“We’re Bringing Creativity Back to the Forefront of Advertising”

3 Min Read

The ad industry is changing rapidly, and marketers are moving into the next era of advertising thanks to programmatic Connected TV. This month, MNTN’s CEO Mark Douglas joined Adweek International Editor David Griner for a NexTech: The New Era of TV Streaming. In case you missed it, below is a summary of this week’s conversation.

Performance and Targeting Changes the TV Game

“The idea is to bring performance retailers into the world of television and democratize ad-support streaming for all brands,” explains MNTN CEO Mark Douglas. “TV is traditionally the exclusive domain of large, traditional advertisers. MNTN’s Performance TV is a self-serve platform that allows you to go right in and launch campaigns comparable to paid search – but now on paid TV.”

When asked what the selling point of measurement was and how brands have reacted, Douglas was emphatic about the possibilities it opens up for brands of all sizes. “Early adopters that thought about measurement were performance brands – the big ones on TV with a clear call to action. But now you also have these emerging merchants and retailers using TV for the first time because of measurement and targeting. When you use streaming in a performance-minded way, you’re determining who you want to reach and using targeting data to deliver the results you want.”

Viewers (and Brands) Are Cutting the Cord

Douglas doesn’t see the current growth trends slowing anytime soon. “What everyone can point to is this massive consumer adoption for streaming; people abandoning cable for streaming. You have this massive user migration every month that rivals the size of a major city and advertisers are lagging to catch up.” Douglas thinks that brands are going to have to catch up to where the viewers are heading in large numbers and is already starting to see brands make their own mass migration to Connected TV. “The emerging market is going to be 100% digital – everything is targeted and geared towards optimizing ad spend to get the best result.”

Maximum Effort’s Social Media Mindset

It didn’t take long for the conversation to turn to MNTN’s recent acquisition of Maximum Effort and Ryan Reynolds assuming the role of MNTN’s Chief Creative Officer. “What Ryan is doing with Maximum Effort and its quick and creative messaging is where the world of Connected TV is heading,” said Douglas. He pointed to Maximum Effort’s viral ad for Aviation Gin that lampooned the infamous Peloton commercial controversy. Maximum Effort was able to produce the commercial in less than 48 hours. “It’s a social media mindset applied to a 30-second creative spot on the television screen. It doesn’t have to be perfect; it can be filmed on your phone if the message is right.”

While he emphasized that you still need good production quality, the days of elaborate sets and costly shoots are no longer as necessary if you’re producing quick, topical content.

The Return of Creative Advertising

Adweek’s David Griner pointed out that 90% of linear TV ads don’t apply to the viewer, and that very few ads are memorable – but that we’re moving to a new era of advertising. Douglas agreed. “People don’t hate ads – they just hate bad ads or ads that don’t have relevance to them. Audience-first advertising breaks the rigid lines that were drawn on how to define a customer.”

Douglas is optimistic that this new technology is bringing back a new golden era of creativity to advertising. “The advent of paid search started to de-emphasize creative advertising – streaming is bringing [it back].” Douglas pointed to how Connected TV marketing uses the power of the television medium to deliver an emotional message, but it’s also done with measurement and targeting. “It’s all about the creative; we deliver the fastest-growing media platform in the CTV space in terms of customers and revenue…. with Maximum Effort, we intend to bring creativity back to the forefront of advertising.”