TV advertisers would love to get guarantees for their TV buys, based on actual stuff they sell. Is this realistic in the near term? Probably not.
But long-term, industry experts say
this can be a critical step in helping TV marketers secure a better return-on-media investment.
All this would come at a price. In offering such high-level ROIs, marketers would need to fork
over higher premiums for buying commercial TV time.
Even then, some TV sellers would have a slew of complications to consider.
If TV networks moved away from their system of
guaranteeing how many people watch TV shows, via Nielsen measurement on its currently C3/C7 metric, it could create a hornet’s nest of different ROI standards for each industry or marketer. It
would also impact media-buying specifics, the time of year a media buy is made, and whether it’s a scatter or upfront deal.
Reports suggest TV networks want a new alternative, pushed by
a third-party ad-tech company. The effort is called “Thor” -- based on consumer
behavior around purchases.
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There are few specifics here. Does this mean targeting TV viewers “prompted” by TV commercials who engage on a marketer’s online platforms? Or
those who actually buy products and services?
TV ad executives already have a keen awareness of business dynamics of their major ad industry categories -- automotive, pharmaceuticals, consumer
products, telecommunications, movie marketers and financial.
Now, they would have to specifically guarantee consumer purchase gains as it pertains to just TV commercials they run. Would TV
sellers have to identify this TV exposure, discounting other media that marketers have bought, such as digital, print, outdoor or radio?
Even then, what about other parts of the TV ecosystem
that ran the same commercials causing consumers to buy -- broadcast networks, cable networks, syndication, local TV stations and local cable?
One of the most important and famous gods in Norse
mythology may have the answer.