If you are one of the viewers who tune in to Antena 3 every night to see the anthill You will have noticed that, for several weeks, the star program of the channel, and one of the most watched spaces on television, has introduced an advertising format that has nothing to do with the eternal blocks to which we are accustomed. This new strategy raises an exclusive top made up of a maximum of four ads which you can track through a progress bar that appears at the bottom of the screen, very similar to Instagram stories.
The objective is clear: Antena 3 wants to offer the viewer a more satisfying experience and give visibility to the different brands that want to advertise on the channel, as Emilia Bertola, publicist and director of the Brother School for Creatives, points out. “Obviously, more traditional formats need to generate new ways to include advertising content to grab the attention of their audience,” he explains. “Betting on new ways of doing things can help increase profitability both for the companies that opt for these formats and for the channels themselves.”
This is how the new advertising model of ‘El Hormiguero’ is presented / Atresmedia
Now why the anthill? Javier Andrés, marketing director of Atresmedia Publicidad, has the keys to this choice. “We are clear that the anthill is the best audiovisual content on the market for many reasons (number and quality of audience, exclusive audience, impeccable image format, top influencers, etc.) and we wanted to enhance it, differentiate it from other offers”, says the head of this communication group, who adds: “The market demands very different things from us and a lot of innovation. There are brands that demand exclusivity, maximum impact quality, differentiation. And we thought we had the best content to meet that demand.“.
Anyone would think that customers who advertise in the Top 3 of the anthill they have to pay colossal sums in order to be part of this select club of advertisers. However, even if it does, they recoup it through showcasing their products in such an exclusive showcase. “It is more relevant to talk about relevance than cost. Ultimately, the goal of any advertiser is that their message reaches their audience. So, Although these formats are more expensive, because they have a greater arrival capacity, they are more profitable“, Underlines the publicist, which also corroborates the boss of Atresmedia: “The response was frankly positive. Leading advertisers such as El Corte Inglés, Repsol, Apple, Citroën, Renault, Cepsa, Estée Lauder, L’Oréal, Lexus, Leroy Merlin, BBVA, Nivea, Bimbo, Alhambra, Tanqueray, Vodafone and Chanel have already attended in this new way of advertising, and in many cases in several different ones”.
Pablo Motos, presenter of ‘El Hormiguero’ / Atresmedia
Will we see the same thing in other programs on Antena 3 and laSexta? The marketing director of Atresmedia Publicidad does not know for sure. However, judging by his words, the idea is to gradually replicate the model in other formats. “If that happens, that would be a good indicator that the market values it and finds it an interesting and profitable format, which gives them a plus,” he says. We will have to wait to see the behavior of the audience and the response of advertisers. What is clear is that this new advertising block represents a before and after for the way of doing television for a lifetime.