Cynopsis Special Report: How Premion is Delivering Brand Safety and CTV Innovations to Advertisers

With an economy in flux, viewer consumption is increasingly favoring ad-supported streaming options — and more than half (55%) of consumers use at least one free ad-supported streaming TV service (FAST), per Hub Entertainment Research. What’s more, advertisers are already shifting more budgets towards Connected TV (CTV) advertising and more than half of advertisers using CTV/OTT will increase spending, with an average increase of 22%, according to a Premion 2022 CTV/OTT survey conducted by Advertiser Perceptions.

According to Tom Cox, President of Premion, there are several factors at play that’s accelerating ad-supported streaming consumption: “The growth in streaming options combined with rising subscription costs and inflationary pressures are bringing about increased subscription fatigue as more cost-conscious consumers turn to free ad-supported viewing options. Additionally, AVOD libraries are now offering highly compelling content that’s competing with the best of linear TV programming.” In fact, Premion’s study found that more than four in five advertisers believe that the value of Connected TV/OTT is greater than, or equal to, that of primetime TV, with two in five saying the channel is more valuable. 

Entrenched in the booming ad-supported CTV revolution, CYNOPSIS caught up with the Premion team for an update on the new innovations and enhanced CTV platform capabilities that they’re bringing to advertisers — and Premion shared that they’ve just earned a second Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG) certification. They’re now recognized with the TAG Brand Safety Certified Seal. Back in 2020, Premion earned the TAG certified against fraud seal. 

According to Premion’s study, nine in 10 advertisers consider brand safety a priority in their CTV/OTT advertising planning and strategy. The mission of the TAG Brand Safety Certified Program is to uphold brand safety and protect the integrity of digital advertising — and Premion tells us that they achieved the TAG Brand Safety Certified Seal by employing thorough processes and comprehensive systems to adhere to TAG’s strict compliance standards. 

“We’ve built Premion as a trusted platform for advertisers since our inception and we only source inventory from premium, reputable publisher partners that people know and trust,” says Tom Cox. Specifically, Premion prioritizes knowing and understanding its source inventory, never purchases inventory from open exchanges, and provides full transparency of every impression delivered across content partners down to the network level for advertisers.

Investing in Precision Targeting and Measurement

In the past year, Premion has continued to deliver data-driven innovations and enhanced platform capabilities that allow advertisers to precision target and achieve measurable CTV campaign outcomes.  The availability of richer targeting and measurement capabilities are driving a greater share of media spending to CTV advertising.  Premion’s study revealed that 43% of marketers say that CTV/OTT spend increases are driven by the ability to achieve brand awareness and performance marketing goals.

“New data-driven targeting capabilities allow marketers to optimize ad spending to meet changing consumer behaviors and local market conditions — and this is driving advertisers to shift even more spending to CTV to achieve reach extension, precision targeting, attributable outcomes and brand lift,” says John Vilade, Head of Sales of Premion.

Creating Localized and Personalized CTV Advertising Experiences

The shift in dollars flowing to ad-supported CTV has spurred new innovations that’s enabling advertisers to deliver CTV ads that are more dynamic, personalized, and relevant. “Local relevance remains a top advertiser priority to serve consumers that are seeking more localized and personalized ad experiences and we’re making it easier for advertisers to test, run, and optimize different CTV campaigns to different audiences,” says Dave Marquard, Head of Product at Premion. 

In collaboration with Connected Stories, Premion launched dynamic creative ads, which transforms CTV ads into messaging unique to each individual household with localized and interactive enhancements.  Advertisers can localize an ad with scannable QR codes, nearest location or inventory availability. For instance, a retailer can embed a promo code in their CTV ads to promote specific holiday and seasonal offers. This delivers an extra layer of ad relevancy to drive advertiser results with specific localized and personalized call to actions.

Delivering Persona-based Audience-First CTV Targeting

While Premion has always enabled advertisers to both target contextually and by consumer segments, the company has taken this to the next level with the launch of their ‘Audience First’ targeting packages.

“We believe that viewers are as dynamic as the content they watch, and people are more dynamic than just a segment or two — and by targeting audience with lifestyles and personalities that closely align with your brand, you’ll have a better chance of gaining a loyal consumer,” says Annmarie Gatti, VP of Marketing at Premion. 

Specifically, Premion hand-picked audience segments to build advanced consumer audience personas based on — not only direct interests — but also adjacent interests and behaviors that align with those audience personas. For instance, the Millennial Minded package includes adjacent interests like early adopters of new technology, someone who uses food delivery apps and coffee enthusiasts. Premion explains that this can unlock additional, relevant layers of targeting that can capture potential customers missed by a narrower targeting approach.

Streamlining CTV Media Buying

Advertisers and agencies are seeking efficiencies and simplicity in the planning, buying, and execution of CTV campaigns. To address that need, Premion launched MediaBridge, a centralized agency buying platform that streamlines CTV media buying with new workflow automation. Essentially, it’s a ‘bridge’ that connects to multiple agency buying systems and brings together multiple streams of quotes and orders and feeds them into a single workflow. “With a single efficient workflow, we’re helping to eliminate time consuming manual and redundant work for buyers and sellers by automating every phase of contract negotiations, order confirmations and campaign executions in a single ecosystem,” added John Vilade.

Marketers are turning to CTV advertising to not only their reach their desired consumers, but they now have access to an array of precision and localized targeting and outcomes-based measurement solutions to drive greater spend efficacy — and Premion continues to pave the way with new innovations to help advertisers take advantage of the ad-supported streaming boom.

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