LONDON – The UK’s leading commercial TV broadcaster has transformed its fortunes from a digital laggard to an operator driving change in British programmatic TV advertising.
ITV is continuing to invest in mass audience experiences for linear broadcasting while building experiences for streaming audiences, according to Jayesh Rajdev, Controller of Advanced Advertising at ITV.
The change has come thanks to two platforms – ITVX, the viewing platform launched two years ago, with 41 million registered users, and Planet V, its programmatic ad platform.
ITV’s digital engine revs up
Speaking to Beet.TV at CIMM London, Rajdev outlined a number of ITV’s recent developments.
Planet V Programmatic Platform Expands
ITV’s programmatic advertising platform Planet V, launched in 2020, has seen success and traction. The company recently launched Planet V 2.0 with an improved user interface for discovery and planning, and a variety of targeting products.
Sky has been trialing selling inventory through the platform and has renewed their trial. ITV has expressed its desire for the platform to be used by all broadcasters and potentially become a joint venture.
Ad Labs Drives Innovation
ITV’s Ad Labs unit, launched two years ago, focuses on innovating in programmatic and outcomes measurement. The unit brings new innovations to market through beta testing, partnerships, and iteration.
Ad Labs has formed successful alliances in retail media with Boots and Tesco, defining how broadcasters and retailers can work together. ITV is working on automating the process with Tesco and launching a Tesco category shopper taxonomy in Planet V.
New Formats and Partnerships
ITV is developing a retail media concept with a major autos publisher to bring active intender segments into Planet V, with plans to launch a pilot in Q1. The company is also introducing a new lead gen ad format on ITVX, making it easier for viewers to express interest in advertisers’ TV ads using their remote control.
“We learn a lot from what works in digital and … how we can take the best of what’s working in programmatic … to TV” said Rajdev.
Aligning with Advertiser Needs
Ragdev explained how ITV uses a product-centric approach to developing ad innovations with customers.
“We talk a lot to our customers as we develop these innovations about what they would want from this,” he said.
”So when we develop that POC (proof of concept), as we have done for a while on lead gen ads, we’re in frequent dialogue with advertisers to make sure we’re aligned with what they might want.”
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