By E.B. Moss

Locality, the preeminent local video solutions provider, has doubled down on its “and” positioning: providing more innovative solutions that bridge and simplify advertising in local broadcast and streaming. Locality continues to champion its mission to “Unlock the Power of Local,” with a renewed focus on “Local Advertising Made Easy” to emphasize its effort to simplify local advertising and be a one-stop, consultative resource for brands and agencies.

Seasoned industry leaders Keith Kazerman and Ann Hailer oversee streaming and broadcast sales respectively, but with a collaborative approach that facilitates that one-stop goal for advertisers, which is exactly what this era of media convergence demands.

This AND That, Here AND There

“Locality is still in very much an ‘and’ world,” explains Kazerman. “As we look at the landscape of video and converged TV, broadcast and streaming are complementary. And based on advertiser conversations, looking at Upfronts, and seeing where markets are moving, there is a clear need to be present on both mediums.” Kazerman and Hailer note there’s very much a need to be present in local markets, too – for regional advertisers, of course, but also national brands. Nielsen’s The Gauge™ makes the case to converge streaming and broadcast ad buying as total TV viewing increased by 3.5% from July 2023 to July 2024, with streaming TV accounting for 41.4% of viewership, and seeing a 6% rise over the previous 12 months, while broadcast TV, at 20.3% of total TV viewing, grew 5% compared to a year ago.

As Kazerman has often said, “all buying decisions happen locally,” pointing out that “it’s local if the customer is using e-commerce while sitting on their sofa or going to the brick and mortar in their local area.” Locality leveraged that, plus their “and world,” via their “Precision Reach” approach to local video advertising, which offers a significant advantage in their ability to enhance national campaigns by blending the precise local targeting of streaming TV with the extensive reach of broadcast TV, in any market.

Hailer points out that this is especially key for national brands: “It’s imperative that when they’re looking at the opportunity to spend local dollars, we’re helping them customize across broadcast plus streaming. No two advertisers or their needs are the same. So, we’re using the unique attributes of each DMA, across the needs for that brand, across regionality and seasonality, and their customer opportunity in each one of those markets.”

Examples of that customization range from utilizing AI to enhance creative that speaks to local audiences specifically, to targeting specific zip codes around brick-and-mortar stores and optimizing delivery to enhance local penetration, where sometimes national distribution of impression delivery isn’t equal across the U.S.

As a point of pride, Hailer adds that the consultative approach “is not just sales to us; it’s actually being a partner and meeting the needs of these advertisers that is so important to us. In fact, we were ranked number one by the Myers Report* last year for Local TV Sales and Audience Delivery. It makes Keith and me proud to know that our effort really resonates.” It’s a strong promise, but Locality Reach+ has been delivering, proven by recent campaigns from QSR to Automotive advertisers.

The Impact of Incrementality

Pride aside, Kazerman believes objectively in the importance of incrementality in local campaigns, particularly in markets where national campaigns might not reach effectively. Quantitatively, he explains, “Locality has worked with various partners – iSpot.tv being one of them – to measure always-on for all our campaigns’ incremental reach. That’s what gives us the ability to optimize impression delivery, to look from a consultative standpoint on the appropriate audience targeting, and provide that kind of data input for pre-planning, post-campaign, for next campaigns, on what that ideal balance is between broadcast investment and streaming as the driver of incrementality in a medium that continues to grow at a very quick pace.” Local advertising, he adds, “is that filling in the gaps, reaching audiences in markets where national campaigns alone might fall short.”

And customized local messaging helps brands engage with audiences on a more personal level. “There’s an inherent trust that comes with local messaging,” Kazerman continues. “When a brand speaks directly to a community, the message feels more authentic and, as a result, drives better engagement.”

Another plus on the broadcast side of the equation is that “you’re buying content that is FCC licensed,” notes Hailer. “It is by nature and by design, a safe environment.” That extends to local news, which is usually perceived as a trusted source. “Brands that associate themselves with that local broadcast content, and those news personalities that you’ve allowed into your living room for years and years, gain trust and credibility. It becomes a halo effect for those brands who are seen as being in your community.”

And to add an altruistic touch, Hailer points out that “local markets, especially these small ones, really need help making sure that we can still deliver news and information to these communities. So, in a more judicious kind of way, if Keith, myself, and the Locality Team can help get advertisers into those local communities, that helps support them, making sure that those news broadcasts, radio or TV can still happen.”

“Or, it can get much more in-depth and specific, looking at the entire thirty seconds as a message incorporating both the brand essence and the value proposition, and stitching together the specifics and unique nature of that local community. That’s where AI takes a lot of the cost out of it, which I think historically has been a deterrent for advertisers concerned about spending a lot on creative versions.”

“So,” he adds, “we’re getting more sophisticated with targeting, understanding the audience, and understanding the locality, pun intended, in the use of AI to create a quick and efficient process, from a price perspective, to create the right messaging.”

Tech Plus Human, Plus Human

No mention of AI can go without qualifying how protections are built in. Locality guards for ad fraud traps via a commitment to brand safety and contextual relevance. But it’s also ensured via their unique method of acquiring and vetting premium inventory. Kazerman explains their ad fraud detection media partner, Human, “is built into our 30-second ad delivery and in many platforms that we work with.” Complemented with direct inventory connections to streaming publisher partners, it “drives full transparency of what that content is and what that endpoint is to deliver the appropriate ad. So, the combination takes a lot – if not all – of that potential fraud out of it.”

Managing that premium ad inventory can be a challenge in an election year, especially for local broadcast TV. While the dollars from political advertising can be a boon for many media providers, there’s sometimes a battle being fought for inventory by general advertisers, particularly those in highly contested markets. “We’re already seeing non-political advertisers being pre-empted in certain markets,” Kazerman says. “It’s a challenge, but it’s also an opportunity. By shifting those pre-empted impressions to streaming or OTT, we can keep our clients’ campaigns running smoothly and ensure they’re still reaching their target audiences on the same screen.”

Per the consultative approach that Locality takes, Hailer notes they have been in core agencies well ahead of their 2024 planning season to help them navigate communication goals and heavy political inventory pressure markets and weeks. She sees Locality’s ability to adapt quickly to changing market conditions as a significant advantage in this environment: “Our dashboard insights allow us to pivot in real time. If political ads impact a campaign, we collaborate with advertisers taking a holistic approach to optimize inventory across broadcast and streaming, ensuring that our clients don’t miss a beat.”

Getting Engaged

The capper to tapping the power of local cohesively, and applying AI to inform the right messaging, is that Locality’s new partnership with Inscape is also looking at return path data from over 24 million opted-in smart TVs to leverage insights of ad exposure data for the ability to look at incrementality. As an example, Kazerman points to a recent Reach+ campaign and how they were accessing inventory across local streaming and broadcast. “We looked at our connections in the marketplace, which include 150 plus streaming publishers, 400 local broadcast stations, and leveraged those insights to help from a pre-planning standpoint and execution standpoint in multiple markets, to drive real incremental reach.

“We now validate allocating incremental budgets in specific local markets, using this data,” he adds, “to effectively create a playbook for brands on how to plan, manage, and measure incrementality, and look at how they’re delivering and managing overall unique reach and effectiveness of local converged campaigns with the combination of streaming and broadcast. None of that would really be possible without utilizing data vendor relationships.”

That, Locality assures us, is easier done than said. And, to add a simplified point, Kazerman acknowledges that “as much as media has been an art, we’re bringing science into the framework to make smarter, better data-informed decisions, creating more effective campaigns.”

*Rated As Best-In-Class or Preferred Partner Among 57 Leading Media Sales Organizations by 40%+ of Agency Business Partners. The Myers Report 12/23