• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, June 7, 2018

Rising OTT platforms continue to grow. But currently are there scale, frequency and high pricing concerns. And there is also Netflix.

“When you are in a fragmenated marketplace, and you are trying to manage against one demographic it’s difflcult to control frequency -- unless you are working with one platform,” says Carlos Ramirez, group director, of Quigley-Simpson, speaking at MediaPost’s TV & Video Insider Summit.

But Ramirez adds OTT right now -- as a single platform -- has scale limitations, which in turns can lead to frequency issues.

Pricing can be high as well. Concerning connected TV campaigns, Trey Dickert, media director at Media Two Interactive, says his agency started using micro-attribution models for clients when it comes to transactions, brand lift and other areas to justify the high media costs.

Dickert: “While these CPMs are much higher than other CTV content out there, it still influences a great deal of engagement on the backend.”

Overall, Jared Lake, vp of digital strategy of Ocean Media, says of OTT: “From a consumer perspective, it’s a much better experience” Lake says the advertising load is lighter and there is more user control.

More positives of OTT viewers: Ramirez says “light TV viewers and cord cutters, cord-nevers are valuable demographics.” OTT has a big upside: “It hasn’t been truly realize by marketers.”

OTT ad concerns are also pitted against non-ad supported services. Lake: “The best consumer experience is not ad-supported, unfortunately. What Netflix does from a content perspective and a consumer perspective -- they are kind of hitting it out of the park.”