LONDON – The advertising industry is grappling with a paradox. As premium video content flourishes, accessing it can sometimes seem like a labyrinthine process, particularly for smaller advertisers seeking to expand their reach.
No wonder many in advertising are technology are trying to simplify the complexity that has grown up.
“The number one change or cultural action for 2025 is around simplification in all its forms,” said James Rooke, President of Comcast Advertising, in this video interview with Beet.TV. “The world that big media companies operate in is highly complex.”
Learning From Big Tech
Rooke emphasized the need for the premium video sector to adopt a “simplification playbook” from Big Tech, making access as frictionless as possible. He cited tech companies’ user-friendly interface, easy payment methods, and almost instantaneous creative generation capabilities as examples.
“The big tech platforms have done a really, really nice job of making it as frictionless as possible,” Rooke said. He pointed to the ease with which small businesses built on social video platforms can graduate to premium video to build their brands as they scale.
He added, “They’re able to demonstrate the proof of performance on an always-on basis,” something premium video providers should emulate.
The Power of Premium Video
Rooke extolled the virtues of premium video, highlighting its scaled, qualified audiences, brand safety, high transparency, and backing by deterministic identity. He believes this combination creates a powerful solution enabling media companies to go on the offensive and pursue growth.
“You’ve got an advertiser that wants to access it. You’ve got a product that actually works,” Rooke said. “Now you’ve got to solve for a simple way that the two can come together.”
Rooke also advised marketers that premium video, or multi-screen TV, performs across all stages of the purchase funnel. While companies operating at the bottom of the funnel have claimed the term “performance,” Rooke asserted that premium content is equally effective at the top and mid-funnel stages.
Rooke believes that while advertisers recognize the power of premium content, media companies need to operationalize full-funnel proof of performance in an actionable way.
You’re watching Beet.TV’s coverage of The Future of TV Advertising Global. For more videos from this series, please visit this page.
