The potential ahead

Our industry and the markets are in a period of adjustment, overshadowed by a sense of the unknown, especially when it comes to future developments.

Looking at our total media world, we see a creativity crisis, macroeconomic challenges such as the war in Ukraine, a rising inflation across countries, the price of energy, raw material, the housing crisis, and environmental questions play a role as well. And we need to figure out new KPIs and measurement values, and of course define new ideas and aspirations to champion more purpose and diversity inclusion. These topics build the framework within which this new era must be defined. These are the pillars upon which the chapters of this report are based. 

But how can and should we navigate this unknown period? This edition of TV Key Facts is meant to shed some light and help find the way to successfully discovering the unknown

I stand by that. I know it might seem illogical with everyone being worried about the industry’s future. However, we see a clear trend of SVOD streaming platforms moving towards AVOD, legacy print publishers moving into video content creation, we see SME taking advantage of addressable TV, and even retail is strongly pushing their business models into media. It is safe to say that everyone wants a piece of the advertising pie, which is of course a challenge for legacy broadcaster and media companies, but it also shows the opportunity and potential that lies ahead. It is our mission now to shape this new era we are entering, to make it more efficient, find the right environments, the right partnerships, find new ways of measuring attention and to live up to expectations. Let’s be visionaries!

I have been thinking a lot about perspectives. Looking at the world through different lenses ranging from macro to micro, and this idea of challenging perspectives is also reflected in our mission. Looking at advertising, on the one hand, you have the macro players, the global companies that work on an international scale. But when you zoom in closer, you can see all the SME and smaller brands that are starting to embrace the opportunities of addressable TV on a hyper local level. Thus, we are catering to the entire spectrum of advertising with an incredibly dynamic funnel.

We have used the metaphor of a space mission to discover the unknown, the new era, has accompanied us not only for TV Key Facts, but also for the launch of RTL AdAlliance; the international total media sales house of RTL Group that brings simplified access to an exclusive global premium portfolio.

Each NASA or ESA mission depends upon the combined expertise of an elite team of specialists. RTL AdAlliance is no different, as our aim is to build a brand, stronger than the sum of its parts. Just as every NASA mission is made up of different individuals and teams, whose unique expertise contributes to a deeper understanding of space, so too is RTL AdAlliance a collective of teams and individuals, united in a shared endeavour.

We were inspired by the constellation “The belt of Orion”, an alignment of three stars that nicely mirrors the alignment of the three companies who together become RTL AdAlliance, a perfect metaphor to give our endeavour its name and reflect our vision.

As mentioned earlier, challenging perspectives is important for RTL AdAlliance, we need to utilize these different lenses and embark on an adventurous journey to create our unique perspective. Together as a team we have the perspective and vision to provide a 360° view of today’s advertising market.

We can zoom in close to understand audiences, data and content in granular detail like through a microscope. On the other hand, we can zoom out to take the long, macro view, identifying prevailing trends and anticipating the future

Why RTL AdAlliance? Why now? To answer this, we will have to look at the challenges of the market. The first challenge is that the market is evolving quite fast, and we see a consolidation of players within, as well as the ever-dominant presence of the global giants or GAFAM. There was this incredible ubiquity – something like 75% of every new digital dollar spent goes to the same three companies and soon we expect more than 50% of global advertising money to go to these companies. We really have an issue as a legacy broadcaster and as local players in Europe. So, we decided to take a step forward, to shape our own presence by connecting local champions via a strong international player, which is RTL AdAlliance. 

The second challenge is that in recent years, and especially through the pandemic, we have seen media consumption changing and diversifying. While studies show that we are spending more time than ever in our living rooms watching the big screen, we are also often switching fluidly between formats and platforms or engaging with two screens simultaneously. It is paramount for advertisers that media planning and measurement is adapting to this new normal and these new viewing habits.

RTL AdAlliance is formed as an answer to these new market trends, as a solution for the market needs of advertisers and media companies in Europe and across the world. It is the only European sales house to offer advertisers national and international (cross-) media campaigns in one place.

To conclude, we want to become the European champion for advertising and technology sales, and we want to pay high attention to both sides of the value chain, creating benefits for media and tech partners as well as for our advertisers. For the former, we will be a full-service provider in terms of technology, but also regarding sales, combining international with national sales and bringing incremental revenue. For our advertisers, we will be a multichannel media house, a “one stop shop” that can offer the entire range of media with which one can access all types of audiences from broad to hyper targeted audiences.

It is true, the current market environment seems doomed, heavy and full of uncertainties at this moment. It is our mission to take this challenge, change, adapt, and move into this New Era positively. The advertising industry has never been as vibrant and dynamic as today. Let’s embrace this opportunity.

Stephane Coruble, CEO at RTL AdAlliance