Amidst suggestions that Netflix will have to introduce advertising in order to keep prices down, several major TV buyers have confirmed they would be happy to advertise against Netflix content, given the chance. Asked if he would be interested in a Netflix advertising proposition, Richard Brooke, Media & Strategy Director, Europe at Unilever, told Future TV Advertising Forum two weeks ago: “If they were delivering good quality content that gets an audience, then clearly that is an attractive proposition for any advertiser because advertisers want to reach people. And they are producing good quality content.”
Keith Moor, CMO at Santander UK told the London conference: “If consumers go to Netflix and Netflix took advertising, I would go there.” Nikki Mendonça, President of OMD EMEA, highlighted the content arms race currently underway, with Netflix outspending traditional content giants. She believes advertising can help all media owners cope with the soaring cost of content. She revealed internal OMD research showing that 68% of people would consider an ad-funded model for Netflix.
Speaking separately about how TV is performing for advertisers, Irwin Gotlieb, Global Chairman at GroupM, said he was concerned that subscription TV would take impressions away from advertising-supported media. This is not a new fear, he pointed out, and goes back to the days when premium cable networks like HBO and Showtime launched.
“This concern is very real and as an industry we need to take it very seriously. The thing that scares me most, when performing our role of mitigating media inflation on behalf of our clients, is a shift in audience from advertiser-supported channels to non-advertiser supported channels. I would be very open to the industry exploring hybrids [subscription with advertising] and any scheme that reduces the risk that too many impressions flee to non ad-supported alternatives.”
So if Netflix opened its doors to advertising, would he view it as just another good content owner where he can reach consumers? “If they did, yes,” Gotlieb said.
Photo: Nikki Mendonça of OMD at Future TV Advertising Forum.
Watch the entire 2016 Future TV Advertising Forum back here or watch Nikki Mendonça’s presentation from the conference below.
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