European Connected TV Initiative to explore advertising opportunities

Thursday, October 29th, 2020
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Leading Industry Participants Support New Connected TV Initiative To Explore New Opportunities For Europe’s Advertising Ecosystem

  • The European Connected TV Initiative, working in collaboration with Google, Roku, Fincons Group and IPONWEB and supported by The Drum, will work collaboratively with the industry to explore opportunities, and address potential barriers to realising the full to explore ad potential of CTVs in Europe.

LONDON, UK — The European Connected TV Initiative launched today with support from Google, Roku, Inc. (Nasdaq: ROKU), Fincons Group and IPONWEB, focused on exploring the advertising opportunities emanating from the growth of CTV in Europe.

European Connected TV Initiative

Working and collaborating with major trade bodies, including egta and the IAB Europe, the new connected TV (“CTV”) initiative will facilitate a wide-ranging dialogue across the industry to explore potential opportunities, identify potential barriers, and identify practical steps that the industry could take, collaboratively and collectively, to unlock the full potential of the CTV ecosystem in Europe. This extensive programme of interactive discussion and debate will involve advertisers, agencies, broadcasters, TV platforms, technology, data, and measurement providers, working together to develop constructive proposals that can help the industry move forwards during the 2020s.

The growth and development of the CTV ecosystem is widely regarded as one of the most important developments of recent years. CTVs are powerful distribution vehicles for streaming services and addressable advertising, a source of new data-driven insights for publishers and marketers, a platform for advertising innovation, and an opportunity to support programmatic buying on TV screens. A vibrant, dynamic new CTV ecosystem is developing, one that can support the growth of the TV industry during the decade ahead.

However, unlocking and realising the full potential of CTVs in Europe will require collaboration, coordination, and compromise across the entire ecosystem.

The programme will include a detailed analysis of the current state of the market and discussions about the key questions facing the industry, including:

  • What is the role of connected TVs in the future of the European TV industry and advertising ecosystem?
  • What factors support the growth of connected TV advertising in key European markets – and what are the main barriers, pain points and challenges holding back developments?
  • What discrete opportunities and use cases are supported by connected TVs and how attractive are they to broadcasters and advertisers?
  • What steps can and should the TV industry take, collectively, to support the growth and development of the connected TV ecosystem?

Launching in October 2020, the new Consortium will analyse the market and convene a programme of industry forums and seminars across a selection of key European markets, to review developments and explore solutions, with a final report due to be published in 2021.

Senior executives Google, Roku, Fincons and IPONWEB will be discussing the new initiative and the connected TV opportunity in Europe at a special event on November 2, 2020 at 10 AM EST/ 3 PM BST.

The new initiative is being advised by leading industry participants from across the European market and will collaborate with leading industry trade bodies, including egta, IAB Europe, WFA and other bodies.

Jens Thenakara, EMEA Head of Programmatic Media at Google Marketing platforms, said: “As people spend more time at home, we are seeing industry-wide shifts toward streaming viewership. Many advertisers are working quickly to adjust and expand their creative and connected TV usage remains well above 2019 levels and advertisers are very excited by the growing opportunity. So, we’re making it even simpler for digital media buyers to discover and secure ad inventory on high-quality streaming content. We will continue to work with the industry and listen to our partners to ensure that brands can respond effectively to this rapidly developing space.”

Mike Shaw, Director of Europe for Roku Inc., said: “The media landscape is undergoing a fundamental shift away from legacy television models of the past to today’s new era of streaming. Europe has entered the streaming decade, where already half of UK households have moved to streaming and the impacts of COVID-19 have only served to accelerate the broader consumer migration towards OTT. As the leader in streaming, Roku is committed to developing new and innovative products and features such as The Roku Channel and OneView Ad Platform that deliver exceptional value to consumers and help marketers unlock the incredible potential of OTT advertising. Marketers have been waiting for the kind of reach, control and measurable efficacy streaming brings to TV advertising and we look forward to working together in the consortium to help brands succeed in this new streaming marketplace.”

Oliver Botti, Strategic Marketing and Innovation Executive Director at Fincons Group said: “Fincons Group is committed to this initiative. It is critical for the industry to seriously explore the CTV advertising opportunity in Europe. The time has come to create a more engaging user experience, both on the content and advertising fronts. TV is still one of the most powerful advertising channels, but advertisers want to be able to connect TV ads to cross-platform campaigns and want to leverage identity, in compliance with privacy laws. Connected TVs are an essential part of the plan, bridging the gap between traditional TV and the digital media mix. We have been working with early moving broadcasters and brands leveraging connected TVs as a way of driving this new cross-channel approach, creating the basis for both new interactive ad products and TV formats that can reach consumers across their different viewership habits.”

Brian Golbere, SVP of Technology, TV Solutions Group at IPONWEB, said: “IPONWEB is committed to supporting a robust and diverse advertising ecosystem. This initiative provides a timely forum to capture the industry’s critical needs of the industry and the potential of the CTV in Europe. By synthesizing the input and ideas from across the spectrum of participants, we can build on this forum a foundation to bring scalable solutions to address market needs.”

The project is being directed by experienced industry advisors Jon Watts and Mary Ann Halford.