One of Australia’s top marketers, Toby Dewar, Westpac’s Head of Group Media, Social and Digital Tech has argued there is real power in combining linear television and broadcast video on demand.

Speaking at The Art and Science of Addressable Advertising Masterclass recently, Dewar said: “It’s not about addressability and personalisation yet, it’s about being smarter about the targets and the segments you buy at scale.

“It’s about how you can get meaningful audiences through these platforms. It’s a combination of traditional linear TV with a side order of addressable at the same time. It’s a really strong balance.”

Also speaking at the masterclass was Pippa Leary, Nine’s Director of Sales Strategy and Product Commercialisation, who agreed with Dewar and went on to note the value that addressable TV adds to traditional TV campaigns.

“While you’re running your TV campaign you should be looking at addressability as the ability to optimise your TV in real time and learn about your TV campaigns in ways you haven’t been able to do before,” she said.

“These two are not mutually exclusive. They should always be used together and that’s where I think, as marketers, you will get the real value.

“You will get the brilliance of TV and its ability to build that brand, but you also get from addressable TV the insights, the targeting, the attribution modelling and the measurement. All that will give you a much fuller picture of how your TV campaigns are functioning.”

Leary further highlighted her views on the power of addressable TV by drawing comparisons between traditional TV and digital.

She said: “TV has always operated at the top of the funnel, creating mass awareness and emotional connection to your product. Digital has operated at the bottom of the funnel, closer to conversion purchase.

“Addressable TV for the first time means that you can do both at once. Full funnel solutions will be the way of the future – the ability to link the top to the bottom.”