LONDON – After years of promise, the theory of customizing TV ads for different targeting criteria and different creative imperatives is finally becoming a reality.
To take the benefits of addressable TV advertising to a wider set of brands, WPP’s GroupM has partnered with its sister agency Hogarth Worldwide to create what it is calling an Addressable Content Practice (ACP).
In this video interview with Jon Watts for Beet.TV, Cécile Douillard, Director, Addressable Content, Hogarth Worldwide, explains the opportunity.
The addressability team
The GroupM/Hogarth ACP forms another part of GroupM’s addressable offering alongside Mindshare, MediaCom, Wavemaker, Essence and Finecast, the specialist division securing addressable inventory supply.
Hogarth is a creative production house, offering a range of services from 3D modelling and XR experience to re-touching and digital asset management.
Together, the ACP tasks Hogarth with producing creative content that can take advantage of addressable opportunities but function across channels.
Fit for purpose
“The one fits all approach or the single use of content is no longer fit for purpose,” says Douillard.
“The results speak for themselves – whether it’s sales or brand awareness or production efficiencies, we see uplift across the board.
“The biggest challenge that brands and media agencies face is how to create content at scale, at speed and in a cost efficient way.
“Using our technology, we can create TV quality videos faster than ever before and at scale.”
Tech for creative
The ACP will operate across six cities – London, Mexico City, New York, Shanghai, Singapore and Sydney – but aims to triple in size over the next three years.
Douillard says the secret sauce is digital innovation.
“We really aim to automate addressable content production as much as possible and drive the process with data and iterative feedback loops … to allow us to create TV-quality dynamic videos and deliver them as close to real time as we possibly can,” she says.
Up-funnel addressability
While the earliest emerging days of addressable TV often came with sales pitches about harnessing digital attribution through to outcomes like website visitation or even post-ad purchase, the reality often stops short.
Whilst many TV platforms can adequately serve targeted ads, that kind of attribution is often a step away.
But Douillard says brands are increasingly switching on to using addressable TV, including digital-style targeting, for brand-building goals, not performance.
“Brands are no longer thinking about addressability as the bottom-of-the-funnel tactic,” she says. “We’ve seen a huge change in how to use addressable as a full-funnel storytelling strategy.”
Year of innovation
Hogarth’s Douillard thinks 2022 is the year when addressable TV is going to flourish, with more brands calling for the benefits it can offer.
“Innovation is happening everywhere, from creative to media,” she says. “I’m thinking about CGI, VR, product insertion, buying methods, inventory, packaging, audience data, measurement, all this stuff. It’s really driving the industry forward.
“Localization is proving very effective. Enablement of dynamic content across all platforms and distribution channels will be a big deal next year.
“Some were really quick to adopt addressability and others are having to implement operational and structural changes first. We recommend a fluid approach to addressable content, starting small and scaling up.”
You are watching “Advanced TV Advertising in the UK: The Next Three Years,” a Beet.TV leadership series presented by Finecast. For more videos, please visit this page.
