As YouTube’s reach surpasses that of any other individual channel or service in the UK, the role of YouTube on media plans continues to fuel debate across the industry. In this edition of the Buy-Side View, James Wheatley, Head of AV at the7stars, discusses YouTube’s positioning within the agency’s planning frameworks, as well as the culture and charitable activity that distinguishes the UK indie.
What is your biggest bugbear when it comes to video and CTV advertising?
I would say the over-complication of it. There is a lot of discussion in the industry about CTV, and I feel like it’s quite an American term, and it’s categorised very differently across different markets. But CTV is fundamentally TV. Most consumers may not consciously distinguish between an ad on ITV1 and ITVX. The platform may change their viewing mindset depending on the content or context, but to them, it’s all television. We’re sometimes guilty, as an industry, of over-complicating these definitions instead of focusing on viewer behaviour and effectiveness.
How do you think the role of the agency has changed over the past ten years?
Ten years ago agencies were very functional planning and buying businesses. But as we’ve seen over the last few years, all the agencies are invested in data, ad tech and building those capabilities, and that’s really changed how we work. The introduction of AI has also already started to make changes, and we’re obviously going to see a lot of change over the next few years. There are certain things we’re using AI for to drive efficiencies internally, but it will be interesting to see how it changes our day-to-day roles in the coming years.
Which do you think video advertising is the most effective for – generating awareness and brand-building, or driving short-term sales?
I’m going to give a politician’s answer here. It depends on two things: the creative and the environment. A DR linear TV ad that’s in a daytime spot in This Morning, for example, with a call to action, will do a very different job to a brand-building ad that’s on I’m a Celebrity. So I think it all depends on people’s mood states combined with creative messaging and environment.
Thinkbox produced some great research a few years ago on need states which was later supported by Sky who have done something similar recently around mood states. These studies focus on how and why people consume all video, not just broadcaster video, but subscription VOD and YouTube, and it’s about using those mood states to target people with the right creative at the right time.
Evidently, we know video advertising can do both. DR advertising is great at driving short-term sales; brand-building and awareness is where you want your broadcaster VOD, your big staple shows on linear TV and your live sport. But we need to factor in all of that mood state research into our AV strategies which is something we are hyper-focused on at the7stars.
What team within your agency handles CTV, and why?
It sits with the AV team as we believe it’s as an extension of linear TV. While the programmatic specialists do plan and buy some elements of CTV, the AV team are predominantly accountable for the planning and buying of CTV. However, we work closely as one Activation team to ensure our clients have the most cost-efficient video plans.
How is the growth of CTV changing your TV buying strategy?
The growth of CTV continues to evolve our approach to TV planning and buying. At the7stars, we plan all AV activity holistically, treating it as a single, connected budget rather than separate pots. Each decision is made on a case-by-case basis, underpinned by data and rigour.
As linear TV inflation outpaces the relatively stable costs of CTV, we’re naturally seeing a gradual shift of investment from linear into CTV environments. This ensures we stay aligned with audience behaviour, where consumption of BVOD, SVOD, and YouTube continues to rise. In fact, this is why we have viewed YouTube as the “fourth broadcaster” within our planning frameworks for a long time.
Ultimately, this evolution makes every pound work harder. Our planning approach remains highly detailed and client-specific, with bespoke channel mixes that optimise linear efficiency and integrate CTV seamlessly to maximise reach and impact.
What could agencies do better to help clean up the industry?
Push harder on sustainability. Obviously there’s a lot of discussion around that in the industry which is positive. At the7stars, for every single media plan that goes to clients, we have a CO2 emission calculator to ensure we track our carbon footprint and that we’re being as green as possible.
Obviously, brand safety is important and always will be, so making sure that we’re all over that, which everyone is and has been for the last 10-15 years.
Which ad tech solution has delivered the most impact for your business?
Our proprietary programmatic platform, Prospero, has had the biggest impact. By unbundling media, data and tech costs and performance, exposing every element in the programmatic supply chain, it typically shifts 15–20 percent more budget into working media versus market benchmarks, while hard‑wiring transparency and media neutrality into how we buy and optimise. That has been transformational for both client performance and our agency mission on media neutrality and transparency, which of course our clients love and support.
Which metrics do you value the most when it comes to video and CTV advertising?
Incremental reach is the most prominent answer, providing an extension of linear TV especially where we want to deliver the most cost-efficient reach possible for our clients.
However, we also work with our TV attribution partner ActiveVoice where we look at linear performance. Performance-driven clients especially lean into this to enable them to understand how certain spots, channels and airtime deliver response rates and sales. It would be great to see more of that attribution measurement in CTV. It is coming, it’s just about making it more accessible. ITV and Sky have this product already with Channel 4 following closely.
We’ve worked with diverse media partners such as Diversity Media Sales as well, who are plugged into Active Voice and TVSquared, so we can see the effect that it’s having on our campaigns. Project Lantern is also up and coming as well, which again is going to massively help sell the capabilities of TV and video, which is something that we all want to be doing.
What could publishers, broadcasters and pay-TV companies do to compete more effectively with the tech giants?
I think it’s all about collaboration. The broadcasters have got better at this in recent years, which is positive. They’re working on things like Lantern and C-Flight together. It will be interesting to see what happens with the Comcast takeover of ITV, and how that could potentially change the landscape.
Which person in the industry inspires you the most today?
I would say Jenny Biggam, our Founder at the7stars. She’s absolutely brilliant. She founded this company just over 20 years ago and has grown it into an agency of over 300 people and nearly half a billion billings, and we’re the largest independent. She’s also built a culture here that allows you to thrive. You’re able to get involved in something outside of your day job, whether that’s charity work or events planning. Then there’s the7stars Foundation, where five percent of our profit goes straight to charity, so doing great work in the community as well. That’s why I find her inspirational.
Out of all the video and TV advertising campaigns you’ve been involved with, which are you most proud of?
I would say the People’s Postcode Lottery campaign. In November 2023, we managed to galvanise all the broadcasters to work together and created a blend of ads, having different talent from across all the channels coming together in one big ad. It’s helped grow the Postcode Lottery SOV/Visibility and has been an ongoing evolution. We’re always asking how we can we make it better and we never sit still, so it’s really something to be proud of.
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