To do so, the performers plan to get intense with audiences by leaning into energetic moods and shifting away from the neutral moods that were more prevalent last year. In total, seven of this year’s 37 songs fall into the “energizing” mood category¹—the most prominent primary mood descriptor² across all of the entries. While we saw an equal number of “energizing” entries last year, this year’s contest will feature more songs with other energetic undertones.

Last year, for example, “yearning” was the most prevalent mood (there were nine) among the song entries; this year, there are just four. Similarly, there are no songs with a “sensual” primary mood descriptor in this year’s contest; last year, there were five. There are also twice as many songs with “excited” and “defiant” as the primary moods: four and two, respectively.

The shift toward more energetic moods bodes well for competitors, as half of the 24 winning songs between 1998 and 2022 were characterized by five moods at the more energetic side of the spectrum: “energizing,” “excited,” “fiery,” “rowdy” and “urgent.” And in the last decade, seven of the last 10 winning songs have expressed at least one of these moods. This year, 19 of the 37 entries express “energizing,” “excited,” “fiery,” “rowdy” or “urgent” as their main mood.

Of these five moods, “fiery” is the most common among winners since 1998, including last year, when “Stefania,” Ukraine’s entry from hip-hop band Kalush Orchestra, took the top prize. “Stefania” was one of three entries with a “fiery” primary mood.

Dana International’s win for Israel in 1998 with her song “Diva” was the first entry with a “fiery” primary mood descriptor to take the top prize. Her win also kicked off a trend that we’ve seen hold through 2022: 14 winners have featured moods at the more energetic end of the spectrum. Israel’s win in 1998 was also more in tune with the pop music of the time—a shift that has carried through most of the contests in the years that followed.

Comparatively, the winning songs of the first 42 editions of the contest, which started in 1956, were less energetic: Only four of the 45 winners (there were four co-winners in 1969) during this period were songs with more energetic moods. The primary moods of the others had average and below-average energy levels.

In total, this year’s entries cover less emotional range than last year, as the songs cover just 12 primary moods—down from 15 in 2022. Entries are more heavily stacked in the positive and energetic areas of the mood spectrum, which puts more songs in contention to win from a recent historical perspective. In looking at the top 10 contenders to win, based on the odds at eurovisionworld.com, seven exhibit one of the five moods that have dominated in recent years, suggesting that history will likely repeat itself when the final vote is tallied following this year’s contest.

This year’s contest starts May 9, 2023. The semi-finals are May 11, and the final is May 13.

Notes

¹ As categorized by Nielsen’s Gracenote music data
² Gracenote’s Sonic Mood Descriptors feature 25 level one mood descriptors. These descriptors indicate the most prominent and distinct elements in a song, such as rhythm, melody, and timbre. Combined, they provide a “mood profile” of a song, which indicates the primary mood and strength.

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Somewhat surprisingly, fewer marketers said they would make the knee-jerk reaction of reducing ad spending than leaning into other strategies. Globally, marketers would rather shift spending to digital channels and prioritize performance-based marketing.

For marketers, the uncertain economic outlook adds to the complexity that they’re already facing as they weigh new marketing channels while still lacking confidence in measuring the ROI of their total spending. Specifically, only 53% of global marketers, on average, express being either extremely or very confident in their ability to measure the ROI of their total spending.

In aggregate, marketers’ lackluster confidence in ROI measurement poses two challenges. First, a shift in marketing strategy that prioritizes performance marketing could impede marketers’ ability to deliver on their top objective for the year ahead: new customer acquisition. And on the flipside, lackluster confidence in full-funnel measurement could hamper marketers’ ability to gauge the holistic impact of their marketing if they stay the course and leverage all channels as planned.

The economy might be less of a challenge in actuality, as global marketers do expect their advertising budgets to increase this year, albeit less so than a year ago: 64%, on average, expect their ad budgets to grow this year, with 13% expecting increases of 50% or more. And as has been the case in recent years, marketers plan to continue favoring digital channels, with social media, online video, online display and search ranking highest for planned spending increases. And given the rising popularity of streaming among TV audiences, 84% of marketers globally say they now include streaming in their marketing mix, which adds further complexity to measurement. 

That complexity is reflected in the perceived ROI of streaming among marketers, as only 49%, on average, believe streaming is either extremely or very effective as a marketing channel. The skepticism isn’t surprising, given the relative newness of streaming en masse and the unique requirements associated with measuring it. But it’s not the only channel marketers struggle to validate—it’s just the newest. In fact, perceived effectiveness is relatively low across nine different digital channels.

There are many possible reasons for the muted level of ROI measurement confidence, such as declining use of marketing technology (martech), incomplete audience data, reduced investment in martech and lackluster campaign effectiveness data. Regardless of the reason, however, the survey results highlight a significant accountability gap—one that’s rooted in the complexity associated with cross-media measurement. And the complexity intensifies with every new channel that audiences engage with.

The historically different methodologies for linear and digital measurement underscore the difficulty in comprehensive cross-media measurement. And arriving at comparable metrics across a range of channels becomes increasingly arduous when measurement is channel specific. For example, 62% of marketers report using multiple tools for their cross-media measurement needs, with 14% using for or five. That will make arriving at comparable, cross-media measurement—something that 71% of marketers say is extremely or very important—very difficult, especially as new channels emerge.

Strategically, marketers have one North Star: the audience. Through that single lens, marketers have all the guidance they need to develop effective media strategies. In an increasingly fragmented digital landscape, quality audience data is at a premium—it’s also something that only 23% of marketers say they have access to. Yet without the right audience data, or the technology necessary to measure the effectiveness or impact of their spending, many marketers will remain ill-equipped to navigate where to allocate their spending and measure the outcomes that follow.

For additional insight, download the 2023 Nielsen Annual Marketing Report.

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The need for consistent measurement in a digital-first landscape

Access the full report

Few changes in the media industry are as defining as audiences’ relationship with television. And the latest evolution capturing audiences’ attention is streaming services, smart TVs, and the content they support. In the U.S. alone, Americans watched 19 million years worth of streaming content in 2022.

So, naturally, brands have adjusted their media strategies: 84% of global marketers say they include streaming channels in their media plans.

The catch? Less than half believe this spending is effective.

In December of 2022, we surveyed 1,524 global marketing professionals to understand how they feel about changing viewing behaviors, the rise of streaming and CTV, and solutions for tracking and proving campaign impact.

Here are four key survey insights:

1

Recession or not, marketers expect ad budgets to grow

Despite 69% of global marketers saying economic conditions had a big impact on planning, 64% expect their budgets to grow.

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2

Streaming is the future, but value remains unclear

84% of global marketers include streaming in their media planning. Less than half, however, view this spending as effective.

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3

ROI confidence is lowest across digital channels

Only 54% of marketers are confident in ROI measurement across digital channels.

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4

Multiple measurement tools could be hurting confidence

62% of marketers use multiple measurement solutions to achieve a comprehensive look at marketing performance, which may be contributing to the lack of confidence.

Insight #1

Digital spend edges out other channel investments

For marketers, 2023 was assumed to be an uncertain year, with 69% surveyed for this report saying that the economic conditions had an impact on their planning.

Still, 64% expect their ad budgets to increase this year, with 13% even expecting increases of 50% or more. Much of that growth can be attributed to CTV and streaming.

Anticipated budget changes of 50% or more throughout the year

Anticipated CTV/OTT spending aligns with global trends we’ve been tracking.

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In the U.S., 2022 digital video ad spend was up 171% from 2020. 

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Across Puerto Rico, Mexico and Brazil, digital ad spend increased 228%* between 2021 and 2022 for a total of US$24.5 billion, with 58%  (US$14.2 billion) allocated to digital video.

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In France, Denmark and the U.K., internet-based video spend increased from US$2.3 billion in the first three quarters of 2020 to US$4.2 billion USD in 2022.

*The data reported is derived from the increased coverage of our Ad Intel measurement, which shows greater visibility of actual spending on digital vehicles. (1) Digital activity reporting in Brazil starts in January 2022. (2) PPP and social activity reporting in Puerto Rico starts in May 2022.

Insight #2

Global ad budgets lean into CTV

The increased spend across online video reflects audiences’ shift to streaming in particular.

In the U.S., Americans watched more than 19 million years’ worth of streaming content in 2022.

In Mexico, streaming grew to account for 15.2% of total TV usage as of December 2022.

In Thailand, streaming content reaches more than 50% of the TV audience.

In Australia, 70% of people 14 and older say they use the internet to stream video.

1 Nielsen Streaming Content Ratings and Nielsen National TV panel
2 The Gauge Mexico
3 Thailand Cross-Platform Ratings
4 Australia Consumer and Media View, Q4 2022

Naturally, global marketers are refining their media spend: On average, 32% report allocating 40%-59% of their budgets to CTV, and nearly one-fifth (19%) report shifting 60%-79%.

Global ad budgets are shifting to CTV

Zenith Media forecasts that global online video ad spending will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.8% through 2025 to account for 30% of the overall ad market. The company expects advertising on subscription video on demand (SVOD) services to grow at a CAGR of 27.9% to reach US$13.1 billion by 2025.

This is massive momentum. And yet, according to global marketers, the perceived effectiveness of their  CTV/streaming investments is just 49%.

Perceived effectiveness of digital spending by channel

Our recommendations

1

Beware of underinvesting on brand equity

Marketers are always asked to do more with less, even without threats of a recession. The economic uncertainty, however, adds pressure to protecting brand equity and sharpens the need for efficient, targeted and measured ad spending. Marketers may just have less budget to do it all.

If that wasn’t hard enough, there’s another big consideration: Most brands were already under-spending—by a median of 50%— and losing opportunities to achieve their maximum ROI in 2022. Reducing spending more could hurt ROI even further. It may also have a negative impact on marketers’ top objectives for 2023: customer acquisition and brand awareness.

Top marketing objectives for the 2023

In digital channels where engagement is rising, under-spending is even higher. For example, May 2022 data from Nielsen’s Predictive ROI Database showed that 66% of global media plans were under-invested for digital video. But marketers that close the spending gap and optimize their digital video investments can improve ROI by a median of 51%.

Rampant underspending is preventing maximum ROI

• Digital video
• Display
• Social
• TV

2

Embrace a comparable measurement mindset

Audiences have spoken: Digital video—in all of its forms—is the future of how audiences will engage with content. This shift calls for transformative change in measurement. Marketers know how important comparable metrics are to understand the effectiveness of their ad spending, but they’re still too reliant on tools that give only a limited view of performance. To keep pace with the industry’s future, marketers need tools, solutions and metrics that are media-agnostic.

Impressions, for example, are universally applicable across ads, content and platforms. And subminute measurement, which produces individual commercial metrics, brings linear TV and digital video measurement closer to how digital campaign performance is measured.

On average, 62% of marketers find it hard to know where to use their ad budgets to reach specific audiences. Even more (69%) agree that digital media and audience fragmentation poses significant challenges to reach their target audiences.

Difficulty with OTT/CTV advertising measurement

• Global
• APAC
• EMEA
• North America
• Latin America

To be the transformation that marketers want and finally achieve comparable cross-media measurement at the individual level, marketers should prioritize solutions that are focused on delivering measurement that is media agnostic.

3

Increase ROI by reaching more of your target audience

Understanding how campaigns are performing in near real time should be the way forward on the quest for maximum ROI. We hear this a lot: Reach more of the right audience and your ROI will increase. There’s more truth to this statement than many people might realize.

In 2022, Nielsen conducted a study involving 15 brands and 82 digital campaigns in the U.S. to verify the correlation between target reach and campaign ROI. When we combined in-flight target measurements from Nielsen Digital Ad Ratings and outcome metrics from Nielsen Attribution, we found one clear truth: Ads that best reached their intended audience generated significantly higher ROI than those that didn’t.

Tracking the relationship between targeted ads and ROI

The graph above shows three distinct performance clusters with each bubble representing data for one vendor, for one month, on one campaign.

This study revealed key learnings about targeted reach:

Increased campaign reach raises costs and does not guarantee higher campaign ROI

Increased targeted reach will improve campaign ROI

Advertisers can use reach analysis to better understand which audiences to target

Focusing on the most valuable audiences improves efficiency and drives higher ROI

Honing campaign reach is a critical ROI lever. To stave off the complications of fragmented channels and viewerships, marketers need to prioritize measurement solutions that cover all platforms and devices, with near real time insights, so they can capitalize on opportunity and drive impact from the beginning.

About this report

This is the fifth annual marketing report Nielsen has produced. It’s also the second to be global. The report leverages survey responses of marketers across a variety of industries whose focus pertains to media, technology and measurement strategies. For this report, we engaged 1,524 global marketing professionals who completed an online survey between Dec. 7, 2022, and Dec. 21, 2022.

In terms of seniority level, we engaged global brand marketers at or above the manager level. These managers work with annual marketing budgets of US$1 million or more across the auto, financial services, FMCG, technology, health care, pharmaceuticals, travel, tourism and retail industries.

Here are the corresponding sample distributions by region. Please keep these sample sizes in mind when reading and interpreting the charts in this report.

Respondents by Region

• APAC: 386 respondents
• EMEA: 374 respondents
• North America: 402 respondents
• Latin America: 362 respondents

Total: 1,524

The post 2023 Nielsen Annual Marketing Report appeared first on Nielsen.

For the past two years, Nielsen Annual Marketing Report global surveys show that as marketers continue to grow their ad spend across digital channels, podcasts, social media and native advertising attract the biggest increases. The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) forecasts that podcast advertising will exceed $4 billion by 2024. eMarketer predicts that U.S. marketers will spend $7 billion on influencer marketing in 2024, up from $5 billion in 2022. 

It makes sense. These channels provide the potential to deliver huge impact with smaller spend when compared to traditional media—an appealing proposition at any time, but particularly now as budgets get stretched against the backdrop of global economic uncertainty. With the perfect podcast spot, your brand can feel like a vetted solution to its hyper-targeted audience of food-obsessed entrepreneurs looking for an easier way to ship their new small-batch hot sauce. Of course, the devil is in the details.

In our 2023 Brand Lift Drivers report, we shared research on tailoring emerging media creative to get more value. The next piece of the puzzle is ensuring your measurement strategy captures the complete picture of performance. 

While we’re no longer in the wild west days of influencer, sponsored content or podcast advertising, they are still relatively new channels. And with new terrain comes uncertainty. Historically, emerging media have had clear metrics for proving engagement and even conversion; brand-building measurement, however, has been more elusive. 

As these channels continue to solidify as key components of your marketing mix, it will be important to understand their impacts on the entire funnel. And that means nailing measurement for brand lift. 

The blockers for effective brand lift measurement

There are a few factors at play that make brand-building measurement hard for new and emerging media channels. 

• Channel inconsistencies 
  Podcasts, branded content and influencer marketing all have their own distinct set of metrics that, more often than not, don’t translate across channels. Views aren’t the same as listens, which aren’t the same as clicks. This makes it that much harder to get a 30,000-foot view of success as everything gets brought down to the channel level. 
• Siloed analysis
  Spending enough money with a single publisher or platform can unlock access to one-off brand lift studies. While helpful, these studies only capture what occurred within the confines of the vendor’s channel. That leaves you having to string together a series of ad hoc studies to create a patchwork view of performance. 
• Limited research
  While there are readily available industry benchmarks and best practices for established media channels, many working in emerging media are still flying blind. Nielsen’s research into brand lift factors for emerging media fills some of that knowledge gap. Still, the need—and expectation—for rigorous brand lift measurement in these channels will continue to grow as they prove durable marketing levers. 

The payoff of prioritizing upper-funnel insights 

The potential impact unlocked when you nail measurement for brand-building goals is huge, particularly for emerging media. 

Brand building wins deliver sales ROI

It’s been shown time and time again that investing in upper-funnel, brand-building goals drives lower-funnel returns. The 2021 Nielsen Brand Resonance Report found that increasing awareness and consideration by one point drives a 1% increase in future sales. And in 2022, we discovered that increasing awareness and consideration by 1% can also decrease short-term cost per acquisition by 1%. 

Investment at the top of the funnel is an investment for the full funnel. 

A universal metric reveals comprehensive performance  

To combat the complexities of each channel having its own set of performance metrics, look to a KPI that already works across all: Brand lift. This is a doubly helpful metric for those interested in emerging media spaces as they are particularly good at delivering on brand-building objectives. 

For podcast ads, branded content and influencer marketing, the average aided brand recall is over 70%, and the average brand sees gains in familiarity and affinity with the exposure. 

Consistency drives clarity

You’re potentially missing out on a compelling performance story when you don’t  track brand lift in a consistent way across platforms. It’s critical to understand, and quantify, the link between brand-building work and sales returns. What’s more, without consistent, holistic measurement, you may also lose out on insights into which investments are working and what’s missing the mark—no matter how new the channel is.  

Eventually, emerging media becomes established media and a new class of channels crops up. It’s the circle of marketing life. That means marketers should prioritize understanding the full-funnel impacts of these emerging channels, and those that come after, to remain agile and ready to drive as much impact as possible. 

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The widespread appeal of the NFL content, coupled with the growing variety of ways in which audiences engage with it, illuminates the shift to streaming that is starting to take place in sports programming—a shift that we’ve tracked across other program genres in the nearly two years since we launched The Gauge. In December 2022, for example, streaming had grown to  account for more than 38% of total TV usage.

Sports programming remains a fixture within the broadcast television world, yet rights deals are increasingly moving lucrative programming—including the NFL’s Thursday Night Football and all matches in the the upcoming MLS season—to streaming services. But on Super Bowl Sunday, the TV industry’s biggest day of the year, audience access isn’t limited to a single platform or technology. In fact, the magnitude of the event dictates that it’s available to audiences regardless of how they typically watch TV. Outside of the Super Bowl, however, we can see the tides are shifting, as audiences are steadily switching to smart TVs and internet-connected devices for regular season games. This will likely accelerate next season when the NFL Sunday Ticket hits YouTube TV.

Despite the overall appeal of NFL content, the hometowns of this year’s Super Bowl contenders have significantly different levels of interest in the league. In the 2022-23 season, Kansas City was one of the most engaged markets for the NFL, posting an average rating of 42.1², edged out just slightly by Buffalo, with an average rating of 45.9. Comparatively, the average rating in Philadelphia was 25.3, placing the City of Brotherly Love at No. 9 among the league’s 32 teams. 

The viewership in these two league stronghold cities tracks with the interest levels of the people who live there. According to Nielsen Scarborough, just over 44%³ of Philadelphia’s residents say they are either very or somewhat interested in the NFL, with 51% saying that they watch, stream and listen to Eagles games. And when it comes to the Super Bowl, only 5.3% say they stream it.

A bit west, just less than 70% of Kansas City’s residents say they are either very or somewhat interested in the NFL, with more than 72% saying that they watch, stream and listen to Chiefs games. And when it comes to the Super Bowl, 8.5% say they stream it.

Viewing behaviors and levels of fandom aside, NFL content, particularly the Super Bowl is among the top-performing programming on TV. And as sports begin to transition to new platforms and services, the audience numbers—across devices and platforms—serve as evidence the viewership will follow.

Notes

1. Live + same-day viewership; Nielsen national TV panel data via NPOWER
2. Nielsen national TV panel data via NPOWER
3. Nielsen Scarborough, 2022 release 2

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In the U.S., 26% of the adult population lives with a disability, and 1 billion people worldwide are members of the disability community. But as prominent as this community is in the population, it remains largely unseen, or inaccurately depicted, in content that appears on screen. 

As of September 2022, there were 923,229 total television program titles available to audiences, up 43% since the third quarter of 2019¹. And while the volume of disability-inclusive content has increased over time, progress is slow, especially when compared to the increase in available programming generally. Disability inclusion in video content peaked in 2019, when 518 productions were released featuring disability themes and characters². But this number is just a drop in the bucket when it comes to total content production. As of December 2022, 7,556 video titles included disability thematic attributes, but that represents just 4.1% of the 183,089 total titles with descriptor metadata released during the same period.

With inclusion numbers like these, it’s not surprising that 46% of people with disabilities feel their identity group is underrepresented on TV. In fact, disabled people are 34% more likely than the general population to feel they are under-represented on screen³.

And of the shows that do feature people with disabilities, share of screen remains low and disproportionately favors inclusion of people with non-apparent disabilities compared to people with visible disabilities. Total share of screen for people with disabilities is 8.8%, while people with apparent disabilities make up only 0.4%.

While screen time is low across all platforms, cable stands out as having the highest total disability representation on screen, at 9.5%. And this on-screen representation is having an effect on how audiences with disabilities feel about cable—disabled people are 23% more likely to say that cable is the most relevant platform to them, compared to the general population².

Representation for people living with visible disabilities is much lower, dropping to less than 1% across all platforms. This gap in representation presents opportunities for content creators and platforms to champion talent and elevate stories of people with visible disabilities. 

“The inclusion of disabled talent does not happen by accident. It is critical to have representation behind the scenes to ensure better and more authentic representation on screen,” said Lauren Appelbaum, SVP of Communications and Entertainment & News Media, RespectAbility. “We need people with disabilities in a position to influence storylines and narratives, help make decisions about casting and talent, and represent the disability community throughout the creative process.”

Spotlight: Dead to Me
One show putting a spotlight on people with visible disabilities is Dead to Me—a dark comedy about the friendship between a recent widow and a free spirit with a secret. Actress Christina Applegate, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2021, plays one of the two main characters, Jen. As one of a very few leading characters with a visible disability, Applegate is aware of how her disability might be perceived by viewers.

In an interview with The New York Times, she explained, “This is the first time anyone’s going to see me the way I am. I put on 40 pounds; I can’t walk without a cane…I’m sure that people are going to be, like, ‘I can’t get past it.’ Fine, don’t get past it, then. But hopefully people can get past it and just enjoy the ride and say goodbye to these two girls.” 

With its season 3 premiere debuting at number 4 of Netflix’s top 10 list, and with more than 290 million hours streamed of the show to date, Dead to Me’s popularity demonstrates that audiences aren’t shying away from watching content with disabled talent, rather, they are embracing it.

But just the inclusion of talent with a disability isn’t enough. People living with disabilities want to see the authentic realities of everyday life depicted in the content they watch, and current representation is falling far short of expectations. According to our April 2022 Attitudes on Representation on TV Study, people with disabilities are 52% more likely than the general population to say the portrayal of their identity group is inaccurate.

To underscore the importance of inclusivity and authentic representation, consider the disability community’s views about ads that appear during inclusive programming and ads that feature people with disabilities: the community is 17% more likely to engage with the brand when the ad is placed within inclusive content and features people from the disability community². 

And the advantage for brands can mean increased revenue for inclusive content providers and platforms. Brands spent $738 million on advertisements in disability-inclusive broadcast and cable programs—7.5% of the total $9.9 billion in ad spend across broadcast and cable during the same period⁴. 

The media and entertainment industry has led the charge in advocating for diversity in all forms, and holds the power to raise awareness and drive disability representation. Green-lighting more projects, including more disabled talent on- and off-screen, encouraging self-ID so studios can find talent to ensure authentic depictions are a few steps studios and content creators can take. In a world where the struggle against inequities and stereotypes persist, media has a responsibility to make disability inclusion a reality.

Notes:

1. Gracenote Inclusion Analytics, Q3 2022
2. Gracenote Video Descriptors
3. Nielsen Attitudes on Representation on TV Study, Apr 2022
4. Nielsen Ad Intel, Q3 2022

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To see the value of this advancement, it’s critical to understand how it elevates traditional digital measurement. Historically, marketers have used products that tell them whether someone viewed or clicked an ad or content—either online or in an email. And most digital measurement needs to be enabled at the individual campaign level.

This type of measurement met the needs of marketers in web 1.0, but it can’t provide the comparability that advertisers and agencies need in an era where multiple device usage is rampant and connected TV (CTV) adoption is becoming ubiquitous with audiences.

Amid the many ways in which audiences spend their time online, streaming remains a stand-out, and it continues to gain momentum. In September, for example, streaming—in all of its varieties—accounted for 36.9% of audiences’ total TV time¹. And with market research company Insider Intelligence forecasting that CTV spend will total $18.9 billion this year, advertisers and agencies need digital campaign measurement that’s continuous, comparable and automatic.

Understanding “always on” measurement

Unlike point-in-time measurement that requires individual campaign enablement, always on DAR provides continuous measurement of ads across computers, mobile devices and connected devices. In addition to providing brands and agencies with significantly more impressions data for real-time campaign evaluation, the continuous measurement aspect of always on DAR closely mirrors how linear TV is measured, providing a major coverage and comparability bridge for holistic, deduplicated cross-channel measurement.

This comparability couldn’t come at a better time. That’s because the future of media measurement needs to focus on the audience, not platforms or devices. This is especially true when the lines between different media offerings are constantly blurring.

For example, consider YouTube. YouTube is also growing its footprint in the streaming video space. In fact, YouTube (including YouTube TV) accounted for a platform-record 8% of total TV usage in September 2022 and the largest percentage among streaming providers. This share of TV time represents year-over-year usage growth of nearly 40%¹.

For many advertisers and agencies, YouTube is a meaningful channel in their media mix planning. From a granular data and management perspective, the recent enablement of always on DAR within YouTube provides advertisers and agencies with expanded visibility into campaign performance to mirror the continuous measurement of  TV measurement. Consequently, they simply need to enable the functionality one time for their YouTube campaigns to begin benefitting from true cross-channel comparability within one of the market’s leading and largest ad-supported platforms.

But always on DAR isn’t just beneficial for advertisers and agencies. In a media environment that’s constantly expanding, publishers need robust, accurate and real-time data to showcase the value that their properties are delivering. With increased impressions data, publishers can better deliver ads to intended audiences, understand reach and manage frequency, and gain insight into the audience that each unique property is delivering.

In an environment where the lines between linear and digital are quickly merging, measurement comparability is paramount. Device and platform fragmentation notwithstanding, the audience is everything in today’s media market, and that’s where brands, agencies and publishers should be focusing their attention.

Learn how to activate always on measurement in YouTube with Nielsen Digital Ad Ratings.

Note

1. The Gauge, September 2022 usage data

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Once the niche domain of select, pure-play streamers, streaming has matured into ubiquity by meeting a critical audience need: choice.

Teeming with an array of live, on-demand and ad-supported options to complement traditional subscription options, streaming has transformed television viewing light years beyond its origins as an online replacement for physical movie rentals. And audiences have followed. In September, streaming—in all of its flavors—accounted for 36.9% of total TV usage, a new high water mark and up from 27.7% a year ago¹.

Perhaps more important, however, is the blurring of the lines between different media offerings, amplifying the need for comparable measurement even more. YouTube, for example, has historically existed largely in the social media realm, providing individual content creators a platform to upload and share their own video content. But with its existing footprint and the ongoing adoption of YouTube TV, YouTube is steadily growing as both a video sharing platform and virtual multichannel video programming distributor (vMVPD). In September 2022, YouTube (including YouTube TV) accounted for 8% of total TV usage¹.

To keep pace with audiences, advertisers are pivoting. Market research company Insider Intelligence forecasts that U.S. connected TV (CTV) spending will total $18.9 billion this year, with one-third being spent during the annual TV upfronts. And in contrast to the early days of streaming, ad-supported options—from pure-play streamers, traditional media companies and platforms like YouTube—are blossoming. In September 2022, for example, linear streaming from MVPD apps and vMVPDs accounted for 14.5% of all streaming¹. 

The growth of linear streaming speaks to how varied options have become, accompanied by an assortment of nuanced acronyms to boot (e.g., FAST, AVOD, vMVPD, OTT). But the alphabet soup is far less important than the aggregate impact that streaming is having on audiences and the content that’s resonating with them.

That’s where the appeal is for advertisers—reaching audiences that aren’t just watching traditional, linear television. While there is no denying the mass reach of traditional television, it’s clear that CTV is now a viable, scalable complement to it. Today, audiences use a range of devices interchangeably to tap into an ever-growing range of platforms, services and experiences.

In first-quarter 2022, for example, U.S. adults spent nearly as much time on TV-connected devices as on their mobile devices, both now far eclipsing the time they spend on their computers².

As video advertising fragments to follow consumption, marketers need a reliable view into each touchpoint as well as an understanding of how each disparate piece ladders into complete consumer journeys—all while ensuring that individual people aren’t being measured multiple times. And because the lines between linear and digital continue to blur, measurement should no longer be specific to linear or digital. It should be continuous, automatic and comparable.

The good news is that it can be. Marketers no longer need to enable or tag individual campaigns—or rely on point-in-time metrics. They can simply “turn measurement on.” Continuous, “always on” measurement is a major comparability advancement, as it provides advertisers and agencies the ability to assess cross-media campaign performance on an even playing field. Continuous measurement also provides increased impression data, facilitating easier reach and frequency management, as well as the ability to make adjustments while campaigns are still in market.

The influx of ad-supported services and ad-available options within multi-tier platforms highlights the clear need for comparable, deduplicated campaign measurement across the digital landscape. Our YouTube example from above presents a relevant and real-time use case, especially as it has grown its share of total TV usage nearly 40% on a year-over-year basis and claimed the largest percentage of TV usage among streaming providers in September¹.

The upside in this case for advertisers and agencies is that YouTube has already enabled the “always on” function of Nielsen’s Digital Ad Ratings, which means that advertisers and agencies simply need to enable the functionality for their YouTube campaigns to begin benefiting from true cross-channel comparability within one of the market’s leading and largest ad-supported platforms.

Transformative change requires precision, attention to market needs and a focus on the future. And in today’s media landscape, measurement that is comparable and deduplicated across platforms and devices is paramount. It’s also reflective of a future state, where the focus is on the audience.

1. The Gauge, September 2022 usage data
2. Nielsen Total Media Fusion

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The term “brand” is often bandied about and rarely defined. It can be tied to reputation, value propositions or culture—but Jeff Bezos coined one great definition: “Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.”

Simply put, your brand is how people see, experience and perceive you.

Given this dynamic, marketers have many critical roles to play—including engaging customers and driving growth. But one of the most important roles is the ongoing intentional work they need to do to define and create a compelling brand narrative that unifies their organization, resonates with customers and the market, and helps differentiate the company internally and externally across all touchpoints.

Consumers and businesses have more choices than ever and vote with their wallets every day. In a complex and dynamic marketplace, it is important for companies to be clear about their values and purpose as well as the unique product or service they bring to their audiences—including what they stand for, what they offer and how they deliver. While building brands can take time, every organization—in startup, transformation or expansion mode—should stick to four key principles throughout the process.

Be clear about who you are

A brand identity reflects everything a company is and does, and the stronger the brand, the more readily consumers, prospects and employees can engage. It’s critical that marketers and all senior leaders are closely aligned on the mission and purpose of the company and its core values. The company’s external persona and presentation should mirror its internal guiding compass to create congruence; enduring brands are built on solid foundations that allow them to stay true and consistent to engender trust and loyalty among employees and customers alike.

By building on a clear purpose, a company can more successfully define its identity and ensure its strategies and actions align. This, in turn, can create greater clarity around target audiences, key messages, brand actions and core product value propositions. Following the sale of its IQ business in 2020, my company, Nielsen, articulated a new purpose: Powering a better media future for all people. This purpose encapsulated our role (powering), our goal (a better media future) and our values (all people: inclusion). This statement also supported our tag line—“audience is everything”—the external-facing summation of our brand.

A strong purpose provides clarity and sets a bar for the brand. Support of and adherence to it will help establish credibility and trust over time and can give an organization more of a voice and distinction in the marketplace. Once a company knows what consumers want and need, and where its opportunity lies in the market, marketers may turn to market research and data to optimize brand and business-building activities.

Use market research and data to inform

As the CMO of a company that offers audience measurement media planning and marketing optimization solutions, I’ve found that consumers’ expectations of brands are ever-evolving and can leave marketers feeling as though they’re playing catch-up. With macro and micro changes occurring daily, marketers need to have a pulse on consumer attitudes and behaviors.

We should think of market research and behavioral data mining as a continuous process: one that enables companies to monitor what consumers need and expect. Marketers should look at how consumers are reacting to campaigns or promotions. With this information, they should react appropriately by making changes to current campaigns or promotions based on consumer sentiment. Fostering a two-way dialogue—e.g., through social media—can help marketers tailor messages to audiences.

For a healthy brand, insights from quantitative, qualitative and analytic efforts shouldn’t just be treated as a one-and-done activity for a branding campaign. Marketers should consider conducting quarterly brand surveys and pulse surveys, and they should ensure they’re measuring all campaigns to understand the impact on perception and behavior. They should also use any insights available from call centers, service channels and social media to inform continuous message testing.

Ensure the brand message is real

With a healthy pulse on your consumers, market and brand metrics, it is critical to execute on the value proposition that delivers while also ensuring that employees are in line with brand messaging. Consumer experience remains a powerful brand builder.

It is tempting for brands in need of change to signal the change they are pursuing through a campaign or messaging. While sometimes this is necessary—as in periods of crisis—it is always preferable to “be the brand” in tangible ways. Organizations should take action on their values and have tangible proof points of their commitments.

It’s no surprise that employee engagement is an important component of a company’s success and ability to live its brand in an authentic way. When employees are engaged and believe in the company’s mission and values, I’ve found that consumers feel it, which further cements their trust in the brand. To keep employees engaged, marketers can work with senior leaders to ensure that they are living the brand’s mission and values, which creates a trickle-down effect throughout the organization.

Share the brand story widely

With the above underway, it’s time to tell the story. All stakeholders—employees, shareholders, clients and prospects—are potential brand advocates, and the marketer’s job is to ensure those stakeholders are aware, actively considering, using and, hopefully, advocating for the brand and its products or services.

Marketers should achieve overall broad-based brand awareness and favorability while prioritizing the right audiences, campaigns, channels and messages to garner consumer consideration (and ideally purchases). While clearly there are messages and channels that lead with brand—including levers like sponsorships, social media and communications—there are also opportunities to think of brand building and acquisition goals together, as the historical purchase funnel is often condensed, with brand and acquisition happening in a mutually reinforcing and simultaneous way.

Building brands to drive business and reputation is one of the most critical roles for a marketer—a disciplined approach to understanding the brand’s purpose and value proposition and having a real-time understanding of the consumer will help them ensure success in the marketplace.

This article originally appeared on Forbes.com. 

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The kickoff of the fall TV season and the return of football provided audiences with an abundance of new content in September, fueling a 2.4% rise in total TV viewing. The arrival of new broadcast programming provided the traditional lift that we’ve seen historically, but the 12.4% increase in volume from August wasn’t enough to alter the forward trajectory of streaming usage, as streaming services captured 36.9% of total TV usage*.

Alongside the whopping, but perhaps not totally unexpected, 222% increase in sports viewing on broadcast channels, audiences continued to over-indulge on streaming content, resulting in yet another monthly high-water mark. Audiences also continue to expand their choice of streaming service, with YouTube hitting a new platform-best streaming record, claiming 8% of TV viewing and equaling Netflix’s July record high, Hulu securing its own record of 3.7%, and Pluto TV capturing 1% of total TV, enabling it to be showcased outside of the “other streaming” category. HBO Max also gained 9.9% in volume thanks to House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones, pushing its share of TV to 1.3%.

In several cases, increases in volume did not affect total TV share. For example, Amazon Prime Video usage increased 3.9% in September on the strength of The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power and specific Thursday Night Football games, but the platform’s share of total TV remained flat at 2.9%. Similarly, Disney+ saw a 2.4% increase in volume, yet its share of total TV stayed at 1.9%.

Broadcast recorded the largest month-over-month gain, driven by the sports genre, which accounted for 25.1% of broadcast viewing. That said, broadcast’s 24.2% share in September was 7.1% lower than it was a year ago. Cable also benefited from a 40% bump in sports viewing, but the 0.4% rise in usage wasn’t enough to move cable’s share of total TV. In fact, with the other categories gaining share in the month, cable dropped 0.7 share points to finish with 33.8% of total TV, its lowest share ever reported by The Gauge. Cable viewing was 9.3% lower in September compared with a year ago.

The return of football was the true spark in September, as it provided new content across broadcast, cable and streaming. But even without sports, streaming—in all of its forms—continues to gain adoption, and it benefits from the emphasis that pure-play streamers and media companies alike are placing on it.

Note

*This month’s data reflects a methodology change to present total TV viewing behavior more consistently. Beginning with the September 2022 edition of The Gauge, viewing data in the streaming category is calculated on a live + 7 days basis. Previously, streaming data was calculated on a live-only basis.  This change affected the streaming and other categories (and represented a shift of 1.0 share points from “other” to “streaming”), as well as to the services that include “linear streaming” (e.g., YouTubeTV and Hulu Live). Linear streaming on MVPDs and vMVPDs represented 5.4% of total television usage and 14.5% of streaming in September. Broadcast and cable content viewed through linear streaming apps also credits its respective category.

Methodology and frequently asked questions

The Gauge provides a monthly macroanalysis of how consumers are accessing content across key television delivery platforms, including broadcast, streaming, cable and other sources. It also includes a breakdown of the major, individual streaming distributors. The chart itself shows the share by category and of total television usage by individual streaming distributors.

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