Roku's new planning tool reveals audiences missed by TV ads

Dive Brief:

Roku is offering a new analytics and planning tool that pinpoints audiences not reached with TV ads that can be targeted on its over-the-top TV platform, according to a press release. Called Activation Insights, it includes a review of an advertiser's linear TV campaign performance compared with the potential OTT audience and the optimal budget for the Roku platform.
Roku says it currently has 29.1 million active accounts, although each account could include multiple viewers in a household. The new Activation Insights is part of the existing Roku Ad Insights Suite for measuring campaign reach and effectiveness on linear and OTT TV, and it is intended to complement the current analysis by estimating potential investment and audience that is incremental to a linear TV buy.
The Reach Insights function in the new tool, Roku said, allowed Baskin Robbin to discover that 86% of viewers aged 18-49 who saw a Baskin Robbins ad on the Roku platform did not see it on linear TV. Similarly, 81% of viewers aged 25-54 who saw a Re/Max ad on Roku did not see it on linear TV.

Dive Insight:

While OTT accounts for 29% of TV viewing, it only accounts for about 3% of TV ad budgets, Roku's announcement noted, citing Magna Global figures. The new analytics and planning tool is an attempt to show brands exactly what they're missing, and what it would cost. The gives advertisers a way to link their linear TV buys with an OTT push so that they complement one another.

While the spend on OTT and connected TV (CTV) advertising is growing, Roku's numbers point to the fact the segment is still a small portion of the overall market. Since OTT offers ad targeting capabilities similar to online — something that is still a challenge on linear TV — it could be an appealing venue for advertisers as viewiing grows, further driving spend. The OTT and CTV space needs greater standardization to attract big budgets —which is being worked on — as well as insights like those provided by Roku's new tool that can help brands understand the return on their investments.

Roku, which is available as a standalone box or is contained inside the settop box in some cable systems, has become a major platform in the rise of OTT TV. But several tech giants, including Apple with its Apple TV and Amazon with its Fire TV, are gunning for their share of that booming market. Amazon also offers its own, popular Amazon program service, while Roku is primarily set up as a platform other programming apps, including Amazon as well as Netflix and others. It's not clear what the role of standalone OTT services like Roku will be as major digital platforms and traditional broadcasters compete for a piece of this growing market.

For its part, Roku is also creating partnerships to position itself as the OTT platform that reaches various ad-supported program services. Last year, for example, it partnered with Hearst Television for its Hearst Anyscreen service, offering OTT inventory from networks like FilmRise, Pluto TV and Tubi TV. Hearst Anyscreen also aggregates and provides ad inventory from local Hearst TV stations, ESPN, A+E Network, and various other cable networks.