VIZIO and Magid Research have joined forces to examine how TV viewers are engaging with streaming programming, as well as the ads placed against it.
In this first of a series of insights collected from that partnership, Magid SVP of Media and Entertainment Mike Bloxham tells us how we've only begun to scratch the surface of how connected TV will alter the way consumers interact with TV advertising.
Read (and watch) below...
How are you thinking about the consumer experience these days?
I think it’s incredibly important that we get a deeper understanding of what different programming environments actually deliver to people that is satisfying and make them engage. What are the elements of the programming that are resonating with them? Because that provides a mental and emotional context as to where the consumer is in their heads when they’re also receiving advertising messages.
What’s one of the big trends in ad-supported streaming we can expect in the near future?
We’re seeing a lot of interest in the notion of shopping or making purchases on streaming platforms. This is an extension of the way e-commerce has evolved in the last year in the lockdown. Not only has e-commerce itself massively accelerated, it’s also started to diversify—live streaming commerce is becoming much more of a thing. Different kinds of transactional offerings around the TV are starting to make an appearance and I think that is something we’re going to see more of. If 37% of people telling us they’re actively interested in the notion of making purchases on a streaming platform, I think we’re definitely going to see those kinds of offerings becoming more popular and more central to streaming beyond the straightforward presentation of content.
To date, streaming has been relatively straightforward as an offering, very simple. Very effective and very successful, but still simple. It’s an array of content that you can watch when you choose to watch it. There’s very little short form, virtually no gaming, practically no transactional. The platform can do much much more. Smart TVs enable all of those things. That’s one of the things that’s going to fuel the development of transactional and other kinds of interactive offerings.
It’s that trifecta of the ubiquity of streaming TVs, the increased sophistication of consumers exercising a level of control they’ve not had historically, and the desire of advertisers and their partners to pursue business outcomes that make a difference to the bottom line.