How Traditional Brands Can Catch Up to DTC Brands with Video

Headshot of Cindy Brown, CRO, ViralGains
Video presents brands with a unique opportunity to engage consumers in an interactive dialogue — learning how their customers think and feel about them. But while DTC brands have seized on this, traditional advertisers are still struggling to understand the value and how to capture attention.  Cindy Brown, CRO, ViralGains advises traditional advertisers on how to unlock the potential of video.
Cynopsis: How have traditional advertisers fallen behind DTC brands on video?

Cindy Brown: Despite traditional brands investing heavily in digital video advertising—a projected $27 billion on programmatic this year—DTC brands continue to take a significant bite out of their business. As it pertains to digital video advertising, traditional brands have focused on audience reach and impressions, where DTC brands have focused almost entirely on the individual consumer and storytelling. This has resulted in traditional brands considerably lagging behind DTC brands.

Cynopsis: How can they close the gap?

Brown: There are several strategies that traditional brands can implement today to begin closing the gap and capitalize on digital video.

Traditional and DTC brands may emphasize social platforms like YouTube and Facebook, but it doesn’t mean that they’re both getting the same results or driving the same impact. Traditional brands can benefit from diversifying and expanding their media portfolio to include the open web and CTV instead of focusing on social platforms. Advertising on Facebook and YouTube is costly, offers little to no transparency, and faces regular brand safety issues. By going outside of the walled gardens, traditional advertisers can lower costs, expand reach, and collect first-party data they can leverage in subsequent campaigns. CTV can also help advertisers reach entire households and create brand awareness amongst influencers, decision makers, and end users within the home, all at once.

Traditional advertisers have long treated digital video like TV—repurposing TV ads as video ads, using legacy media metrics to measure campaign success, and investing in old school behavioral buckets—but it’s high time for the industry to move away from that line of thinking in order to unlock the unique capabilities of digital video. By thinking outside of the box and leveraging digital video for the interactive and engaging format that it is, traditional brands can ensure they’re not only reaching the right audiences, but also creating personalized and relevant digital stories that drive impact by placing the voice of the consumer at the heart of their advertising.

This interview originally appeared on CynopsisMedia. 

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