What the ad industry can learn from Mirriad Advertising

Introduction: The problem

Grabbing consumers' attention has always been the goal of advertising, and never has there been as much demand for it across as many mediums as today.

Estimates suggest that US consumers are exposed to between 4,000 and 10,000 ads every day, but fewer than 100 make it past their so-called "attention wall" as viewers unconsciously filter for messages and brands they’re already interested in.

According to figures from industry research group TGI, more than half of viewers feel that they’re bombarded with advertising, while Advertising Association think tank Credos recently found that favourability towards advertising had fallen to a record low.

"We’ve accidentally created The Distraction Economy" says marketing specialist Oliver Feldwick. "The rise of data, UX design and optimisation means that many experiences are being designed to squeeze out more attention. This isn’t working. The more attention we squeeze, the less it’s worth. We end up striving harder and harder for shorter and shorter stolen moments of attention."

Part of the problem is that much existing advertising is based around the premise of "interruption" – in other words, jarring people into paying attention, an approach that some in the industry think is unsustainable given the proliferation of modern media.

Stephan Beringer, CEO of contextual advertising specialist Mirriad Advertising, says measuring attention has become a key goal of the advertising industry. Mr Beringer – who we spoke to here about industry trends - points to the need for a paradigm shift in the delivery of advertising, as the industry faces the twin pressure of limitations in inventory and dwindling consumer attention.

Mirriad Advertising

In its recently published analysis of the 2021 advertising holiday season, Mirriad (MIRI Follow | MIRI) offers insight into in-content digital advertising that larger players in the industry can learn from, as the 2022 season looms.

As was the case last year due to Covid shutdowns, consumers this holiday season are facing economic challenges and uncertainly due to the unfolding cost of living crisis. In this climate, "Advertisers must be committed to their efforts to establish top of mind awareness with their audience. ... Kantar research proves that breaking through this holiday shopping season is possible by adding in-content advertising to your media mix." says Mark Melvin, EVP, Sales & Brand Partnerships at Mirriad.

Mirriad's solution: Innovation in in-content advertising

Mirriad sees innovation in in-content advertising as the answer to the aforementioned distraction overload. An overabundance of choice across media (e.g. 1700 TV channels now available in the US) is resulting in fragmentation of viewership and distrust/avoidance of advertising. Flexible and scalable high-impact solutions are therefore needed to reach target audiences, Mirriad says.

Standalone TV ads no longer cut it according to Mirriad, as ad avoidance is growing among the ongoing migration to video-on-demand. Mirriad presents an alternative solution, particularly applicable in peak shopping periods, that can reach viewers when they are most engaged with the screen.

Mirriad's AI-powered in-content solution places brands in the program, allowing brands to engage with viewers in scenes that won't be skipped or ignored. Mirriad says this increases advertisers reach by 24% on average, benefiting from significantly higher attention and engagement, even during the crowded holiday season.

[source: Mirriad Advertising]

Specifically, Mirriad's platform uses AI technology that digitally places products, signage, and other ad formats into contextually relevant moments across TV, digital, social, SVOD, AVOD, Streaming, CTV, and other content mediums in a seamless and unobtrusive way. It is the frontier of advertising that Mirriad is pushing.

[source: Mirriad Advertising]

The approach also offers advertisers flexibility in planning, investment levels, and lead-time. Brands can target specific audiences, context, locations, narratives, settings, etc.

Results

Among Mirriad's partners during the 2021 holiday season were Hallmark, Lifetime, Up Entertainment, and GAC. The holidays is an ideal time to showcase the merits of the technology due to a wealth of content to leverage for campaigns, enabling Mirriad to drive incremental revenue for its partners.

One notable client was a financial services company that used Mirriad's technology to integrate brand signage within contextually relevant moments of Hallmark Channel’s "Countdown to Christmas". The placement created alignment to the main characters whom the brand’s target audience found relatable.

The client then measured the effectiveness of the in-content ad format against awareness goals. They found that the campaign yielded a 34% increase in ad awareness among viewers with a household income above $200K as well as a 24% increase in purchase intent among the same audience. The client also found that viewers showed a clear favourability for the creative ad format, with 81% of the audience between 35-44 agreeing it produced a positive appeal. Likewise, 69% of the viewer group agreed they would rather see branded integration than other ad formats.

Equally impressive was recent Nielsen data that showed Mirriad’s in-content advertising during the 2021 holiday season was able to deliver approximately 130 million additional impressions. The audience reach was also 39% higher than in the equivalent TV spot breaks in the same content.

Holiday content ramp-up

Mirriad notes media companies have been ramping up their holiday movie rosters, resulting in more than a doubling of viewings last year, proving the power of the seasonal content focus. Hallmark Channel's popular "Countdown to Christmas" made it the most-watched entertainment cable network in 4Q21 among women 18+ for the eighth year in row according to a Cynopsis report. This is especially relevant as holiday content viewership is directly related to holiday shopping.

View from Vox

The effectiveness of Mirriad's approach is backed up by the data detailed in its holiday season report. The results speak for themselves. The future of advertising will increasingly feature in-content campaigns for the simple reasons that 1) They are highly effective as they target audiences with better precision, 2) Audiences prefer them due to their unobtrusive and creative nature, and most importantly 3) Advertisers prefer them because of reasons 1) and 2).

As a trail blazer in the space, Mirriad is well-positioned to reap the benefits of the industry's adoption of this disruptive technology. The results reported by its financial services client (detailed in "Results" above) are particularly telling as they reveal a convergence in preference across companies and consumers. Mirriad says they have consistently seen similar responses from other clients.

Furthermore, Mirriad has reported a large uptick in holiday campaign activity in the most recent calendar year, with a net revenue increase of approximately 850% for its media partners. As mentioned, holiday content and holiday spending are linked, making the holiday season the most important time of year for advertisers.

Mirriad has continued to score clients in the US, including top-tier brands. As a result, its US revenues grew by 57% in 1H22 to £418K, now accounting for 72% of total revenue. The company reported active engagement with all major agency groups in the US, including Magnite, the world's largest independent sell-side ad platform. Mirriad also had its first campaign in Canada in February 2022.

Mirriad said the partnership with Magnite would enable it to scale up and automate in-content advertising via programmatic ad campaigns across multiple platforms, channels, and markets.

Mirriad also reported improvements across all non-financial KPIs in 1H22, on both supply and demand sides. Active supply partnerships grew 38%, supply partners represented increased 79%, and seconds of content available grew 27%. On the demand side, the number of advertisers who ran campaigns increased 35%, and commercial partnership agreements with advertisers and agencies increased 50%.

On 21 October, Mirriad won "Most Innovative TV Advertising Technology" at the 2022 AdExchanger Awards. Coincidentally, its stock price is up 25% over the past month. It is a small-cap staple to Follow | MIRI for anyone interested in disruptive growth stocks.

Mirriad remains well-funded with £17.7m in cash and a cost control programme designed to deliver £2.5m in annual savings. Overall, the company is well-positioned for continued growth in North America and Europe.

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