Taylor Tomlinson has proven to appeal to younger audiences and those who are social media savvy. Now CBS is hoping the new “After Midnight” host will have similar appeal in a decidedly niche sector: B-to-B advertisers.
The network seeks to develop partnerships with a cluster of marketers who typically find their clients among decision-making executives at companies. One of those advertisers is Codingscape, a technology consultant that sees an alliance with Tomlinson as something that will help potential customers see the company as innovative. However, instead of placing traditional TV ads on Tomlinson’s late-night show, Codingscape wants to run digital ads with the message alongside clips of her in action.
“This is a B-to-B that people have never heard of,” said Alan Gould, co-CEO of MutualMarkets, a technology start-up that has developed a system to match advertisers with TV shows that match their products, services or image. Still, he adds that Codingscape can “spend money on marketing.”
Television has largely been the domain of giant advertisers like McDonald’s or Procter & Gamble, who spend millions every year on traditional TV commercials that entice viewers to eat a Big Mac or buy a Swiffer. But there are thousands of smaller companies that would happily sponsor hit shows like “Young Sheldon” or “Law & Order: SVU” if they could only get similar access. Super Bowl viewers saw such a dynamic at play this year when CoStar Group, the owner of real estate sites like Homes.com and Apartments.com, emerged as one of the biggest spenders in the Big Game.
The technology gives it to them. Thanks to the interactive nature of streaming, which gives subscribers more control over what they watch and how they watch it, there is room for regional and local marketers to air their commercials alongside popular video selections. Disney’s Hulu is one of the streamers offering small and medium marketers access to systems that allow them to make their pitch visible to many. New interest in such sponsorships has grown as TV networks see many of their key customers reserving more dollars for competing new-tech video channels, leading to a decline in overall ad sales for many of their parent companies in recent quarters.
MutualMarkets tries a different method. The company provides a system that allows advertisers to search a database of recent, current, and in-production content that is believed to attract the consumers most likely to be interested in their goods or services. Using artificial intelligence, the virtual marketplace can also help advertisers create templates for the actual ads. TV and advertising executives must agree on certain parameters during their negotiations – such as the number of consumer impressions, compensation and periods of exclusivity for the use of certain show brands. If all goes well, the advertiser generates new awareness among the audiences who prefer the programs, while the networks benefit from a marketer spending money on a campaign that could drive new sampling.
“Our hope is that MutualMarkets can help us build new relationships with B-to-B companies and other B-to-C brands to reach audiences we wouldn’t normally reach, but also grow our base of advertisers who to grow your business with us. said Mike Benson, president and CMO of CBS. “It can be difficult for smaller marketers to stand out, even with advanced audience targeting, but we believe co-branding with our shows, especially with a show like ‘After Midnight’ with Taylor Tomlinson, will help get their ads noticed . will help us grow our shows while bringing in new advertisers.
MutualMarkets has already linked a handful of advertisers to CBS programs in a partnership formed more than a year ago. There is new hope, says Mike Benson, that the companies can strengthen their relationship with the programs and put their products on screen.
CBS is experimenting with the service as promoting its programs becomes exponentially more difficult. For years, TV networks relied heavily on “promos,” or internal video ads that drew attention to new series or new episodes, but usually ran alongside commercial breaks in their own broadcast. As more viewers turn to streaming services for their scripted and reality favorites, the audience seeing these promos has become smaller.
Getting special treatment or securing a product’s appearance on a program often required an established relationship between advertiser and TV outlet – and millions of advertising dollars already spent. MutualMarkets could disrupt these covenants.
NWN Carousel helps businesses manage communications and connectivity, and has products designed specifically for first responder call centers. But it doesn’t have many Hollywood connections, says Andrew Gilman, the company’s chief marketing officer. MutualMarkets’ system suggested the company watch CBS’ “Fire Country,” and the two sides initially struck a deal to run a series of digital ads that combined a message about safety with a warning about the firefighting drama. The digital modules provide a link for a web explorer to view services, along with a short video clip about the show. “Safety in every season,” reads one line in the ad.
“Normally this would take months of back and forth negotiations. This went on for a few weeks,” says Gilman. “One of the main problems we usually see is that you have to know someone or an agency to communicate with CBS. But we were able to contact CBS through the platform to see if they wanted to work with us at all.”
The company has found that the video ads it puts together through MutualMarkets have a 21% click-through rate, he says, compared to a norm that is usually around 0.5% – “an order of magnitude greater than anything I’ve seen in my career.” have seen. .”
Dashlane, a cybersecurity company that helps customers manage passwords, wanted to join a security-heavy property. Mutual Markets linked them to the long-running procedural ‘NCIS’. The resulting ad “almost feels a bit like a commercial for the show,” says Dhiraj Kumar, the company’s CMO. The slogan: “The first line of defense.”
“We take the feel of the show and add our message to it,” says Kumar. The company hopes to foster deeper connections with the series, the director says, including placements in episodes, or with its social handles. “We’re going to try some things that are still in development.”
TV networks typically didn’t consider such companies as major sponsors, Benson says, but “the lines are blurring significantly” between so-called “consumer” advertisers and advertisers in the B-to-B space. Many smaller companies in the past wouldn’t consider TV “because of budgets or the way you have to go about it. The idea was that you had to be a certain size,” says Benson. “I think we’re proving them wrong.”