Peacock wants advertisers to be the service’s ‘welcoming committee’

Most streaming services need scale to attract advertisers long-term. At Peacock, the company is hoping it can benefit big from first-time viewers, too.

A new ad format for the streaming service, called the Harmonizer, is designed to deliver different advertiser creative based on various consumer signals. One use case that’s particularly interesting? Brands can greet new users or subscribers to the service by immediately serving up a special offer or welcome message.

“On Peacock, we can identify who our newest users are. So if you wanted to connect with those users, we can customize your creative, and even make your brand part of the welcoming committee with a special offer,” Josh Feldman, NBCUniversal’s global chief marketing officer for advertising and partnerships, told advertisers and press this week at its annual developer conference One22.

One example: A “Welcome to Peacock” ad from Uber Eats, offering a discount code to a first-time watcher.

Why it matters: The new ad format offers a way for Peacock to immediately monetize new users before they start watching a single show. If done well, the ad format stands to integrate users with the service, which could benefit Peacock just as much as it helps advertisers. “These are the kind of connections we know you want to build,” Feldman said this week at the developer conference.

NBCUniversal, of course, also wants to benefit from repeat viewers. Another new ad format, called “Sequential Storytelling,” allows brands to display various ad creative to audiences over the course of several days to move them through the purchase funnel.

Context rules: Peacock’s new offerings are just the latest example of ad formats that hinge on the behavior of users to help monetize their platforms outside of typical ad breaks. Take the binge ads and pause ads in rotation on ad-supported streaming services since 2019, which allow brands to offer specialized creative when users watch multiple episodes back-to-back or when they hit pause for a snack or bathroom break.—KS