NO - Paul Rowlinson, investment director AV media, Mindshare
Every time the TV industry innovates, there are some who are quick to sound the death knell for the traditional broadcast ad model. When PVRs appeared, some predicted the imminent demise of TV advertising. Now, one in six homes have Sky+ or Virgin+, but people in those homes actually watch more TV and see more ads than ever.
Smart marketers recognise TV advertising's power and its ability to drive effectiveness in other online and offline media. By providing a better experience for consumers, with more relevant advertising meaning less "tuning-out", targeted TV advertising could actually improve TV advertising's effectiveness still further.
Logistical hurdles remain but, if overcome, the relationship between consumer, broadcaster and advertiser will be strengthened further via targeted TV ads.
NO - Tess Alps, chief executive, Thinkbox
Targeted TV ads won't damage the TV spot. It is the spot, but the spot repackaged and sharpened up for those who want it that way. We've been looking forward to targeted advertising in broadcast TV for some time.
It offers broadcasters a way to maximise the revenue for each ad slot by parcelling up different groups of viewers and selling them to different advertisers - or, more likely, different brands from the same advertiser.
The vast range of multichannel opportunities already offers growing segmentation to advertisers, with all the behavioural and contextual sizzle that floats people's boats in online. But addressable advertising means big broad audiences, say I'm a Celeb, can be packaged into juicy morsels and the total revenue should be higher than selling against one broader demographic.
It should make broadcast TV relevant to many non-TV advertisers.
And there are other potential benefits beyond targeting such as frequency capping or narrative management. That said, I don't think the demand for targeted TV advertising will be huge and, unless it makes more money, why would TV companies take the extra trouble and cost of selling a spot several times over? But targeted TV advertising is another step along TV's evolutionary path, so it is something to celebrate.
YES - Kathleen Rigg, joint head of television, Initiative
It could lead to TV advertising becoming less broadcast and more narrow cast, as detailed information and perhaps viewer opt-ins and opt-outs eventually become available over a wide universe.
However, mass, rapid awareness is what TV delivers best for advertisers versus other media. We only pay for the demograph we trade, but we know there's a huge benefit in the wider audience being reached via TV spot ads. For many brands, it's the entirety of this reach via traditional TV ads that drives such good sales effect and makes brands famous.
Targeted TV ads should enhance the viewing experience, which is good for keeping people viewing through the entire TV commercial break. As online advertisers know, relevant ads also convert to higher consideration and purchase. If you're selling nappies, through targeted TV ads you can avoid targeting homes with no young kids, which in turn saves money.
YES - Nigel Walley, managing director, Decipher Consultancy
Targeted TV advertising as outlined by BSkyB will work, but will be a specialist tool and not a widespread revolution for the TV industry. But there are two implementation problems.
The first comes from getting sufficient data on consumer households to make it worthwhile to attempt, without scaring them off.
BSkyB is in a good position to achieve this because it can reward consumers with content - "have a month's free movies in return for filling out this on-screen questionnaire". However, it may be much harder to achieve the granularity sought by the direct marketing industry and which would make targeting really fly. The second and more complex issue will be a cultural problem within the media agency/media client community.
Targeted TV ads will have to demonstrate real benefits if we are to break the apathy and inertia that is inherent in the comfortable current TV spot-buying system.
Also, targeted TV ads could mess up the existing BARB and DDS data reporting system. There is no current solution on how to report and value targeted ads within the context of the agreed data sets.