Last week, Roku joined marketers from around the globe in celebration of creative excellence in advertising at the 2022 Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. Streaming offers the beauty of TV with the brains of digital, and this year at Cannes, we were thrilled to share our own canvas of creativity in the marketplace with The Roku Channel and in-house Roku Brand Studio, as well as exciting new ad formats and partnerships.
Here are three key takeaways for advertisers from Roku at Cannes:
1. Original, premium programming establishes a one-to-one relationship between consumers and advertisers.
Zoe Lister-Jones and Roku’s Colin Davis sat down with Shannon Miller of AdWeek to talk about the making of the Roku Original series Slip – a show that follows a journey through parallel universes as the main character, Mae, enters new relationships and tries to find her way back to herself. Lister-Jones reflected on her experience of writing, directing, producing, and starring in her own series, and what it meant to have her show reach 61M Roku households.¹
“As we recognize trends, but more importantly forecast new ones, we are able to take that 1 to 1 relationship with our audience to deliver them shows they’re seeking,” said Colin Davis, Head of Scripted Originals, Roku. “But the second part of that promise is getting great shows that fit those desires. The Originals team refers to this as ‘the calculator meeting the crayon’ and Zoe couldn’t be a better crayon.”
For advertisers and creators, original programming offers a better TV viewing experience with a platform for stories that resonate with all audiences, and direct dialogue with consumers they won’t receive anywhere else.
2. TV streaming gives brands the power to go beyond the 30-second spot and win the entire streaming journey.
In partnership with The Drum, we sat down with Jerry Daykin, VP of Global Media at Beam Suntory, Kay Vizon, Director of Media Services at Kroger, and Roku’s Kristina Shepard, Head of Agency Partnerships & National Brand Team Lead, to explore the evolution of TV streaming as a platform, and the storytelling opportunity in going beyond the 30-second spot.
“We know TV works for brands,” said Daykin. “We prioritize audio and visual experiences with brands because we want to tell interesting stories and stand out. I think streaming is a great opportunity, especially as it gets bigger.”
Jerry Daykin, VP of Global Media at Beam Suntory (left) and Kristina Shepard, Head of Agency Partnerships at Roku (right) at Roku & The Drum panel: Go Beyond the 30 Second Ad Spot
TV streaming offers the beauty of TV, plus full-funnel benchmarks throughout the streaming journey, making TV streaming advertising top-of-mind for marketers.
“We used to think of streaming primarily as a brand awareness channel where you can build brand equity overtime,” said Vizon. “Now, because it is in a digital environment, we are able to think about it more full-funnel and that’s really exciting to us.”
With access to teams like the Roku Brand Studio, advertisers can co-develop content that drives their messaging throughout the funnel in relevant and entertaining ways.
3. Shoppable ads are bringing commerce to TV streaming.
Last week, Roku announced a first-of-its-kind partnership with Walmart to make TV streaming the next e-commerce shopping destination on Roku. Walmart will be the exclusive retailer to enable streamers to purchase featured products fulfilled by Walmart directly on Roku. In partnership with Campaign US, Roku’s Peter Hamilton and Walmart’s CMO William White discussed the shoppable opportunity that is now coming to tv streaming.
“Creators have to adapt and learn as well. So it might be an evolution in terms of what works, and depends on who the audience is," said White. “That’s the beauty behind what we’re doing in bringing data, technology, and measurement together – that different products, with different creators, and different audiences within Roku will evolve and show up differently.”
The new experience offers product discovery with a seamless checkout experience, enabling purchase directly at the time of inspiration. OneView by Roku will have the exclusive capability to activate and measure these shoppable ads. Learn more about our partnership with Walmart.
With great content, better storytelling, and now commerce, Roku allows marketers an opportunity to connect the dots across the streamer's journey and use these learnings to innovate for the future.
Want to stay connected with Roku Advertising? Subscribe to our newsletter to receive more exciting TV streaming updates.
¹ Based on Roku's active accounts as of Q1 2022
