Digital platforms transformed their narrative from simply selling media products to assisting advertisers in achieving growth and digital transformation.
By Daniel Kafer, CEO of Consult-Xai.com.
The evolving digital ecosystem offers broadcasters a chance to re-establish their prominence as the go-to partners for advertisers. This opportunity emerges as digital platforms are scaled back and operate with reduced sales teams, making it crucial for broadcasters to act with alacrity.
There have been significant shifts in the dynamics between TV stations and major digital platforms, especially since 2015. Larger broadcasters have historically enjoyed a dominant position, forming close-knit partnerships with major advertisers, collaboratively attending key events and jointly developing business cases.
However, the landscape shifted post-2015 as digital platforms like Meta and Google began to enhance their appeal. They broadened their talent pools with professionals from diverse backgrounds including consultancy, advertising and media, and introduced comprehensive training programmes covering media strategy, creative mobile optimisation and beyond.
Digital platforms transformed their narrative from simply selling media products to assisting advertisers in achieving growth and digital transformation. This approach struck a chord with advertisers, deepening the partnerships to include strategic decisions regarding technology stacks and more. Significant budgets were diverted to digital platforms that offered advertisers comprehensive resources in media strategy, creative optimisation, measurement and digital transformation in exchange for increased spending, though with modest discounts.
In contrast, collaborations with TV stations focused on offering cost reductions for bulk advertising purchases. With several major TV stations in EMEA having sold most of their inventory, further discounts were not feasible. Shifting the narrative away from pricing has always been challenging for TV stations, particularly when media agencies often push for lower TV ad prices during media pitches.
Despite these challenges, the recent shifts by digital platforms have inadvertently opened a doorway for TV stations to reassert themselves as preferred advertising partners. These platforms have traditionally prioritised advertisers capable of significant spending growth, inherently limiting their focus to a select group. This strategy left a vast majority of advertisers feeling under-supported and less prioritised. With tech giants now scaling back their support teams, I anticipate a more concentrated focus on a few advertisers, leaving the rest with less personalised, scaled support. This scenario presents TV stations with a golden opportunity to engage with this broader segment of advertisers, offering them valuable insights for improved marketing ROI.
The conversation around optimising video advertising for business results or measuring advertising outcomes shouldn’t be monopolised by digital platforms. Shifts in consumer viewing habits, underscored by eye-tracking studies, provide TV stations with an opportunity to lead in creating ads that align with these new patterns.
Moreover, the integration of TV and digital media in campaign planning is increasingly relevant, as many broadcasters now offer digital services. However, measurement challenges persist, especially with digital platforms operating as closed ecosystems, complicating the assessment of campaign outcomes for advertisers.
In conclusion, broadcasters are in a unique position to forge closer ties with advertisers, potentially securing a larger share of budgets at higher prices. Now is the time for broadcasters to come up with new types of partnerships that create real value.
