Commentary

Traditional TV This Upfront: We Got Big Data, Too

by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, May 12, 2017

Just days before the upfront TV program presentations -- and advertising market -- is set to begin, one of most senior TV advertising executives is making her case for big time national TV networks.

It is still the best deal in town -- especially in compared to digital media wannabees.

Backed by a new Accenture study conducted for NBCUniversal, the big TV-media company, Linda Yaccarino, chairman of advertising sales and client partnerships, says the research for “premium content” -- that is big TV programming -- delivers “four times as much brand awareness for every dollar spent as paid social media, and more than 11 times as much as short-form digital video.”

So does that mean no money should go to social media? Nope.

Yaccarino did ad: “Effective marketing strategies are built on smart media mixes, as well as an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of each medium.”

She didn’t detail the downfalls of social media -- or traditional media like TV.

For sure, all marketers won’t agree on the mix of media -- traditional and new media -- these days. Every marketer has different sales concerns, dynamics and goals.

Still, traditional TV selling executives will push that they are catching up to social media and others -- claiming they have more “advanced data and optimization capabilities.”

Last year, TV networks did get a windfall of sorts when it comes to questions over digital media problems -- scale, viewability, fraud, brand safety and other issues.

Yaccarino says “television has caught up with digital, and is offering marketers the data solutions they crave.” Well, maybe. Much of TV still works off of metrics derived from panels -- not specifics from content usage, engagement, consumer purchasing behaviors, and specific ROI measures.

Though still strong and effective, some would says TV has a lot of catching up left to do.

Still, NBC is putting up -- committing $1 billion of inventory of its $10 billion for data-driven deals as part of its effort to catch up. Perhaps one good question: Why just 10%? And what specific programs are included in that 10%? Here’s another to ask; Two, three or six months down the road, how many takers?

Finally, to Yaccarino’s ultimate question that everyone would hopefully answer: How much did marketers’ sales improve from those new media plans?

advertising, marketing, sales, tv

3 comments about "Traditional TV This Upfront: We Got Big Data, Too".

Check to receive email when comments are posted.

Ed Papazian from Media Dynamics Inc, May 12, 2017 at 9:30 a.m.
Wayne, NBC doesn't sell $10 billion of ad revenues per year, it, coupled with its cable systems probably do, but a good deal of this is in the scatter market, not the upfront. Also NBC and its cable minions are using data that is highly favorable to sellers but very misleading to advertisers, as add-on metrics to good old Nielsen ratings and I seriously doubt that if the traditional upfront becomes a seller's market that NBC will withhold many of those GRPs that are being "reserved" for "better targeted buys" -----unless the advertisers who want to play that game pony up the big bucks and pay huge CPM premiums.
Reply

Leonard Zachary from T___n__, May 12, 2017 at 2:23 p.m.

Ed how is that transparency in pricing between the spots & upfronts coming along? Very curious and well informed CMOS would like to know? Oh and ad revs down with ever increasing retrans fees a very sustainable model???

Ed Papazian from Media Dynamics Inc, May 12, 2017 at 3:12 p.m.

LZ, there is not, repeat, not, going to be transparency in linear TV pricing anytime soon. As for CMO's wanting to know, they get full and complete reporting, as well as independent audience data and auditing, if they want it, for "linear TV" The same can not be said for digital media as yet---though it's painfully obvious that this will soon be mandated and the smoke and mirrors games we now see in digital media will be ended. Finally, the broadcast TV networks and many of the cable channels are doing quite well, financially, and this will continue, especially if they are successful in grabing a big slice of the OTT/SVOD subscription market---as seems possible..