TV Advertising: A Winning Hand | Wes Benwick

David McBee: Hello and welcome to Simpli.fi TV, the web series and podcast for agencies, brands, marketers, and media buyers. I'm David McBee. Our guest today is Wes Benwick, senior product manager right here at Simpli.fi. Wes joined Simpli.fi as part of the BluHorn acquisition in 2021. While he has been involved in all forms of media from production to buying as both a client and creative over the last 30 years, his current focus is with Simpli.fi's Omnichannel value stream, a team that is tasked with creating tools that help advertisers and agencies with measurement and planning across the entire platform. Wes, welcome to Simpli.fi TV. Wes Benwick: David, thank you. Can I hire you to be my personal hype man? David McBee: Yeah, absolutely. $40 an hour. Wes Benwick: All right, sold man. I'll let you know when I need you. David McBee: I'm cheap. I'm cheap. Okay, let me know. Okay, so Wes, let's just get right to it. In this new world of streaming television with its focus on targeted audiences and measurable performance, are reach and frequency dead? Wes Benwick: No. No, they are not. They keep trying to die, right? But they keep getting brought back to life because it really is the ultimate measurement. But everyone wants to discount it because they can't get the deduplicated reach across all the different platforms, not just tv, right? But all the other platforms as well. And so people are frustrated with it, so they keep trying to find other measurement currencies out there, whether it be impressions or attribution related ones. And they're all important, don't get me wrong, but everyone at the end of the day always comes back to reach and frequency, because that is what powers marketing and communication at the end of the day, reaching the most people as often as whatever strategy you have says you need to reach them, right? It's just never going to end. David McBee: So let's really look at frequency. I have actually read that an advertiser needs to share their message with their intended prospects a minimum of 20 times before that prospect will take action. And that's an old marketing 101 stat from a really old source. But today, how does that apply, specifically let's talk about television? Wes Benwick: Yeah, let's talk about television and let's talk about the way I look at television advertising. Television advertising to me is an educated gamble. It's like you're going to Vegas every single time you run an impression and you're playing the table odds. And when you walk to Vegas and you walk up to that craps table or that slot machine, are you a slot puller or are you a craps player? Maybe you're a poker guy. Which one are you David? David McBee: I am not a gambler at all except for Powerball. I do like to dream that one day I'll win the Powerball. Wes Benwick: Well, so no different. It's just like playing the lottery then. It's an educated gamble. You're playing the odds. Yes, you could win the lottery on your first scratch-off ticket or your first Mega Millions or Powerball play. You're probably not, the odds aren't in your favor. And to me, I look at TV advertising the same way. Your chance to reach that one viewer who is willing, ready, and able to take action on whatever it is you're trying to do, unless it's just have them engaged and learn about your brand and what you do, right? It's not going to be the first time. Yeah, it's going to happen with some, it's going to take lots of times because you got to get the timing perfect. They got to be in the right state of mind. They got to be open to whatever you're sharing or saying or doing. It better be right at the right moment in time, right when they're ready to take action. And do they have a phone or a computer or whatever device it is in hand to go do what you need them to do? If it's go on this website and look more into this product, right? Or if it's fill out this form to set this appointment, whatever it is, that's what it is at the end of the day. And that's why I like to look at it as the biggest educated gamble you could ever play. But the great thing is the odds are way better than Vegas or the lottery for that matter. David McBee: I was going to say they must be because people have been investing in television for a hundred years now and they invest a lot in it. Wes Benwick: That is the truth. I mean, it feels good to win and that's the attribution data. If Vegas or the lottery actually published the attribution data and you had to understand it before you actually win, you'd never play the lottery, you'd probably never go to Vegas. But it's exciting to play that game. It's exciting if you win a bunch of times. And frankly, that's the way I look at tv advertising, advertising in general. Every time a conversion happens, that's the sirens going off, the money dropping into the bucket, the people around the craps table applausing. That is what powers advertising every single day and that happens all throughout the day. So really it's a matter of trying to get rid of the strategies that aren't working for whatever it is or the creative that's not performing or what have you. Measuring all that, inspecting it, fixing what the problem is and then moving on. If you could do that in Vegas or the scratch-off tickets, you'd be a millionaire by now and we probably wouldn't be talking on this TV show. David McBee: So I'm not sure that our advertisers really want to hear that their advertising campaign is like a big gamble, but the reality is TV works, right? So what's the difference now between the digital TV working compared to linear TV working as it has for so many years? Wes Benwick: I think that's a good point. So I'm making a really big analogy. I'm not trying to scare anyone away. We all know TV works. We have the proof points. If it is a gamble, which again, depending on how you define a gamble, it may be, but it's a much safer gamble than any other bet out there when it comes to where you want to spend and bet your client or your own brand or advertiser's dollars. But when you look at digital, I think versus traditional or linear as some might call it, this is all part of the equation. And I think if you want to have the odds be in your favor that you're going to see a solid return on your investment, because at the end of the day, that's what everyone wants. That's what we're all proving every day. And I think that's what Simpli.fi does so well is not just help people spend their money in a targeted way, but also prove how their money is being spent and that it's working for them. You need to have a media mix that is appropriate for whatever audiences you're trying to reach. If you only advertise on traditional tv, you're missing all the cord cutters and the cord nevers who have already stopped watching traditional broadcasts and are watching AVOD-based, or FAST, or VMVPD content. You're not going to be able to reach them as easily as if you actually had a digital strategy that complimented your linear one. So I think that's all part of that equation to get the odds back under your control where you're calling the shots as the advertiser agency and you're not just hoping and praying for success. David McBee: And we know now of course, that the majority of people fall into that cord never and cord cutters bucket, it's over 50% now. So yeah, they're missing a lot of folks. Wes, if you- Wes Benwick: It's actually over 80% of the homes in the US have a smart TV. Can you believe that? David McBee: Right, absolutely. 80% have access to smart TV and over 51% I believe are watching it exclusively now and have no access to linear tv. Wes Benwick: We have crested that peak man. We've taken our off-road Jeeps all the way up the mountain. We're at the peak, we're coming downhill. It's been a great ride. David McBee: Bro, I love a good Jeep analogy. All right, so Wes, what golden nugget of knowledge do you have that you wish every advertiser who is buying connected TV advertising knew? Wes Benwick: I'm going to give you a golden story, not just a nugget, all right? David McBee: Oh, I love it. Wes Benwick: I know we're a little time limited, but I promise you, we're going to get through this story as quickly as possible within the time allotted. David McBee: No, take your time. You can go over the limit. For you, we'll go over the limit. Wes Benwick: You're the best. So this is a very personal story. So we've been running ZTV, I'm sure there's been episodes about it. Maybe we'll have a future one about this test for several months now. And we've been testing all sorts of things, premium networks and just how low can we push the CPM and still get delivery. And I tested in my own zip code because I want to see our ad. Not because I need to see it, but if I see our ad on the TV that I'm watching, I know it's working. I think a lot of advertisers feel this way. They all want to see their own ad, but sometimes they're not their own target audience, so they don't, and that's always a struggle. But I've got some parents of mine too, they're both still alive, very fortunate, and they're in their seventies and we're talking, my parents are pretty peculiar. They have tinfoil on their front windows to keep the heat out, but also for privacy. So I want you to picture this, they're very privacy concerned. They've asked what I do, but they've never really understood it. And the other day, my 72-year-old parents, I was sitting with them having a meal and they asked, "What do you do?" And I said, "Well, I'm not going to be able to explain deterministic and probabilistic advertising strategy to you, but I tell you what, you watch your TV and when you see a Simpli.fi ad come on, you text me, you call me, you let me know the next time we're together." So I went back to our test campaign and I added their zip in. And mind you, our test campaign is spending a whopping $20 a day. That's not a lot of money. So I trust our tech. So I put their zip code in, their zip code's a big area, and a couple of weeks go by and I'm back at their house. And they're, "Son, we saw your ad," and I think that is the coolest story because $20 a day, I just want to reach my parents. I'm not doing any other targeting. We could have reached them a lot faster with a higher frequency, don't get me wrong. If we spent money on our ACAGF type products and fenced their house or neighborhood, but just with ZTV, this pretty low CPMs at $20 a day, all the other watching going out there, I was able to get my ad or our ad, Simpli.fi's ad on their TV in their house and now they are freaked out. I'm pretty sure they unplugged the tv, disconnected everything. We're talking about my dad puts electrical tape on the camera of his phone because he thinks that people might be observing when he's not okay with it. So I only share all that, not to joke around and tease about my parents. I think there's a lot of parents out there who feel this way, like they're not comfortable with all this tech, but they are cord cutters. They got rid of the cord a long time ago to save money and be frugal. But it just shows you the power of our product. That not only can I reach myself on a regular basis, I can reach my parents at a pretty low cost, and I think at the end of the day, that is one hell of a gamble. I will take that gamble any day because that to me is strong, solid advertising. And I mean talk about reach, right? I reached my own parents for very little money. David McBee: That's pretty impressive. You could have easily used site retargeting, gone to their computer and gone to Simpli.fi's website. You could have easily geofenced their house. You could have targeted seniors in that zip code, but you just targeted the zip code and they saw the ad. That gives me a new feel for ZTV. So thanks for sharing that story. Wes Benwick: I think it also shows you just how powerful ZTV is. This is not a rumor going around that people are just watching more and more ZTV. It's really happening. And if you don't believe it, it's probably because you haven't cut the cord yourself. But the second you do it, it is a beautiful, beautiful scene on the other side of that traditional TV landscape, lots of options, 4,000 plus combinations of publishers and channels and content providers. You can find anything you want to watch when you want to watch it. And I'm not here to sell you on going out and buying a connected TV or using it, but you probably have one in your house. It's probably time to check it out if you haven't done it already. David McBee: I love it. You've been an awesome guest. Before I let you go, I do like to ask everyone if they have a podcast or a book that they'd like to shout out to the audience. Wes Benwick: Oh man, I'm on the spot with this. I love sports. I love Pat McAfee and all they do there with his program and all of that kind of content. So I'll throw that out there. Probably not everyone's favorite, but if I was going to listen to a podcast, if I had the time, it'd be one of those. Or maybe it's the pizza reviews. I love the pizza reviews. One Bite. David McBee: The pizza reviews? Okay, we don't have time, but I'll definitely check that out. Wes Benwick: It's also lunchtime, and I'm hungry. David McBee: And Wes, what's the best way for viewers to learn more about you? Wes Benwick: The best way is for them to do business with Simpli.fi, be a great customer and get on one of our panels. We love talking to customers. As part of the product team, we can't talk to enough of you. Time gets in our way sometimes, but if you're one of our customers or a potential customer, reach out to your sales rep. Let them know you want to talk to product, myself, any of my colleagues. We love to hear from our customers directly. David McBee: Awesome. Wes, thank you for being my guest on Simpli.fi TV. Wes Benwick: You bet. Thanks David. David McBee: And thank you all for watching. Simpli.fi TV is sponsored by Simpli.fi, helping you to maximize relevance and multiply results with our industry leading, media buying, and workflow solutions. For more information, visit Simpli.fi. Thanks for joining us today. I'm David McBee, be awesome, and we'll see you next time.