How DTC Brands Are Shaping the Future of TV Advertising

Actually it39s not such a coincidence that digitalfirst DTC brands and attribution entered the TV ad world around the same time according to Brian Catterson AE Networks39 vice president of ad sales direct response DTC brands and their dollars have in fact been one of the major influences in the shifting TV ad sales landscapequotThey39re looking at TV in a whole new wayquot Catterson says That is less beholden to demo guarantees against specific narrow age groups and much more focused on business outcomes tied to their media investmentsThese DTC brands amp8212 your Caspers Dollar Shave Clubs and Warby Parkers amp8212 are digital natives where attribution is not only fairly simple but also table stakes as far as ad buying is concerned They39re used to running an ad on Facebook and seeing how many web visits or sales come directly from that adAnd while that level of attribution may have seemed incompatible with TV in the past Catterson who has been at AE for 14 years now knows differentlyDirect response TV ads used to be an afterthought in the TV ad world amp8212 the realm of Chia Pets Ginsu knives and other cheesy infomercials But they were the pioneers of attribution Catterson says A simple method such as using different tollfree numbers on ads airing on different networks let the advertiser know exactly how specific media outlets were performing amp8212 something that sounds an awful lot like attributionEven targeting has its roots in direct responsequotAs the industry at large goes down this path of more precise measurement we39re collectively seeing that individual days of the week can potentially have more success or less individual creative has an effect time of day of an airing has valuequot Catterson says quotThat39s something the direct response community has known for decadesquotThe digitalnative DTC brands of the 21st century may be hipper than their infomercial counterparts but they are also bumping up against the limits of what digital advertising can do for their bottom line This is why they39re starting to shovel increasing amounts of money into TV ad spending because they can see the massive reach and power of TV ads quotTV is the ultimate premium brandsafe environment when it comes to videoquot Catterson saysUnlike legacy brands that are accustomed to transacting on demos such as quotadults 18amp821149quot or quotwomen 25amp821154quot though DTC brands are thinking holisticallyquotDespite erosion across some of the younger age groups in the linear TV space viewership across the broader demos is still very strongquot Catterson says The more advertisers can begin to see a potential customer at all ages the better for all stakeholders quotThere is tremendous value across the full breadth of television audiences not just the isolated audiences many legacy brands have focused on for yearsquotIf you39re selling mattresses it doesn39t make much of a difference if the person buying the mattress is 25 or 65 though the 65yearold Catterson points out is more likely to have more money to spend on your mattress Baby boomers in America hold 54 percent of the country39s household wealth and 548 billion in annual spending according to Pew Research Boomers also make up the majority of the linear TV audience these days And the gulf between an 18yearold39s finances and a 49yearold39s is vast quotIt39s like the Grand Canyonquot Catterson says quotA 49yearold has much more in common with a 60yearoldquotSo why are legacy brands still transacting on traditional demos quotA lot of the reason the industry does this is simple inertiaquot Catterson saysBut the conversations with these legacy brands are changing To help those brands think more like savvy DTC companies AE Networks along with several other major media companies has been putting in the work to shift the industry paradigm to outcomebased results The company has created a Precision and Performance team to guide targeting and help track outcomes in a way that Catterson sees as the perfect marriage of oldschool direct response sensibilities with newschool tech capabilitiesquotNow more than everquot Catterson concludes quotboth sides of the business are becoming more unified in terms of how we measure successquotDon39t stop now Stay in the know on AE Networksamp160 with more from AETNINSITEScomClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet

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How DTC Brands Are Shaping the Future of TV Advertising

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Oriana Schwindt

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