Canadian Ad Insider

Our Future of TV Advertising Canada coverage powered by Datonics.

Main Themes:

• Balancing short-term performance with long-term brand building: All three CMOs agree on the importance of balancing performance marketing with long-term brand building initiatives. They acknowledge the pressure to deliver immediate results but stress the need to invest in brand equity to ensure sustainable growth.
• "You need long-term equity and you need performance marketing and you need to figure out the balance." - Susan Irving
• "Brands are to your point, too, your assets. I mean, we have Kit Kat, Perrier...you have to continually invest in those to be relevant." - Tracey Cooke
• The evolving role of TV: The panelists recognize the enduring power of TV for reach and appointment viewing, but also acknowledge the increasing shift towards performance-based digital marketing. They call on TV companies to innovate and provide better measurement tools to demonstrate the value of TV advertising in the digital age.
• "We need to find a different way to measure the effectiveness of prime reach so that we can talk about it relative to cheap reach." - Lisa Mack
• "Content and integration more than just what we have at the table...more integration opportunities would be great." - Tracey Cooke
• The importance of Canadian content: The CMOs emphasize the effectiveness of marketing around Canadian cultural moments and the need to support the Canadian media industry. They see this as crucial for maintaining Canadian identity and reaching consumers across the country.
• "We need to figure out how to keep Canadian content. And specifically as a Canadian, I think we all want to have our identity." - Susan Irving
• "We have to try to commit to this in some way... I don't think anybody's going to dispute that this isn't important and they want to support it." - Tracey Cooke

Key Facts & Insights:

• Performance marketing is gaining momentum: Budgets are increasingly shifting towards performance-driven digital marketing due to its perceived measurability and data-driven nature.
• The Canadian economy is impacting spending: The current economic climate is putting pressure on marketing budgets, with consumers becoming more price-sensitive.
• MM is a valuable but imperfect tool: While market mix modeling (MM) provides valuable data, it relies on historical data and can struggle to account for creative factors.
• The future of numerous is uncertain: The potential disappearance of numerous, Canada's independent measurement system, is a concern for all three CMOs.
• Canadian brands are underinvesting in Canadian media: Despite its effectiveness, Canadian brands are spending less on Canadian media than the share of voice Canadians are consuming.

Key Quotes:

• On the need for balance: "Our jobs as marketers, especially internally, is tough because when the business is struggling we tend to pull the short-term levers that harm the brand in the long term." - Susan Irving
• On the power of TV: "Television, although it's expensive, still has the most amount of reach and appointment viewing." - Susan Irving
• On the challenge for TV: "We need to find measurement...We have to find a different way to measure the effectiveness of prime reach so that we can talk about it relative to cheap reach." - Lisa Mack
• On the importance of Canadian content: "We need to ensure that we're reaching Canadians everywhere so that they're getting the truth when it comes to data and to ensure that we remain as as a great country that we are investing in our country with Canadian content." - Susan Irving
• On the threat of platform dominance: "The outcome is really quite terrifying when you start to think about... God help us if the aperture is for four places...You need more diversity for sure." - Lisa Mack

Call to Action:

• Canadian CMOs need to advocate for increased investment in Canadian content and work with media partners to find solutions that balance performance and brand-building objectives.
• TV companies must adapt to the changing media landscape by providing better measurement tools and exploring innovative ad formats that capture consumer attention.
• The Canadian marketing industry needs to come together to support independent measurement solutions like numerous and ensure a diverse media ecosystem.