BVOD advertising: more reach, less risk

BVOD advertising adds reach to a linear TV campaign and is the least risky of all video advertising channels – including linear TV – in terms of predicting a return, according to a new Thinkbox study*. 

Why it matters

Surprisingly, there’s been relatively little large-scale evidence about the effectiveness of BVOD, despite being an important channel in the growing connected TV world.

Context 

Broadcaster VOD advertising in the UK is rapidly growing, with investment up 17.2% in the first half of 2022 and continued growth forecast, according to recent Advertising Association/WARC figures.

Takeaways

• BVOD adds, on average, a 4% increase in incremental adult (16+) reach to a linear campaign, a 6% increase for adult ABC1s, and an 8% increase for 16-34s.
• The odds of reaching the lightest half of all TV viewing adults on BVOD are one in three compared to one in 13 on linear.
• Campaigns that use linear TV together with BVOD are typically up to 10% more effective than linear alone at delivering ROI. 
• The impact of video advertising is significantly affected by the platform/environment and the device viewers use: ads on a TV screen aren’t scrutinised for their relevance, ads on a device are. 

BVOD planning tactics 

1. Light viewers are more likely to be found by spreading your plan across all sales points. Using three sales houses delivers double the incremental reach of a single sales house.
2. Plan in and around key programming, such as Love Island (ITV), Gogglebox (C4), or high-profile box set dramas like The Midwich Cuckoos (Sky).
3. Campaigns delivered across six to 10 genres yield up to 3x the incremental reach than those delivered across only one to five genres.
4. BVOD peak time is a longer window than linear (20.00-00.30 compared with linear’s 20.00-23.00).
5. BVOD campaigns that run for 30 to 50 days deliver 3x the incremental reach of campaigns that run for under 30 days.

Key quote 

“Variability of delivery varies greatly across the video channels and we can see that BVOD has good predictability” – Jane Christian, Head of Systems Intelligence at Mediacom.

*Commissioned by industry body Thinkbox, BVOD Almighty: Reach and Return claims to be the most comprehensive exploration of BVOD advertising to date, bringing together different research skillsets and techniques, including work by Gain Theory and MediaCom, Wavemaker, Mindshare, PwC UK, and Acacia Avenue.

Sourced from Thinkbox