'Many studios lack insight into the success of their promotional efforts'

Going After Taste: JustWatch, a platform birthed in 2014, believed that zeroing in on viewers' movie and TV show preferences, instead of conventional demographics, would be more effective.

The company operates on two fronts: a consumer streaming guide and a media buying and insights platform, rebranded as JustWatch Media in 2016, catering to the entertainment industry.

JustWatch Media boasts a 60-million-strong user base, including bigwigs like Universal, Paramount, and Sony. It uses its vast data trove to help entertainment companies tailor their marketing efforts, zeroing in on specific audience segments. Additionally, it offers creative services to clients, optimizing ad formats for digital platforms.

David Croyé, one of JustWatch's founders, shares insights on the virtues of taste-profiling, the differences between tech and media companies, and shifts in digital ad platforms.

Changing the Ad Game:

[When JustWatch started], I envisioned our streaming guide as a tool and recognized a better solution than current networks and agencies. I used to receive a deluge of horror trailers from Warner Bros., but never rom-com ones. I thought the industry should prioritize viewers' preferences—specific, especially for movies and TV shows. But to know what viewers really enjoy, you need a wealth of fresh data.

We leverage data from our streaming guide to reach viewers based on their preferences, not their age or gender.

Tech vs Media:

We have a data management platform, developed in-house, where we store all interactions with our apps. Whatever you click, search, or add to your watchlist; if you give us the thumbs-up, we can use your data to build a profile. We can then find your tastes through our recommendation engine, analyze movies you might enjoy, and use your data for campaigns across platforms like YouTube, Meta, TikTok, and others. Our tech background allows us to build the DSP for this purpose. JustWatch is an end-to-end, vertically integrated product, from our own first-party data to insights gained using the data and automated optimizations. We build everything ourselves, using our tech, BI, and data science teams.

Taste Over Demographics:

Discussing horror movies, I don't like them, but I would fit comfortably as a standard demographic. I enjoy rom-coms, but I'm not the typical demographic for that genre. Everybody has reasons for what they like to watch, and tastes change. Targeting based on taste results in better performance, with increased view and engagement rates, and a higher intent to watch something.

JustWatch measures intent and optimizes towards audiences most likely to take action (buying a cinema ticket, subscribing to a platform). We measure intent by surveying viewers and asking if they plan to watch a movie in theaters. These surveys are highlycorrelated with actual ticket sales.

Mindful of Client Demands:

JustWatch tracks the effectiveness of its campaigns for clients in complex environments, such as theatrical campaigns, where distributors and cinema chains are difficult to unify. We've managed to track hundreds of movies with a tracking pixel, comparing exposed and unexposed groups to check conversion rates. This approach is more beneficial for clients seeking awareness lifts.

Taste Shifts and Impact on Ad Campaigns:

Tastes are constantly evolving. For instance, the popular series Stranger Things injected 1980s themes into the mainstream. The only significant trend is a decline in westerns, while anime is on the rise.

JustWatch's ad work primarily focuses on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. However, advertising techniques are becoming digital-first and targeting audiences under 40, shifting focus from linear TV to connected TV on YouTube, the platform handling most of the load.

Open-web Advertising:

We deliberatively avoided open-web advertising due to its fragmentation, fraud, and technical problems. We seek to master one vertical, integrating all technology, data, products, and service. People spend most of their time discovering new things on big social and video platforms, making them the focus. Open-web advertising is diminishing, reaching less than 10% of our clients.

AI and the Future:

We started using AI for recommendation algorithms around 11 years ago and have used machine learning algorithms to build taste-based audiences and optimize bidding. Now, we are producing more video content using AI, improving our ability to scale across markets and languages.

JustWatch Media is just scratching the surface, with opportunities to expand beyond entertainment. We have started working with sports and gaming because they release trailers, and have run sports campaigns in multiple countries. Eventually, we may delve into product placements in movies or TV shows, reaching relevant audiences with brand ads.

JustWatch, having started as a streaming guide with a vision to cater to viewers' movie and TV show preferences, now operates a data-and-cloud-computing system that helps businesses in marketing efforts, tailoring their advertising strategies based on specific audience segments.
JustWatch Media's data-management platform, developed in-house, collects data from app interactions like clicks, searches, and watchlist additions, using which it builds a user profile and recommends content based on their tastes.
While demographics might seem suitable for targeting audiences, taste-profiling has shown better performance in terms of increased view and engagement rates and a higher intent to watch something, as demonstrated by JustWatch's streaming guide.
JustWatch Media also measures intent to watch a movie and optimizes its campaigns towards audiences most likely to take action, be it buying a cinema ticket or subscribing to a platform.
Aware of the changing advertising landscape, JustWatch Media focuses on digital platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram, shifting focus from linear TV to connected TV on YouTube, the platform handing most of the load for their ad work.
Looking ahead, JustWatch Media plans to explore expansions beyond entertainment, venturing into sports and gaming, and potentially offering product placements in movies or TV shows, leveraging technology and data science to reach relevant audiences with brand ads.