3 Things to Consider During the NewFronts & Upfronts

The Upfronts and NewFronts are an exciting time in our industry, as they mark a time of new beginnings and set the stage for TV and digital video innovation in the year ahead.

With roughly two-thirds of U.S. consumers now using connected TV (CTV) devices every month and over-the-top (OTT) viewing replacing linear TV during evening primetime hours, OTT devices can no longer be ignored. In the past few quarters, Innovid has seen astronomical growth of OTT impressions by nearly 300%.

As you approach this year’s Upfront/NewFront season, I wanted to share three things for you to consider:

1.     Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon will dominate new, original TV content for the foreseeable future.
Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime Video are expected to triple their combined investments in TV originals by 2022, spending over $10 billion annually. Apple is joining the race too. Plus, these OTT giants are expected to outspend the traditional TV networks (CBS, NBC, Fox, ABC). What does this mean for advertisers? Ultimately it means more choice for consumers, but it also means more opportunity to reach your customers and truly engage with them.

Content is king on OTT. If you haven't started investing in media spend on connected devices and over-the-top platforms, NOW is the time.

2.     Advertising time on TV is shrinking.
Digiday reports that “Fox Networks Group said it wants to cut advertising on its networks to two minutes per hour by 2020. NBCUniversal said it plans to reduce the number of ads in its commercial pods by 20 percent and the total ad time by 10 percent on more than 50 original primetime programs across its networks.” This means that there will continually be less and less time for brands to make an impact with consumers.

At Innovid, we are seeing a massive shift in impressions from desktop to OTT—with our data representing every publisher category (TV Networks, FEPs, online portals, exchanges, etc.) and encompassing every advertiser vertical. Nearly one in every four impressions served through Innovid is an OTT impression. And with almost 300% growth year over year in OTT impressions, it’s safe to assume that the growth will continue and OTT will eclipse desktop in the near future.

3.     Personalization has become a need-to-have on all screens.
A 2017 study by Epsilon found that 80 percent of respondents are more likely to make a purchase when brands offer personalized experiences. Studies continue to prove that consumers want ads to be relevant to them. It’s no longer enough to personalize and interact with consumers on desktop and mobile—all eyes are focused on CTV and content needs to be relevant to each and every individual on all devices. Consider the amount of full episode player (FEP) inventory already running on CTV devices and add personalized video creative to reach consumers where they are most engaged (in front of the TV!). You will see lifts in performance whether it’s through brand awareness, brand engagement or driving purchase intent and offline sales.

In short, there is a growth of content, a desire for ad scarcity, and a need for advertisers to make an impact on CTV and OTT devices. It’s crucial to consider how this factors into your video strategy for the upcoming year.

Ask yourself and the publishers you’re speaking to at the Upfronts and Newfronts: Are you reaching your customers and what’s going to make that reach effective? How will you ensure my brand stands out in an increasingly crowded marketplace?

Check out this blog post for more CTV and OTT insights for this year’s Newfronts, or download our OTT Education Pack to learn how to amplify your video marketing on the big screen.