Cable Ops Release Addressable Ads Playbook

(Image credit: On Addressability)

NEW YORK—The TV industry now has a guideline for implementing addressable advertising campaigns via the newly released “On Addressability Playbook” from Charter’s Spectrum Reach, Comcast Advertising and Cox Media.

Addressable advertising is the ability to send targeted messages to different audiences rather than broadcast the same commercial to all viewers. This is meant to help replace some of the loss of traditional advertising and better compete with digital media.

The playbook is the latest step of the On Addressability initiative that launched in 2019—of which Charter, Comcast and Cox are founding members—to boost the effectiveness and value of TV advertising.

“Since the launch of On Addressability, we’ve been talking with major programmers and distributors to help marketers incorporate addressability into their TV strategies to drive better results,” said Marcien Jenkins, president, Comcast Advertising. “Despite this progress, however, there are still challenges for both buyers and sellers alike. That was the impetus for the playbook. The timing could not be better. In the current environment, advertisers are ready to pivot, and we need to be ready, too. The technology is there. Now we just need to bring advertisers a more scalable and consistent offering—and do it quickly.”

The content of the playbook includes an ecosystem overview, including common definitions and standards for addressable TV advertising; a step-by-step technical guide for programmers and distributors to launch addressability within their environments; strategies for incorporating addressability; and shared learnings on executing addressable TV campaigns for marketers.

“The interest in data-driven, audience-based TV advertising strategies from both media buyers and TV sellers has never been stronger, and we face a set of common challenges to realize our full potential,” said Louis Gump, senior vice president, Cox Media. “The fastest way to clear these hurdles is to work together as an industry to determine best practices, improve processes and share strategies for success. ‘On Addressability’ is helping the industry move toward these goals, and the playbook is one tangible example of these efforts.”

The playbook will live on www.onaddressability.com, with updates added to it as necessary.