This article by Amobee first appeared in the AdNews April edition. Check out the whole magazine here.
VOZ and convergence in a changing TV world. The tipping point of convergence is coming. Are agencies ready?
A smorgasbord
Online video has been around for a while now, but the shift from linear to a buffet of consumption habits including linear, subscription TV, BVOD, connected TV and more has recently hit a cracking pace.
What’s Australia doing?
Our broadcasters are looking to keep pace with this change by creating a buying platform. Virtual Australia (VOZ), the new national “Total TV” reporting standard, will also change the buying landscape.
The ripple effect
Australia’s broadcasters are tackling audience fragmentation, creating a way to combine broadcast viewing on linear TV sets and connected devices. The aim is to get closer to providing all-screen, cross-platform planning and reporting.
When it comes to agencies, the data viewed and analysed to plan, implement and evaluate is changing. While VOZ should be a great ingredient, it’s only one ingredient in the recipe for a better approach to the new TV world.
Teams and mindsets need to change to stay ahead of the game, including ensuring agencies have the right talent and automation for a converged world.
Talent will need to understand TV across all formats first and foremost. Alongside this, agencies will have to build new capabilities from scratch or evolve existing teams to understand how different technology platforms interact and can deliver better client results.
The right technology will be able to create solutions using a combination of viewership, identity and exposure data across all channels. It will also have to provide automated features not only for auction-based buying but for how TV trades - which is a different world.
Amobee’s advanced TV platform, rated a market leader in cross channel video by Forrester, is built for convergence. It provides advertisers with the technology, talent & data needed to plan, buy and measure cross channel TV in one self serve platform.
Converging teams
Team convergence is inevitable, but not cookie-cutter. Some media shops will converge at a strategy and execution level, while others will combine strategy with execution specialists. It’s not a matter of chucking everything out and starting again.
If executed properly, converged planning and campaign management will help the industry:
- Extend reach to digital from TV buys by analysing TV data to determine who has seen a brand’s commercials. More importantly, future buys will then be able to target unexposed audiences with multichannel campaigns;
- Manage frequency across all channels by determining where campaigns overlap across linear TV, BVOD, CTV, OTT, desktop and mobile video; and
- Identify and target viewers of competitor’s ads, to maintain awareness, defend mindshare and increase market impact.
Convergence isn’t a silver bullet for cross-platform planning and execution. That said, it’s critical for agencies to re-invent teams, invest in the right technology, free up trading desks to work on more strategic tasks and finally get a clearer view of the fragmenting world of TV. 
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