Welcome to the Glossy+ Research Briefing, your weekly curation of fashion and beauty research insights. Glossy+ members have full access to the research below.
In this edition, we share focal points from Glossy’s recently released reports on how marketers are investing in ad-supported streaming services and social media platforms, as part of our CMO Strategies series.
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Slightly more than one-quarter of respondents (28%) use ad-supported streaming
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As American homes continue to adopt ad-supported streaming services at faster rates than purely subscription-based options, advertisers are turning their attention to ad-supported streaming. However, as a newer addition to the marketing space, marketers reported using ad-supported streaming the least among the four channels assessed in Glossy+ Research’s CMO Strategies series. Slightly more than one-quarter of respondents (28%) said they use ad-supported streaming versus, for example, more than one-third of respondents (38%) who use retail media — also a newer marketing channel.
Ad inventory isn’t the problem for ad-supported streaming services. Agency executives have noted that streaming ad supply is outstripping advertiser demand, especially with the recent additions of ad-supported streaming on Netflix and Disney+. Even Amazon Prime Video is reportedly considering an ad-supported tier.
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But high ad costs have many advertisers hesitant to join these ad-supported streaming services. More than half of marketer respondents selected cost of media as their top challenge on all platforms, except on Amazon Freevee and Pluto TV, where lack of scale was their main barrier.
A number of luxury brands were surprisingly among the brands that advertised on Netflix’s ad-supported tier from day one. LVMH brands, including Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co. and Bulgari, were all spotted by Glossy on Netflix the first day – running short ads on shows like “Gilmore Girls.” However, a Business of Fashion analysis from before Netflix’s ad-tier rollout suggested that the majority of fashion brands wouldn’t be interested in advertising on Netflix, even though luxury brands may be better positioned to easily afford higher ad costs.
With advertisers feeling limited by cost-effective ad options among premium streamers like Netflix, they’re finding opportunities to supplement their reach and receive more favorable pricing through free ad-supported services, including YouTube. YouTube came in first among advertisers for ad placements and 2022 budget allocations mainly due to its massive audience reach and lack of a paywall. The platform has more than 2 billion monthly logged-in users, according to YouTube, which far outpaces other platforms. YouTube also stands out as the only ad-supported streaming platform that offers user-generated content.
“The 500 hours of content that gets uploaded to YouTube every single minute is our single biggest differentiator and competitive advantage,” said Brian Albert, YouTube’s managing director of media partnerships and creative works. “Depending on what you’re interested in, you’re going to find something on YouTube that appeals to your passions and interests.”
Naturally, marketers want to buy ad time on a platform that offers tremendous audience reach and access to vast first-party data tools for ad targeting. The platform’s access to parent company Google’s entire first-party search and browser history data through Google’s demand-side platform (Display & Video 360) is an increasingly crucial selling point for advertisers. Especially as privacy concerns and third-party cookies regulations increase.
Key findings:
- Among all the channels considered in our CMO Strategies series, ad-supported streaming has the lowest usage rate, with 28% of survey respondents saying their company uses it for marketing.
- Ad inventory for ad-supported streaming services outpaces current advertiser demand. Most marketers reported the cost of buying and placing ads as their largest barrier to investing in streaming ad options. Some luxury brands, presumably with access to larger budgets, are experimenting with premium streamers, like Netflix.
- Other marketers are finding opportunities to supplement their reach with more favorable pricing through free ad-supported streaming services, including YouTube. The overwhelming majority (83%) of marketer respondents said they placed ads on YouTube and more than half (60%) said YouTube consumed the largest portion of their 2022 budget.
READ MORE ABOUT MARKETERS’ USE OF STREAMING
New York Fashion Week designers stream shows through YouTube to drive media impact value
In Glossy+ Research’s recent social media installment of our CMO Strategies series, Meta-owned platforms Instagram and Facebook were the predominant players, attracting both younger and older generations of consumers. Ninety-one percent of marketer respondents reported using Instagram to market to those consumers. The release of the Threads app in early July also gave Instagram a boost, with 100 million Threads sign-ups in the first week. But, two months later, Threads has lost half of its active user base, calling into question the app’s staying power.
Although many companies have stuck with Meta-owned platforms and continue to invest in them, marketers are also simultaneously expanding into fresher platforms like TikTok. Google-owned YouTube, marketers’ fourth most-used social media platform according to Glossy’s survey results, recently positioned itself to compete with TikTok and Instagram Reels with the recent launch of its short-form video option, Shorts. Short-form video options are ad-friendly and tend to help marketers push product discovery and inspire future purchases.
“The way [content creators] speak to their audience is very authentic and all about speaking to a friend,” said Kate Kenner Archibald, CMO of Dash Hudson. “That is one of the keys to TikTok. Not every brand can do that or will do that, but that approachability helps fuel their overall brand and their connection to consumers.”
With the start of New York Fashion Week tomorrow, we’ll see more interaction from fashion brands and designers on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube as they stream content live from their shows. Many fashion houses have chosen to stream their runway shows on YouTube in the past, including Altuzarra, Chanel, Givenchy, Schiaparelli, Giorgio Armani, Celine, Dior, Thom Browne, Michael Kors and Coach. Schiaparelli’s haute couture fall 2023 livestream has received 487,000 views to date. Last season, NYFW generated $17.3 million in media impact value, an increase of 47% compared to fall 2022. Facebook and TikTok saw an increase in generated discussions surrounding fashion week, with 12x (1080%) more discussions on Facebook and 5x (440%) more on TikTok compared to last year.
Key findings:
- Meta-owned properties are the predominant players within social, with 91% of survey respondents using Instagram and 76% using Facebook. They are followed closely by TikTok and YouTube, with 62% and 59% of respondents using each platform respectively.
- Designers and influencers attending New York Fashion Week are also harnessing the power of these social media platforms to connect audiences to their brands. Facebook and TikTok both saw an increase in generated discussions surrounding fashion week, with 12x more mentions of NYFW on Facebook and 5x more on TikTok than last year.
READ MORE ABOUT MARKETERS’ USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA
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