Assembly and GALE, agencies that are part of the Stagwell Network, have embraced the possibilities of streaming across all marketing disciplines.
Global media agency Assembly has partnered with Roku to help clients like T. Rowe Price find new audiences through custom content that increases awareness, familiarity, and consideration.
Meanwhile, Business Agency GALE is working with Roku to help H&R Block and other clients meet their full-funnel marketing goals.
We sat down with Rachel Bien, Assembly’s SVP of omnichannel media architecture, and Sophia Zhang, GALE managing director, to discuss streaming TV advertising and how Roku is helping their agencies bring clients’ brands to life.
For GALE, modern media is creative, and creative is media, Sophia explained.
“Today, there are blurred lines not only between paid, earned, and owned media, but also for who should ultimately be the creator and distributor of the stories brand marketers want to tell,” she said. “The answer is always a blend, based on the brand’s brief and objectives.”
Assembly’s promise to its clients is to “find the change that fuels growth,” Rachel said. That also applies to media and planning. The agency considers itself an assembly of data, talent, and tech that identifies and enables connections across the omnichannel media landscape.
Streaming is an incredibly important part of how GALE reaches consumers, Sophia said. The agency tailors its media mix to suit the media behaviors of its desired audience.
"We recommend using streaming both strategically as a channel that can scale but also one that can be targeted where needed for specific messaging or timed opportunities," Sophia said. "The landscape continues to change and evolve, and we recommend both focused and broad reach approaches to ensure our brands are reaching not only the big screen for scale, but also the right screen at the right time."
Like GALE, Assembly is audience-first and takes a “platform-agnostic” view of video that encompasses streaming TV, linear, and even social. That’s different than the industry’s legacy approach to media buying, Rachel said. “We've always put video, and especially TV, in the upper-funnel campaign box, and I think that's still where it does a majority of the heavy lifting.” But things are changing, she said.
GALE’S relationship with Roku as a platform goes back years to conversations about how GALE’s DMP data could help it better understand and convert audiences through Roku’s persistent identifiers.
“Roku brings us new, unique, and first-to-market opportunities,” Sophia said. “They understand and can deliver audiences at scale but also have the ability to create user experiences that resonate with many of our clients in the CTV/OTT space.”
Roku and Assembly expanded their partnership in 2024 when the agency sought larger 360-degree opportunities for client T. Rowe Price.
“We wanted a partner who could help us intersect our investor and advisor target audiences during the key moments that matter, either when they can be led towards a financial journey or when we can connect with them in a deeper way about something they're passionate about,” Rachel said. “Sports is a big focus for us, especially our cross-channel brand campaign, and Roku delivered on that piece through our Rich Eisen Show integrations.”
GALE's full-funnel approach for H&R Block leverages upper- and mid-funnel media to drive interest, intent, consideration, and brand love, while lower-funnel media aims to meet acquisition goals and increase net new customers.
Roku and streaming TV advertising helped elevate H&R Block's messaging to key audiences during peak periods throughout tax season. Roku over-delivered estimated impressions and also helped GALE create an effective distribution experience that drove viewers to H&R Block’s custom content.
“The First Impression Takeover was very special for us,” Sophia said. “It was an opportunity that was traditionally only offered to entertainment-based brands, but working with Roku and given our objectives, Roku opened up this opportunity to us and H&R Block as the first financial services brand in the category to be a part of this big moment and ad experience.”
As part of the partnership, H&R Block received prime placement on Roku’s home screen with 100% share-of-voice for the first impression for each user throughout the day . The campaign over-delivered on impressions.
The investment brand wanted to drive awareness, familiarity, and consideration by helping consumers understand T. Rowe Price’s benefits. To accomplish this, Assembly was determined to diversify T. Rowe Price’s media mix beyond linear TV, where it is hard to break through because the brand is outspent by competitors.
The agency worked with Roku on a channel playlist to connect T. Rowe Price with consumers during pivotal moments that could trigger a financial journey, such as buying a first home.
Roku is also helping Assembly connect its client’s new brand platform — "the power of curiosity” — through a custom creative program that can effectively communicate complex investment and wealth management messaging. These themes will anchor T. Rowe Price’s upcoming custom content series with Roku.
“The big learning is don't put streaming in this brand box,” Rachel said. “The platforms are so dynamic these days, and they should be considered for full-funnel objectives.”
Sophia agreed: “Streaming is a key part of a media plan that helps drive our consumers further down the funnel. While traditionally used and thought of as strictly awareness media and TV replacement to many, it also drives multiple important metrics that can move business results, like a shift in intent, trial, and conversions.”
As such, GALE views streaming as one of the best ways to reach consumers at scale and through premium produced and developed content.
Sophia toggles between business documentaries or Bravo reality TV. “There are really no in-betweens,” she said.
Rachel just finished “The Cult Massacre” and started the new season of David Letterman’s “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction.” And one of her favorite series so far this year is “The Geek Girl.” “It’s so cute and easy,” she said.
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