Customer pricing models often promote cheaper CPMs … The challenge is that streaming video is expensive

Anonymous participant Townhall

This is the one where the capacity of sellers to offer a granular measurement of the ROAS and to decipher how CPMs are structured, matters as much as the stars of a spectacle during great listening hours when it comes to winning the part of the lion of advertisers’ budgets. While streaming advertising expenses is preparing to go beyond media investments on linear television during initial negotiations, this is above all the case.

Earlier this week, such a debate dominated the very first CTV Ad Strategies event in Digiday, organized in Midtown Manhattan, where participants expressed their frustrations at the merger of these previously distinct worlds, as well as their successes.

The main complaints of the participants were to determine the way in which the costs are counted, proving the return on investment in a timely manner (especially when the closed gardens predominated) and ensuring transparency on the investments of announcements. You will find below a more detailed overview of what is in the minds of buyers, including those who talk about the scene as well as the participants who speak under the rule of the Chatham house at the town hall of Digiday which accompanies it.

50% of the initial spending of 2025 will be streaming

Dani Benowitz, director general of IPG Mediabrands global negotiations, told participants that the change of audience and budgets to streaming was “a tilting point”, but noted that the evolution would continue to be progressive.

“We think that 50%, if not more, of [2025] The dollars upwards – not all year round – went to streaming, “she said on the stage of the conference, predicting more than the introduction of sporting content to streaming services was a catalyst.

“My team estimated that about $ 12 billion [in ad spend] will go against streaming, and they plan that it increases two figures to around $ 14 [billion] In 2026. If this will happen, it will be around 30% of the money. »»

For programmatic, it is “a buyer market”

Meanwhile, Skyler McGill, head of programming and video, Wpromote, observed how the matured nature of programmatic trading meant that buyers consolidate (generally) the number of platform partnerships in which they are committed.

He told Digiday, editor -in -chief and animator of the event, Tim Peterson that buyers generally limit the number of platforms on the request with which they work with three or less – generally, these are: Amazon DSP, Google DV 360 or the Desk Trade.

“The real objective is to consolidate as much as possible,” he said on the stage of the conference. “Usually we are going to be on one or two platforms at most, if we can … it depends on the customer strategy.”

Indeed, it is this dynamic which means that buying teams manage to lower their increases, including on their technology and data costs. “It’s almost like a buyer market,” he said in response to Peterson’s question.

Speaker Kevin Manke, director of media, data and operations at Danone, expressed how marketing specialists think in the same way as a means of managing their scope and frequency with media spending more effectively. “”[This is about] Understand the number of announcements that you need to act, “he added, questioned about the short-term brand objectives of the CPG.

Higher bonuses will require better data

Although the overall increase in CTV advertising expenses is in the range of $ 30 billion in the United States this year, depending on the possible pricing regime, by Emarketer, the damage to the upper end of this range is also based on the capacity of media owners to share the depth of hearing insights that advertisers are advertisers Really After.

Celeste Castle, EVP, head of research and measurement with Dentsu, told the public “you must share information” if the high requested prices must be justified.

She added: “We need content consumption measures … It does not need to be as granular as the data at the level of the show. What are the Hold-ups? It could be a number of things … but the opportunity to do better [is to] Share information. »»

It is perhaps the lack of transparency in the costs of costs that confuse customers, who often do not understand where the costs come from, which hinder the will of the advertisers to buy (literally) the media of CTV.

During the town hall session of the conference, where participants are anonymously mentioned to encourage frank conversation, those present discussed the challenges to justify higher CPMs to customers and the importance of enlightened decision -making by in -depth research and DPS.

A manager of the Media Agency also noted the complexities involved in prices, the problems related to prices often subject to questions independent of their will – a scenario which can lead to a media inventory of questionable quality.

“Whether you buy directly or programmatic, but CPMs are higher than a linear television purchase or display,” observed the participant. “And customers [pricing] The models often promote cheaper CPMs … The challenge is that the streaming video is expensive ”

Speaking during a separate session on stage, Marcy Greenberger, director of investments, UM Worldwide, expressed a similar feeling, especially when he tried to establish the King of CTV AD of expenses. “I think it is difficult to sometimes diagnose what works and what does not work,” she said. “With CTV, we just don’t have transparency so that it works.”