In addition to its slate of programming, Bell Media announced a number of major additions and expansions to its ad offering ahead of its Upfront presentation on Thursday.
They include a suite of enhancements to its data offering, the coming launch of an ad-supported subscription tier for streaming service Crave and the introduction of addressable advertising across Bell Media’s television platforms.
Addressable ads will allow advertisers to target ads to specific households or devices, based on demographic and behavioural data across on-demand, live streaming and linear content.
Bell’s addressable ads will initially be available for audiences using the company’s own Fibe TV service, with more platforms to be announced over the coming months. Buyers can access addressable ads directly through the company’s sales team, with programmatic access on the Bell DSP being added in the near future.
Adding to the platforms advertisers can access through Bell is an ad-supported subscription tier for Crave. Though announced Thursday, details like pricing, ad load and formats are being saved for when the offering launches this summer. Currently, a monthly Crave subscription costs $19.99 per month, though discounts are available for longer subscription terms or through certain TV providers.
“Today’s announcement fulfills the growing demand from advertisers to leverage the power of Crave,” said Stewart Johnston, SVP of Bell Media sales and sports. “We are excited to open the door to Crave’s sought-after inventory for clients, to showcase their brands in a premium environment.”
Karine Moses, SVP of content and news for Bell Media and vice-chair of Quebec for Bell, added that the new tier will offer more choice and flexibility to customers, “while aligning Crave with current industry standards.” Streaming services based in the U.S., like Netflix and Disney+, have been adding less expensive, ad-supported subscriptions in an effort to attract and retain customers, especially in an economic environment where they are looking more closely at discretionary spending.
In addition to the Crave and addressable TV ads, Bell also plans to expand the inventory on its DSP with addressable audio ads in both streaming radio broadcasts and podcasts later this year.
On the analytics front, the company has introduced Bell Attribution Insights, which provides advertisers with interactive reporting on campaign effectiveness across Bell Media platforms. The attribution capabilities include performance reporting, campaign lift, activation and key audience analysis metrics. The goal with Bell Attribution Insights is to increase reach and conversions in Bell’s marketing platforms by activating unexposed segments from broadcast to digital, or vice versa.
Bell says it has also expanded existing data capabilities with new data sources that better facilitate omnichannel buys, such as TV viewing retargeting, as well as improved scale for its Audience Manager. The company also pointed out that all of its data-driven products are built on privacy-compliant, first-party data.
“In this constantly evolving media ecosystem, we know that a clear, data-powered, platform-wide approach will serve our clients, in the most meaningful way,” Johnson said.
Bell has also rolled out a number of upgrades to strategic audience management tool SAM, including faster optimization, better proposals, expanded user capabilities, automation and a new self-serve interface with additional dashboard views, improved audience creation and in-app notifications for TV campaign management. In addition, SAM is now integrated with other Bell Analytics products, including the new Bell Attribution Insights.
