Why Should You Give Your Brand The Gift of Linear + Streaming This Holiday Season?
If you’re not combining linear and OTT, to quote Mr. Parker from A Christmas Story, “You’ll shoot your eye out, kid.”
TV viewing habits are evolving rapidly, posing a constant challenge for brand advertisers and media buyers alike. However, one thing is clear. Brands that thrive in this ever-changing viewing ecosystem run their campaigns using a combination of linear broadcast and OTT streaming.
Despite what some may say, linear is still alive and well. While Nielsen estimated 121 million TV households in 2021, Horowitz Research found that approximately 48.4 million households watch content OTA, meaning they use an antenna. Additionally, OTA viewers aren’t limited to OTA content – 82% of them are also streamers, and 59% subscribe to an MVPD. Considering Nielsen says the streaming audience viewed nearly 15 million years’ worth of content in 2021, it’s clear that the combined linear and streaming audience is nothing short of massive.
With such a large audience and broad market reach, linear broadcast creates significant brand awareness, which kicks off the consumer journey. As an added bonus, local broadcast news stations, such as TEGNA’s KARE 11 in Minneapolis, or 12 News in Phoenix, are the most trusted channels for keeping Americans informed about what’s happening in their communities. This trust extends to brand advertisers via the halo effect, influencing an audience to positively associate your brand with the local, trusted news channel.
With OTT streaming, viewers get the same big-screen, lean-in viewing experience as traditional TV. But what sets it apart for advertisers is that streaming allows advertisers to zero in on messaging to a target audience and effectively measure outcomes.
And when you combine the two, it’s clear that the advantage in advertising goes to the big screen. A study from MediaScience found that viewers pay more attention to TV and streaming ads on a big screen than their mobile counterparts. The study also found that ad recall is 2.2 times higher and purchase intent is 1.3 times higher when an ad is viewed on a big screen.
What does that mean for your brand advertising? A few things.
- Linear TV and Streaming don’t work against each other. Rather, they are complementary pieces to the puzzle.
- Linear offers unmatched reach, scale, and trustworthiness while streaming offers better targeting and personalization.
- When it comes to generating awareness, linear can reach a massive audience with a general message. Meanwhile, streaming offers reach extension and can narrow the focus to a smaller, more targeted audience.
What’s the main takeaway? It is the holiday season, so give your brand the gift of an integrated marketing campaign to take into 2023. If you’re not combining linear and OTT, to quote Mr. Parker from A Christmas Story, “You’ll shoot your eye out, kid.”
Sound Good?
With 64 TV stations in 51 markets and more than 58M monthly website visitors, TEGNA’s innovation is among the first local media publishers to offer a forward-facing advertising solution that uses first-party audiences. To learn more about TEGNA AudienceOne, contact us to team up with one of our media marketing experts.
