Avoid the Google Toll – Go Direct to Your Consumer
Leave it to the crypto industry to help re-shape how companies will use TV for marketing moving forward.
If you were one of the few who didn’t watch the Super Bowl, CoinBase, a crypto company, spent nearly $13 million to air a :60 spot. Not just any :60 spot, a spot that predominantly focused on a dancing QR Code moving around the screen. Crazy, you might say. But was it? It has been reported*:
The commercial generated 20 million hits in the first minute, ultimately crashing the site/app
Coinbase’s mobile app leapt from #186 to #2 in the Apple App Store
According to EDO**, the commercial generated 8x more web interaction than the average Super Bowl commercial
Those numbers are incredible all by themselves, but they don’t tell the whole story of why more marketers will be leaning into driving consumers to QR codes and Mobile Apps via their TV strategies.
First You Must Admit You Have a Problem
Over the years the TV industry has done an incredibly poor job demonstrating to their clients, agencies, etc., the true value of their product. As Google came on the scene 24 years ago, the TV industry quickly lost control of their viewing consumer – and they have been clawing to get it back ever since. Why is that?
While analytics have become much more sophisticated to better understand cross-platform actions by consumers, many companies still live in a last touch world that show search, display, digital video as significantly more efficient than TV – to the chagrin of all TV platforms (linear, CTV, OTT, etc.). When it comes to assigning marketing budgets, digital tactics will get the lion’s share unless a direct correlation is presented that proves the impact TV has on those other channels.
The good news is that as the TV landscape quickly evolves to a CTV/OTT world, the ability to leverage first-party data strategies is quickly driving more efficiencies for TV marketers. But it doesn’t solve the whole problem.
What Does Google Have to Do with All This?
The hidden secret for many years is that the TV industry has played a vital role in Google’s growth. Over the last 10 years it is estimated that marketers spent approximately $740 Billion on TV advertising*. Even if the primary goal of that $740 Billion was not necessarily to drive a digital action, the reality is, that is the world we live in. Most clients would be thrilled if their TV strategy drove a website or social media visit.
Whether via CTV, OTT or linear, our data indicates that roughly half the traffic we drive for clients goes directly to the clients’ URL; the other half, roughly, gets to the client site via Google. For argument’s sake, let’s say half ($370 Billion) of these dollars are successful in driving a direct dialog with the consumer.
Playing this out, our data indicates that half the traffic driven to Google goes to organic search (a good thing!) while the other half clicks on a paid search keyword. The critical word here is PAID.
While people can debate whether the number $185 Billion driving paid search is spot on, the point is that it is a very large number driving money into Google’s pocket. Factor in the average cost of a paid keyword and the numbers become astronomical.
What Does This Have to Do with Coinbase?
Whether the CoinBase Super Bowl spot will generate a profitable ROI will be determined soon based on how many of the 20 million hits convert to a consumer and what their lifetime value is as a customer.
What CoinBase DID prove is two undeniable facts that will impact QR Codes and Mobile Apps moving forward:
Utilizing a QR Code allowed Coinbase to drive most, if not all, of their response directly to themselves. They avoided what we refer to as the “Google Toll.” Imagine how much money Coinbase would have had to spend for Paid Search without the QR Code?
The other hidden secret they avoided was appearing on a search query with their 3 biggest competitors. Google’s model is brilliant – you pay them for the right to appear along with your largest competitors. It reminds me of the people who wait in line to get in a casino.
QR Codes and Mobile Apps Can Set You Free
We truly believe that CTV/OTT will eventually allow (at scale) the ability to connect directly with a consumer. The scale is not there yet. Until it is, companies utilizing TV would be wise to leverage the tools they have available to avoid the dreaded “Google Toll.”
*https://time.com/nextadvisor/investing/cryptocurrency/coinbase-super-bowl-ad-free-bitcoin-crypto/
