Managing a New World of Advertising While Learning About It

As live streaming continues to gain momentum as a powerful marketing tool, brand safety remains a top priority for advertisers. Safeguarding brands' campaigns and reputation in live stream environments is crucial to maintain trust with audiences and enhance brand image. Brand safety best practices should be applied against supply chain metrics. According to Campaign Middle East, “when it comes to verifying the delivery of the impressions those platforms deliver and making sure our brand operates in the safest online communities there are typically 3 metrics that makeup what we like to call the Verification Suite.” The article goes on to name those metrics: viewability, ad fraud, & brand safety before briefly describing them.

On issues related to adjacency in live video and audio spaces, environments can be more fluid for consumers than for advertisers and can be simpler than first assumed. “Though brands worry about running ads alongside content like true crime, audiences don’t share their anxiety. A Q4 2021 survey from Podsurvey found 89% of listeners say their opinion of brands is unchanged or improved because they are advertising within true-crime content. To these listeners, ads heard on true-crime shows are no different than when they run in other places. In fact, some respondents describe the advertisers in the true-crime category with positive attributes like interesting, relevant, likable and edgy. Less than 1% of listeners surveyed expressed a negative opinion.”

So, running ads alongside things like true crime content in live video and audio spaces may not be as concerning as brands thought. Why does this all feel a little shaky? Mostly due to the fact that while advertising is not new, brand safety as a defined concept is, and the technology advertisers must work with isn’t going to pause for you to catch up and be comfortable. As live streaming & podcasting become increasingly popular marketing tools, it is essential for advertisers to understand the programmatic media supply chain, audience perceptions, branded content strategies, and video's potential impact. By harnessing the power of these tools while adhering to key brand safety metrics, brands can confidently engage with their audience and forge lasting connections in the dynamic world even as new developments unfold. Based on brand persona and perceived suitability issues brands should realize that some content that may seem questionable from a brand safety standpoint is actually supported by consumers who like certain kinds of content on the internet.