TORONTO – It’s been a while in the works, but Bell Media, Corus Entertainment, Rogers Sports & Media, and Quebecor Media have announced an agreement in principle to adopt a common set of advanced advertising audience segments, thinktv announced today.
Thinktv member companies are joining forces to adopt a shared set of 19 audience segments for advanced advertising on linear television. It’s not the full integration of Corus’ Cynch platform (which Rogers already uses and which Corus has been trying to get Bell on board), but it’s a good start. Please click here for the breakdown and explanation of the audience segments.
“The adoption of standard audience segments is another step forward in the industry’s journey to facilitate better planning and buying of multiplatform television.”
Powered by Environics Analytics’ segmentation and other behavioural data (which also powers Corus’ Cynch), the common audience segments are geared towards the largest advertising categories in Canada.
This means advertisers can buy smarter and in a more targeted way. Instead of buying “women aged 18-34”, they can instead target “fashionistas” and see their ads placed with various shows on any of the broadcasters which target young women viewers.
“Together, a linear TV campaign optimized across these four broadcasters will deliver a combined reach of more than 90% of total linear television audiences representing targeting at scale – with greater consistency, efficiency, and effectiveness,” says the release.
Rogers Sports & Media, Corus Entertainment and Bell Media will begin offering the common audience segments on June 24, 2020, with Quebecor Media following later this year. Canada’s other independent broadcasters and the CBC are thought to be coming on board in the coming months, as well.
“We believe this announcement is testament to the shared goal of all our member companies to bring advertisers targeted solutions that provide meaningful insights about their customers along with increased operational efficiencies,” said Catherine MacLeod, president, of thinktv.
“We are convinced the adoption of common audience segments helps solve a critical need for advertisers, and other member companies are committed to making it a reality in the coming weeks and months,” added Alan Dark, SVP, sales at Rogers Sports & Media and board chair of thinktv.
