What Is A Binge Ad?

The television landscape is almost entirely different than it was five years ago. Streaming is overshadowing cable, and audiences want a TV-watching experience as devoid of overt, intrusive advertising as possible. This desire has created an opportunity for streaming networks to try out new kinds of advertising that meet the wishes of audiences and the goals of the streaming services and advertisers. Hulu, one of the streaming services that offers tiered subscriptions with and without commercials, has been toying with a variety of different advertising formats, the most recent being binge ads.

What Is A Binge Ad?

Hulu partnered with Kellogg’s, Maker’s Mark and Georgia-Pacific to offer advertising tailored to binge watchers. Binge ads from these advertisers capitalize on refined machine learning and deep dive first-party insights to tailor ads to binge watchers, who, by the third episode of their binge streaming, will be rewarded with an ad-free episode. Ideally, the well-integrated ads and the promise of an ad-free episode will encourage viewers to keep watching. And advertisers will get on board with campaigns that capitalize on the habits of the modern TV watcher.

Hulu explained the new binge ad format in a blog post announcing the binge ad campaign: “Viewers desire advertising that is integrated and less disruptive to their storytelling experience. That’s why we’re committed to driving innovation that considers behavior and context when building new formats and experiences. At Hulu, we are transforming advertising to make it better for both the viewer and the advertiser, and binge ads are one of the many examples of that.”

New Ad Formats Offer Opportunities For Brands To Reach Audiences

In addition to binge ads, pause ads, Hulu’s other innovative ad format, will be coming out of the beta phase and launching fully in 2020. As advertising turns increasingly digital because of better measurability and shifting consumer habits, new ad formats will offer a wealth of opportunities for brands to engage viewers in ways that may be more palatable to modern consumers wary of outdated advertising delivery modes.

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