Roku and The Trade Desk Announce New Data-Driven TV Streaming Partnership
SAN JOSE, Calif. Roku, the #1 TV streaming platform in the U.S.*, announced plans for a new data-driven TV streaming partnership with The Trade Desk, the largest independent global advertising technology leader, to equip advertisers with better planning, buying, and measurement of TV streaming media. Roku plans to empower advertisers using The Trade Desk with the ability to leverage Roku Media and audience and behavioral data, so that The Trade Desk customers can better understand and optimize their campaigns for TV streaming viewers.
As the TV streaming ecosystem grows increasingly crowded and complex, advertisers are looking for the most efficient and performant way to cut through the noise and reach viewers at scale. By leveraging Roku’s automatic content recognition data, advertisers using The Trade Desk can suppress incremental households that have seen their linear TV ads — a capability advertisers have had directly with Roku, now available in an independent media buying platform on Roku Media. Through Roku’s more than 81M Streaming Households, advertisers can find meaningful outcomes through scale, premium inventory, and optimization capabilities that will help efficiently maximize ad spend.
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“Matching Roku’s reach with the power of The Trade Desk’s innovative solutions will unlock new ways for marketers to reach the right TV streaming audiences strategically,” said Jay Askinasi, SVP, Head of Global Media Revenue and Growth, Roku. “We strive to be even more interoperable with the most prevalent buying platforms in the market to meet our advertisers where they are. It’s simple to use and highly effective at reducing waste for buyers, and it will improve the ad experience for our millions of viewers.”
“CTV has emerged as one of the most powerful digital advertising channels on the open internet, and this new partnership with Roku will enable The Trade Desk’s clients to put valuable new data insights to work and fully optimize their campaigns,” said Jed Dederick, Chief Revenue Officer, The Trade Desk. “We are excited by Roku’s focus on interoperability and thrilled to forge a closer partnership as we bring the full power of the open internet to bear for all advertisers.”
The partnership is intended to provide The Trade Desk customers with the ability to leverage Roku audience and behavioral data on Roku Media. Advertisers can access Roku Media through a range of options in The Trade Desk in a private marketplace.
About Roku
Roku pioneered streaming on TV. We connect users to the content they love, enable content publishers to build and monetize large audiences, and provide advertisers with unique capabilities to engage consumers. Roku TV™ models, Roku streaming players, and TV-related audio devices are available in various countries around the world through direct retail sales and/or licensing arrangements with TV OEM brands. Roku-branded TVs and Roku Smart Home products are sold exclusively in the United States. Roku also operates The Roku Channel, the home of free and premium entertainment with exclusive access to Roku Originals. The Roku Channel is available in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. Roku is headquartered in San Jose, Calif., U.S.A.
Marks included in this press release are trademarks or registered trademarks of Roku, Inc. in the U.S. and in other countries. Tradenames, trademarks, and services marks of other companies appearing in this press release are the property of their respective holders.
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Roku and Unity Announce Collaboration to Aid Mobile App Marketers
Roku, the top streaming service in the US and the world’s top platform for producing and managing real-time 3D (RT3D) content, and Unity have announced a strategic product and commercial partnership. This partnership will make it easier for mobile app marketers to extend their app install campaigns to TV streaming inventory. Through this partnership, mobile app marketers will have the only seamless TV streaming campaign execution experience possible by combining Unity’s user acquisition technology and experience with Roku’s premium inventory.
Roku – Unity solution for app marketers
The solution, which is currently in beta testing, links Unity’s Luna app marketing platform to Roku’s premium TV streaming inventory by fusing Unity’s campaign management and optimization technology with Roku’s Action Ads. With a smooth transition from ad view to download, Roku’s Action Ads offer advertisers the advantages of click-through measurement along with an easy-to-use discovery flow for viewers. They can therefore evaluate the effectiveness of their streaming TV campaigns from the point of initial ad exposure to the download of mobile apps.
TV streaming and Roku Action Ads
The first-to-market collaboration coincides with the expansion of TV streaming advertising. GroupM projects that global TV streaming ad revenue will reach $25.9 billion in 2023, an increase of 13.2%. Given that, at least 82 of the top 100 games use Unity to expand their user bases and that Roku has nearly half of all broadband homes in the United States, these two platforms are ideally positioned to assist app marketers in utilizing more screens and devices to engage potential users and spur incremental growth. Through this partnership, marketers can now take advantage of Roku Action Ads for a seamless experience in addition to closing the measurement loop for improved optimization.
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App marketers and TV streaming campaigns
With the Roku remote, users can start the game download on any mobile device and go back to watching TV shows without any hassles. Additionally, app marketers can now track every aspect of their TV streaming campaigns, from the first TV ad exposure to the final mobile app download, which opens up new, more affordable growth strategies. When Roku’s scaled inventory is combined with Luna’s campaign management technology, app marketers hoping to boost performance on home TVs will have never-before-seen opportunities.
After logging in from Unity, app marketers will go to Luna and choose Roku from a list of marketing channels. This makes it simple for marketers of mobile apps to purchase cross-channel advertising on a single platform. After the beta test, Luna will collaborate with a select group of partners to expand to Roku.
Here’s what they said
Miles Fisher, Senior Director, Head of Emerging and Programmatic Sales at Roku said,
Mobile app marketers seek to maximize their budgets and ad opportunities. TV streaming has become the right performance channel to enable growth and provide channel diversity in a highly competitive market. Roku’s scale, tech, and direct connection with the viewer are uniquely positioned to make the largest screen in the home work harder for mobile performance marketers on Unity.
Omer Kaplan, SVP of Revenue and Operations for Unity Grow added,
The driving force behind this partnership is to turn CTV into a high-scale performance channel for apps and games. Savvy app marketers today know that they have to harness every available channel to drive truly incremental and cost-efficient growth, and CTV represents a huge and largely untapped opportunity. By coupling that scaled inventory with Luna from Unity’s robust campaign management and optimization technology, this partnership unlocks unique value for app marketers who are looking to drive performance on home TVs. We believe that there is no better combination of partners more suited to making CTV a successful performance marketing channel to add to app advertisers’ UA toolkit.
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Roku and Spotify Collaborate to Introduce Video Ads To Roku App
Spotify’s app on Roku will now feature video ads thanks to cooperation between Roku and Spotify. In the US, Canada, and Mexico, Roku is the most popular TV streaming service. The cooperation between Spotify and Roku, which dates back over a decade, and the launch of the Spotify app on Roku, is strengthened by this collaboration. The new invention, according to the businesses, is the first step in bringing Spotify’s CTV partner network online. Through the relationship, Spotify will be able to offer additional video content, offering marketers more opportunities to engage with the platform’s more than 500 million MAU users. Spotify Video Inventory will be available on Roku as part of the Roku Audience Network. It will be accessible as a component of Spotify’s Video Everywhere ad service.
What’s in it for advertisers?
The ability to contact customers on any device is the key to successful digital marketing. Although it also applies to marketers, it is a best practice for user experience. Larger screens are now available in homes thanks to the expanding app ecosystem on Smart TVs. As consumer patterns change, businesses who don’t have a presence on this wider screen through CTV advertising are losing out. Additionally, viewers are increasingly turning to streaming to watch and listen to all of their favorite material. It includes everything from music to stand-up comedy routines to podcasts. In order to reach consumers where they are focused, advertisers are refocusing their marketing budgets. They are converting to linked gadgets from linear television. Brands will have an extra chance to reach the combined audiences of both streaming channels by partnering with Roku.
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Spotify’s CTV Partner Network
The agreement with Roku is a first step in expanding Spotify’s CTV Partner Network. The quantity of visual experiences on Spotify has been growing, and these experiences will now include video ads. A beta version of DJ, which provides music recommendations and comments from an AI disc jockey, was released by the streaming service in August. Spotify introduced Blend in 2021. It is a shared social listening platform that enables users to make custom playlists to share their individual musical preferences with friends and family.
The Video Takeover Ad experience from Spotify reaches customers listening to music on their smartphones, tablets, and desktop computers. Soon after, CTV devices will be added, starting with the Roku platform. Future additions to this offering by Spotify will include even more video ad offerings, like video podcasts. In order to reach more users, the new Spotify app on Roku will include artist snippets and video clips mixed with ad formats like Sponsored Sessions. In order to give users a more participatory experience, it will also include Call to Action cards for podcast advertisements.
Roku’s portfolio
For more than a decade, Roku users have had access to the Spotify video app. While most people use Spotify to listen to music and podcasts, they also use it to create playlists, search for content, and watch artist videos and audio podcasts on their screens. Roku has been busy releasing new ad experiences on the platform in addition to adding video ads to the Spotify app on CTV. In a recent announcement, the business said that it was expanding its collaboration with Shopify to enable customers to buy goods from Shopify merchants using Roku Action Ads. Viewers can make purchases straight from their TVs and pay with Roku Pay.
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Here’s what they said
Lee Brown, Spotify global head of advertising & business platform said,
As a longtime leader in the streaming space, we’ve had a front-row seat to audiences choosing streaming to enjoy content and advertisers following suit to reach them. It’s long been our goal to make Spotify available to anyone on any device and this partnership with Roku answers the call from advertisers who want even more ways to reach our users. Both our brands have been at the forefront of the streaming revolution and together we’re continuing to invest in more opportunities for advertisers to connect with our immersed users.
Alison Levin, VP, ad revenue and marketing solutions at Roku commented
As longtime partners, we’re excited to launch Spotify’s TV streaming video ads that will reach both of our streamers on platform and drive measurable campaign impact for brands. Roku and Spotify are uniquely positioned to make the largest screen in the home work harder for brands. We are thrilled to partner with Spotify on this at launch.
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Roku-Shopify Revolutionize TV Ads By Enabling On-Screen Purchases
Roku and Shopify have partnered up in a first-of-its-kind commerce shopping integration. The partnership first came into existence in 2021, when Roku granted Shopify rights to use its advertising platform. Roku has now announced that their customers will be able to purchase products from Shopify merchants directly on their TV screens via Roku Action Ads. This integration comes as an extension to their present relationship.
Peter Hamilton, Roku’s Senior Director of Ad Innovation said,
Bringing a Shopify purchase experience to television for all merchants is an industry first. Roku democratizes access to TV advertising, and now we’re collapsing the funnel for Shopify merchants.
What are Roku Action Ads?
Roku Action Ads are an advertisement that consists of a down-funnel action design, providing services such as sending a text message, providing, and scanning a QR code, and making a purchase. Shopify is the latest addition to the list of clients leveraging Roku Action Ads alongside Walmart, and food delivery service, DoorDash.
Roku stated in their announcement that this partnership was “the first streaming commerce integration for independent Shopify merchants.” They also stated that it would establish an entirely fresh advertising channel for businesses.
How will it work?
Roku streaming users will be able to make purchases from Shopify through just one click on their Roku remotes. Here’s how:
- When a Shopify ad appears, the viewers can click on “OK” on their remotes to know more about the product.
- The users can then purchase the product using the on-screen function and complete the transaction using Roku Pay during check-out.
- The payment and shipping information would automatically be recognized from the customer’s Roku Pay details.
Image Credit: Roku
What’s in it for Advertisers?
This experience will help marketers to curtail the advertising funnel from brand awareness to purchases on big screens at home. It will strengthen the Roku-Shopify relationship, allowing the latter to launch ad campaigns with the help of Roku’s certified identity.
According to Roku, in addition to their audience being able to reach independent Shopify merchants, this integration will allow Shopify and advertisers to achieve in-depth insights into Roku’s customer data, purchase trends, and point-of-sale access.
The prime users of this collaboration will be Men’s Apparel Brand True Classic, the game-based, at-home workout challenge connector device Ergatta Rower, and wellness brand Olly.
Saaj Parikh, Director of Marketing, Ergatta, in her statement, said,
Our commerce efforts are all about meeting our target consumers where they are and providing a seamless path to purchase. Integrating the Shopify shopping experience with Roku was a no-brainer for us.
Paige Decker, Vice President of Growth at True Classic also stated that the Roku Action ads addressed their needs for “offering an amazing purchase experience and having a sound channel measurement.” She further added,
It helps us by providing a frictionless path to purchase for customers while allowing us to measure the impact of this strategy with end-to-end Shopify integration. Merging performance-based tactics on TV is a win-win.
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Roku And Shopify Collaborate, Create App For SMEs To Launch CTV Ads
Shopify and Roku have announced a collaboration to provide a Roku app for creating CTV ads and managing campaigns to all Shopify businesses’ dashboards. The goal is to get a piece of the $16.4 billion spent on local TV advertising by small and medium-sized enterprises.
The inclusion of Roku in Shopify’s marketing solutions will make it the first-ever TV streaming app available in the Shopify App Store, allowing SMBs to strengthen their brands and generate income through TV advertising.
Roku’s platform, which is designed for merchants to employ on their own and with low ad budgets, has already shown to be successful, with one advertiser’s brand seeing a 63 percent increase in consideration.
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Roku And Shopify Collab: What Does This Mean For Sellers?
Thanks to Roku’s app, Shopify sellers of any size will be able to quickly construct TV advertising campaigns utilizing exact demographics and measurement across their marketing pipeline. This is a great leap forward from the traditional linear and cable TV advertising solutions, which have limited targeting and measurement possibilities.
Amir Kabbara, Director of Product, Shopify, said –
At Shopify, we’re focused on helping our merchants reach more consumers, boost their sales, and build thriving businesses.
By launching the new Roku app in the Shopify App Store, merchants can bring their products directly to TV screens, while allowing consumers to discover exciting new brands right from their living room
Shopify users can download the Roku app from the Shopify app store, following which they can easily choose their audience, budget, timing, and duration for their ad – and finally, submit the creative. Quickly, users will be able to commence their campaigns and communicate their brand message to the millions watching TV at home.
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