Ad Alliance, RTL Deutschland’s sales house, this morning announced the launch of xMedia, a new offering which sees RTL pushing further into omnichannel video sales.
At its core, xMedia combines all of Ad Alliance’s digitally-delivered video inventory and makes it available via one booking. This includes addressable ads on linear channels, connected TV ads, and in-stream and outstream ads across desktop, mobile and tablet.
Within all this inventory, the advertiser chooses a creative length, and can pick one particular medium to weight the campaign more heavily towards (for example, they might choose to run an addressable TV-focused campaign). Ad management, audience targeting, measurement, and optimisation are all then handled by RTL across all the relevant channels through that one booking.
The product is already up and running – Ad Alliance cited a campaign its running with BVR, the umbrella association for the cooperative banking sector in Germany, which is being handled by Mindshare. “ATV, CTV and video playouts via desktop, tablet and smartphone have long been an important addition to traditional TV advertising,” said said Stephan Kelm , who runs digital media planning for the Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken within the BVR. “We are pleased that these can now also be booked and controlled across the board and are looking forward to the results.”
Embracing omnichannel
Attitudes towards omnichannel video, where connected TV and even regular linear TV are seen as two aspects of a wider video strategy rather than standalone channels, was a big focus at VideoWeek’s New Video Frontiers event last month. And while some marketers are increasingly viewing video through an omnichannel lens, broadcaster aren’t always keen to do so. The fear is that when viewed within a wider video strategy, TV’s unique strengths might be overlooked by the buy-side.
But RTL Deutschland’s Ad Alliance is clearly embracing this approach. While xMedia doesn’t yet include regular linear TV, addressable TV ads and connected TV ads are generally positioned by broadcasters as fairly similar to linear TV ads, in terms of their strengths and premium nature. And Ad Alliance is happy for this inventory to be sold as part of a wider package alongside in-stream and outstream ads on G+J’s publisher portfolio.
More broadly, Ad Alliance has signalled its commitment to cross-channel video with its ‘CrossOver Evolution’ strategy. Under this strategy, Ad Alliance is looking to develop ad products (of which xMedia is one), programmatic tools, and proof of effectiveness for cross-channel advertising.
Isabella Thissen, COO at Ad Alliance, says the company’s approach is driven by advertisers’ needs. “The signals from advertisers are clear,” she said. “They demand the perfect advertising effect for their brands and want cross-genre key figures. With the CrossOver Evolution we are taking exactly this step. We rely on the interaction of content, data and the latest technology. With the xMedia spot campaign, we are underpinning our own claim to innovation.”
