigating the noise and combating online disinformation. The discussions emphasised the importance of returning to the core principles of good journalism, advocating against ‘churnalism’ and urging a focus on producing in-depth, quality content. While reach and engagement remain crucial, reaching and resonating with younger readers presents a unique challenge. It’s essential for journalists to align with the preferences of their audience, recognising that lengthy articles may not resonate with younger demographics. In an era where traditional journalism competes with entertainment giants such as Netflix and the likes, there’s a call for higher standards to maintain relevance and credibility.