In the linear advertising world, the term “Breaking News!” is unwelcome; a rock in the shoe on a walk through a tidy media plan park. At least, it’s an inconvenience. At worst, it’s painful. Breaking news is a disruptor – “breaking” is literally in the name – to the usual flow and predictability that so many embrace about linear TV spots. Brands and their media agencies shudder at the idea of having their media plans blown up by a sudden story taking over their ad slot. It makes them uneasy to have to adjust something they would rather just “set and forget.”
The news industry watchdog site Statista, defines “Breaking News” as a journalistic term used to describe urgent or important news events that are unfolding in real-time and demand immediate attention. Often, it refers to situations that are rapidly developing, such as natural disasters, political crises, or other high-impact events that significantly affect the public.
Sound familiar? Over the past several months, or even years we’ve seen a lot of breaking news come across our airwaves. And with a news seeking entity re-entering the White House soon, we should probably continue to expect a healthy diet of breaking news in our programming.
Most media buyers cringe, “How can we know when it’s going to happen? We won’t clear what we forecasted!” They view breaking news as a seed of chaos.
At Diray, we see it as a garden of opportunity. Diray Media’s media buying strategy is twenty-four hours, seven days a week. “We are never complacent with our clients’ campaigns.” says Kevin Hand, Diray’s VP of Media. “In this age of news constantly being fed to us across multiple channels and platforms, you have to expect news to break.”
Because of Diray’s long held relationships with the major news networks, the linear buying team can have proactive conversations with the sellers to anticipate ad slots around breaking news; often having a good feel for when and how many new, non-scheduled ad spots might become available, “we’ve gained extensive experience around politics and weather that we can let our clients know, pretty accurately, when and how many avails are going to be there.” This kind of knowledge gives the Diray team a head start, “By the time other agencies are just trying to react, we’ve already negotiated an incredible rate and booked. This is great for the networks too. They know we have our act together and move quickly.”
Breaking news also often brings with it a large audience looking for updates. This increases the value of Diray’s expertise in this particular type of pre-emptive buying against non-scheduled programming. Added Kevin, “You have to be ready to pounce on every opportunity otherwise you’ll be left behind and so will your client.”
Yes, breaking news can be jarring. It’s asynchronous. It’s unpredictable. But so is the world and how news networks cover it. And given the fracturing level of attention, breaking news with its large, engaged audience is one of the best opportunities for brands to approach one of the few monoculture moments available. But to capitalize, you must have a partner that understands the opportunity, the knowledge of the situation and the relationships to execute quickly.
In the linear advertising world, the term “Breaking News!” is unwelcome; a rock in the shoe on a walk through a tidy media plan park. At least, it’s an inconvenience. At worst, it’s painful. Breaking news is a disruptor — “breaking” is literally in the name — to the usual flow and predictability that so many embrace about linear TV spots. Brands and their media agencies shudder at the idea of having their media plans blown up by a sudden story taking over their ad slot. It makes them uneasy to have to adjust something they would rather just “set and forget.”
The news industry watchdog site, Statista, defines “Breaking News” as a journalistic term used to describe urgent or important news events that are unfolding in real-time and demand immediate attention. Often, it refers to situations that are rapidly developing, such as natural disasters, political crises, or other high-impact events that significantly affect the public.
Sound familiar? Obviously, over the last several months (years?) we’ve seen a lot of breaking news come across our airwaves. And with a news seeking entity re-entering the White House soon, we should probably continue to expect a healthy diet of breaking news in our programming.
Most media buyers cringe, “How can we know when it’s going to happen? We won’t clear what we forecasted!” They view breaking news as a seed of chaos.
At Diray, we see it as a garden of opportunity. Diray Media’s media buying strategy is twenty-four hours, seven days a week. “We are never complacent with our clients’ campaigns.” says Kevin Hand, Diray’s VP of Media. “In this age of news constantly being fed to us across multiple channels and platforms, you have to expect news to break.”
Because of Diray’s long held relationships with the major news networks, the linear buying team can have proactive conversations with the sellers to anticipate ad slots around breaking news; often having a good feel for when and how many new, non-scheduled ad spots might become available, “In the past few years, we’ve gotten so many reps in around politics and weather that we can let our clients know, pretty accurately, when and how many avails are going to be there.” This kind of knowledge gives the Diray team a head start, “By the time other agencies are just trying to react, we’ve already negotiated an incredible rate and booked. This is great for the networks too. They know we have our act together and move quickly.”
Breaking news also often brings with it a large audience looking for updates. This increases the value of Diray’s expertise in this particular type of pre-emptive buying against non-scheduled programming. Added Kevin, “You have to be ready to pounce on every opportunity otherwise you’ll be left behind and so will your client.”
Yes, breaking news can be jarring. It’s asynchronous. It’s unpredictable. But so is the world and how news networks cover it. And given the fracturing level of attention, breaking news with its large, engaged audience is one of the best opportunities for brands to approach one of the few monoculture moments available. But to capitalize, you must have a partner that understands the opportunity, the knowledge of the situation and the relationships to execute quickly.
Breaking News: With Diray Media, you’re always ready to seize the moment.