LAS VEGAS—As television sets continue to grow in size along with the trend toward big-screen viewing, “it’s an exciting universe” that’s attracting a new crop of marketers as TV advertising gets smarter, according to Linda Yaccarino.
“We feel great. It’s really a time of technology sophistication where it’s intersecting with creativity,” says the Chairman of Advertising Sales & Client Partnerships at NBCUniversal—the “largest legacy content company.”
Whereas TV used to be the sole province of big brands behind a “velvet rope,” the evolution of the medium is ushering in a new wave of entrepreneurs seeking the advantages of co-mingling with premium content, Yaccarino explains in this interview with Beet.TV at CES 2019.
“No one ever argues that’s the best performing opportunity, but now as TV’s gotten smarter we’ve invited in a whole new crop of brands that are able to expand into a space they once thought unattainable.”
Newer brands bring with them an expectation to break out “beyond the limitations that they’re experiencing from solely being a performance based marketer” but without some of the strictures that have long governed TV advertising, according to Yaccarino.
“You can only survive in point-and-click or performance-based marketing platforms and grow to a certain point. Then you start to hit a ceiling.”
What these brands do expect is business performance without any legacy hesitation. “We’re on a playing field that’s not officiated by an obsolete success metric, whether it is a currency of a rating or the legacy that’s held our industry back or the inertia that’s held us back from past business practices,” says Yaccarino.
Asked to comment about controversies that continue to bedevil some of the biggest digital media platforms, she demurs while calling NBCU a worry free zone.
“But I have to say that the transition that once was taking your media mix to the shiny new toys of the new social platforms, or that were new back then, and the promise of media effectiveness and efficiency and the disappointment that then followed, that pendulum has swung back.”
Noting that the live linear TV experience is “very imperfect,” reducing commercial load has brought improvements for viewers and advertisers. “The brand metrics consistently across the board have exceeded our expectations.”
This video is part of Beet.TV coverage of CES 2019. The series is sponsored by NBCUniversal. For more coverage, please visit this page.
