Cyber Defense eMagazine December Edition for 2021

Connected TV
It might seem strange to start this list with Connected TV – a relatively small part of the media landscape,
and one that advertisers have been slow to embrace. But the importance of advertising on streaming
services was hugely increased by the pandemic, and specifically by a strange coincidence. This is that a
number of much anticipated streaming services were already due to launch during the period of stay-athome
orders.
These services include NBCUniversal’s Peacock and WarnerMedia’s HBO Max, both of which had the
“good fortune” to launch at a time when there was a large and almost captive audience for this.
Unsurprisingly, this led to the launch of both services going unexpectedly well. Some analysts have even
spoken about a “revolution” in the TV industry, in which a long-term trend away from “traditional” cable
and satellite television companies has become an abrupt abandonment.
Audience figures certainly give credence to this view. Across the US, cord-cutting spiked during the
pandemic rise: eMarketer forecast late last year that more than 6 million U.S. households had canceled
their pay TV subscriptions last year, with TV ad spend dropping 15%, to its lowest level since 2011. This
is not a short-term process, of course. But until now, it was expected the advertisers would have another
decade – at least – to transition away from making TV adds, and gain expertise in new media. That time
is now upon us, much earlier than some had hoped.
This doesn’t mean, of course, that video marketing will die. Far from it. And in fact, with the rise of TikTok
and similar apps over the past year, it could be said that we are entering a golden age for video marketing.
However, advertisers will need to quickly gain (or hire) expertise in these “new” video platforms in order
to take advantage of them, and ensure that their content stays relevant.
E-Commerce
The second big pandemic-driven shift in the last two years has been the rise and rise of e-commerce
platforms. This, again, was not a trend that was invisible before the pandemic, but it is one that the virus
accelerated rapidly. In short, e-commerce platforms are quickly becoming the standard way to purchase
goods and services, with IRL stores needing to offer something extra to justify their existence.
In principle, this is great news for advertising companies, or at least those capable of desiging, making,
and delivering digital ads. eMarketer forecast in the fall that marketers would spend $17.37 billion in
advertising on e-commerce sites and apps in 2020, up 38% from 2019. More recent figures, showing a
huge increase in the volume of online sales during the pandemic, and sustained afterward, have led
some to conclude that the retail industry has changed forever.
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