TV is changing, but is the industry ready?

How TV will change the game for digital marketers

TV is going through the biggest radical rethink in decades as it becomes connected to the Internet.

TV still commands 50 percent of the half-a-trillion dollar global media budget because it still engages consumers unlike any other media.

But over the last few years, the rise of smart mobile devices combined with the rapid growth of social media has changed the way we interact with television. When something piques our interests we want to share and dig deeper.

It is estimated that 25 percent of consumers go online after seeing a TV ad. That’s a huge spike right there. Not to mention that half of all TV watchers have a second electronic device in their hands, such as a smart phone or tablet, while on the couch. But whether you are checking your email or talking on Facebook, the habit is now truly synced for TV watchers. So much so, the biggest topic of discussion on social media by far is TV content. We just love it and we can’t get enough, because with every wave of consumer technology — from video recorders to X-Box and Hulu — technology drives TV viewing up and up, and with it the potential for advertising dollars and media measurement.

The next organic wave of “dual screening” — watching linear content on the main TV screen — while interacting on a second screen in your hand, is going to change everything we know about media.

In addition, the ability to place-shift content and carry TV with you in your pocket is going to grow exponentially, especially as the promise of 4G becomes a reality — but the forecast of $254 million by 2015 isn’t something the TV producers are too worried about. The big shift is in the delivery of video — not through traditional broadcast methods– but increasingly via the internet infrastructure.

Already 30 percent of U.S. homes find their TV sets are connected to the internet, whether directly or via an over-the-top service like cable or BluRay live. Best Buy saw 30 percent of all new TVs sold last year were “connected” and this number is continuing to grow.

The distinction between TV and online is quickly becoming blurred — and this is clearly shown in the impending explosion of online video. But sitting in front of your laptop isn’t the future for online video, it’s going to be video distributed over the internet to the very best screen in your home, your television. So what does this mean for the digital marketer?

But for all the talk of smart TVs and the rumor mills around a 50″ Apple iTV, consumers don’t replace their TV sets the way they do their mobiles. We typically replace our mobile every 12 to 18 months compared to every 7 to 10 years for TV sets, though that figure is now beginning to drop. This means for TV to shift we need to think of things connecting to the TV, as opposed to an actual smart TV in the near future. And that, my friends, is the race between OTT boxes from cable companies to Roku, Apple TV, etc. and wireless companion devices of the smart phone and tablet era.

When you look into what tablet and smart phone users are doing when watching TV, we discover that about 19 percent are searching for content related to TV advertising, a huge percentage of which are looking for coupons and discounts. This means that if we can simplify the process of finding related information or even sharing with friends whilst in front of the TV using a companion device, we can find a hybrid lean-back experience with lean-forward engagement.

Whether it is snapping a QR code on the screen, or letting high-frequency audio be picked up by a listening app on your smart phone or tablet, you can trigger a related response on the second screen. This doesn’t just have to act as a single redirect mimicking a click-thru, oh no. Multiple audio signals can be picked up within TV content or ad content to create multiple trigger points such as to collect characters by swiping your phone at the TV as shown by Wieden and Kennedy in its Honda Jazz TV ad, whereby the more interactive characters collected on the phone, the more hidden features one could discover.

But that is only TV ads. What about content itself? Adding meta data to all TV and film content means that potentially the trigger points of Daniel Craig sporting the latest Omega Seamaster in a Bond film becomes a trigger for the companion device to show an ad. Ever wondered what shoes Sarah Jessica Parker was wearing? Well now you can know without even doing a search.

Rolling a phone in front of a TV that triggers a response is just the next iteration of rich-media. It combines picture-in-picture across devices, whilst allowing a mass-reached broadcast medium to be overlaid with highly targeted personal ads that are user-initiated. It’s the 21 century expandable ad! It’s an in-stream plus a companion ad. It is HTML5 at its finest, set within an organically tactile device your toddler or grandmother will just intuitively “get.”

No more explaining to my mother what I actually do. No more convincing your CEO about online banners working, and them never actually seeing your work. Finally we are going to converge TV and online, and out-of-home content with interactive advertising, search and social media sharing within the most personal of devices. Not only that, but the chance for discount coupons and offers (or even payments) will happen right on a phone in your hand. Before you can even type “What is that hand bag she has?” your phone tells you and lets you look at it in 360 degrees, review it, buy it and show off to all your friends on Facebook that you are awaiting delivery of that very beautiful designer bag, all before the ad break even comes on the TV. Bingo! Winner, winner, chicken dinner (which, incidentally, you just ordered for home delivery via your mobile after seeing the latest Kentucky Fried Chicken ad.)

And the best part? Not only is this highly targeted advertising, being able to deliver individual ads to every single person in any given living room, or theatre or high-street, It offers measurability, accountability, consumer engagement, stunning creativity, and all with consumer-initiated opt-in. Did you hear me privacy advocates? I said “consumer opt-in!”

The bottom line is TV is changing. The notion of online video is permeating all media channels, and modes of measurement are going to be a hybrid from evaluating the value of an emotional connection through exposure as well as a tangible engagement through interaction. TV is just a large high-quality monitor that displays video content, irrespective of how it is transmitted to it. But everyone knows this will be increasingly via internet. It isn’t going to die. It’s just going to become a lot more dynamic, targeted, and measurable — complemented with “huge” production budgets. And that my friends, is the future of digital.