Is personalised TV advertising the key in the fight against the GAFAs? With this question in mind, this week’s egtabite dives into the world of addressable TV advertising and a recent research project by SBS Belgium, Vlerick Business School and Telenet.
As new technological solutions are shaping the future of TV marketing, researchers examine how personalised TV advertising works, its impact on the local ecosystem and which players benefit from it. The joint research results were published in the whitepaper ‘Addressable Ads are shaping the future of TV marketing’.
The Belgian media landscape
Belgium – and especially Flanders – has a unique media landscape, characterised by a strong local content offering. However, local media companies find it increasingly difficult to compete against international tech giants such as Google and Facebook.
To assure the production of quality content, media companies are mostly dependent on advertising revenues. As advertising budgets shift to players beyond local TV, the ecosystem is losing value. Through this research, SBS Belgium, Vlerick Business School and Telenet map the local TV advertising landscape, expose the dangers and opportunities, and develop solutions based on the use of data in TV advertising.
This whitepaper provides an overview of addressable TV advertising and describes how personalised advertising technology influences this value chain. It lays out the challenges and the new value proposition as well as the benefits for the different stakeholders.
“Addressable advertising benefits all stakeholders in the ecosystem. For the viewer, the advertising experience becomes more personalised, more varied, and more local, leading to a better consumer experience with a stronger focus on content,”
says Leen De Schaepdrijver, PHD Researcher at Vlerick Business School, who authored the study.
The advantages
The paper underlines the myriad benefits that addressable advertising has to offer to the advertising within the sphere of TV advertising.
Consumers will have a more varied ad offering (due to more local players), a lower ad burden, and an overall better TV experience because of the ads’ increased relevance.
Advertisers can improve their marketing story by adapting to audiences and personalising the ad creatives, leading to less switching between channels. They can improve measurement and optimise ROI. Addressable advertising also makes it possible for smaller advertisers to promote their brands on TV.
Broadcasters and distributors alike benefit from gaining new-to-TV customers, and respectively will have less channel switching and more high-quality content by shifting back advertising budgets to TV.
The advent of addressable advertising changes media agencies’ role – they will shift to a supporting and advising role, providing campaign planning and bundling, processing and enriching data for companies while benefitting from improved measurement capabilities.
Competing against the tech giants
The advance of digital media threatens the comfortable position in which TV advertising has found itself over the past decades. Digital companies were the first to jump on the cart of the technological revolution and are now making fair use of the power of data. Digitisation has thoroughly shaken up the entire TV industry, which means that TV advertising must reinvent itself.
Until recently, personalised messages on TV were not possible in Belgium, but luckily addressable TV advertising changed that. Thanks to this technological advance, local media companies can compete against the dominant digital giants, combining TV’s advantages with digital advertising. This creates many opportunities for both the consumer and the advertiser, benefitting all players at local level.
Next steps
The whitepaper is just the first step in the long-term collaboration between SBS, Vlerick and Telenet. After the research paper launch, several questions and topics will be tackled in subsequent research; Firstly, what factors impact consumers’ willingness to share their data? Secondly, the study will focus on how the TV advertising loop can be closed and how other data sources can be linked to improving measurement capabilities and finally: how can other date sources be linked to enhance targeting capabilities? As always – egta will keep its members apprised of these fascinating insights.
OTHER CASE STUDIES
UNBOXING THE FUTURE: TURNING SWEEPSTAKES INTO AN IMMERSIVE AR EXPERIENCE
11. 9. 2025In summer 2025, RTL AdAlliance in Austria reimagined the traditional sweepstakes by transforming it into an interactive Augmented Reality experience. Instead of waiting for a prize in a physical package sent to be to the winners, participants could place a virtual gift box in their own living room via smartphone and unbox it themselves. What… Continue reading EGTABITE 333: SBS BELGIUM, VLERICK BUSINESS SCHOOL AND TELENET ON HOW ADDRESSABLE ADS ARE SHAPING THE FUTURE OF TV MARKETING
SPOTDELI: A UNIFIED PLATFORM FOR COMMERCIAL DELIVERY IN DUTCH TELEVISION
17. 7. 2025In a major step toward modernization and efficiency, Screenforce has collaborated with TV broadcasters in the Netherlands and have launched SpotDeli, a centralized platform for submitting TV commercials. Developed by Screenforce and MediaLab, SpotDeli has become the exclusive gateway for delivering commercials to major Dutch sales houses, including Ster, Talpa Network, and Ad Alliance. This… Continue reading EGTABITE 333: SBS BELGIUM, VLERICK BUSINESS SCHOOL AND TELENET ON HOW ADDRESSABLE ADS ARE SHAPING THE FUTURE OF TV MARKETING
MADE IN AUSTRIA – MADE FOR AUSTRIA
16. 7. 2025A Unified Media Front for Austria’s Advertising Ecosystem In a historic first, Austria’s entire media industry, public and private broadcasters, alongside print and digital publishers, have launched a joint campaign to assert the value of local media to the nation’s economic and democratic health. The Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF), the Association of Austrian Private Broadcasters… Continue reading EGTABITE 333: SBS BELGIUM, VLERICK BUSINESS SCHOOL AND TELENET ON HOW ADDRESSABLE ADS ARE SHAPING THE FUTURE OF TV MARKETING
ITV EMBRACES YOUTUBE AS A STRATEGIC DISTRIBUTION AND COMMERCIAL CHANNEL
24. 6. 2025In a decisive shift away from legacy broadcast-only models, ITV fully integrated YouTube into its content and commercial strategy throughout late 2024 and early 2025. Rather than using YouTube purely as a promotional channel, ITV transitioned to treating the platform as a core pillar of its distribution architecture, publishing full-length episodes, launching thematic channels, and… Continue reading EGTABITE 333: SBS BELGIUM, VLERICK BUSINESS SCHOOL AND TELENET ON HOW ADDRESSABLE ADS ARE SHAPING THE FUTURE OF TV MARKETING
ADS & DATA X SPA REINE ECO-PACK: UNLOCKING INCREMENTAL REACH THROUGH DATA-DRIVEN TV TARGETING
22. 5. 2025SPA Reine’s Eco-Pack campaign with Ads & Data sets a new benchmark in media innovation by combining linear TV with Addressable TV (Smart AD) to deliver incremental reach and optimize frequency. In a still water category under growing pressure from tap water and price-driven private labels, SPA Reine worked with Ads&Data to reaffirm its leadership… Continue reading EGTABITE 333: SBS BELGIUM, VLERICK BUSINESS SCHOOL AND TELENET ON HOW ADDRESSABLE ADS ARE SHAPING THE FUTURE OF TV MARKETING
ATRESMEDIA PUBLICIDAD’S FREQUENCY OPTIMISER
21. 5. 2025Frequency Optimization in Connected TV Advertising Atresmedia Publicidad has introduced the Frequency Optimizer, a new technology solution aimed at improving the effectiveness and efficiency of advertising in connected television (CTV). The system utilizes HbbTV (Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV) technology and a sophisticated ad-serving platform to manage and control ad frequency in real time, an advancement… Continue reading EGTABITE 333: SBS BELGIUM, VLERICK BUSINESS SCHOOL AND TELENET ON HOW ADDRESSABLE ADS ARE SHAPING THE FUTURE OF TV MARKETING
AD MANAGER BY RTL ADALLIANCE – A UNIQUE GATEWAY TO EUROPE’S PREMIUM DIGITAL VIDEO INVENTORY
17. 4. 2025A unique gateway to Europe’s premium digital video inventory RTL AdAlliance has introduced AdManager, a self-service advertising platform that enables advertisers to directly purchase premium digital video inventory across multiple European markets. The platform consolidates access to Connected TV (CTV), Broadcaster Video-On-Demand (BVOD), and online video inventory within a single, user-friendly interface. It’s a first-of-its-kind… Continue reading EGTABITE 333: SBS BELGIUM, VLERICK BUSINESS SCHOOL AND TELENET ON HOW ADDRESSABLE ADS ARE SHAPING THE FUTURE OF TV MARKETING
A VEVO & CHANNEL 4 STUDY – UNLOCKING THE POWER OF PREMIUM
17. 4. 2025Amid ongoing industry discussions around the definition of premium content and the role of global streaming platforms within the broader “TV” ecosystem, Vevo, the world’s leading music video network, which distributes the largest network of premium music channels on YouTube, has released a new study. The research conducted by Amplified Intelligence offers valuable insights into… Continue reading EGTABITE 333: SBS BELGIUM, VLERICK BUSINESS SCHOOL AND TELENET ON HOW ADDRESSABLE ADS ARE SHAPING THE FUTURE OF TV MARKETING
THE MAGIC OF REPETITION: MAXIMISING THE IMPACT OF ADVERTISING
26. 3. 2025In a world where distractions are everywhere, grabbing consumers’ attention feels like trying to catch lightning in a bottle. From scrolling through social media while watching TV to listening to the radio while driving, consumers are often distracted. This presents a unique challenge for advertisers: how can we connect with an audience immersed in multitasking?… Continue reading EGTABITE 333: SBS BELGIUM, VLERICK BUSINESS SCHOOL AND TELENET ON HOW ADDRESSABLE ADS ARE SHAPING THE FUTURE OF TV MARKETING
TELETEST 2.0: AUSTRIA’S NEXT-GEN TV MEASUREMENT
21. 3. 2025Teletest 2.0 is Austria’s new TV measurement system, developed by AGTT, which significantly enhances the way TV viewership and ad reach are measured. It introduces a new audience panel with 100,000 synthetic people meter participants, significantly increasing accuracy and depth of audience measurement, enabling real-time data collection and improving data quality across the Austrian television… Continue reading EGTABITE 333: SBS BELGIUM, VLERICK BUSINESS SCHOOL AND TELENET ON HOW ADDRESSABLE ADS ARE SHAPING THE FUTURE OF TV MARKETING
THE STREAMCASTING CHALLENGE AND THE BATTLE FOR AD-TENTION
21. 3. 2025The Italian media Sales Houses Association (FCP), in collaboration with Politecnico Milano and Nielsen, has conducted an in-depth industry study titled ‘’The Streamcasting Challenge and the Battle for Ad-Tension’’. This research explores the evolving dynamics of total audience measurement across broadcasting and streaming platforms, with a particular focus on ad-tention, the quality and quantity of attention… Continue reading EGTABITE 333: SBS BELGIUM, VLERICK BUSINESS SCHOOL AND TELENET ON HOW ADDRESSABLE ADS ARE SHAPING THE FUTURE OF TV MARKETING
ADS & DATA: LEVERAGING BEHAVIOURAL AND CONTEXTUAL INSIGHTS FOR SMARTER ADVERTISING
14. 2. 2025In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, Interest Targeting has been pioneered by Ads & Data. This involves leveraging behavioural and contextual data to serve the most relevant ads. This business case looks at how Ads & Data use this to advertise thereby enhancing campaign performance on their display and shortform platform. With the prospect of developing… Continue reading EGTABITE 333: SBS BELGIUM, VLERICK BUSINESS SCHOOL AND TELENET ON HOW ADDRESSABLE ADS ARE SHAPING THE FUTURE OF TV MARKETING