HAS THESE On Monday, Comcast announced the launch of Universal Ads, a television advertising platform that brings together media companies in a partnership to simplify access to premium video inventory.
According to Comcast, Universal Ads will allow advertisers of all sizes to purchase premium video directly from some of today’s most prestigious media companies, as easily as they purchase from social media platforms. Launch partners include Roku, A+E, AMC Networks, DirecTV, Fox Corporation, NBCUniversal, Paramount, TelevisaUnivision, Warner Bros. Discovery and Xumo, with more to be announced in the coming months.
Additionally, the platform leverages FreeWheel’s advertising technology, which will allow ad buyers and sellers to do business in one place.
James Grant, head of Comcast, will spearhead the Universal Ads initiative. On the product side, former Snap executive James Borow was hired to lead Universal Ads’ product and engineering teams in conjunction with FreeWheel’s product and technology team.
The company said Universal Ads will specifically offer Universal Ads Manager, a free, self-service TV ad buying tool; direct access to premium and secure videos that reach more than 90% of American households; and a Marketing API, which will allow developers to create reporting, measurement, creative generation, and other applications.
But what does this announcement mean for the entire sector? And how does this affect marketers?
Here are three things advertisers need to know about universal ads:
What a campaign looks like on the Universal Ads platform.Comcast
1. Universal ads will continue an industry trend toward SMBs
Ross Benes, senior analyst at eMarketer, said the announcement is a continuation of what’s already happening in the streaming space, where big media companies like Disney is putting more effort into small and mid-sized advertisers.
“Fortune 500 companies that spend a lot on national linear TV are already spending on streaming,” Benes told ADWEEK. “Now streaming operators are preying on the types of marketers who only buy linear products locally or who rely on social media and search advertising but believe TV only outweighs not their budget. »
According to Benes, CTV won’t reach the same number of advertisers as the Facebooks and Googles of the world because the inventory is too small. But the plan is future-proof.
“As this announcement from Comcast shows, streaming services will continue to expand to reach more small advertisers because big brands can only spend so much,” Benes said. “To increase revenue as much as possible, more small and medium-sized marketing companies will be sought.”
2. The platform makes buying ads simple for some… but not for all
Mark Zamuner, president of Juice Media, who has more than 20 years of experience in data-driven omnichannel advertising, said the launch levels the playing field for SMBs, simplifies the traditionally complex ad buying process and promotes fair competition.
“SMEs generally operate with specific audiences in defined geographic areas. The ability to meet these parameters has enabled the success of digital and social platforms. SMBs had a turnkey solution to help them target their marketing/advertising efforts,” said Zamuner. “This is a huge win for both advertisers and NBCU, as it effectively levels the playing field and allows SMBs easy access to advertising in premium content with geographic and location-defined distribution. the audience.”
He added that streamlining advertising buying encourages SMEs to diversify away from “walled gardens” and capitalize on the benefits of linear television.
However, some wonder if the platform solves a problem that doesn’t exist.
“You can buy ads directly from Roku, so why do I have to go through Comcast Universal Ads? Dan Rayburn, a streaming media expert, said. “They’re implying here that it’s very difficult for small businesses to buy from Meta and YouTube – and I don’t disagree with that – but it’s not difficult for them to buy from Fox, Paramount or Roku. So this creates a conglomerate that they can access. It really is an intermediary.
Nonetheless, Rayburn noted that there was an advantage to the platform being built on FreeWheel, with most of the launch partners being FreeWheel customers.
3. The platform highlights social networks while television takes on technology
Nikhil Lai, principal analyst for performance marketing at Forrester, said the platform’s growth depends on the sentiment that SMBs have saturated paid social, making universal ads precarious.
“It will need to prove that it is not only as easy to use as Meta Ads Manager, but that TV advertising exceeds the cost per response of paid social,” Lai said. “Making TV advertising responsible for lower funnel goals breaks its economics, which are conducive to additional reach. When you buy TV advertising, get all the benefits down the funnel.
The social media element of the ad also caught Rayburn’s attention.
“I originally thought this would make it easier to go against TikTok, Meta and Facebook when it comes to anything streaming related,” Rayburn said. “But keep in mind that Facebook and TikTok are not the same as Paramount+ or Roku Channel. They are very different content formats and the quality is different.
Overall, the industry is experiencing a broader shift as media companies compete with technology companies, and this is just the latest step.
“We have been in the midst of a digital transformation for two decades, and traditional media players now have an ecosystem – streaming – that offers all the benefits of targeting digital platforms with the best content that brands can partner with,” Zamuner said. “With the advancement of generative AI in the development of video creation, [Comcast] eliminates the last point of friction. It’s great to see advertisers have more choice and more power. Collaboration between media companies allows them all to gain a greater share.”
