Roku to offer advertisers added flexibility and control

Roku remains one of the most popular streaming devices on the market, but its users tend to be more advertising averse compared to competing products like Apple TV or Amazon Fire TV, according to Interpret’s New Media Measure quarterly consumer survey. The good news for advertisers, however, is that Roku is making significant changes to its ad offerings to give brands extra flexibility and control for their campaigns. As reported by Ad Age, Roku will enable brands to revamp, change out or pull their creative completely, and the company said that it would make adjustments in pricing so that 15-second spots cost less than a 30-second commercial.

Moreover, Roku has promised that brands will receive unduplicated, incremental reach, ensuring that marketers only pay for households that they don’t reach on linear TV. The company believes this will help its partners “shift dollars more quickly into streaming.” As more of the population migrates to streaming, brands will have to think carefully about their ad strategies.

Sentiment towards ads will vary on an individual basis of course, but Interpret’s data does show that many Roku users have less tolerance for ads appearing prior to content playing. When asked if they’re okay with watching 30-second or longer ads before content, 29% of Roku owners completely disagreed compared with 24% for both Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV. Similarly, when asked if they’re open to short ads (5-15 seconds), 21% of Roku owners agreed completely compared to 26% of Amazon Fire TV users and 24% of Apple TV users.  Roku’s new advertising options should give brands better ways of walking the advertising tightrope with viewers.

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