New technologies are connecting communication channels

In brief

• 44% of internet users in Türkiye own at least one internet-connected TV device.
• Programmatic and addressable technologies are moving TV targeting from demographics to households and personas.
• Media planning is shifting from analogue TV and radio to integrated screen and audio planning.

According to Conviva’s Q2 2021 report, the big screen represents 73% of total global video viewing time. Viewing time via smart TVs grew 46% globally compared with Q2 2020.

44% of internet users in Türkiye own at least one internet-connected TV device. This isn’t just a penetration figure; people in Türkiye have also started spending more time watching video than on desktop or mobile devices. According to Hootsuite’s 2021 report, 73% of internet users in Türkiye watch TV content online. According to eMarketer, the share of internet users watching TV or films through SVOD services in Türkiye has reached 68%. According to GlobalWebIndex, around 89% of internet users in Türkiye say they watched free or paid TV, films or other video content in the previous month.

Adoption of other smart technologies is also moving fast. Smart home device ownership in Türkiye has risen to 17%, above the global average. Use of voice search and voice commands among internet users stands at 49%. All of this shows that people in Türkiye can quickly integrate technology into their daily lives.

The pandemic turned people’s physical connections into remote connections through technology. We now hold most of our meetings by web conference. Online shopping has become a bigger part of our lives. We prefer to watch on streaming platforms the films we used to love seeing in cinemas. These behavioural shifts accelerated the development of new technologies, and connected technologies and the platforms they shape have become a bigger part of our lives.

However, the average internet connection speed in Türkiye is below the global average, which makes it harder for new technologies to become part of our lives, because almost every new technology today is built on connectivity. A user in Türkiye connects at an average of 34.79 Mbps on mobile (global average 42.70 Mbps) and 28.89 Mbps on fixed broadband (global average 96.43 Mbps). In other words, our fixed-line speed is roughly a third of the global average. A strong internet infrastructure has become essential to make more of connected technologies and bring them to wider audiences.

New advertising spaces, new targeting

The diversification of connectivity-focused technologies is also creating new advertising spaces. Ten years ago TV advertising was limited to analogue TV inventory; today it has expanded with OTT, VOD and SVOD platforms. These platforms have made TV more digital and expanded the possibilities for targeting people and personalising ad messages one to one. Demographic targeting (age, gender, socio-economic status), which in the analogue era relied solely on people meters, has broadened thanks to these platforms. Today, programmatic and addressable technologies let us target by persona and household. Using these technologies at scale depends on rising smart and connected device penetration, and on internet speeds and connectivity infrastructure surpassing global standards.

We shouldn’t limit the impact of new technologies to new advertising spaces alone. Every communication channel has started to go digital. Integrated screen and audio planning is replacing the old concepts of analogue TV and radio planning. We no longer just need planners specialised in analogue TV or radio, but people who can use programmatic and addressable technologies on increasingly digital platforms. The change is visible in out-of-home too: location-based targeting and dynamic, experiential ad formats are being used more and more.

The agency talent pool is changing

In advertising and media agencies, the share of talent who master technology and can put it into practice keeps growing. Reading and making sense of the data that comes with personalised advertising has also become a necessity. Data analysts working hand in hand with technology and innovation teams have taken their place in agencies’ talent pools.