
At the recent Beet Retreat 2023 in Santa Monica, a fireside chat featuring Kimberly Gilberti, Experian’s Chief Product Officer, shed light on how connected TV (CTV) is changing content delivery and introducing a profound shift in audience engagement and advertising strategies. In this blog post, we’ll recap Gilberti’s discussion about advertising on CTV.
CTV’s transformative impact on media consumption
CTV brings together the nostalgia of traditional television and the cutting-edge capabilities of digital targeting, opening new doors for advertisers to connect more meaningfully with audiences. This integration heralds a new wave of viewer engagement opportunities. The revolution goes beyond altering content consumption modes; it fundamentally transforms how audiences interact with media. Advertisers now have the tools to forge deeper, more personalized connections with their audience, thanks to CTV.
“The evolution of media is exciting, offering endless opportunities due to the vast inventory and engaged audiences. The key to using this is understanding the consumer, the ‘who’ behind the viewing.”
kimberly gilberti, chief product officer
The evolution of advertising on CTV
In CTV, traditional advertising strategies are being re-evaluated. Advertisers must pivot to meet changing viewer trends, focusing on campaigns that resonate on a personal level and harness the targeted delivery capabilities of the medium.
Data and technology stand at the forefront of advertising on CTV. Effective collection, analysis, and application of audience data are crucial for creating impactful CTV campaigns. Advanced analytics tools are essential in deciphering complex viewer habits. Companies like Experian are key players, offering the necessary tools and insights for advertisers to navigate the CTV space effectively.
“Experian’s unique data assets are incredibly valuable. We understand consumers wherever they are, connecting the offline and online worlds. Our database, rooted in real people’s information, is extensive and privacy-focused, covering virtually every U.S. household.”
kimberly gilberti, chief product officer
The complexities and opportunities in advertising on CTV
Even though the CTV landscape is filled with vast opportunities and significant challenges, one major hurdle is accurately identifying viewers within shared household accounts, complicating targeted advertising on CTV efforts. Additionally, the fragmentation of content across multiple streaming platforms amplifies the challenge of reaching specific audience segments. The presence of ‘walled gardens‘ adds another layer of complexity in achieving a comprehensive understanding of audience behavior across different platforms.
Despite these challenges, the potential for effective, personalized advertising on CTV is immense. Key to unlocking this potential is the accurate measurement of ROI and the alignment of content with viewer preferences. These areas of focus underscore the need for sophisticated identity resolution and audience analysis solutions.
Collaboration is the key to unlocking CTV’s potential
The future of advertising on CTV relies on collaboration. Joint efforts from advertisers, agencies, technology providers, and publishers are essential for sharing data and insights while maintaining consumer privacy. This collective approach is pivotal in tackling the challenges of advertising on CTV and harnessing its full potential.
As the industry dives deeper into the CTV landscape, insights from Beet Retreat 2023 and leaders like Gilberti underscore the importance of understanding and engaging with your consumers. The collaborative efforts of the industry, bolstered by technological and data-driven expertise, are critical in capitalizing on the power of CTV.
Experian’s Collaboration solution connects our client’s and partner’s data to unlock more robust insights, smarter activation, and more holistic measurement for online and offline media efforts. To learn more about what our data collaboration services can do for your business in this new era of CTV, visit our website or connect with a member of our team today.
Latest posts

Even though most kids haven’t even completed their current school year, now is the time for retailers to start preparing their 2012-2013 back-to-school marketing strategies. I remember growing up as a kid in rural Massachusetts thinking about how “back-to-school” TV ads were so irritating. Back-to-school? In July? I’m not even half way through my summer vacation! Little did I know back then that marketers like to get an early start to the back-to-school sales season by planting seeds with their target audience and hoping those seeds grow into a healthy crop of new customers. This remains true today and planting season starts even earlier. The back-to-school sales season represents a huge opportunity for marketers. Here are some facts and figures that help quantify the size of the market: According to the National Retail Federation, consumers will spend approximately $70 billion on back-to-school merchandise. About $23 billion of this is spending by parents of children in kindergarten through 12th grade. The remainder represents spending by students starting or returning to college. All told, the back-to-school season is the second largest consumer spending event for retailers outside of the winter holidays. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, this year there will be over 55 million students enrolled in schools from pre-kindergarten through high school. About 56% of these students are in grades one through eight, 28% are in high school and 15% are enrolled in preschool or kindergarten. About one-third of households contain children under age 18. That translates to roughly 38 million households. The vast majority of these contain school-age children. The back-to-school season is not just about reaching kids in elementary school, middle school, junior high school and high school. Another 20 million students are expected to be attending college. That’s a huge opportunity to sell things like dorm room furnishings, electronic gadgets and computers, just to name a few. With every marketing opportunity come certain marketing challenges. It’s never easy. Marketers of back-to-school products face their own set of challenges when vying for the attention of parents of school-age children. Here are some specific examples: Who are my key targets and how can I differentiate my marketing message? Targeting a market that includes a vast array of families with contrasting attitudes, opinions, motivations, lifestyles and shopping behaviors is incredibly challenging. Not all of these families are working from the same shopping list. And not all of these families will respond to the same marketing message. Segmenting your market into finer target audiences is highly recommended. How should my marketing budget be allocated across multiple online and offline channels? You have multiple sales and marketing channels to consider. You don’t want to build a marketing plan without a well-defined strategy for reaching your best targets. For instance, moms have a greater propensity to have a smartphone compared to the overall adult population. Thus, marketers should then be thinking about integrating mobile applications into their overall strategy. What can I do to make my message stand out above the crowd? Put yourself in the consumer’s shoes. I’m sure some of you are parents with children in school or in college. It’s a very crowded and cluttered back-to-school marketplace with many, many retailers clamoring for attention. One idea for standing above the crowd is to start by identifying your existing customers who are most likely to have families with children. Then send them an email early in the summer with suggestions for fun things to do this summer season. This can be followed up later with an email campaign containing some tips about getting ready for back-to-school. The key is to grab their attention and start engaging early. What variety of offers and promotions will enable me to capture a significant share of back-to-school expenditures? To capture your fair share of the back-to-school market you’ll need to develop offers and promotions that are both enticing and relevant. This requires learning as much as you can about your prospects and what motivates them to buy. For instance, a typical mom with elementary school-age children might enter the back-to-school season with the following thoughts: “I want to buy him the cool gear to go back to school with: new clothes, shoes, backpack and lunch box. And I don’t mind, I actually LOVE back to school shopping.”* That mom may quickly respond to your marketing message. Or, you could have a mom with these thoughts: “I’m not upper class – we’re in the lower/middle income bracket and money is tight for us. I budget for school expenses as I would anything else…and I won’t have my son miss out because ‘we can’t afford’ something… I’d give up something else first.”* She loves shopping for back-to-school, she has budget limitations, and she’s willing to make certain adjustments to her budget with the best interests of her child in mind. If you knew what she was most likely to be thinking, do you think it would influence the messaging and offers you would use to attract her? Well, of course. Attitudes shape shopping behavior. ___________________________________________________________________________________ Watch our recent webinar about planning your back-to-school marketing campaigns in style. And stay tuned for part two of my blog series on the topic in a few days. *Feedback was compiled from PHD in Parenting: http://www.phdinparenting.com/2011/08/22/who-should-pay-for-school-supplies/

Facebook has become a cultural phenomenon over the years and an object of affection for marketers to connect with its users. Experian Simmons has put together 10 consumer behavioral stats based on their National Consumer Study and New Media Study about the social networking site leading up to its Friday IPO launch: 39% of Facebook users say “this website gives me something to talk about.” Top 3 reasons Facebook users visit social networking sites: 86% to keep in touch with friends 72% for fun 66% to reconnect with/find people they’ve lost touch with 78% of Facebook users have shown support for a group or business on a social networking site. 34% of Facebook users have played games on a social networking site. Among those: 73% play social games (like Farmville, SIMS social, etc) 68% play casual games (like Bejeweled, etc) 73% play games on a social networking site once or more a day 28% of Facebook users with cell phones and 42% of Facebook users with a tablet computer have downloaded a social networking app for the device Adult residents of the following Designated Market Areas (DMAs) with 1,000,000 or more adult residents are the most likely to have visited Facebook in the last 7 days: ) Seattle-Tacoma, WA Austin, TX Salt Lake City, UT Portland, OR Washington, DC 15% of Facebook visitors follow a musical group on a social networking site, 14% follow a TV show, 11% follow a newspaper or news outlet and 4% follow a magazine. The average Facebook user is 39.3 years old. The average Facebook user claims an annual household income of $69,900 with annual household spending on discretionary goods and services of $15,500. Hispanic users of Facebook are 55% more likely than non-Hispanic users to say they like to follow their favorite brands or companies on social networking sites. Don’t miss 15 stats about Facebook, previously posted on the Experian Marketing services blog. . For more information like the data provided above please download the Experian Marketing Services 2012 Digital Marketer report.

Today, it costs more than $40 to send a five pound package from the U.S. to Canada or Mexico. The cost to Europe or South America is even more expensive. For U.S. companies operating on a global scale, such as retail specialists or ecommerce organizations, address accuracy is crucial. Organizations can’t afford undeliverable mail and packages due to a wrong address – the total cost would be unmanageable. Mistakes happen frequently, whether it is an error by the company or the customer. If a mistake is made, companies can’t ask the customer to cover delivery fees, leaving the organization with the bill. Retailers must also consider potential delays due to long distances and custom checks. Altogether, address errors result in a poor customer experience and a decrease in efficiency. Implementing international address verification will save money, time and improve the customer experience. By combining primary address data from national postal authorities with partner-supplied data, businesses can verify international addresses from countries all around the world.