It’s safe to say we’re currently in peak ‘cuffing season.’
If you haven’t heard the term before, ‘cuffing season’ defines the phenomenon of people looking for partners during the fall and winter. The trend is discernible enough to be recognized by relationship therapists, dating apps and Merriam-Webster but it’s the resulting behaviours of ‘cuffing season’ that digital advertisers should take advantage of. Namely, an increased volume of couples cuddling up on the couch.
Thermoregulation is tied to our evolution, so it’s natural for humans to cuddle more during cold weather – and what goes perfectly with a cold day, cuddled up on the couch? Streaming comfort TV content like rom-coms, sitcoms, holiday and rewatching old favourites.
In fact, according to a recent Roku survey, 45 per cent of TV streamers love spending time watching shows and movies they’ve watched before. Moreover, while Canadians watch almost 22 hours of television a week, overall streaming begins to spike at this time of year, and weekend streaming increases by 10 per cent across October and November in comparison to an average day.
With increased streaming time comes increased watching of advertising video on demand (AVOD). In general, an average of 4 in 10 (41 per cent) Canadians are watching AVOD or broadcaster video on-demand (BVOD) services every month.
Nowadays, we have extraordinary technology at our disposal to reach audiences during an under-the-radar period like cuffing season. Not only that, but with ad tech tools available via streaming, there are opportunities to reach viewers in much more unique and personalized ways with messages that appeal to them (and their loved ones’) needs.
Consider the call-to-action for greater engagement
TV streamers are more likely to engage with ads compared to non-streamers (70 per cent of TV streamers vs. 54 per cent of non-TV streamers). For instance, after seeing an ad, TV streamers are more likely to visit a brand’s website or online shop (38 per cent), search for more information on a product (36 per cent), or place items in an online basket to buy later (25 per cent) – all while continuing to stream their favourite shows and movies.
Given this, call-to-actions that are reflective of the cuffing season trend, such as demonstrating where a person can pick up their cozy movie-night in essentials, are the key to making the most of the TV streaming environment. It is also a great environment for food delivery and QSR clients to be top of mind and make it easy for consumers to order in and enjoy at home, further enhancing the at home experience.
Rethinking the ad formats to drive audience engagement
To capitalize on more streaming time during ‘cuffing season,’ I recommend advertisers and marketers explore and experiment with new ad formats and creative.
Video Action Ads, for example, are a form of interactive video ad tech that are rising in popularity and becoming more commonplace in Canada. These ads allow consumers to engage directly with campaigns through their remote. Streamers can opt to download an app, receive a coupon, or sign up for more information via their remote, making the user experience for an audience already primed to engage with ads much simpler.
For brands, they can also measure engagement on their campaigns – not just reach – which is quickly becoming a key measurement in the digital ad and marketing space.
Leveraging ad-tech for deeper insights
When it comes to cuffing season, the content consumers are viewing shifts. It may not be exclusively holiday content (at least maybe not in November), but it could be rewatching favourite movies or TV shows while bundled up and escaping the cold, which, in general, is the way in which streamers spend 18 per cent of their viewing time.
With shifting viewing habits comes the need for ad tech targeting capabilities that capitalize on content, not just demographics or psychographics. That’s where Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) technology comes in – a key benefit of the TV streaming ecosystem.
ACR identifies TV content played on smart devices and matches it with metadata, such as genre and TV channels, to help advertisers optimize their screen investments. Content can be anything from linear to streamed TV, to gaming content and even advertisements themselves.
ACR enables advertisers to analyze content consumption behaviours through video ‘fingerprints’ (with an explicit consumer opt-in, of course), which are then matched to an extensive catalogue of linear channels, advertisements, and games. On a second-by-second basis, ACR tech gives advertisers and marketers unprecedented insight into the type of content audiences watched on linear TV, or what ads they saw, and how much of that ad they watched. Overall, with the ability to control reach, optimize frequency of display, and enhanced targeting based on time frames, ACR tech is a key measurement tool advertisers and marketers can leverage to maximize ROI in TV streaming during ‘cuffing season,’ to get the most bang for their buck, and ensure it all plays nicely into omnichannel campaigns.
Cuffing season may have begun as a light-hearted, internet trend, but thanks to ad tech, we’re seeing that this ‘meme,’ is more grounded in tangible data than we may have thought. For advertisers and marketers, leveraging creative, interactive ad formats and ad tech tools that come with streaming platforms, like Roku, is a great way to extend reach during this untraditional advertising period, and maximize ROI to audiences just before the crowded holiday advertising season.
Roku Has Apparently Been The Victim Of A Credential Stuffing Attack
Posted in Commentary with tags Hacked, Roku on April 14, 2024 by itnerdA post from TV streaming company Roku has warned users that 576,000 accounts were hacked in a credential stuffing attack. And apparently there was another incident that compromised 15,000 accounts in early March:
Earlier this year, Roku’s security monitoring systems detected an increase in unusual account activity. After a thorough investigation, we determined that unauthorized actors had accessed about 15,000 Roku user accounts using login credentials (i.e. usernames and passwords) stolen from another source unrelated to Roku through a method known as “credential stuffing.”
And:
After concluding our investigation of this first incident, we notified affected customers in early March and continued to monitor account activity closely to protect our customers and their personal information. Through this monitoring we identified a second incident, which impacted approximately 576,000 additional accounts.
Now none of that is good. But at least Roku is doing two things. First they are enabling two factor authentication which should mitigate this attack. And second is that they let affected users know and reset their passwords. The post has additional steps that you can take. So I would suggest that you have a look at that so that you can protect yourself further. My advice would be to change your Roku password to something complex and unique as having unique passwords for all your online services is the best way to protect yourself from a credential stuffing attack.
UPDATE: Experts with both Approov and Horizon3.ai offer their perspective on this:
Ted Miracco, CEO, Approov Mobile Security:
“While Roku’s efforts to implement two-factor authentication (2FA) and reset passwords for compromised accounts are commendable initial steps, they are woefully inadequate in the context of modern cybersecurity demands. The reliance on traditional security measures like 2FA and merely managing credentials exposes a fundamental misunderstanding of the current threat landscape, especially concerning API security.
“Today’s digital environment, where APIs serve as crucial gateways to vast amounts of sensitive user data, requires a much more robust defense strategy than what Roku has proposed. APIs, particularly those interfaced with mobile devices, are often the target of sophisticated bot attacks that cannot be thwarted by simple credential management or basic authentication protocols.
“A truly effective security posture demands the integration of advanced measures such as app attestation and token-based access controls. App attestation ensures that only legitimate, untampered versions of an application can interact with critical backend services, effectively neutralizing many potential threats at the source. Similarly, token-based access to APIs can provide a more secure and controlled method of managing interactions between devices and backend services, ensuring that each request is authenticated, authorized, traceable and short-lived.
“Roku’s response, while a step in the right direction, falls short of leveraging these advanced protective measures. It is imperative for Roku to enhance their security architecture beyond conventional methods to safeguard against the increasingly sophisticated and varied attack vectors of today’s cyber threats. Failure to do so could not only jeopardize user security but could also erode trust in Roku’s commitment to genuinely protecting its users.”
Stephen Gates, Principal Security SME, Horizon3.ai:
“As highlighted in our 2023 Year in Review, Proactive Cybersecurity Unleashed, credentials are still the number one issue we observe as the root cause of a data or account breach. Today’s attackers don’t typically use sophisticated hacking tools and techniques like zero-day exploits to gain access to a network or user account; they simply log in with legitimate user credentials they stole through phishing campaigns or some other breach where credentials were compromised. From something as simple as a stolen credential, attackers can easily achieve domain compromise, host compromise, sensitive data exposure, critical infrastructure compromise, or ransomware exposure.”
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