Performance TV is Television’s Third Big Wave: Part 2

Will Brand-Building Survive TV’s Shift to Short-Term Performance KPIs?

“The addiction to the short-term is not a new phenomenon, but it has gotten a lot worse,” said Les Binet, the legendary marketing effectiveness researcher in a 2020 interview with WARC. “With the arrival of e-commerce in particular, and digital metrics in general, all of business is now afflicted by the same problem. All businesses now have short-term metrics, which can distract them from long-term growth. I think that's the real reason why business is becoming short-termist. It's not quarterly reporting. It's not the short tenure of marketers. It's the data.”

Performance TV is in the early stages of disrupting TV advertising as we know it. If the industry isn’t careful, it won’t be the disruption they’re hoping for.

In Part 1 of this article, we examined how overemphasis on performance KPIs could lead TV down the wrong path. In Part 2, we’ll explore how failing to integrate traditional approaches for TV advertising and measurement could destroy this historically great branding medium.

Here are four of those potential pitfalls.

1. Ignoring Branding Effectiveness in Performance KPIs

TV has always been understood to be a brand-building medium. By reaching mass audiences with ads at an effective frequency, brands could establish awareness and keep their brand top-of-mind among potential buyers. Sales effects—to the extent they can be measured—are realized over a longer time horizon.

As Performance TV allows brands to optimize on short-term sales KPIs, there is a risk of overlooking long-term effectiveness that will ultimately devalue TV advertising.