NDA has launched an interview series, CTV Leaders: Building the Future of TV, featuring inspirational leaders across the industry.
First up is an van der Putten, Marketing Director of OUTtv, a lifestyle channel catering to the LGBTQIA+ community and open-minded audiences in Europe & Israel. Ian’s stewardship extends to OUTtv’s subsidiary film distribution companies, including Pro-Fun Media, Tongariro, and Cinemien, collectively covering over 15 countries.
What is the biggest opportunity for advertisers AND consumers in CTV at present?
Advertisers who will use CTV have the possibility to target special interest audiences based on their interests and demographics which provides a great level of accuracy to reach, for example the LGBTQI+ community and the openminded if I relate it to our special interest audiences. This will enhance targeted and data-driven approaches, from cross-screen advertising to interactive ad formats to strategic 360 degree partnerships.
A lot of brands and advertisers allocate 25% of their marketing budget for diversity/special interest marketing campaigns, i.e. with a focus on POC, LGBTQIA+, religion, differently abled. There are billions of euros to make from these special interest target audiences that a lot of traditional media companies’ advertisers are not reaching. That’s why we see a lot of interest from brands and advertisers to finally be able to directly advertise on our channels.
For consumers it is way more interesting to get commercials offered based on your interests and demographics. We know from our audiences tht if they see commercials created or connecting with the lifestyle of this group, they are more likely to buy a product or service and will become loyal customers.
The ROI is high and easy measurable. That’s why we will always check what kind of commercials there are in the inventory, so we keep it relevant and interesting for the target audience we know very well. CTV becomes more part of the consumers entertainment experience; we are now rolling out various channels in the upcoming months in countries where CTV is not well established.
What are the biggest challenges and how we will overcome them?
Now a lot of traditional media buying agencies on the mainland of Europe are not selling CTV advertising, so also not offering it to their clients yet, since in lot of countries CTV is not available yet or not on the scale it already is in the UK and the US. The trend of CTV is coming up and will see a big increase but will take time.
In the Netherlands for example we are one of the first CTV channels to be created & launched by our partner Media Choice Group, they are the one who are creating a great variety of FAST channels for the European market.
CTV advertising could become to fragmented because companies/marketeers cannot get or find the inventory, the inventory could be spread out too much and the companies/marketeer could have issues gaining access to enough inventory.
At OUTtv we can work with just a few partners where we have a direct relationship with and where we can offer CTV inventory via them or directly to marketeers/agencies, but also a full 360 degrees marketing campaign incorporated with our linear & SVOD channels, the apps, social media/online and our events in all the countries we are operating in, is a USP. We can ask the partners/agencies what devices and services they want to be visible on and we can deliver that inventory directly as well.
What technology or innovation in the sector are you most excited about?
Interactive ads/AI-related technology in advertising, so we can increase audience engagement and generate quality leads/customers. Also, the race for CTV’s premium inventory makes it even more important to be able to make decisions as quickly as possible and AI can help with this as well, so you can combine historical data, with current budgets/input and maybe expectations/predictions about viewer behaviors in relation to consumer purchase data.
For agencies and advertisers this could enhance the impact of every euro spent on CTV advertising. Together with our partner Media Choice Group we are already testing some AI features, also for us as a broadcaster on programming level, how can we have our viewers watch more and for a longer duration, so we can create more revenues in CTV sales with a higher CPM.
What is your favourite CTV ad or piece of content at the moment and why?
An event-based commercial for a theatre show on OUTtv in Germany only for CTV with a QR code on the screen with a unique deal connected to it. It is a commercial created for the LGBTQIA+-community, looking like a concert (content). Various versions were made, so even though you saw the message several times, the commercial itself was different a lot of times and if you saw it again, there were things you saw in it, you didn’t see before. It was the biggest presale in tickets so far for this show in 3 years.
What is your most proud achievement in the CTV sector to date?
I’m proud of the achievements of our team members in our European offices in Utrecht (Netherlands), Frankfurt (Germany) and Poznan (Poland) who are creating and distributing LGBTQIA+ stories for more than 15 years. In these 15 years we as a team created a strong brand that is reliable, innovative, and professional, that’s why we are proud to work with so many great brands over the years who keep coming back for long-term 360-degrees advertising campaigns.
With this European roll out and with every OUTtv launch on a platform/country, as the first LGBTQIA+-lifestyle CTV channel we can entertain new and existing audiences, inform and advise advertisers and agencies on the best way of reaching the LGBTQI+ community and the openminded on our platforms.
