According to a survey conducted by CoLab Media Consulting – an independent media research company – and commissioned by Audience Xpress (FreeWheel’s video media sales house) 70% of UK marketers intend to invest more in Advanced TV for the next 12 months. This figure represents a ten percentage point increase over the previous year. Additionally, 88% of UK marketers believe that Advanced TV channels, such as AVOD and FAST, services will see experience higher levels of spend in the year ahead
The research company surveyed 500 marketing decision makers or influencers in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain in July this year, and found that UK respondents showed more caution about raising their overall marketing investments compared respondents in the other markets. However AudienceXpress notes that most will not ‘go dark’ and 53% plan to at least maintain their current levels of spend or increase it.
The report also found the customer acquisition is now the top marketing priority for 43% of UK respondents. The second most important priority for UK advertisers is revenue growth (38%) while fore UK agencies it is customer retention (34%).
Among UK respondents, 45% believe that reach is the number one driver for marketing success, with advertisers ranking targeting as the second most important (26%) and agencies choosing media channel selection (32%) and tailoring creative (30%).
The survey found that the audience targeting methods Advanced TV offers is considered the top driver of spend (28%) followed by the ability to connect with viewers across screens (25%). The biggest barrier to investing more in Advanced TV for UK advertisers was a lack of awareness (45%), however UK agencies (at a rate of 30%) state that it is an unwillingness on the part of clients to experiment with Advanced TV, that is inhibiting spend.
Stefanie Briec, Director, Head of Demand Sales UK & International AudienceXpress at FreeWheel, said: “Optimism for AVOD and FASTs among UK marketers closely reflects the collective enthusiasm of the EU5 markets, with on average almost nine in ten survey respondents planning to increase their levels of spend in these channels.
“Continuing to meet marketers’ demand for advanced technological capabilities, such as data-driven and audience-based targeting, will drive additional growth. These findings also highlight the importance of raising awareness, as well as the need to quantify Advanced TV’s performance and prove the value of adopting these impactful channels.”
