By Adam Wagner
I mentioned this in an earlier article of this report and wanted to unpack a practical plan for how larger brands with $50M+ media budgets can think about modernizing their media plan without losing the efficient brand awareness that Linear TV offers.
THE PROBLEM: Brand awareness has been associated with Linear TV for decades, however the current media landscape allows you to reach more consumers and spend more time with them, but often at a higher CPM.
Many agencies and brands don’t know what to do with this, so they keep doing what they’ve always done because it is safe. You’re unlikely to get fired for the safe move.
I feel like I’m coming in hot after Linear TV… Let me unpack this.
Linear TV is the most broad form of TV advertising that runs across channels and has oftentimes a very reasonable cost to run ads.
Linear TV is also incredibly hard to track and has tons of remnant and bad placements. The CPMs are cheaper because you often have very little idea when or where you spot is running. This was totally fine in an era when you couldn’t track anything like 20+ years ago, but OTT and digital has totally changed the landscape.
As you know, we are huge believers in Brand and USPs together, we also love getting as much time as you can with consumers. It cost the same to run a :06s ad online as it does :120s. It’s then on the marketing team and the agency to earn as much time as possible with consumers.
It’s also true that today OTT has some incredible tracking, targeting and remarketing capabilities that Linear does not have. Yes, it is more expensive than Linear, but you can track it and prove performance.
Side note: If your media buyer has OLV (online video) in their buy, but not OTT, you need a new media buyer. OLV is the original form of digital video, but it is so old school and low converting now, it is a huge red flag for an agency that isn’t keeping up.
And now, I’ll make a case for Linear TV, it 100% has a place in your buy, but it adds efficiency and reach with your extra dollars, it should not be the core of your buy.
The fastest growing brands on the planet are using a mix of OTT, Linear, YouTube, Meta, Google and TikTok. They are also developing creative for each of these channels. They all have different lengths, hooks and features that help creative perform better.
Every brand is a bit different, but I personally love a media mix for $50M+ brands that looks like the below. This takes full advantage of big brand buys, while also leveraging modern social and digital best practices.
I’d love to hear your thoughts as a media buyer for this media mix! 💧
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This article is a part of The Q2 2024 Founders’ Report. The Founders’ Report is a quarterly digest of the top conversations, insights and learnings that Jacques and Adam are having with our clients and top marketers. Sign up here.