FAANGS bite deeper into TV ads
Details
Joseph O'Halloran
| 11 March 2020

The FAANG companies — Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google — are making bigger pushes into the world of the small screen collectively spending $2.6 billion on TV in 2019, a CAGR of 26% in their increasing investment says a study from VAB.

The study by the media market insights firm noted that collectively, the FAANG firms ranked as the top TV spender in the US for 2019, spending $450 million more than the second largest TV advertiser, P&G. During the year, the FAANGs focused their TV spend on overall branding and core products with video streaming collectively accounting for 16% of spend. For Netflix alone this was 100% of spending.

Beyond increased branding, VAB found that FAANG advertised multiple products and services through TV to reach desirable, tech-enthusiast audiences at scale. In particular, several brands struck major partnerships with sports leagues which includes heavy advertising and placement exposure during live televised events. In addition to sports, the FAANG companies were found to be investing heavily within culturally relevant live shows (specials, awards, morning/late night talk) and popular entertainment programme.

Each brand was found to buy deep with an average of 78 broadcast and cable TV networks spanning a variety of genres and demographic targets to achieve mass scale.

Summing up the key takeaways from its report, VAB highlighted three key areas: brand building and top-of-mind awareness; new product/service launch support; maximising reach and impact.

VAB said that in his highly competitive environment, even the most ubiquitous brands need TV to keep their brand name, and core product offerings, continually ‘top-of-mind’ among a broad audience and grow market share. Furthermore it advised that the mass reach and engagement of TV allows brands to quickly build scale in support of new product/service launches and the storytelling nature of the medium allows them to differentiate the product/service and its features from competitors.

VAB also observed in its report that the FAANGS were complementing impact with TV continuity through a mix of high-profile sports and live event programming during the year coupled with a deep roster of broadcast and cable networks covering a variety of demographic and psychographic segments.