NBC Focuses on Digital Ads

Network Touts Web Properties to Media Buyers via Roadshow

By Daisy Whitney

In an effort to mine as much advertising revenue as possible from one of the few mediums that’s growing, NBC has hit the road to sell its digital programs on NBC.com.

The digital division of the broadcast network recently embarked on a road show to pitch media agencies on the benefits of buying online and multiplatform ad packages this year.

The network has been selling digital and new-media ads year-round and as part of the upfront for the last few years. But this year’s effort marks the first time the network has developed a tailored roadshow for its digital programming business.

In preparation for the upfront, NBC.com has in the last month pitched the digital divisions at MediaCom, Media Edge, MediaVest, McCann, OMD, Initiative, Mindshare, Zenith, Digitas, Starcom and others in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.

Because of those meetings and the response from advertisers, NBC expects its digital ad sales business will grow this year, said Vivi Zigler, president of digital entertainment at NBC Universal.

“Our expectation is growth in the business. Not all of that will come in the upfront, but we expect growth in scatter and quarter by quarter,” she said.

Digital sales operate on a year-round basis, but because the television upfront is still the most important buying season for the business, NBC is using the digital roadshow as a lead-in to upfront presentations next month. Multiplatform buying will be a key component of the network’s presentations to advertisers.

That’s because NBC’s research indicates brands see a 14% to 17% rise in brand awareness and purchase intent when marketers use both TV and online ads. Last year NBC.com drew about 18 million monthly unique visitors who watched nearly 700 million videos, according to Omniture numbers shared by NBC.

Digital advertising is one of the few mediums slated for growth this year. eMarketer reported earlier this month that Internet ad spending will reach $24.5 billion this year, a 4.5% rise from last year. Online video is on a higher trajectory, with eMarketer expecting dollars in online video to grow nearly 45% this year, albeit from a much smaller base.

That’s why NBC and other networks are pushing their digital efforts, including ads in full episodes online, on mobile phones and in widgets that live on other sites.

Ad buys will be smaller, but NBC expects to bring more advertisers on board this year. “There are more advertisers coming into the space and they are coming in at smaller levels and seeing it as a good time to come in,” Ms. Zigler said.

Recent advertisers including American Express, Olive Garden and iContact were sponsoring the site last week, she said, adding, “We are seeing new advertisers on a pretty consistent basis growing their dollars.”

Part of the network’s pitch centers on new ad formats online, said Steve Andrade, senior VP and general manager for NBC.com. For instance, the site offers banner ads that run in videos. The banners include logos and advertiser information that expand when clicked on. Those banner ads draw a 17% interaction rate, compared to 2% for regular banner ads with videos, he said.

The network also is currently pitching advertisers on original content for the Web. For each show, the network pairs writers from the show with digital producers to create Web extensions such as character blogs and Web series, said Carol Angelo, VP for content at NBC.com.

Mobile advertising and programming also is growing for NBC. In the fourth quarter of 2009, NBC delivered 15.1 million page views on mobile phones, up 60% from the third quarter.

The network is exceeding those numbers this year and generated more than 15 million page views in January and February on mobile phones, with three-quarters of mobile streams coming from full episodes of TV shows. In total, NBC generated 1.8 million mobile video streams in the fall, double the year before.