TORONTO – Canadian marketers are bullish on video’s growth, but have yet to fully adopt the strategies to best reach consumers, according to a new study by Videology.
The report, Consumers Lead Marketers on Path to Cross-Screen Convergence, was conducted on behalf of Videology by Marketing Magazine and Rogers Connect Market Research and Client Services in September and October of 2014 through the surveying of over 1,000 Canadian consumers and 104 Canadian marketers.
Despite marketers' perceived challenges in video advertising – half of all marketers say they don't have a video advertising strategy in place – they're optimistic about video's growth, and believe holistic planning and buying will become the new norm.
"The shift in consumer viewing habits has been more of a shift of convenience. Consumers want to watch quality content when and where they want, and as the research shows, Canadian marketers are eager to adapt to this converged landscape," said Videology Canada VP sales Ryan Ladisa, in the report’s news release. "Yet the report clearly demonstrates that there's much work to be done by us, as an industry, to educate marketers on the data and technological solutions already available."
Highlights from the report include:
– Despite the increase in online viewing, 84% of Canadians still subscribe to cable or satellite TV services;
– More consumers watch video on traditional television screens (45%) than on smartphones (29%) or tablets (23%);
– Consumers want control over what they watch and when. ‘Second-screen’ viewing is engaged in by more than half of Canadians;
– Over 70% of Canadians prefer ad-supported content over paid-for content;
– Marketers are more optimistic about growth in consumer time spent with video than consumers, and believe traditional TV usage will decrease more so than consumers expect;
– Despite the optimism, 50% of marketers don't have a video advertising strategy in place;
– Nearly 70% of marketers were unfamiliar with the term ‘second-screen’ and one of three did not know what ‘programmatic buying’ was;
– Marketers do believe, however, that holistic planning and buying will become the norm; 85% said planning of online video and linear TV will merge in the next three years.
