In this age of cord cutters, advertisers need new and innovative ways to capture the attention of the ad-averse consumer. Streaming services have been able to directly target consumers by placing relevant ad content based on viewers’ ages, locations, where they shop and other information. This data is collected by both the streaming service itself and outside vendors. However, with “ad-free” options on services like Hulu, YouTube and Netflix, advertisers and streaming services had to get more creative on the next logical step.
Streaming services are experimenting with different advertising innovations on their platforms including dynamic product placement. Product placement has been around for years, but advertisers and streaming services are looking to increase their ability to capture the attention of their specific target audience. With this dynamic and individualized approach, streaming services would be able to “drop-in” the logo or ad of a specific brand based on the consumers’ known preferences. Imagine watching the same sitcom as your neighbor but instead of seeing the box of Cheerios on the breakfast table that you’re seeing on your streaming device, it’s a box of Frosted Flakes on your neighbor’s device. On that same sitcom, you could also see the main character’s son in a football jersey of a local college. Your friend in a different state? They would see a football jersey for a college local to them.
With the shift to watching television digitally, sometimes ad-free, it’s no wonder that advertisers and streaming services are looking to advertise more effectively and explore new technologies. While there are skeptics in the industry that are unsure if this avenue will bring a positive return on investment since the reach may not be as high as a traditional commercial, it may be worth the risk to be able to get the right product in front of the right individual, without commercial interruption.
