TV advertising has always been a powerful performance vehicle. In fact, a recent study from The VAB found that first-time TV advertisers saw an average increase of up to 42% in unique website traffic.1
But the complex ad buying process can be daunting especially for marketers with little TV ad experience and limited budgets. And unlike digital and social ads which have quickly evolved to meet the needs of marketers, reforming the TV ad buying experience requires more time and cross-industry collaboration. As a result, many businesses have turned to social media platforms as their main tool for advertising, where with just a few clicks, they can have an ad campaign up and running.
Simply put, social media advertising has historically been considered easy in a way that TV advertising has not. The intricacies and cost of entry of TV advertising have deterred marketers from harnessing its power and reach.
But that’s about to change.
Comcast announced the launch of Universal Ads, an advertising solution created to make TV advertising easy by making it simpler to buy, scale, measure, and ultimately drive performance.
Universal Ads is a self-service ad buying platform where marketers of any size can easily access premium video to create TV ad campaigns in a way that fits their budgets. Designed in a way that mirrors the ease of buying social media, it gives advertisers the most efficient, streamlined path to buying TV so they can leverage the power of multiscreen TV to drive performance.
Built on and powered by Comcast Advertising’s technology at FreeWheel, this first-of-its-kind advertising platform connects buyers and sellers allowing them to transact directly, without hidden and layered fees. Universal Ads has partnered with some of the industry’s leading publishers, most of whom are FreeWheel clients, to provide direct access to premium, brand-safe video that reaches over 90% of US households. And because all of this sits within one platform, it offers a unified approach and collective inventory that results in a consistent buying experience and campaign reporting, regardless of publisher.
And Universal Ads does more than simplify access to premium TV inventory – it eliminates the guesswork that goes into building effective campaigns. Instead of the traditional TV advertising practice of buying content, dayparts, etc. to reach large audiences, Universal Ads enables advertisers to buy specific audiences. The technology does the heavy lifting of reaching the target audiences and placing ads in the premium content they consume.
The new solution will be rolling out more broadly next quarter, allowing all marketers the opportunity to leverage the power of premium inventory to reach their audiences wherever they are watching.
Overhauling the TV ad buying experience is not a small lift and we are excited for our part in shaping the TV marketplace of the future.
For more information, visit the Universal Ads website.
Sources:
1. Video Advertising Bureau (VAB), “How New Advertisers Are Using TV to Ignite Interest Turn Consumers into Customers,” 2024.
