By Phil Raby, General Manager International, Mediarithmics
Connected TV, or CTV, refers to the streaming of high-quality video content via smart TVs, Internet-connected devices, tablets, laptops or game consoles, all without the need for a traditional satellite/cable subscription. CTV technology is transforming the way Europeans consume television.
There has been an influx of consumers taking up this new avenue of consuming content. In parallel, companies are also discovering CTV advertising, which is opening up a totally new way of reaching their target audience.
Just like any new technology, figuring out exactly what new marketing opportunities are available isn’t always a simple proposition. Many companies across Europe have been slow to grasp the huge potential of CTV or are not making the most of their current CTV marketing campaigns.
So, why is CTV so important for your company and how can you unlock the full marketing power of this rising technology? How is CTV developing in Europe? How can your company take advantage of the new TV revolution?
What’s going on with CTV in Europe?
The current state of the CTV throughout Europe is still developing, however CTV advertising has been booming in the United States. More than 92 per cent of US households were reachable via CTV advertising in the period of Q1 2021 to Q2 2022, according to a recent report. The overall projected CTV advertising spend by US companies in 2022 has recently been revised from US$17.44 billion to US$19.10 billion.
CTV is slowly making inroads throughout Europe. Eastern Europe is projected to more than double the amount of CTV subscriptions by 2026, while Germany, France and the Nordic countries all have huge CTV potential. Currently, 68 per cent of all households in the UK use CTV-connected devices.
However, while the European CTV market is growing, the marketing aspect isn’t developing as fast as it is in the US. Two-fifths of European advertising and marketing agencies are not directing investment towards CTV campaigns. Despite a 56% increase in CTV advertising spend in Europe in 2021 and a projected rise of 35 per cent in 2022, many companies are still not taking full advantage of what CTV can offer them.
The challenges of CTV advertising in Europe
The rate of CTV adoption has been slower in the European market than it has in the US. There are a number of reasons why the European CTV market isn’t growing as fast as the US CTV market. Unlike the US, Europe is not one massive homogenous state where agencies and companies can deal with networks that adhere more or less to the same rules. The diversity of Europe has resulted in a highly fragmented market made up of numerous television ecosystems that use a range of business practices. Additionally, the consent management issues posed by GDPR adds further complexity to the European CTV marketing environment.
Whilst there are certainly many challenges to be overcome for advertisers in the European CTV market, the fast pace of adoption by consumers is encouraging. European audiences trend more towards AVOD (ad-supported video on demand) and BVOD (broadcast video on demand) models rather than SVOD (subscription video on demand). This is promising since audiences that prefer AVOD methods are more comfortable with regular advertising spots during their viewing time.
As far as the myriad of European Union regulations goes, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) recently released its “Guide to CTV Targeting and Measurement” report that aims to clarify targeting and measurement options and best practices for CTV in the EU. Careful collaboration with governments and EU agencies will enable companies to maximise the advertising potential of CTV across Europe.
How you can take advantage of the potential of CTV
CTV can capture user data that provides a vast range of advantages and benefits for advertisers. The most appealing aspect of CTV is its superior targeting capabilities and gathering insights such as household information, especially where telco set top box providers are involved. Marketers can use acquired third-party user data to deliver highly personalised, precisely targeted advertising.
Automatic content recognition (ACR) techniques can deliver advertising segments that match the content being viewed by individual consumers. These same techniques can be utilised to ensure that viewers are not subject to the same advertising segments repeatedly in a short time frame. Additionally, measuring the effectiveness of any advertising segment is simplified with CTV.
Find real CTV solutions with Mediarithmics
mediarithmics has the ability to onboard any type of data, including granular profile and event-level data from CTV environments in real-time via API. This enables broadcasters to carry out segmentation in-line with a flexible data model to define and build audiences, leveraging any type of ID. These audiences can easily be sent to CTV-enabled platforms, like FreeWheel or Magnite, for real-time activation — primarily for monetisation-based use cases.
We do this for some of the leading broadcasters across Europe, including Channel 4, Canal+, TF1, France TV and many more. Get in touch to find out how mediarithmics can use our expertise and experience to power your company’s next CTV marketing campaign.
First mover is the winner. If the adage is known, the speed of adoption of the right technology will be critical.
