Dive Brief:

• NBCUniversal today (Jan. 8) announced the launch of an AI-driven, cross-platform media planning and activation solution called One Platform Total Audience, per details shared with Marketing Dive. 
• The offering uses machine learning and predictive analytics to produce a single media plan across linear and streaming to target a brand’s specific audience segment. The tech leverages NBCU’s first-party data and advertisers’ data sets to reach consumers at scale and with program-level transparency. 
• One Platform Total Audience has sold out across all major categories including tech, auto and retail for the first quarter of 2024, NBCU reports. The media company plans to expand access to the new platform in Q2 2024. 

Dive Insight:

In the era of cookie depreciation, fragmented media viewing and an increase in ad-supported streaming options, advertisers are craving solutions that will be both intelligent and efficient. NBCU promises the new One Platform Total Audience solution, the latest evolution of its One Platform offering, is just that, using advanced technology and extensive data sets to reach audience segments wherever they are.

NBCU, in an early test of One Platform Total Audience, saw increased reach and efficiency with decreased impression waste for a brand. Additionally, advertisers saw a 25% higher brand engagement rate than narrow age and gender demographics for the same brands, per release details. With almost 60% of NBCUniversal’s advertising clients using audience-based buying, and a 25% increase in strategic audience buying in the past year, creating a system that meets this growing demand is essential.

The One Platform Total Audience will automate budget allocation across linear and streaming to create an optimized media mix based on marketers’ specified audience segments, according to the release. NBCU will also add programmatic guarantees for media buys along with new buy-side automated order and workflow management. Additionally, the company announced that it will transact at least half of its business on strategic audiences in 2024.

“2024 will be a watershed year for change,” said Mark Marshall, NBCU’s chairman of global advertising and partnerships. “Seismic shifts in measurement will throw everyone’s media mix models up in the air, presenting a singular opportunity to transact on strategic audiences and measure real KPIs for marketers. With One Platform Total Audience, we are empowering our clients to supercharge their media schedules in a whole new way and maximize the effectiveness of their ad dollars to achieve their business goals.”  

NBCU’s new product represents how the industry is reframing its approach to media. In its prediction for 2024 overall ad spending, for instance, Dentsu noted that, as digital now accounts for over half of total spending, advertisers are prioritizing attention over reach in their media planning.