World TV Day (2020): 4 advantages of running the TVCs
On World TV Day, if you ask ‘who doesn’t like to watch TV?’ then the answer may be a mixed response. But if you would have asked the same question in the last decade, then the majority of the audience would have been in favour of watching TV. We try to dig into the changing dynamics of TV from the past decade and understand 4 advantages of running the TVCs over any other ad formats.
Television has always been the alter ego of having a sofa in the living room without which the living room can not be completed. We used to watch our favourite TV shows with our family in the evening everyday. And mind you, we cannot ignore watching Live sports.
But as the internet has penetrated every household and the increase in speed per connection, the possibilities of doing simultaneous things has increased. In the beginning of 2010, when social media was a new baby, we used to surf the web including social media from our desktops. Phones were not smart enough.
In the middle of the decade in 2015, phones got a lot smarter and social media was available on our palms. The internet also penetrated widely. Now, we used to do ‘second screening‘ while watching TV.
By the end of 2019, the average speed of the internet has more than quadrupled since 2015. Now we are facing a dilemma whether to watch TV in the living room or do the same thing while lying on your bed in the bedroom. We can not only watch TV channels on mobile but can also multiple OTT services including Disney+, Hulu, Netflix, Prime Video and many more.
This has raised a big question to advertisers about what to do about the TV ads if the audience itself is shifting to a new platform. Advertisers who were traditionally depending on the TV are struggling to get success on that medium.
Despite this, TV ads provide few advantages over the new ad media.
4 advantages of running the TVCs
Reach:
Television has proved to have higher reach in terms of addressing an audience at once. Advertisers can reach to millions of people at once which cannot be replicated on the internet. There could be millions of people still watching the sporting event online at the same time. Advertisers can reach all of them at once.
Accessibility:
Almost all households in the country have a TV. Households may also have internet connection, but with more devices connected to the internet, everybody is doing different things. This does not apply to TVs as everyone at home will not have a separate TV set for themselves.
Targeting influencers:
There is a difference between users of the product or service and the actual customer who is paying for that product. If you have to increase sales, you also need to consider the buyers of your product and not only the users. TV still helps in reaching the right influencers in the family for buying your product. This is further helpful if all of the family members are watching TV together. Because, then everybody can participate in the decision making and the entire process becomes faster.
Audio-visual delivery of ads:
New media ads are being too specific which may dilute the right message. Also, not everybody will be exposed to multiple versions of your ad on the internet. If you keep your message simple and straightforward it will help you to convey it faster and smoother. Unlike SEM, social media ads, email marketing, display ads and shopping ads, TVCs are generalised and can communicate in a better way to the masses.
What is to be done?
An advertiser cannot ignore TVCs only on the basis that the metrics can’t be precisely measured. Advertisers need to think about the usability of all the ad channels available and then should take a decision. Advertisers can also use ‘ad splintering’ where the first segment of the ad is shown to the audience as TVC with the following message to watch the next segment on social media.
This World TV Day, it is a time to put a tribute to our old entertainment centre and expect that it will continue to give us the same enjoyment which we had in the old days!
