WSI AGENCY HOSTS WEBINAR TO DISCUSS CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR TV ADVERTISERS DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Managing director at WSI Agency, Gerardo Kerik moderated webinar session “A Global View On Covid-19.” The meeting was created to discuss the challenges and opportunities for the TV advertising industry during the Covid-19 pandemic. It featured insights from advertising experts, such as Chief Executive Officer at Asia Video Industry Association (Avia), Louis Boswell, Chairman of the Latin American Media and Advertising Council (LAMAC), Enrique Martinez, President, and CEO of the Video Advertising Bureau, Sean Cunningham, and Director General at EGTA, Katty Roberfroid. The experts discussed and answered questions relating to the Role of TV and advertising during the pandemic, how TV advertising sales and business strategies to retain clients have been impacted, changes in consumer behavior trends, and insights, perspectives, and recommendations from around the world.

All of the participants agreed that the pandemic has resulted in increased media consumption. According to Cunningham, who is based in Miami, FL, 10% of households use broadband-only homes and the rest are served by multi-channel television in some form, creating a massive scale. He states that the U.S region experienced a 20 to 30% surge in its audience. During the beginning of the pandemic, consumers sought news related to the pandemic. Now, they look out for escapism entertainment and comfort. Consumers who usually watch sporting events, which have been canceled, are distributing themselves into other sorts of genres. He has also noticed the audience’s desire to engage and connect to the content through comments, social media, etc. Despite the need for entertainment, consumers appear to appreciate advertisers who acknowledge the situation in a sensitive way, provide a sense of humor, and show compassion towards its workers.  “I think that this content, these conduits, these screens are a huge part of how people are getting through,” he said. “People before COVID were multi-screen device athletes and were relentless editors in video content. I think that those habits have increased exponentially in terms of usage.”

With just over 50% usage of premium videos and multi-channels in the region, Martinez’s Latin American region is at a much smaller scale than the U.S. The region has seen a dramatic viewership increase in every market, including Argentina by 27%, Brazil by 22%, Chile by 37%, Colombia by 42%, and Mexico's by 18%. Boswell’s Asian region and Roberfroid’s European region, have also seen drastic increases, particularly in age groups, with adults spending more time-consuming media and younger individuals watching content they previously didn’t watch as much. Boswell highlighted that the increase is also, in part, through illegal downloads and piracy. All of the colleagues agreed that the outbreak has caused a spark in exploration among consumers, as they are more open to watching various genres and content. 

According to Cunningham,  marketers should consider that as “an extremely mobile society,” people are accustomed to spending a lot of time watching content on their phones or iPads, but now they can do sampling on the biggest, best available screen in the household. With more opportunity for exposure for marketers, and more options for entertainment for consumers, both parties benefit. Most of the participants believe the increased media consumption can result in a long-term change in the dynamics of consumption. Roberfroid believes with advertisers releases new programs, filming from home, and practicing other methods to stay productive, they can consume. "This certainly is an opportunity to keep those audiences, it's just doing it the right way by looking at what they're looking for at the moment,” she said. “There's been a lot of spontaneously newly created types of projects.”

With some regions using more TV, and others, such as the Philippines and Indonesia, considered a mobile market, Boswell believes that while media consumption may rise in the long-term, the devices used may watch content may not change. “There's obviously a cross-pollination so that there is the situation where you're having more people sitting down in front of the big screen perhaps and that there was before because families are locked in the same household,” he said. “But we have a lot of markets, which are not really considered television first markets. They are mobile-first markets.”

Despite a reduction in advertising revenues, as well as productions as a result of the outbreak, most experts do not believe the future of programming will be negatively affected in the long-term because, while some industries, such as travel and tourism are suffering, others like food and beverages are not. Martinez believes that although it’s important to produce fresh content and release it in a timely matter, there’s a large amount of content ready to be produced and released. “I think it continues to be a great opportunity from that perspective, and hopefully the production machines will ramp up in the not too distant future so that we can get the new fresh content rolling again,” Martinez said. “But, I think there's a there's a vast supply of that at this point in time.”

During the webinar, the experts also discussed the effectiveness of data tools, which allow advertisers trends in the marketplace, such as audience-based buying, and helps them come up with ways to connect specific groups. While some advertisers have paused spending, others have tailored content to the current situation. 253 COVID campaigns have been launched in 15 different industries, 90 of them were announced this week. All of the experts agreed that rather than a period during which advertisers should “sit out for a quarter” or take breaks, the pandemic is an opportunity for consumers to learn about new networks, new premium categories, and video offerings, and for advertisers to release fresh, creative content that emotionally connect and are tailored to the needs of the consumer. “Out of this terrible tragedy, has come this unique opportunity where one of the human commonalities is this heightened consumption of all this world-class content and programming, and that it's all demographics,” Cunningham said.