Free for viewers and premium for advertisers: The unique value of BVOD
BVOD provides a brand-safe environment for advertisers, where they can trust their messages appear alongside quality content. Craig Johnson, director of research and insights at the Seven Network, explores this unique value and why advertisers should take advantage of it.
BVOD is grounded in quality content. Production values are high. Prohibition of user-generated content alongside strict adherence to broadcast standards ensures content is curated and produced to the highest quality standards.
AI capabilities built into 7plus prioritises content that aligns most with viewers’ personal preferences, reducing browsing time and optimising platform engagement. All these factors ladder up to a better user experience, and keeps viewers coming back, hungry for more free, premium content.
BVOD benefits from higher attention relative to all other media channels. In an age of endless scrolling and shortened attention spans, BVOD continues to engage audiences and buck the attention trend.
TV and BVOD both command more attention, with BVOD capturing eyes on the screen 65% of the time and broadcast TV capturing eyes on the screen 58% of the time – both exceeding YouTube and Facebook (source: ThinkTV The Benchmark Series, Not All Reach Is Equal).
People watching BVOD are more likely to choose when they watch and what they watch and 84% of BVOD viewership is consumed via a connected TV (source: Ipsos Iris Online Audience Measurement Service March 2024). This means more content is being seen on the BIG SCREEN, driving bigger and more impactful advertising.
Recent research from ThinkPremiumDigital’s Benchmark Series showed that ads placed on BVOD were more liked and had higher memory retention compared to when there were placed on YouTube and Facebook. Higher recall translates with a stronger sales impact, so in this essence, time really is money.
Alongside the attention win, BVOD also inherits the trusted reputation of traditional TV, making it the second most trusted medium behind TV. It has a higher trust score than SVOD, radio/audio and social media.
The trust of the platform, the content being watched, and the overall user experience all have a halo effect on advertising impact, setting BVOD apart from the pack in providing a brand-safe environment where advertisers can trust that their messages appear alongside quality content.
The focus on high-quality content and viewer engagement translates into more effective ad placements, leading to stronger brand recall, more significant purchase intent and, ultimately, a higher return on ad spend. This is reflected in brand lift studies where the 7plus audience often deliver more favourable results for our sponsors.
Tactically, BVOD should show up on media plans in addition to TV, never instead of.
BVOD provides a new audience, delivering incremental campaign reach. Audience duplication on broadcast TV and BVOD is as low as 2-5%, plus 75% of BVOD daily reach is captured by the viewers who are not reached on traditional broadcast TV. This increases to 91% among the younger demographic, who are more likely to access content digitally.
With VOZ, Australia now has the most comprehensive TV audience measurement globally.
With the launch of VOZ Steaming agencies can, for the first time, buy real-time total TV demographics to match their broadcast schedule while maintaining frequency caps across broadcaster, increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of BVOD even further. Brands can also access unified, cross-platform reporting to measure their reach and frequency with more accuracy and transparency than ever before.
As broadcasters, we are committed to elevating the viewer experience while delivering measurable, effective, and brand-safe advertising that exceeds expectations in today’s digital landscape for both our clients and audiences.
Craig Johnson is the director of research and insights at the Seven Network
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