At the recent Future of TV Advertising Global conference, Simon Peel observed how digital platforms have been very successful in promoting themselves to CMOs as indispensable to their businesses. “TV has missed that trick a little bit,” he said. Peel referenced reports from the decade-old The Long And The Short Of It to the more recent Profit Ability 2: “All of these studies … say the same thing,” he argued, “which is [that] TV is the most effective channel; it’s also one of the most efficient.”
So working with TV ought to be regarded as “an accolade in the same way that working with Google or Amazon is”, he said – but it’s the digital marketing angle that is repeatedly brought up in quarterly earnings calls. (TV is rarely explicitly mentioned in calls but its use can sometimes be implied in references to advertising during live sports or to above-the-line activity.)
TV companies should be persuading analysts to ask pertinent questions of CEOs and CFOs, he suggested. “How do you make it so fundamental to the market that it has to be on the plan? … I think it’s about marketing it correctly to the right people.”
Why it matters
The role of head of media is not just about effectiveness: Peel remarked how much time is spent managing stakeholders, for example. But just as marketers are often advised to talk the language of the C-suite, so TV advertising executives can talk the language of effectiveness with financial analysts and help put the C-suite on the spot over media choices.
“Despite all the challenges TV has faced, it is still endlessly so goddamn effective”
said Peter Field, marketing consultant, speaking at Future of TV Advertising Global.
Source: warc.com
