Don’t Get Dunked On: OTT Is Coming for Your Brand

Prehistoric Advertising

Some people say that the dinosaurs went extinct because of meteors or a galactic alien invasion. But we think that’s BS. We think the dinosaurs went extinct because they didn’t know how to market themselves. The brands and products that they ideated were left in a standstill because they had no idea how to promote them. We’re not saying these dinosaurs were dumb, for all we know, they might’ve been a part of interesting book clubs or engaging discussions surrounding the evolution of life.

Now of course are not talking about actual dinosaurs. We are talking about the brands and companies who fail to look forward and remain stuck in an abyss of traditional advertising.

In those dreadfully dreary times, when our TV viewing consisted mostly of 3 to 7 channels, some of them duplicates and some of them part-time local channels. Most of the B2C marketing and advertising budgets of the larger advertisers were in TV, with a smaller budget for radio and print media. Advertising on a major network was costly, but it did get your message across to a wide audience. Branding experts rocketed these companies to the top.

Local stations, including the ones that carried network programming, did offer discounted rates for a smaller service area. However, you were still spraying your advertising everywhere, much like a dog in heat, even to those weren’t interested in your product or service. Inefficient use of your advertising dollar, indeed. But what’s even more deadly is when ad placement is done wrong and you get grouped with brands you don’t want to be associated with; And most likely those other brands are seen as commodities or vendors, instead of brands that have value and have taken price off the table with their brand positioning. 

The Rise of a New Marketing Era

Once upon a time, the internet was dreadfully slow. I used to download one song overnight on a dial-up connection to build my music collection. With the rise of better technology to transmit information, the internet quickly became a leading provider of information.

As such, better modes of personalized advertising were born. And why not? Where else can you search for the answers to the exact questions you are looking for? Such as, “which porn star has the largest breast size naturally?”

Rise of OTT

With the rise of the internet, we gained more targeted and personalized advertising techniques. As the newer and better technology developed, such as delivering the internet over fiber optic and cable, the rise of OTT was inevitable. Now, you can truly watch what you want, when you want. No longer do you have to pay for a bunch of packaged channels you will never watch. Nor do you have to have multiple subscriptions. You can pick and choose when you want to watch something.

Want to binge on Shameless? No problem. Have a TV show you adored from the ’80s? Binge away. Beverly 90210, anyone? Sometimes you can even find shows as far back as the ’60s. I haven’t tried to find Lawrence Welk, but it wouldn’t surprise me if you could.

Unsurprisingly, connected TV, aka OTT (Over the Top) media viewership is on the rise. With faster streaming and increasingly live programming, this is likely to continue. (Your Super Bowl Commercials are safe, now if we could just preserve the National Anthem.)

Just as predictably, advertising on OTT was not far behind. There are two basic models of the OTT environment, both SVOD and AVOD. SVOD uses a subscriber-based model, and AVOD is a free, advertising-based model. This is an important distinction when considering marketing plans with regards to OTT. The subscriber-based model, that does not use or depend on advertising is obviously not relevant to our discussion.

OTT vs Traditional vs Digital

The advantages of OTT advertising over traditional TV are obvious. Less costly (at least so far), more targeted, and guess what? You get data back to optimize. You know what your ROI is. You can target right down to the zip code, and some limited options as far as audience. As OTT uses IP addresses rather than cookies; you cannot get the targeting you can get with digital advertising. And, with increasing regulations on this industry, that is not likely to change.

Digital Marketing Still Dominates

The biggest benefits of digital advertising over OTT are reach and targeting, in addition to the fact that it is a heightened level of personalized advertising. As I mentioned before, OTT comes in both subscription-based and advertiser-based models. That cuts out half your reach right there. Traditional TV still wins out over OTT, though barely – for a broader audience – as millennials are more likely to use OTT. The older crowd still spends most of their time on traditional TV.

While both OTT and digital marketing do offer targeting, digital marketing targeting, using cookies and other targeting wins out over OTT. Additionally, while OTT is offered, digital marketing is now topping both OTT and traditional TV in reach.

Who doesn’t have a smartphone, social media, or an interest in searching topics specific to them on the internet? A digital marketing agency is essential, and there is an Austin graphic design studio that stands head and shoulders above the crowd.

The biggest benefits for digital marketing remain:

Decreased costs: While OTT is cheaper than traditional TV, it is still more expensive than many other forms of digital marketing. Many options of digital marketing are even free if you consult the right marketing consultants in Austin. And while OTT is cheaper than traditional TV, those costs are likely to rise as the consumer market continues to shift toward OTT.

Targeting: Digital marketing still offers the best targeting. With the wider technologies offered on digital than OTT which uses IP addresses, this is likely to remain so. Certain audiences, while adapting to the internet are still more likely to be able to be targeted through either traditional TV or digital marketing.

Personalization: More and more, personalization and personalized advertising are being offered through digital marketing agencies. Personalization increases open rates and conversions. It also offers more personalized targeting. Wouldn’t you rather buy from a company that knows you have an older German Shepard and bases their recommendations on that instead of one that just offers generalized advice about dogs? This type of personalization is not likely to ever be available on traditional TV nor OTT advertising.

Branding and Your Branding Consultancy

Branding will never not be essential. When going for a soda, do you say I want a coke? What if you need a bandage? Do you ask for a band-aid?  More recently, if you are going to look something up, do you say you are going to “google” it?

Branding has been essential since the beginning of time. Certainly, traditional TV advertising helped with branding. If you were a big brand, you blasted your message to everyone, everywhere. However, with increasingly fragmented marketing, branding is more essential than ever before.

In this current climate, you need to get your message out boldly and unapologetically. Most of all it has to be authentic to you. Like attracts like, and as a business owner you’re always hustling. Life’s too short to work with clients you don’t like, so for quality of life make sure your brand is true to you.

A team of branding consultants that understand the importance of brand authority is essential, especially when beginning your marketing. The first thing you need to consider is: Does the agency you hire get the kind of press you’d want for yourself? Do they show off their client work? If they don’t, they’re insecure about other advertising agencies stealing their clients. A great marketing firm isn’t insecure about this, because they know they do what’s best for their clients at the end of the day and that’s how they make their decisions.

No one company is alike. As a growth agency, Rock Candy Media handles clients in every stage of their business, from stealth mode, to start-up mode, to established corporations that want to find the next industry to dominate. It’s like giving everyone a different mixtape, only it’s for marketing strategy.  Our graphic designers and content strategists work together to ensure you stand out from the crowd in the right way – with brand authority, relatability and a sense of urgency.

So what are you waiting for? Adtech of today is moving quickly and if you fail to keep up, your brand will get left in the dust. Schedule a consultation today.