LONDON: The advertising industry has yet to achieve standardised measurement and technological integration between channels, but there are three key things that brands can employ today to maximise investment across TV, online video and mobile.

Writing in the current issue of Admap, Stefan Jansen and Milly Haslam, video director and business director respectively at Mindshare UK, argue that with astute audience insights and thoughtful planning, it is possible to design and build integrated media strategies which both deliver against client objectives and appeal to audiences.

In Best practice in media strategy for multiscreen viewing, they note that all screen-based media can deliver against a range of objectives, but “we must be single-minded on what each line on the media plan is aiming to deliver and then measure appropriately”.

That means setting up robust measurement from the outset in order to be able to understand what is and is not working on the media plan and then to adapt and optimise accordingly.

Advertisers will also have to think about how their messages are seen – these may be viewed only briefly on mobile, for example, usually vertically and without sound.

Accordingly, advertisers will have to consider creating video for specific online environments or platforms, creating contextually relevant messaging and editing the creative for social feeds.

For all that traditional broadcast TV remains pivotal in driving mass reach for many advertisers, the authors report they are “seeing an appreciation of the ability to take digital-style targeting into the TV world through addressable TV solutions”.

Agencies need to make maximum use of all the data available to improve targeting efficiency for advertisers, Jansen and Haslam say. “As programmatic technologies continue to grow, our ability to build audiences and, crucially, execute on the exact same audiences across platforms is vital.”

But the authors also caution against focusing on the latest programmatic tech and AI capabilities.

“Balance is something which still holds great value,” they argue, “whether that is balancing objectives with measurement, balancing different video messaging formats across platforms, balancing broadcast with addressability, or balancing data and technology with human insight and wisdom.

“A strong sense of balance combined with an appreciation of the opportunities that a complex and continually evolving video world creates can lead to some great campaigns that drive business results.”

Sourced from Admap