Q5 2025 Update
From those new clients who tested Linear TV to help with their growth during our Q5 2024/2025 research, 4 of them are still booking campaigns, and looking forward to doubling (or tripling) their spend during the next Q5 period. We have also new clients, most of them in the health and nutrition sector, who have already approved our linear TV proposals for the “New Year, New Me” mindset.
What happened to the other three? Two have taken the step into CTV, and the last one admitted that their current brand positioning is not focused enough to actually drive results. We will see them back next year though, fingers crossed. 🤞
It’s almost 2026, and Linear TV still manages to move the performance needle at large scale and with CPMs. But hang on, wasn’t TV supposed to be dead? Since 2003? Or perhaps it was deader in 2005, when YouTube launched. But surely TV was beyond dead in 2007, when I got my hands on my first iPhone. In 2013, I attended a conference and heard “TV is most definitely dead with OTT entering the scene”.
Yet time and time again we read that TV is by far the most effective medium in terms of return of investment. The disconnect is fascinating – we keep predicting TV’s demise while it keeps delivering results that make digital marketers envious.
The Pattern We Keep Seeing
Here’s what’s happening repeatedly: brands build impressive early-stage empires using only digital means, but then hit a wall. CPMs and CACs increase month over month, and suddenly that infinite scalability of digital starts feeling pretty finite. These aren’t failing businesses – they’re successful ones that have reached their plateau and need something more.
We at GLADTOBE are excited every time we get the chance to share our TV experiences with curious brands in exactly this situation. We show them how granular we can plan and book media for our clients, how we optimize campaigns to ensure ROAS numbers are achieved or even exceeded. We love the challenge of delivering great value to our current and new clients. It’s all about the WIN-WIN. When the client wins, we win.
The Health and Nutrition Rush
This upcoming Q5 wave of health and nutrition brands isn’t coincidental. These categories understand something crucial: reaching audiences beyond their existing digital echo chambers requires breaking out of algorithmic bubbles. The “new year, new me” period creates perfect conditions – high audience motivation combined with efficient media costs.
Plus, health concepts often need broader education and normalization, something TV handles beautifully compared to the narrow targeting of digital platforms.
So When Should You Test TV?
Ready to see what TV can do for your growth?Â
Now, if you’re reading this and wondering when is the best time to give TV a test run, wonder no further – it’s Q5. Here’s why this period keeps proving itself: CPMs are low, resolutions are at a high, audience numbers are even higher. It’s overall a cost-efficient and campaign-effective period to learn about TV’s impact on your growth.
But more than the numbers, it is honestly a great feeling when website visits start pouring in, purchases are made, and new customers are created. There’s something genuinely exciting about watching your brand come alive on the biggest screen in people’s homes during a period when everyone else is quiet.
With 2026 approaching, TV maintains its annoying habit of being effective despite two decades of death announcements.
So, I ask you : “When is the time to get your brand alive?”
You answer : “Simple, during Q5!”
