DTCs are Thriving in the Era of Cross-Screen TV Advertising
Direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands were in the spotlight long before COVID-19. These data-driven digital natives initially established themselves through targeted online marketing efforts, but have learned to embrace TV and the opportunities available across traditional and streaming platforms. In the last year, they began to increasingly turn to cross-platform TV advertising—quickly becoming one of the fastest growing groups of advertisers to test different media mixes on OTT and linear. They understood TV’s unparalleled reach capabilities all too well, but their migration toward TV wasn’t just about engaging with massive audiences. It was about taking advantage of the fact that TV has become measurable, targetable and optimizable across screens and platforms, in real time (like digital).
Now, even amidst a global pandemic, DTCs aren’t just advertising on TV; they’re thriving on it. The fact that many people worldwide have been spending the majority of their time at home has caused consumers to rely on DTC brands now more than ever, which includes shopping online for items that were previously bought in-store, including CPG and personal care products.
In addition to these evolving buying habits, additional time at home has also led to increased TV viewership across platforms and lower inventory costs (which has made the path to entry more accessible, particularly for younger DTC brands). With these trends in mind, TV Squared analyzed billions of impressions across several key DTC verticals, examining performance and impression delivery on linear and OTT inventory—including insights by programming genre, time of day, day of week and more. This analysis included DTC brands from across the globe that aired on TV platforms from January-September 2020, spanning categories such as apparel, household appliances, food delivery and cosmetics, among others.
All insights are represented against the overall average for performance and impressions delivery. It’s also important to note that every DTC advertiser is unique; what works for one might not work for another. While this report can be used as a guide for comparable brands, nothing replaces continuous measurement and optimization to find the right TV inventory for a specific advertiser’s needs.
