Tag Archive for: Sports

TV Trends — Ready Your Stance, Take Your Shot: Tennis & Golf

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Golf and Tennis are two of the few sports considered individual, all-season sports. Both require a good swing to put the ball in motion. However, these are not the only similarities the two sports share. To dive deeper into this, we looked into what Tennis and Golf have in common in terms of TV audience viewership and advertiser trends.

We found that 1 in 4 of all LG Ad Solutions audiences watch Golf, while 1 in 5 view Tennis. Furthermore, over 80% of Tennis viewers also watch Golf, while only about half of all Golf fans watch Tennis. Brands looking to reach these audiences must be mindful of how these sports compliment and mirror each other.

Making Contact With The Audience

In terms of demographic make-up, Tennis and Golf saw similar scores. On average, 61% of audiences for both these sports have an annual income of $75,000 or more and over 70% are homeowners. This indicates Tennis and Golf fans have a higher disposable income and more buying power.

There were, however, a few differences between Golf and Tennis audiences, as highlighted below.

LGAds tennis golf

Eyes on the Ball

Top brands to ace the advertiser wars for PGA Golf and Tennis are as follows:

LGAds tennis golf

Electronics & Communication was a top category for Tennis, while Sporting Goods was a top category for PGA Golf. Vehicles & Parts, Lifestyle & Entertainment and Financial Services categories topped the chart for both sports.

Teeing up the Insights

Audiences for both sports display similar results when it comes to how they watch TV. Sports, News and Games & Reality are top genres watched by both Tennis and PGA Golf fans.
More than half of both Tennis and Golf fans watch less than 7 hours of traditional TV per week and agree that they prefer watching free ad-supported video content. This makes AVOD and FAST platforms the ideal location for brands to reach these audiences. The fact that they prefer ad-supported content means that they are likely to be more receptive to and interested in tailored advertising.

LGAds tennis golf venn

These audiences can be best reached through a combination of linear and CTV to maximize impact while optimizing for frequency and spend.

Swing to Score

The high cost of in-event advertising and cluttered ad environments can deplete budgets and lower return on ad spend. With ACR data, OEMs like LG can find Tennis and Golf audiences in other programming based on their viewership patterns. We can target these same audiences on streaming TV, FAST channels and Native Ads as well as cross-device on mobile, tablet and desktop. This allows marketers to reach audiences where they are likely to convert and steal a share of voice from competitors.

Grand Slam or Hole-In-One? Either Way, we have your Back

Whether you’re trying to connect with Tennis fans or Golf viewers, the crux of every campaign lies in having access to data. At LG Ad Solutions, our ACR data gives us access to 30M+ US and 130M+ global addressable smart TVs. This data, coupled with campaign data from the thousands of campaigns we’ve run, allows us to reach the right audiences at the right time, and improve conversion. Partner with us to make the most of your media budget. For more information, get in touch at info@lgads.tv or on our contact page .

Note: All analyses carried out are based on national ad airings only

For PGA Golf, games considered include PGA Tour Golf, Women’s Golf, LPGA Tour Golf, PGA Tour Champions Golf & 2020 Ryder Cup games from September 16- Dec 31, 2021

For Tennis, matches considered include 2021 Wimbledon Championships, 2021 U.S. Open Tennis, 2022 Australian Open Tennis and 2022 Roland-Garros Tennis (French Open)

 

 

TV Trends — First Down: Football

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Football is one of the first sports to signal the onset of fall. When we think about football, there are two distinct kinds. Both are similar and, simultaneously, different, particularly in terms of audience viewership and advertising trends. Yes, we are talking about the NFL and College Football.

We analyzed our ACR viewership data from the Fall 2021 Football regular season and found that 72% of LG Ad Solutions households watch the NFL, while 48% of households watch College Football. Additionally, almost all College Football viewers also watch the NFL, but only about half of NFL viewers watch College Football. Therefore, while you can reach most College Football viewers by advertising during NFL games, you cannot expect the same the other way around. As the LG Ad Solutions slogan goes, ‘Buy the audience, not the assumption’…

When looking at who these Football viewers are, we found that a large portion of NFL and College Football audiences within LG Ad Solutions households skew older and more affluent. This makes NFL and College Football viewers a great audience target for brands catering to high-income and high-purchasing power households.
LGAds nfl banner

Which brands double down during Football season?

Life & Entertainment and Government & Nonprofits are top advertiser categories for the NFL, while Food & Beverage and Electronics & Communication are the main categories to advertise during College Football. Insurance (Auto, Health, Life & Supplementary) and Vehicles & Parts are top categories for both.

LGAds football

•(excluding NFL and NFL Network)

Create Your Own End Zone

Advertising in football games can get very expensive, very quickly. To avoid paying these high fees, you can create your own end zone within the advertising world to score big at lower cost. Marketers can find the same football audiences across other genres, shows and networks. Using our ACR data, we can analyze behavioral signals from TV viewers across LG Ad Solutions households, understand where relevant audiences are present and ensure they see your ad. Additionally, ACR technology helps you find out which brands advertise on TV and where, giving you vital information to steal share of voice from your competition.

This is just the tip of the iceberg to targeting with LG Ad Solutions. When brands combine our granular audience data with our unique, interactive ad units, they come face-to-face (or face-to-screen) with engaged viewers and measurable business outcomes. To learn more, contact us at info@lgads.tv or on our contact page.

Note: All analyses carried out are based on national ad airings only

 

TV Trends — Efficiently Identifying and Reaching Sports Fans

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This is the first of a five-part series highlighting how brands can understand Fall Sports viewership behavior and strategically invest in TV to reach relevant audiences

Sports fans on TV can be found across multiple platforms — streaming apps, cable TV, satellite TV, etc. When it comes to the content they consume, there is significant overlap between viewers of certain sports. This means that instead of paying exorbitant prices to reach viewers of a specific sport during tentpole events, you can reach them through other sports and related programming they watch on TV in a cost-efficient manner.

At LG Ad Solutions, we have a popular saying — buy the audience, not the assumption. When it comes to sports especially, it’s sometimes easy to paint all sports audiences with the same brush. For example, one might assume that if a TV viewer stays glued to the screen during every NCAA game, they will also be an avid NBA fan. However, our data reveals that this is not the case.

Live sports attract some of the largest TV audiences in the United States, with millions of viewers tuning in to watch the action in real-time. In 2021, approximately 57.5M US viewers watched digital live sports content at least once per month, a figure that is projected to rise to over 90M by 2025. (Source: Statista)

Major Professional Sports TV Viewers — Trends & Overlap

The NFL is by far the most-watched professional sport on TV in the US. A whopping 90% of major sports audiences (households that watched at least one of four sports — NFL, MLB, NBA or NHL) on LG TVs watch the NFL, while only 45% watch the MLB. NBA fans come in at 27% and NHL fans at 16%.

Of those who watch the NFL, 56% also watch the other sports. Most notably 43% can be found watching the MLB. This means that brands looking to target NFL viewers are not limited to ad spots during NFL games or NFL programming – which can be expensive and highly competitive. The same goes for NBA, MLB and NHL audiences.

LGAds NFL viewer

Note: Data collected using Unique TV ids for NFL, NHL, NBA and MLB with a 2-minute watch-time eligibility filter. 

Here’s the Kicker

To take the data one step further, we carried out an analysis to understand for how long audiences watch their sport of choice. This data indicated that NFL audiences stay on to watch NFL games for much longer than viewers of other sports. In fact, we found that within a given quarter hour, NFL audiences increased in number while audiences of all other sports in our analysis dwindled.

This analysis reiterates the fact that following the data can lead you down the yellow-brick road to accurate targeting, efficiency and ad dollars saved. Access to ACR data can help you better understand your audience and find them, regardless of where they are present across the TV landscape.

If you’re interested in learning more about how we captured this data, check out our blog on ACR technology. To find out how you can partner with us to access actionable data to fuel your media strategy, get in touch by contacting us here.

 

Three Neat Things To Know While Serving Ads To Alcoholic Beverage Audiences

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Did you know that April 7 is National Beer Day? A day to kick back and relax with a cold one and celebrate the beginning of warmer months. According to Statista, revenue for the alcoholic beverage market will amount to over $284 billion in 2022, growing 7.5% over 2021. Within this category, the largest segment by market volume is beer. 

With the US adding almost three million potential consumers each year (those turning 21), alcohol consumption is on the rise. In 2020, the federal excise tax relief program (referred to as the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act) for both domestic and foreign qualifying producers was passed, resulting in an explosion in the market and creating opportunities for new brands to enter into the mix. New categories such as hard seltzer, hard kombucha and canned cocktails also emerged in the past few years, enhancing the variety of alcoholic beverages available. 

LG Ad Solutions can help advertisers in the alcoholic beverage category reach the right audiences across TV, mobile, tablet and desktop, while preventing wasted impressions.

For any advertisers who want to target alcoholic beverage drinkers, here are three things to know:

1. National Beer Day Is A Real Thing: You might think that National Beer Day is just for consumers. However, on April 7, beer brands get their due share of voice and place a ton of linear TV ads — accounting for twice the ad volume of spirits and four times that of hard seltzers. Viewers see beer ads 2-3x more frequently than other alcoholic beverages. However, heavy linear TV viewers (averaging 6 hours of linear viewing per day) are inundated with alcohol ads, with a frequency of ~90 per month. Conversely, light linear TV viewers see fewer than 10 ads per month. This is where frequency caps, available through brands like LG Ads Solutions, can help your brand reach relevant audiences at optimum frequencies, including those who watch fewer hours of TV.

2. Alcoholic Beverage Advertisers Gotta Love Sports!: Based on our data, sports content, including live sports, is the top place to find audiences interested in alcoholic beverages. Live tune-in to sports is accessible not only through linear TV, but also through streaming, network platforms and other apps. Movies, comedy, games and reality shows are other top genres that resonate with alcoholic beverage audiences. To break through the sports clutter (which is typically expensive), brands can use ACR technology to target sports fans across different shows and networks, making for more effective and efficient advertising.

3. Smaller Budgets Barely Make A Dent In Linear TV Advertising: New and upcoming brands, or those with smaller TV budgets, are entirely outnumbered and obscured by brands that have a heavier wallet. In the beer, liquor and hard seltzer categories, the top two brands take up a significant chunk of the share of voice, while the bottom two brands account for less than one-third. OEMs that supply CTV ad inventory can help brands with smaller budgets bring in a higher SOV and reach relevant audiences by conquesting competitors.

LGAds reoprts National Beer Day

Interested in learning more? Download our Alcoholic Beverages Insights Category Report:


Four things to know to build a slam dunk ad strategy this March Madness

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If you’re wondering where to get your sports fix after the Super Bowl, fret not – March Madness is just a few short weeks away! After being canceled in 2020 and witnessing a format change in 2021 to account for the rapid spread of the covid-19 virus, the 2022 NCAA men’s tournament will go back to its customary format: a 68-team field played out across three weeks at 14 sites, starting with the First Four in Dayton, Ohio.

With a peak viewership of 18.8 million during last year’s Final Four, the March Madness audience represents a significant opportunity to reach viewers. This makes the games a battleground for advertisers, vying to get maximum eyeballs and drive return on ad spend. Last year, a week prior to tip-off, virtually all ad inventory had been sold and ad spots were more expensive than they had ever been. This year, we see this trend continuing as the games take on a more pre-pandemic appearance, with fans rooting for their teams in person from the stands and games being held in multiple locations across the country.

“While advertisers flood the airwaves with March Madness-related messaging every year, buying look-alike audiences or broad ‘sports viewer’ targets, consumer viewing habits aren’t predictable. Deterministic buying with ACR data ensures you are buying the audience and not the assumption.” – Justin Fromm, Head of Research at LG Ad Solutions

With our ACR technology and granular targeting capabilities, LG Ad Solutions can help you get the most out of your media buy during this year’s March Madness.

When deciding how to place your ad dollars, here are four things to keep in mind:

1. Know Your Competition: Food and beverage, retail and auto advertisers go big when it comes to spending on traditional linear TV during March Madness. To break through the clutter, you can double-up your efforts and look to CTV advertising to reach specific, highly relevant audiences. LG Ad Solutions native ads are a great way to take ownership of the TV and interact with your target audience at multiple touch points throughout the TV viewing experience.

2. March Madness ≠ Higher Traditional TV Viewership: March Madness does not necessarily create a windfall of incremental traditional TV viewers. Our data show that medium linear TV viewers were just as likely to spend more time on other devices as they were to increase traditional broadcast and cable viewing during March Madness last year. While linear TV witnessed an overall decline in viewership last year, OTT saw a 12% lift in time spent during March Madness — another reason to supplement your linear TV buy with OTT & CTV to improve reach and prevent duplication.

3. Cross-Platform Viewership Is On The Rise: According to MiQ, almost a quarter of March Madness viewers who watched the games live were also active on other devices. 40% of impressions generated on second screens were on a mobile phone. With our precision targeting, LG Ad Solutions can reach audiences incremental to your linear schedule, across multiple screens to reinforce your brand message and keep it top of mind for all of your consumers. Additionally, as with all live sports, viewership waxes and wanes depending on which teams qualify and how interesting the pairings are. CTV, coupled with cross-screen is the perfect last-minute strategy to employ once the brackets are set.

4. March Madness Viewers Have An 80%+ Overlap With Comedy, Movies and News Genres But Not Necessarily Other Basketball Games: You don’t necessarily have to reach March Madness viewers through the NCAA tournament. There are multiple (less expensive) places across TV where these audiences can be found including across comedy, movies and news genres. Don’t assume that March Madness fans are generic basketball fans. Last year, 40% of March Madness viewers did not tune-in to an NBA game in the three months preceding the tournament. LG Ad Solutions can help you pinpoint exactly where March Madness audiences are across different platforms, networks and shows. Whether it is during, before or after the season, our ACR data allows you to target viewers more effectively.

LGAds March Madness banner

Interested in learning more? Download our March Madness Viewership Report:


What’s all that bracket? Cue March Madness!

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March Madness is on, creating a ripple of fervor among college-basketball-starved fans. The event was one of the first few of the year to have in-person viewing (up to 25% capacity). Similar to the NBA bubble in 2020, all games are being held entirely in Indiana to avoid the need for travel and subsequent exposure.

Let’s dive into the category and brand-level performance of the ads featured during the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament.

Insurance wins hands down

march madness sweet

In the Sweet 16 rounds of March Madness, the insurance category sees the highest spend by industry, followed by the restaurant industry and food & beverage.

Progressive hits a buzzer-beater, displacing GEICO as top spender

march madness sweet

Progressive spent about $866K during the Sweet 16 round of the tournament, just taking the lead from GEICO who came in at ~$769K.

Final scores and spends will be in after the ‘Final Four’ in the next few days. Stay tuned for the naming of the MVPs by total ad spend.

Take a look at the results of the following bracket, the Elite Eight here.