“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”
Confucius’ stance on adversity - and his belief that you can take pride in coming through tough times - should strike a chord with any agency that has navigated the media landscape of the past few years, especially the increasingly complex TV sector.
This has been a period punctuated by turbulence. But despite doom-and-gloom stories running amok, the latest industry news indicates there’s light at the end of the tunnel. Budgets are at their strongest level in a decade, according to the IPA’s latest Bellwether Report, and the Advertising Association and WARC predict a return to adspend growth is on the horizon for TV in 2024.
Yet 2024 still promises to be a tough sell. We’re living in an efficiency-first economy. Streaming subscriptions were regularly touted as one of the first things on the chopping block. But there’s a marked disconnect between what streamers say and what they actually do. Kantar identified that 19.8 million British households subscribed to at least one SVOD (subscription video on demand) service in Q3 2023, compared to 19.3 million in the previous quarter.
Budgets are continuing to be scrutinised and ROI is still the top priority for many marketers. For those in TV planning, what used to be a relatively simple buy is now more complex. Lines between streaming categories and app acronyms - such as AVOD (advertising-based video on demand), SVOD, and BVOD (broadcaster video on demand) - have become blurred, thanks in no small part to streaming platforms such as Netflix, Disney and Amazon Prime introducing ad offerings.
In this fractured landscape, with more ad-enabled streaming platforms than ever before, planners need to consider the full TV ecosystem - across both linear and streaming - to reach their complete TV audience. And if they want to overcome the challenge of understanding target audience crossover between apps (and how this complements traditional linear audiences), they need to do what they’ve always done: rely on the most accurate data.
But there’s a caveat to this long-held rule. To paraphrase the esteemed economist John Maynard Keynes, when the facts change - you need to change your mind.
This is true of streaming behaviours: constantly changing, they dictate that our plans must change with them.
Actions speak louder than words
Saving money moved to the top of priorities for consumers during the cost-of-living crisis - but VOD subscriptions didn’t find themselves in the firing line.
Streaming platforms weren’t ensnared by the rumour mill. Netflix’s decision to clamp down on password sharing was questioned initially. But its end-of-year results showed the platform gained almost 30 million subscribers in 2023.
It’s not difficult to see why TV users have been reluctant to walk away. Streaming is entrenched in their daily habits. In 2023, 84% of the UK Samsung TV universe was streaming, reflecting an 11% year-on-year increase.
The devil is in the details - and the data. Evolving behaviours are nothing new in the world of TV users. Case in point, Samsung Ads also reported that the average Samsung TV owner spends 57% of their time in streaming environments, compared to 43% for linear. The challenge for TV planners is clear: how can they know when viewers change, and how can they plan against these behaviours?
Tapping into streamer-specific data can be the catalyst for effectively analysing advertising performance and optimising budget allocation. Samsung Ads’ wealth of information around screen time and app usage allows agencies to base their strategies on tangible insights, rather than preconceived narratives.
One common misconception is that TV viewers have a favourite app or platform that they always go to, because it gives them the most variety. While this is the story for 21% of UK TV users who visit the same app every time they turn on their TV - it’s not the full picture.
Some viewers might go straight to the current programme that they are binge watching for their dedicated TV time. On the other hand, some might habitually switch to their preferred news programme at the same time every evening. We also found that more than half of our UK TV users use five or more apps when they switch on their TV.
So what’s the narrative, or the data, that planners should be following? That streamers are loyal to one app, or many? The bottom line remains the same. Streaming audiences aren’t one big, homogenous group. Every user has their own unique nuances and preferences - this will forever be the one constant in a continuously shifting landscape. The onus is on planners to adapt to a less broad-strokes approach to TV, and replace this with a renewed focus on data-driven activities.
Going with the (behavioural) flow
Agencies would do well to take inspiration from Confucius’ words of wisdom. A bump in the road (in this case, prolonged economic turbulence) can throw even the best-laid plans into disarray. But this shouldn’t deter planners from trying to crack the world of television advertising.
TV strategies have always been rooted in data. However, it’s the agencies that evolve with the times and integrate new, up-to-date data sets that will weather any storm - regardless of which way the streamer winds blow.
Do you want to learn more about app-based streaming trends and how consumer behaviours vary across different video-on-demand platforms? Download Samsung Ads’ latest report, Anatomy of a Streamer, and kickstart your agency’s data-driven strategy.
Matt Bryan is director of analytics & insights at Samsung Ads Europe