In a bold (and overdue) move, Audience Store has teamed up with AudienceProject to supercharge incremental reach for TV advertisers. This partnership is all about corralling the so-called “cord-cutter” crowd, using an arsenal of data to locate and engage viewers who’ve ditched linear TV in favor of OTT and CTV. If you’re wondering what incremental reach even means, buckle up—this isn’t your grandpa’s advertising jargon.
So, What’s Incremental Reach?
In advertising speak, reach is simply the number of unique viewers a campaign engages. Think of it as your baseline: if 100 million people in the coveted 18-to-49 demographic are out there, but only 80 million of them are still glued to linear TV, that leaves a big chunk of the audience on CTV or OTT platforms, streaming away in peace. Incremental reach is the cherry on top, capturing that 20 million of “untapped” viewers who are beyond linear TV’s grasp. For brands, it’s the difference between reaching most of their audience and reaching all of their audience.
AudienceProject’s measurement tech does the heavy lifting here, merging Barb data with digital impression data to figure out exactly where incremental viewers are hanging out—and how often they’re watching. The real kicker? This setup lets Audience Store offer advertisers true frequency capping across CTV platforms, so those viewers aren’t hammered with the same ad over and over until they hit “unsubscribe” out of sheer exasperation.
Why Is Incremental Reach a Big Deal?
For one thing, the rise of cord-cutting isn’t just a trend; it’s an avalanche. According to eMarketer, U.S. non-pay-TV households have already surpassed 51 million, with projections saying they’ll outnumber traditional pay-TV households by 2024. The more people bail on cable, the more essential it is for brands to shift from linear-only campaigns to multi-platform strategies that capture viewers across every screen. In other words, the days of blasting ads to a captive living room audience are over. Now, it’s about fishing where the fish are.
Nielsen’s latest data puts streaming at 25% of total TV usage—a figure that’s only climbing as streaming services churn out endless content. For advertisers, this shift means that a linear-only campaign risks missing a solid chunk of the audience. By marrying traditional TV and CTV with a precise incremental reach strategy, brands can get a 360-degree view of their reach and—hopefully—their relevance.
The Audience Store & AudienceProject Power Couple
Audience Store’s Targetcast, already a top-tier CTV solution, is getting a major upgrade. With this partnership, advertisers now have access to a supercharged campaign strategy, complete with enhanced pre-campaign planning and post-campaign analysis that digs deep—not just showing overall reach but breaking down incremental lift. As Jon Hewson, CEO of Audience Store, puts it: “Teaming up with AudienceProject is a strategic move that elevates Targetcast, enabling us to give advertisers a precision toolkit for maximizing audience reach and engagement.”
And in a quote that is clearly, very much fake, Hewson didn’t actually say, “With AudienceProject, we’re practically putting our ads on hoverboards—they’ll zoom right to where the viewers are.” He totally should have however.
Now, advertisers can get hyper-specific about reach, engagement, and ad frequency, with tools designed to avoid the notorious “ad fatigue” that has viewers reaching for the “skip ad” button. AudienceProject’s tech lets Audience Store clients deduplicate across Barb and impression-level digital data, helping advertisers see the real impact of their campaigns and avoid wasted spend on redundant impressions.
Paul Barnard, Managing Director at AudienceProject, captures the essence of the collaboration: “Our mission is to empower advertisers to capture their full audience, not just a fraction. Partnering with Audience Store lets us take that mission further, giving advertisers a true bullseye approach with every campaign.”
Why This Matters for Advertisers
This partnership isn’t just a footnote—it’s a signal flare to the industry that the one-size-fits-all ad strategy is as outdated as cable. With incremental reach, brands don’t just spray and pray; they target and resonate. As more viewers bail on linear TV and turn to on-demand content, the brands that master incremental reach will be the ones that win in today’s fragmented media landscape.
For advertisers clinging to linear campaigns: you’ve been warned. Incremental reach is the new battleground, and brands that don’t jump in will find themselves behind, left wondering where all their viewers went.
