Media Fragmentation Sparking Innovation in Canadian DRTV

As TV viewing audiences continue to fragment across the digital media landscape the availability of remnant TV media inventory for direct response advertisers in Canada has been declining because quotmakegoodsquot and bonus spots become increasingly necessary for the networks to true up their annual CPM guarantees for brand advertisersamp160amp160Of course it39s completely understandable that the Canadian networks would be going out of their way to try to keep major national brand advertisers and their agencies happy but it leaves direct response advertisers with less access to remnant inventoryThis is where the proverbial silver lining in the Canadian media inventory cloud lies for DR advertisers because it forces them to be more creative and look for other media sources to reach mass audiencesDigital media the very force stealing audience from the networks and specialty channels is proving that it can offer deeper targeting options to reach even the most niche of audiencesamp160 However while digital display and video options are generally still too costly for many traditional DRTV marketers there are some new digitalbased doors of opportunity opening for traditional direct response marketersFor instance Spotify the music streaming service that has taken the world by storm with more than 140 million people now subscribing is drawing a lot of attention from DR advertisers in Canadaamp160 While the number of Canadian Spotify subscribers isn39t publicly available the company has said that Canada is one of its fastest growing markets and that it is actively working with Canadian advertisers and agencies to build out its own advertising revenue modelamp160amp160Canadians are generally known to be quite techsavvy and are avid adopters and users of digital mediaamp160and devices so reaching them through alternative channels like Spotify can potentially be extremely fruitful for direct response marketersAd attribution with TV advertising has always been an inexact science but digital integration is really helping direct response advertisers tie a more direct and certain line between the ads that they run and the products they sell through all their channels not just onlineamp160 Consideramp160 While Amazon39s ad attribution efforts are obviously not specific to Canada many direct response advertisers in Canada are making a major push to build a digital ad attribution model into their sales and marketing plansAnother potential alternative to traditional network TV offerings is addressable TVamp160 Addressable technology is extremely promising to both brand and direct response advertisers because it allows for much better targeting over mass broadband dissemination offering many similar advantages as digital online advertisingUnfortunately the apparatus has yet to take firm hold within the Canadian media industryamp160 However our prediction is that one of the three major TV service providers in Canada Bell Media Rogersamp160or Corus amp160will launch an option for addressable TV in the foreseeable futureWhen it does begin to catch on the advanced technology and detailed targeting advantage addressable TV offers could put advertising rates out of reach to many traditional direct response marketersamp160 But the lines of distinction between brand and direct response marketers are getting fuzzier all the time so some aspect of direct response is bound to be there even at the earliest stagesAnother technological media advancement that has been slow to take hold in Canada is programmatic TV buyingamp160 While programmatic has helped drive down ad rates in the US media market it simply is not there yet in Canada as broadcasters seem to be hesitant andor unable to collectively move in that directionHowever the Corus network is currently experimenting with a programmatic offering and has suggested that Canadian media buyers could have a demand side platform to use before the end of this yearamp160 If it works it39s reasonable to expect programmatic TV offerings in Canada to spread and grow among the other networks led by Bell Media and RogersWhile there are some major challenges to direct response advertising in Canada the economy remains healthy advertisers have budget to spend and they are actively looking for effective ways to attract new customersamp160amp160In this environment creativity flexibility and decisiveness will go a long way toward overcoming the challenges posed by media fragmentation and digitalization paving the way to sustainable direct response advertising opportunities that offer wide audience reach at an efficient costClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Media Fragmentation Sparking Innovation in Canadian DRTV

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Ed Crain

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Media Fragmentation Sparking Innovation in Canadian DRTV

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